A Charming Wish (9 page)

Smacking the palms of my hands on the
steering wheel, I glanced up as tears burned my eyes.

“
Oh my,” I gasped,
glancing out the window, noticing we had stopped right in front of
my old house in Locust Grove. There was a little girl sitting on
the front steps in the exact place I used to sit. “I’d give
anything to be a little girl again.”

Mac rested his hand on my shoulder.
Giving it a squeeze, he encouraged me. “June, we will figure this
out. I know you didn’t do it.”

At that moment, I wished I could break
the spiritual rule that would let spiritualists read other
spiritualists. Then they’d see I didn’t do it.

In silence, we drove to the Piggly
Wiggly.

“
I’ll wait in the car.”
Mac said and continued to write things I had mentioned down in the
notebook. It made me a little concerned he said his memory wasn’t
as good as it used to be, but I believed in him. He had always kept
me safe, along with Mr. Prince Charming and my bracelet.

My intuition told me I was going to be
safe, but I had to clear my own name. But how?

Chapter Eleven

Aisle five, aisle
five
, I thought as I headed straight for
the Ding Dongs. I knew exactly where they were. I’d been going to
that Piggly Wiggly aisle for as far back as I could
remember.

It was Oscar who had gotten me hooked
on the darn cupcakes. Oscar’s uncle always had the best junk food,
whereas Darla refused to allow the ‘poison chemicals’ in the house,
much less put them in our bodies.

I used to sneak out and meet Oscar
under the big oak tree on the far side of his house, out of view of
Darla in case she looked outside, and we’d eat an entire box. I
guess I should clarify, I’d eat an entire box while Oscar
laughed.

“
Stop it,” I whispered. I
had to get Oscar and the good times out of my head or I’d go crazy.
“Need Ding Dongs, need Ding Dongs.” I ran my finger down the aisle
where they always sat, but the shelf was empty.

“
Did you say Ding Dongs?”
The guy in the green Piggly Wiggly employee shirt asked.

“
Yes.” Frantically I
rushed up and down the aisle to see where they had moved
them.

“
You aren’t going to find
any. They stopped making them.”

“
You are joking, right?” I
stopped dead in my tracks and searched his pimply teenage face. He
was wrong. He was teasing me. My gut tugged, telling me he wasn’t
wrong, but my head told me he was. “You are a liar!”

“
Whoa.” A woman’s voice
called out from behind me. “June?”

“
You are crazy, lady.” The
kid pointed at me before he walked away.

“
Are you okay?” Adeline
was standing in front of me. Her mouth gaped open.

“
No. No. Nothing is okay.”
I threw my hands up in the air and burst out crying.

“
Come on.” She wrapped her
arms around me and ushered me thru the swinging doors that read
‘Employees Only’. “Clear out. Emergency.” She told the employees to
leave.

“
Can you do that?” I
questioned her as she placed me in a chair at the table where the
employees had been eating. My stomach growled looking at their
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Another person walked in.

“
I said leave!” She
pointed toward the door. “Tell Brady to order pizza for
everyone.”

The employee smiled, walking out to
leave us alone.

“
Brady is the cashier
manager today.” She smiled, lifting her hands in the air. “You have
A Charming Cure, I have the Piggly Wiggly.”

“
You are the owner?” Good.
I had the right person who could answer my Ding Dong dilemma. “Then
you can tell me---where are the Ding Dongs? They have been in aisle
five for as far back as I can recall.”

“
They aren’t making them
anymore. We had to do away with the entire display.” There was a
sadness in her voice and eyes. “I’m so sorry. Be glad that you have
those delicious treats you gave me that are similar to them. I’m
losing money left and right since the supplier stopped all
production.”

“
I know.” I shuffled my
foot. “My friend at Wicked Good Bakery in Whispering Falls makes
them. But there’s just something about the real thing and
unwrapping that foil.”

“
This can be a good thing.
Maybe you can do something different to help out with stress.” She
stood up and put her hands together in a praying position. “I was
going to check on you today after what happened last
night.”

“
Oh, yeah.” Kenny’s dead
body was tattooed on my brain. “Last night.”

“
Do they know what
happened to him?” She leaned against the table.

“
He was murdered, but the
autopsy isn’t back yet.” I made a mental note to make a quick visit
to Two Sisters and a Funeral. Surely the results from his autopsy
were back by now.

“
I know you didn’t do it.
You have to find a better way to soothe that stress of yours.” She
bowed with her hands still in the clasped position. “I really think
you should join me in yoga.”

Yoga? Chocolate? Weighing the two, I
think chocolate wins.

“
I’ll think about it.” I
straightened my shirt. “I’m going to go. Thanks so much for your
help.”

“
Anytime.” Adeline made it
to the door before me and opened it. “It feels good to help you out
instead of the other way around.”

“
Technically, you just
killed my one and only bad habit.” I bit my lip trying to figure
out how I was going to get my hands on some Ding Dongs. “I’ll let
you know about the yoga thingy.”

Pish.
There was no way I was going to do that meditating crap when
all I needed was a Ding Dong.

“
Hi,” Adeline’s voice rose
to a high-pitched squeal when a sandy blond-haired guy greeted
us.

Hmm
…Was this why single women went to the grocery store? To find
a man? No wonder the produce section was so popular.

He bent down and gave Adeline a kiss
to remember. She melted right into him, forgetting all about me and
my dilemma.

“
I’m sorry.” Adeline’s
face was rosy red as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand,
and then rubbed her hand down the hot, hunky man. “George, this is
June. The owner of…”

“
A Charming Cure.” He
smiled and nodded. George stuck his hand out. We shook. “It’s great
to meet the face behind the name. My Adeline has told me all about
you.”

“
It’s nice to meet you.” I
pointed toward the door. “I really need to get going.”

