Chili Cauldron Curse Read online

  She pushed the thoughts away as she climbed wearily into her car. All she needed right now was a bath. No, shower first, she corrected herself. Then food. Then sleep.

  Tomorrow would be better.

  Chapter 2

  Mia left Mr. Darcy curled on her bed and Grans in her yoga studio. She’d called Isaac as soon as she’d gotten out of the shower but had to leave a message. So far, she hadn’t received a call back from him. After her grandmother’s pronouncement, Mia was getting a little nervous about the lack of contact. Especially since the restaurant was closed last night. She’d expected to find him home, watching pre-season football, but maybe he’d gone down to the local pub to watch with his buddies, taking advantage of the free night since she was out of town.

  Or, she brightened, Isaac had probably been over at his mother’s, since Christina had come in from Vegas yesterday. Mia didn’t know the whys behind Christina dumping her college plans to try her luck as a dancer in the casino-heavy city, but she’d heard that the girl hadn’t been able to make it work. Coming home with her tail between her legs and having to listen to her mother tell her “I told you so” couldn’t be easy. Maybe Isaac had been there to support his sister.

  And maybe not. Mia sighed as she opened the door. The smell was back. She’d either missed a box of rotting potatoes or her magic spell had only located one problem. Which was the problem with magic. The more focused a spell, the better its chances of actually working. But, you also could miss things. Today she’d find the problem the old-fashioned way. By following her nose.

  It only took thirty minutes for her to find, bag, and clean the offending rotting produce. By the time she’d returned from her last dumpster drop, Tasha had arrived and was working in the office. Mia poked her head inside. “Sorry about the smell. I thought I’d gotten everything cleaned up yesterday.”

  “It seems to happen a lot in the summer. I should be more careful about keeping tabs on when donations come in.” Tasha sank into her leather chair with a squeak. “I didn’t know you were here already. I thought I’d forgotten to lock the doors again. I’m getting so scatterbrained.”

  “Nope, it was just me.” Mia paused at the doorway, studying the pale and gaunt woman. “Are you okay? You don’t look well.”

  “I’m afraid I’m pushing myself too fast after the surgery. I just wanted the food bank open before the start of school next week. Sometimes what I provide is all the food in these kids’ house.” Now Tasha did look worn out.

  “I know. I do a lot of work with the local soup kitchen in Boise as well as the food bank, and it seems like the need goes up every year. And the number of kids going hungry has tripled.” Mia glanced at her watch. “My friend should be here by ten and I’m thinking we’ll make a big dent in this today.”

  “I’ve got people from Mary Alice’s organization coming in later today to help you. I hate to see you working by yourself so much. You’re such a lovely young woman.” Tasha picked up a card. “Here it is. Kev from the Magic Springs Society for Magical Realism called and said he and his group of volunteers will be here right after lunch. My, that sounds like one of those groups that get together to play that role-playing game, Ditches and Dragons?”

  “Yes, yes it does.” Mia grimaced. Better for Tasha to think it was just nerds looking for a way to give back than know that the Society was the local coven. Magic Springs might be more open and welcoming to differences than most Idaho small towns, but they were still in a conservative part of the country. Even though they were close to Sun Valley where the California celebrities liked to ski and buy winter ‘shacks.’ Witchcraft was just a little too different, even here. “My friend Christina should be here by then too.” That was if she got up in time to make the two-hour drive before noon.

  “I love having young people around the warehouse. It makes the day go quickly. They are all so chatty and friendly.” Tasha glanced at the ringing phone. “I need to take this. We’ve got a lot of planning to do before the grand opening next week.”

  “Go ahead. I was just checking in.” Mia propped the front door open with a rock, then went to the back door and did the same. Hopefully that would clear the smell out before anyone else arrived.

  Two hours later, a horn blared in the front of the building. Mia hurried to the front hoping it wasn’t another delivery from the Lodge. Instead of finding a truck, she was shocked to see Isaac standing outside his convertible Mercedes, the horn still blaring.

