A Sprinkle of Magic (A Sugarcomb Lake Cozy Mystery Book 4) (6 page)

“I am the worst person in the world,” Clarissa sighed a little while later.

She and Liana were sitting at her kitchen table.  They had just devoured the entire cinnamon loaf that had been intended for Jo.  It had been too delicious to resist!  Even Cat had come out of hiding to gobble up the crumbs that had fallen on the floor.

“Yes, you’re the worst person in the world,” Liana agreed.  “Wait…why do you say that?”

“I ate a grieving woman’s cinnamon loaf!” Clarissa exclaimed ruefully.  “And worst of all, I regret nothing!  It was so good!  It was incredible!  I bow down to you, oh great one!  You are the best baker in the history of baking.”

“Ha, thanks.  And don’t worry about it – your secret is safe with me.  Besides, I helped you eat the loaf.  So I guess I’m a bad person too.  Anyway, I’ll whip up something else for Jo,” Liana vowed.  She looked around.  “Do you have baking ingredients on hand?”

Clarissa looked at her incredulously.  “Since when do I ever bake anything?”

“Good point,” Liana agreed.  “I’ll swing by the grocery store for some more eggs and flour on my way home.  We’ll try visiting Jo again tomorrow, okay?”

“Alright,” Clarissa agreed.  Then she let out a burp.

“That was attractive,” Liana deadpanned.

“Ugh I’m so full!” Clarissa complained, clutching her belly.  “I ate too much.”

“I’ve never heard you say that before,” Liana said sarcastically.  “Oh, and speaking of attractive, look who’s outside?  You have a gentleman caller, ooh!” she trilled in a silly singsong voice. 

Sure enough, when Clarissa looked out the window she saw Parker walking up to her door.  Her heart immediately skipped a beat.  She had seen him only a short time ago, but it felt like forever since they had last been together.  A huge smile broke out over her face.

“Aww, would you look at that?” Liana grinned, resting her chin on her hand and watching Clarissa intently.  “I think somebody’s in L-O-V-E!  Clarissa and Parker, sitting in a tree!  K-I-S-S-I-N-G!  First comes love and –” 

“Shh,” Clarissa hissed, attempting to shush her best friend. 

Unfortunately, shutting Liana up was never an easy task.  That woman had far too much energy to ever just sit quietly and mind her own business.  Today was no exception.  She bounced around the kitchen acting like a spaz. 

The more Clarissa begged her to keep her voice down, the louder Liana sang.

Then there was a knock on the door.

Immediately, Liana stopped clowning around.  She walked to the door, acting all dignified.  Typical Liana…she would act all crazy and annoying behind closed doors, but then she would act like a mature, responsible grownup when it suited her. 

“Hi!” Liana exclaimed, as if only just realizing Parker was on the property.  “How are you?”

“Pretty good, thanks.  I hope I’m not interrupting anything?” Parker replied.

“Nope, I was actually just leaving,” Liana told him.

Behind her, Clarissa stared up at the ceiling in exasperation.  “Thank you!” she mouthed.  She didn’t know why Liana always had to carry on like a nutcase whenever Parker’s name came up.  Clarissa’s best friend loved nothing more than teasing her about her relationship!

Liana gathered up her things and walked out to her car.  Parker and Clarissa stood on the front porch watching.  Clarissa’s shoulders felt tense as she snuck sideways glances at her boyfriend.  She was worried he may have overheard Liana teasing her about him.  How embarrassing!

Parker, however, gave no indication that anything was out of the ordinary.  He stood there with his arm around Clarissa, acting as laid back as ever.  Maybe he hadn’t heard.  Clarissa could hope, anyway. 

When she reached her car, Liana turned around and waved. 

“Have fun, you two!” she called out.

“We will,” Parker called back.  “Oh and by the way, nice singing voice!”

The look on Liana’s face nearly made Clarissa burst out laughing.  When she realized Parker had overheard her theatrics, her eyes went wide and her face turned beet red.  She practically dove headfirst into her car before speeding away.

