Easy Bake Coven: Book One of the Vivienne Finch Magical Mysteries (18 page)

Vivienne
gave him a goofy smile. “I hardly ever drink, so just a
bittle
lit and I’m flying.”

He
laughed at her answer and nearly fell to the floor. “I don’t know why that’s so
funny, but it is.”

She
stood up from the table and then stumbled over to the loveseat. “Mother would
be so embarrassed if she knew I was drinking with a hot man in his own home.”
She plopped onto the leather cushions. “Oh hell, at this point if I called her
she’d probably have us married and having kids by tomorrow. Why don’t we just
drive down to city hall and get it over with?”

Joshua
stumbled over next to her and dropped onto the loveseat. “I can only imagine
the news of a shotgun wedding spreading through town. That’d really give the
town gossips something to talk about for once, right?”

She
crawled over to face him and burrowed her face into his chest. “It sure would.
Eunice Kilpatrick would have a field day down at the bank.”

He
closed his eyes and laid his head back. “I’m too tired to clean up.”

“Maybe
there’s a spell in the book to clean everything up?” She giggled.

“Would
you try to make it do my laundry too?” He giggled back. “I could save a small
fortune on laundry soap that way.”

She
waved her hands around in the air. “Oh magic book, do us a favor and clean up
this place so we don’t embarrass the neighbors.”

“You’re
a poet too?” He asked.

Vivienne
responded with a little snore.

He
kicked off his boots and closed his eyes as the fire slowly died out. He
wrapped his arms around her and surrendered to sleep. Vivienne mumbled
something unintelligible and drifted back to sleep along with him.

She
awoke the next morning with a start as the shrill basic ring of the cell phone
blared from inside her purse. She stirred from her sleep but was unable to
answer it before it went to voicemail.

Joshua
blinked his eyes and stretched his arms upwards with a yawn. “What time is it?”

Vivienne
rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “I don’t know, but the sun is up.” She reached
into her purse and glanced at the clock on the phone display. “It’s half past
nine.” She couldn’t help but notice there were six missed calls, but it was the
two empty bottles of wine on the table that stood out the most. Had they really
drank that much?

Joshua
massaged his temples with his fingers. “I’m glad I don’t go in until five
tonight. I’m going to need the entire morning to get ready.”

Vivienne
slipped the phone back into her purse. She rocked her head back and forth, as
the loveseat didn’t provide the most comfortable sleeping accommodations. “I’m
sorry about falling asleep like that. I don’t have much of a tolerance for
holding my liquor.

“Well,
I wasn’t exactly sober myself after finishing that second bottle.” He agreed.

She
wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a warm embrace. “Thank you for being a
gentleman.”

He
nuzzled her left ear. “Thank you for a wonderful second date.”

Vivienne
was about to respond when a loud knock shook the front door.

“What
the hell?” Joshua leapt up from the loveseat. “Sorry about that.” He marched
over to the door and pulled back the side window curtain to find two police
officers waiting on the other side. He opened the door partially. “Greg, Frank.
What’s going on?”

The
taller of the two officers, Greg, was first to speak. “Sorry to bother you
Deputy
Arkins
, but we received a phone call about a
possible missing person that you are acquainted with.”

Officer
Frank interrupted. “Have you seen a Miss Vivienne Finch?”

Upon
hearing her name, Vivienne leapt up from the loveseat and ran over behind
Joshua. “There’s no missing person, officers. I’m Vivienne Finch.”

Officer
Greg looked at Frank and shook his head. “I told you this wasn’t another
crime.”

“Gentlemen,
what is going on? Who called in Vivienne as missing?” Joshua eyed them both
with a little bit of resentment.

Officer
Frank flipped open his little black book. “The call was placed this morning by
Mrs. Nora Finch.”

“I
should have known.” Vivienne fumed and tapped Joshua on the arm. “I’m sorry
about this.”

Officer
Greg tipped his hat. “After what happened to Mona Clarke, we couldn’t just
ignore the call. With her car parked outside your home, we had to follow up.”

“I
understand, gentlemen. You were only doing your jobs and I thank you for your
vigilance.” Joshua looked at Vivienne for support.

Vivienne
felt her face flush red. “I truly am sorry for this. As you can see, I’m just
fine.”

“Sorry
to bother you folks.” Officer Frank smiled. “You both have a good morning.” He
turned and walked away as Officer Greg followed.

Joshua
shut the door and sighed. “We must be cursed or something.”

“I
know.” Vivienne agreed. “We spoke too soon about having a great second date.”
She stomped over to her purse and grabbed the phone. “Excuse me a moment, I
need to check in with a certain concerned mother.”

Joshua
nodded and headed for the kitchen. “Would you like some coffee?”

“That
would be great.” She spoke as she dialed the number and waited for Nora to answer.

Nora
answered on the first thing. “Oh, thank God you’re alive. I thought they were
going to find you dead in the dumpster outside your store.”

“Mother,
I can’t believe you.” Vivienne’s voice raised a notch. “Sending the police on a
search for me? Have you lost your mind?”

“I
tried calling you at home and the bakery and then your cell. When I didn’t hear
back I just started to panic. With a serial killer loose in town, I was more
than a little concerned for your safety.” Nora frantically explained.

“I
was with Joshua.” Vivienne snapped. “For the entire night, if you must know.”

“Oh.”
Nora’s voice cracked a bit in shock. “I never thought to try calling him.
Actually, I don’t think I even have his home number.”

“Mother,
that’s not the point.” Vivienne took a deep breath and tried to calm herself
down. “I do have a social life and you’re not always going to be aware of what
I’m doing every minute of every day.”

“I
know that dear.” Nora kept her tone neutral. “This murder has just got me all
twisted up inside.”

“You
and the entire town it seems.” Vivienne agreed.