  “Okay Isaac, everyone knows you’re here. You can lay off the horn.” Mia stepped outside and saw Christina climb out of the passenger side of the car, her eyes as red as her hair was dyed. Apparently, it had been a long trip here. “I didn’t realize you were driving Christina here.”

  “And how exactly did you expect her to arrive? Mom and Dad weren’t going to trust her with one of their vehicles. Especially not after that disaster in Vegas.” Isaac glared at Mia like his sister’s misbehavior was Mia’s fault. “I did have plans this week.”

  “Oh? I didn’t see anything on the schedule.” Mia watched as he squirmed. Isaac seemed to be hiding something. She glanced at her watch. “You still have plenty of time to open the restaurant.”

  “I know I do.” He snapped back at her. “I just meant with you out of town, I was going to hit the gym and do some errands.”

  She thought she could see his eyes narrowing behind his Oakley sunglasses, a sure sign that he was lying. She pointed to her car parked by the building. “Christina? Put your bags in the back of my car. You’ve got a room at Grans’s with me.”

  “Thanks Mia.” The words were a little muffled since she had her head in the trunk digging out a bag.

  “I take it you can bring her back to Boise?” Isaac leaned on the car door, not moving closer to give her a hug or kiss or any other PDA that might tell anyone watching that they were freaking living together. She’d always been the one who’d had to make the first move. Today, she was tired of playing games.

  “I’ll drop her off at your mother’s sometime on Monday. We’re staying for the grand opening on Saturday, then I’d like to spend some time with Grans before I come home.” Mia crossed her arms, watching her boyfriend climb back into his car before she was even finished talking. “Look, Isaac, I think we need to talk. About us. Are we okay?”

  “Works for me. I’ll see you Monday night.” He turned up the music as if she hadn’t said anything at all. Then he started the car and watched for Christina to close the trunk. He didn’t even look at Mia as he backed out of the driveway and took off down the highway toward Boise.

  Christina dragged a duffel bag with one hand and had a backpack on the other shoulder. “Man, he’s in a crappy mood. All he did the whole way up here was gripe at me for not going to college. According to him, I’ve broken my parents’ hearts. And I’ve almost killed them just because I wanted to try to live on my own.”

  In Vegas. Mia added silently. She’d met Isaac’s parents a few times and their conservative background drove their children a little bit crazy. As a result, they both had rebelled. Isaac’s rebellion was just a little less noticeable than Christina’s. They’d wanted him to be a lawyer, rather than a chef. But since he ran the city’s best restaurant, they’d cut him a little slack lately. If they’d known that Mia was a practicing kitchen witch, they would have insisted he break their relationship off. Of course, Isaac didn’t believe in her powers anyway. He’d laughed when she’d tried to come clean early in their relationship. He thought her dabbling in magic was cool. He also didn’t believe anything she did made any difference. As far as he was concerned, her practice was more like yoga than actual magic. She didn’t know how to tell him she wasn’t dabbling. “Sorry, I know Isaac can be intense.”

  Christina paused and studied her. “What’s going on between you two? When I asked how you were, he kind of grunted, then changed the subject back to my bad deeds.”

  “Not
hing’s going on.” She wasn’t going to talk about her crumbling relationship to his little sister. Mia and Isaac would sit down when she got home next week and have a heart to heart. “Go stash your stuff and we can start getting this place in shape. We’ve got some help coming in a couple hours and I’d like to get you up to speed so you can help direct the volunteers when they get here.”

  “Cool. I love being in charge.” Christina hurried over to Mia’s car.

  Mia paused a bit to watch the skyline in the direction Isaac had left. What was going on with him? She’d been busy working and remodeling the house they’d bought together. Maybe he just needed some attention. She sighed and turned back to the warehouse. She was always juggling something. She was always busy. The bathroom remodel was just about to begin and she’d been looking forward to a few days of nothing when Grans had called asking for a favor. So she’d run up here.