“Sorry about her,” Clarissa apologized awkwardly.  “You know how caffeinated she is…”

“I thought it was funny,” Parker assured her.  “Liana’s a riot.”

“Yeah, she’s something, alright.”  Then Clarissa brightened.  “You’re here!”

“I am,” Parker smiled.  “Is it lame that I missed you so much I couldn’t stand it?”

“If it is, then I’m lame too,” she said, beaming up at him.  “Hi.”

“Hi,” he smiled, leaning down to kiss Clarissa hello.

“I’m impressed that you managed to get out of work at a reasonable time,” she remarked.  Parker’s dad was notorious for making him work late.  In fact, poor Parker was basically expected to work his whole life away.

Parker hesitated.

“What is it?” Clarissa asked.

“I’ve started going in super early just so I can come see you more,” he admitted.

“How early is super early?” she asked.  “Like eight o’clock instead of nine or what?”

“Four,” he mumbled sheepishly.

“You go into the office at four o’clock in the morning?!” Clarissa exclaimed in disbelief.

“It’s worth it,” he assured her.

“You can’t keep doing that,” she cautioned.  “You’ll get run down!  You’ll get sick!”

“I’ll be fine,” Parker insisted.  “And it isn’t forever.  Eventually my father is going to retire.  And then I’ll be able to run things my way.  And you will be happy to know that my way involves leaving the office at a reasonable hour – and seeing a lot more of you.”

“I like the sound of that!” Clarissa smiled.  “What do you want to do tonight?” she asked. 

Parker shrugged.  “I’m not fussy.  As long as I’m with you, I’m happy.”  He glanced at his watch.  “It’s nearly dinnertime – though to tell you the truth, I only got around to having lunch a couple hours ago.  But maybe you’re hungry.  Do you want to go out to dinner?” he suggested.

“Please don’t talk about food!” Clarissa groaned.

“You’re not feeling well?” Parker asked with concern.

“It’s not that.  It’s just…I had a little something to eat not long ago,” Clarissa replied.  Then, in the spirit of being totally honest, she corrected herself.  “Okay, it was a big something.  Liana and I binged on cinnamon loaf.  I’d have saved you a slice had I known you were coming.”

“Maybe next time,” Parker replied.  “I didn’t know Liana baked.”

“I guess it’s her newest hobby.  The stuff she makes is really good!”

“It must be, if you two ate an entire loaf yourselves,” Parker chuckled.  “So dinner is a no.  What would you like to do tonight then?”

Clarissa thought for a moment.  “I have to make a quick call to my aunt,” she told him. 

“Okay.”

“And then…I don’t know…how about we go for a drive?” she suggested innocently.

“Sounds good,” Parker replied unsuspectingly. 

“Make yourself comfortable,” Clarissa said, gesturing to the living room.  “I’m sure the cat will be along any minute to purr incessantly and shed all over you.  I’ll be back in a minute.”  Then she retreated to her bedroom so she could make her call in private.

Normally Clarissa would have no qualms about making a phone call in front of Parker.  But this wasn’t an ordinary phone call. 

She needed some witchy advice from her Aunt Matilda.  And though she didn’t quite understand why, Clarissa knew she wasn’t supposed to let anyone know that she and Matilda were witches.  Not even Parker.  Her aunt had made that abundantly clear!

“Please pick up!” Clarissa whispered as the phone rang.

Finally on the tenth ring, Matilda answered.  “Well if it isn’t my favorite niece named Clarissa!”

“Ha-ha, that’s very clever and oh-so funny,” Clarissa said wryly. 

“I try.”

“What are you up to?” she asked her aunt curiously. 

“Why do you ask?” Matilda replied, huffing and puffing.

“You sound out of breath, and it took you a
long
time to get to the phone.  Are you busy?”

“No, it’s fine.  I was just belly dancing.”

Clarissa had to pause a moment to let that sink in.  “You belly dance?” she asked in surprise.

“Victor wanted to learn, so I’m teaching him.”

“Victor as in the ghost who haunts a lamp you bought a flea market?” Clarissa asked knowingly. 