“There
was a police statement on the local news this morning. The medical examiner
ruled Mona’s death a homicide.” Nora continued. “Can you believe it?”

“My
beliefs have been pushed all over the place lately.” Vivienne confessed. “Do
they have a suspect?”

“I
don’t know yet.” Nora answered. “They’re supposed to have another update this
afternoon.”

“Well,
thank you for your concern but in the future please don’t send the police out
for me whenever I’m out of touch for more than a few hours.”

“I’m
sorry dear.” Nora apologized. “I hope it didn’t ruin the date.”

“Let’s
just say it setup a familiar pattern we hope to break in the future.” Vivienne
smiled at Joshua who returned from the kitchen with two mugs of coffee in his
hands. “I love you and I’ll call you later today.”

“Love
you too, dear.” Nora replied. “Glad to hear the date went so well last night.”

Vivienne
shook her head. “Goodbye, Mother.” She ended the call and graciously accepted
the mug of steaming coffee. “Thank you.”

Joshua
moved over to the loveseat and sat down. “I put cream and sugar in it.”

“That’s
fine.” She took a sip and relished the smell from the steam. There was nothing
in the world like the aroma of fresh brewed coffee. No matter how sleepy the
senses, it always managed to do the trick.

“So
it sounds like things are okay with you and your mother.” Joshua smiled. “I’m
glad about that. My family was never all that close growing up and it’s nice to
see that bond still intact.”

She
joined him on the loveseat. “Yes, she just went overboard because the news
reported that Mona Clarke’s death has been officially ruled a homicide.”
Vivienne spoke between sips of coffee.

“I
didn’t think they were going to announce that yet.” Joshua paused in thought.
“They must have a suspect in custody.”

“Who
would that be?” Vivienne asked.

“I
don’t know. It must have happened after my shift ended yesterday.” Joshua
shrugged. “There weren’t all that many leads.”

“I
didn’t mean to pry.” She added. “I just wondered if it was someone local or a
random stranger.”

“Murder
at the hands of a complete stranger is quite rare.” Joshua explained. “Unless
there is a history of mental instability involved and then it’s quite
possible.”

“There
aren’t many strangers that come into Cayuga Cove.” Vivienne reasoned. “At
least, it would be very hard to not get noticed by someone in town.”

“I
agree.” Joshua took another sip of coffee. “I can only imagine what the
neighbors are thinking about this morning.”

“Well,
I don’t know anyone who lives on this street.” Vivienne said with relief. “So
that factor is in our favor.” She glanced at the sun streaming through the
windows. “But, I really need to get a start on my day.”

“I’m
working until after midnight tonight, so I guess a third date will have to
wait.”

Vivienne
handed him her coffee mug and stretched her arms up into the air. “Let’s hope
it’s less eventful.”

She
gathered her purse and the
grimoire
together. After
giving him a kiss goodbye, she crept out the door and let the sunshine warm her
face. It was shaping up to be another beautiful fall day. At least, it looked
that way until she reached her car and was barked at by Eunice Kilpatrick’s
mean gray poodle.

“Why,
Vivienne Finch.” Eunice hushed her little poodle by giving a gentle tug on the
pink leash that was embellished with fake gems. “What brings you over to our
little neighborhood?” The poodle gave a little growl and bared its tiny teeth.

“Good
morning, Eunice. I didn’t know you lived on this street.” Vivienne’s stomach
tightened into little knots. Eunice was perhaps the biggest gossip in all of
Cayuga Cove, as any of the customers in her line at the
Colonial Bank
could tell you. In fact, there were really only two
things Eunice seemed to delight in for recreational activities: spreading
gossip and attending funerals. The latter always struck Vivienne as a bit
morbid, but she supposed funerals were filled with a myriad of opportunities to
strike conversations in hushed tones without drawing attention.

“Oh,
I moved into a home here about a month ago.” Eunice’s eyes lit up with pride.
“One of my customers down at the bank, Audrey Simmons, has a son who works as a
realtor. She told me about this little gem and how it was twice the space for
the same amount of rent I was paying over on Whiskey Springs Road.”

“Well,
that was a blessing.” Vivienne reached into her purse and retrieved her keys,
hoping it would signal her that it was time to wrap up the conversation.

Eunice
ignored her cue. “I couldn’t help but notice the police here earlier. Was
anything wrong?”

“Oh
that?” Vivienne swallowed hard. “No, it was just some routine police business.”

“And
this little beauty is your car?” Eunice gestured to Vivienne’s sedan. “It’s so
cute.”

“Thank
you.” Vivienne chose that moment to press the unlock button on her key fob. “It
never gives me any trouble.”

Eunice
remained oblivious as her poodle sniffed the rear tire of Vivienne’s car and
raised his leg to sprinkle it with urine. “I thought maybe the police were
trying to enforce that ridiculous odd-even overnight parking.”

Vivienne
gave her a little smile. “I’ve already had one parking ticket this month and I
certainly don’t need another.”

“Well,
don’t let me keep you.” Eunice gave the leash a little tug and the gray poodle
barked at Vivienne once more. “I feel so much safer knowing a deputy lives here
on the street.”

“That’s
great.” Vivienne clenched her teeth together and waved goodbye as she slid into
her car. As she slammed the door shut she watched Eunice pick up her pace and
disappear around the corner. “That’s just great.” She lowered her head and
bumped it a few times on the steering wheel.

When
she had returned home she found Tom Cat curled up on her sofa sound asleep. His
golden eyes flickered open to see who was invading his privacy and upon seeing
her, stretched his paws out and then curled them over his little head.

“Well,
good morning to you too.” She shut the door and hung her keys on the entry wall
hooks. “At least one of us had a comfortable bed to sleep in.”

Tom
Cat let out a sigh and returned to sleep.