  But that was water under the bridge now. She had less than a week to get this food pantry up to code and a working rotating system set up so Tasha, and hopefully a few more volunteers, could keep the place successful. Good intentions didn’t feed people. Hard work did.

  “So, what’s up?” Christina had followed her inside and now stood next to her gazing at the mess. “Holy heck. That’s a lot of boxes.”

  “Yes, it is.” Mia led her over to the table where she’d drawn out a map of the warehouse. “This is the plan. We need to get the boxes where they need to be unloaded, check all the food labels and make sure nothing’s expired, and then stack them, oldest first on the shelves.”

  “That’s going to take forever. I sure hope you have a lot of people coming in to help.” Christina pointed to the paper products. “I’ll take that section. No buy-by dates.”

  “Okay, but once you’re done, you need to move to the next section.” Mia held back the sigh she wanted to release. Christina always looked for the easy way out. She’d hoped she’d matured at least a little living on her own.

  “Sure.” The red hair was pulled up into a loose ponytail and she grinned at Mia. “You got it.”

  Which was her way of saying catch me if you can? Mia headed over to the still looming stack of boxes that hadn’t been opened and moved to their new sorting place. She’d put up signs for Tasha where the new, incoming contributions should go to keep the stock from being mixed together. And, once she’d set up the system, she’d go over it with Tasha. Then she’d tell Grans the food bank needed at least two additional volunteers to come every week to help. If they stayed with Mia’s plan, the food pantry could be successful, without any future interventions.

  At least that was the plan.

  When the other volunteers showed up at two, Mia, Christina, and Tasha had just finished lunch. Mia closed the pizza boxes and asked Christina to take them out to the dumpster. Then she went to talk to Kev.

  “Thanks for coming.” She looked around for Tasha but she must have disappeared into the office. “By the way, Tasha thinks you’re a gaming group, so let’s keep the magic stuff under wraps, okay?”

  “No worries. I’m used to dealing with the non-magical locals. We can hide in plain sight with the best of them. Besides, I’m the one who kind of led her to believe that cover story.” He gave her a quick hug. “Are you coming out to the coven meeting Saturday night?”

  “Probably not. You know I don’t like all the group activity stuff.” She glanced over at Christina. “Besides, my boyfriend’s sister is here and I can’t very well bring her along.”

  Kev’s gaze darted over to Christina and a wide grin showed off very white teeth. “I don’t know. I think she would look amazing in circle.”

  “You’re a perv.” Mia shook her head. Kev had to be at least ten years older than Christina.

  “A man can look.” He smiled at her. “I’d like you to think about joining the coven. Between us, there is a power struggle going on, and I’m not sure anyone would like it if one of the up-and-comers took over for the current warlock. It feels like there’s a vote coming soon.”

  “Who is in charge now?” Mia hadn’t kept up with the politics of the leadership. Mostly because she hated any type of politics.

  “Your grandmother’s new beau, Dorian Alexander. He’s a nice guy. He wants the coven to grow but not at any cost. This other guy, Silas Miller, he’s militant. He wants the coven to take over Magic Springs. Make this some kind of refugee camp for the magical residents of the world.”

  “And you support the kinder, less militant side.” Mia had known Kev a long time. He typically stayed out of the coven politics. She’d never seen him use his magic for anything but good for others.

  “You know me. A few spells and good wishes for an awesome ski season is about all I conjure lately. I’d hate to be a part of a group that sees the good of the coven as a mandate to take over the world.” He glanced at Christina who was walking toward him. “Anyway, Dorian could use another sane voice of reason when the vote happens.”