“
Okay.” Adeline tucked her
arms in the crook of his elbow, locking her hands. Her shoulders
rolled up. “I’ll check back with you about yoga.”

“
You aren’t trying to get
her to do yoga are you?” By the sound of George’s voice, she must
be trying to get him to go with her.

“
I’ll think about it.”
George reminded me of how I had to find a new stress relief,
putting a bitter taste back in my mouth. “I’ll see you later.” I
eyed her suspiciously, my gut tugged and I fiddled with my
fingers.

Angrily, I stomped back to the Green
Machine. Mac had rolled down the window and was drumming his
fingers on the windowsill.

“
Where have you been?”
Hastily he rolled the window back up.

“
You aren’t going to
believe this.” I let out a big sigh. “They are no longer making
Ding Dongs, the end of an era and the end of sanity for
me.”

“
You better find something
and quick.” Mac’s voice sent chills up my spine. “Wicked Goods was
robbed last night.”

“
Oh, no.” I gasped. “Do
they think the killer broke in there?”

“
They think
you
did.” Mac opened his
damn notebook. “The only thing they took,” he looked up, his eyes
hollow, “were June’s Gems.”

Instantly, Adeline’s face hit my
mind’s eye like a ton of bricks. My gut curled in knots. My
instincts told me her name was written all over this. Not only did
she get the June’s Gems for her boyfriend, but she was also
standing there last night when Petunia and Gerald stumbled across
Kenny. Plus, she’d do anything to keep that boyfriend of hers.
After all, all she wanted the first time she came into A Charming
Cure was a potion to help in the relationship department. All I
gave her was a box of June’s Gems without a potion.

Did Kenny see her stealing from Wicked
Good and try to stop her, and she killed him?

“
What?” Mac questioned me.
“Tell me what you are thinking. I need the truth June.”

“
The truth is…” I stopped,
and looked at the front of the Piggly Wiggly. Adeline was standing
next to the sliding doors, waving her fingers in the air as she
said bye to me.

I put the car in drive.

“
The truth is I’m
innocent.” With my eyes ahead of me, I decided to keep my intuitive
claims about Adeline private. I had a lot of questions that needed
to be answered, and I was going to find out the answers for
myself.

“
Ohmmmm…” I
hummed.

“
What?” Mac’s nose
twitched, and he had a peculiar look on his face.

“
Nothing.” I inhaled what
was supposed to be fresh air to help with the Zen, but it smelled
like the ole Green Machine. Practicing yoga just might be what I
needed to get to the truth about who

killed Kenny and broke into Wicked
Good.

Chapter Twelve

“
Am not!” Belur screamed.
He could be heard arguing with Madame Torres even with the door
shut and a couch pillow over my head.

“
Are too!” Madame Torres
knew how to get under Belur’s skin when she told him he was a fat
blob with no real powers.

“
Am not!”

“
Yep you are!” She was
confident in her argument and he really couldn’t do anything but
what he was told. “You can only grant wishes. Not like me. I can
see exactly what is going to happen to people, and show June
pictures of things going on around her.”

Hiss,
hiss
. Mr. Prince Charming darted out of
the bedroom and jumped on the couch. He rubbed his body against my
hand that was holding the pillow in place.

I didn’t have the energy to play
referee between them.

Pulling the pillow off my head, I sat
up and smoothed my hair before I reached down and patted Mr. Prince
Charming.

“
I know this is going to
protect me, but I wish I could have a break in the murder.
Something.” I bit my lip trying to listen to my instincts, but
nothing was coming. “Come on.”

The knock at the door startled me. It
was loud and demanding.

Meow, meow.
Mr. Prince Charming jumped up on the kitchen
counter and stood on the window seal looking out.

Slowly I walked to the door, hoping it
was Oscar, but not here to arrest me.

“
What a fine mess the
village president has gotten herself into.” Aunt Helena swept past
me, as her long red-pointy fingernail tweaked my nose. Her long
black cloak created a breeze that sent chills up my
spine.

My Great Aunt Helena was my father’s
aunt and the Dean of Hidden Hall A Spiritualist University. She was
the last person I wanted to see. I’m sure I had disappointed
her.

“
Come on in,” I
sarcastically muttered while shutting the door. “Can I get you
something to drink?”

Her cloak flew open, revealing a
couple of to-go cups from The Gathering Grove and a brown bag. The
goodies scent wafted through the room, making my stomach
growl.

“
I thought I’d stop by and
bring you some food.” Her eyes roamed up and down my body. “I can
see that you haven’t slept or eaten.”

Opening the cupboard door, I pulled
out two small plates and sat them on the small kitchen table.
“Being accused of murder and now theft, and losing my boyfriend,
leaves me with little appetite.” I opened the bag after she handed
it to me. Suddenly I was starving. I took a big bite of one of the
blueberry muffins. “Mmmm.” I closed my eyes, relaxing for the first
time in twenty-four hours.

Patience and Constance Karmina popped
into my head.

Which meant I needed to plan a little
visit to Two Sisters and a Funeral Home. Their image was quickly
replaced with Madame Torres.

“
I’ll be right back.” I
dropped the muffin back on the plate and rushed to the bedroom,
quickly glancing back at Aunt Helena who was watching every single
move I made. With a slight smile, I disappeared into the room. “You
two stop it,” I whispered, looking back and forth between the two.
“My Aunt can’t know about Belur, so stop fighting. I will deal with
you when she leaves. Got it?”

Belur was in his bottle, but it was
glowing an omescent purple that shut off as soon as I said to stop,
but Madame Torres was a different story. Why on earth did I think
she was going to cooperate?

While walking over to her to give her
a scolding, I noticed it wasn’t Madame Torres at all. I picked the
crystal ball up to get a closer look.