Free 5 A Charming Magic by Tonya Kappes Page A

narrowed glinting glance.
    I chewed on my lower lip and stole a look at him. Once again, he was looking at Arabella and she was looking back at him.
    “Really?” My gut tugged, my intuition waved a red flag. “You don’t know her?” I looked back at Arabella. When our eyes met, she darted into her shop.
    “I’ve got to get back to work.” Gerald patted the top of his top hat before he tilted his head and dismissed himself and my question.
    “ Great.” Unfamiliar sounds seeped into my soul. There was something to Gerald and Arabella’s little morning chat and my gut told me I was going to have to get to the bottom of it, regardless of her interest in Oscar.
    I glared at Magical Moments with burning, reproachful eyes as I made my way down to A Charming Cure. The chatter outside of Glorybee caught my attention. The line was ten people deep.
    They were all oohing and awing over Clyde who was on his perch in the window of the shop. Petunia was happily grooming him. He knew he was on display. His chest was puffed out and one of his legs stretched to the side as his tail feathers spread apart. Petunia’s face was bright with pride.
    Clyde was a big macaw bird that gave his opinion whether you wanted to hear it or not. Petunia was able to talk to animals which made her the perfect owner of Glorybee Pet Shop. She was a natural with animals and when Mr. Prince Charming wasn’t around, I knew he was hanging out with Petunia.
    Clyde. He was a different story. No matter how much Petunia complained about the old bird, she loved him to the core. I highly doubted she was going to let someone adopt him. She was all talk. Just like she was all talk when she refused to admit she and Gerald were a couple.
    “Hi everyone.” I walked to the front of Glorybee and tapped on the window before I headed over to A Charming Cure.
    Petunia waved and Clyde nodded his head up and down.
    “Thank you,” Petunia mouthed and pointed to a beautiful bouquet of yellow orchids. She put her hands to her chest. “I love them.”
    I smiled not knowing what she was talking about. I bet her new best friend, Arabella, had given them to her.
    I might be a little biased, but A Charming Cure was the prettiest shop in Whispering Falls. I reached over and plucked a couple of stray vines away from the two front windows; the rest of the outside was covered in the most beautiful wisteria vine. The purple and white flowers grew up and around the front door. “Give me a minute to open back up,” I told a customer who was waiting for the shop to open.
    This morning after my fainting spell, Izzy was good enough to close A Charming Cure so I could get back on my feet. And since Petunia wasn’t able to meet up, there was no reason I couldn’t open for the rest of the day. It was still early and there were a lot of customers.
    Quickly I rushed through the shop, turning on all the little table lights, illuminating the inside. I flipped on my cauldron before I walked back to the door and turned the sign to open.
    “Come on in.” I held the door open for the woman. She stepped inside. “Can I help you with anything?”
    “Just looking around.” She smiled and went around the tables picking up the bottles.
    “Let me know if you need anything.” I inhaled when she walked by. There wasn’t anything setting off my intuition of a cure she needed.
    More than half of the time, the customers who walked through the door really didn’t need a real cure. They were there for curiosity of what a cure shop was all about.
    This was a perfect time to work on my Oscar potion.
    I walked back to the shelf where I kept all the ingredients I use for my special cures. Tapping each one, I read their names out loud, trying to tap into my intuition. “Belladonna, Ferrum Phos, Sepia, Natrum Mur, Valerian Root.”
    My finger warmed when I touched the Eye of Saber Cat, which was my intuition telling me to pick that ingredient.
    “You’ve never failed me yet,” I said, referring to