  “Let’s say I’ll think about it and talk to Grans. For now, come on over and I’ll explain what we’re doing.” Mia moved toward the table where the inventory notebook and design for the warehouse sat. She went through the work that needed done, and started the group on the pile in the middle. As she worked, she thought about the coven. Circle was their closing ceremony and typically was done in the nude. Of course, since they lived in a mountain community, they had to use magic to keep the outdoor ceremony area warm enough to not freeze, especially in winter months. She’d heard that once snow fell, they moved their ceremonies to a local hot springs where they used the heat from the warm water to keep them from freezing.

  Another reason she didn’t play with the coven crowd, either here or in Boise. She had a relationship and didn’t want to have to explain why she needed to stay out all night once a month. Her magic was more of a personal thing. A part of herself she couldn’t walk away from, but that she didn’t want to let take over her world. She had her job and Isaac to do that.

  At six, she glanced at the dwindling pile of boxes. Christina’s paper shelves were looking well stocked and a few of the others had started stocking the shelves in the vegetable section since they were running out of room in front to stack boxes.

  Kev stood next to her. “I think you need us back tomorrow. I’ll see who’s not working and bring them over in the afternoon. Same time?”

  “Works for me.” Mia rubbed an aching shoulder and then stretched her neck. “I’m heading back to Grans and to bed early.”

  “I could come rub out some of those aches.” He winked at her. “No charge, no commitment.”

  “I don’t even have the energy to slap you down for that comment.” Mia tapped his arm. “I’ve told you before, I’m not going to be one of your notches. See you tomorrow.”

  “A guy can dream. Have a good night, Mia.” He smiled and then whistled. “Come on guys, I’ll buy everyone dinner over at the Hook and Hoof tonight.”

  Christina came up to Mia. “Are we going with them?”

  “I’m not, but you can. Do you know how to get to Grans?”

  When Christina hesitated, Kev waved her toward the door. “You can ride with me.” He paused and waited for Mia to catch up. “Don’t worry, I’ll get little sister home safe and sound. She’s still got a lot of work here to do.”

  Christina sighed. “I’m so counting this as my community service project for the parents. They better be happy with me when I get home or I’m going to tell them about all the starving children I saved, over and over.”

  Mia laughed. “Just be in by ten. Grans is a light sleeper and I’d hate for you to wake her up late at night.”

  “Curfews are my life.” Christina waved at a girl that was leaving the warehouse. “Hold up Lacey, I’m coming with you guys.”

  As she left, Kev put a hand on Mia’s shoulder. “I’ll watch out for her. And the crew knows not to talk magic while mugg
les are around.”

  Mia smiled at the word. Since Harry Potter had become popular, the magical folk had started using the fictional descriptors for their own lives. And it was great cover for the world that normal people never saw. “I’m counting on you.”

  “Scouts honor.” He headed to the door and as he left, an older man came into the building. Mia watched as the two men met gazes, then Kev nodded and left.

  She walked over to meet the newcomer. “Hi, I’m Mia Malone. If you’re here to volunteer, we’re actually closing up for the day.”

  “Actually, I came to see Mary Alice, but I guess she didn’t come to help?” He glanced around the warehouse.

  “No, she stayed home to work on a project today. I’m going to the house. Can I have your name and I’ll tell her you stopped by?” The man looked like he was one of the Sun Valley crowd. He wore a black suit that had to be designer the way it looked. His salt-and-pepper hair was grayer at the temples, making him look thoughtful, powerful, and strangely enough, rich.

  “Forgive me. I’m Dorian Alexander. I’m friends with your grandmother.” He held out his hand. “She’s told me a lot about you, Mia.”

  When Mia shook the hand, she felt the power that oozed out of the man. And she felt something else, a calm, friendly spirit of a really nice man. She didn’t doubt that he could be dangerous, but he was basically a nice guy. And he was a bit infatuated with her grandmother.

  “Well, that’s one of us.” She studied the man. Grans could do a lot worse. Then she relaxed her gaze into a smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “I’m away on business a lot, so I’m not surprised my name hasn’t come up, but I hope to be hanging out here in Magic Springs more often. I’m sure I’ll see you again.”