By now, she was familiar with the bizarre tale.  In fact, she was even starting to get used to her aunt’s odd remarks about said ghost.  What did that say about Clarissa?!  Her new normal was getting wackier and wackier!

“I really do have to introduce you to Victor sometime,” Matilda said, as if it was perfectly normal to talk about introducing one’s niece to a ghost.  “Anyway, what are you up to tonight?” she asked.

“Actually, I need your advice,” Clarissa said.  “I don’t know if you heard, but there’s an open investigation into a suspicious death here in Sugarcomb Lake.  I’m doing a little sleuthing of my own, and I need to use one of the potions from that book you gave me.”

“Which potion is it?” Matilda asked.

“I need to make a truth serum,” Clarissa said.  “I need answers from someone, but I have no way of knowing if he’ll be honest with me.  Thankfully, I found a lovely little concoction near the back of the book of potions you gave me!” she chirped brightly.

“Clarissa, I warned you not to dabble with the advanced spells yet,” Matilda reminded her.  “You’re a new witch.  Stick to the spells near the front of the book.  They’re the easier ones.  If you mess them up, the consequences won’t be too dire.”

“What’s the worst thing that could happen if I mess up the truth serum?” Clarissa asked.

“Death,” Matilda replied.

Clarissa’s eyes widened.  “Are you serious?” she gasped in alarm.

“Well, only if you mess up in a really epic way,” Matilda clarified.  “I mean, if you accidentally put poison in the potion and had someone drink it, then death would be a very real possibility.  Or if somebody choked while drinking it…that could result in death as well.”

Clarissa sighed.  “What’s the worst thing that could
reasonably
happen?”

“It’s different for everyone,” Matilda replied, giving as vague an answer as ever.

Well that was no help whatsoever.  Clarissa didn’t know why she even bothered to ask her aunt things anymore.  She should know by now that doing so was an exercise in futility.  It wasn’t as though the answers Matilda gave were ever clear.  Usually they weren’t even helpful. 

“I don’t want you using the truth serum!” Matilda blurted out suddenly.

“What?  Why?”

“It’s dangerous.  You wouldn’t play with a loaded gun, would you?” Matilda asked.

“Huh?”

“The spells you have been doing are inconsequential.  Think of them as water pistols.  They’re not particularly powerful and they can’t do much damage.  But a loaded gun, on the other hand…that’s best left for the experts.”

“Okay, but I really need to use the truth serum,” Clarissa insisted.  Sometimes people called her stubborn.  She preferred to say she was determined.  But truthfully, she could also be as stubborn as a mule sometimes.

“Promise me you won’t use the truth serum!” Matilda ordered.

Clarissa was silent.

“You’re going to do it no matter what I say, aren’t you?” Matilda sighed.

“Probably,” Clarissa admitted.

“Clarissa!”

“Can you please just help me?” Clarissa begged.

“Even
I
don’t use that particular spell, and I’ve been casting spells a lot longer than you have,” Matilda said.  Then she sighed again.  This time it was a sigh of defeat.  “Okay, here’s what I know:  the truth serum can only be used once every moon cycle.”

“What?  Why?”

“That’s just how it works.  If you try to use the truth serum more often than that, it won’t be effective.  And whatever you do, only ask one question!” Matilda cautioned.

“I can only ask one question?  That seems kind of silly.  Why can’t I ask a bunch of questions?”

“Why can’t you
stop
asking a bunch of questions?” Matilda shot back.  “You asked me to help you, so I’m telling you what I know.  Now quit arguing with me and listen! 

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay.  But Clarissa, it’s very,
very
important you only ask one question.”

“Can you at least tell me why?” Clarissa pressed.  She hated all the arbitrary rules her aunt imposed on her.  Worse yet, Matilda was rarely very clear about
why
Clarissa had to follow specific rules.  It could be pretty infuriating sometimes!

“If you ask too many questions you will probably wind up sick,” Matilda explained.  “You can’t be too greedy or self-serving with magic.  It’s available to enhance and enrich your life, but you can’t expect it to do all the heavy lifting for you.”