Mia Malone has opened a catering business in Magic Springs, Idaho, putting both her culinary expertise and her gift for spellcasting to good use. But it'll take more than witchcraft to make a murderer disappear behind bars . . .
Mia Malone has landed a lucrative and convenient gig, catering a reunion at the old school that's become her new business headquarters. The town swirls with rumors that St. Catherine's Preparatory is haunted, but there's one living visitor that Mia wasn't expecting—her mother. Theresa Malone stepped away from the magic that runs in Mia's family, much to the annoyance of Mia's grandmother. Soon Mia has to deal with more than personal drama when Robin Hanover, the head of the reunion committee, is murdered in one of the classrooms.
Robin had a history as a mean girl. Could one of her old enemies have been nursing a grudge all this time? Or is the culprit even closer to home? Mia will need the help of her magic, her wits, and her family to figure out the truth—before she gets schooled by a clever killer . . .
Release date:
April 27, 2021
Publisher:
Kensington Books
Print pages:
80
* BingeBooks earns revenue from qualifying purchases as an Amazon Associate as well as from other retail partners.
The old gym on the first floor of the building (that now held Mia’s Morsels but used to be St. Catherine’s Preparatory) had never looked so good. Mia Malone had bought the school and kept it from being torn down by the town’s redevelopment monster, John Louis. John had made several plays for the building (including one at gunpoint, which had gotten him some jail time), but Mia had won each battle. She just hoped she would eventually win the war.
Magic Springs was too little a town to have to deal with an enemy on a day-to-day basis. Mia kept trying to keep her karma clean by not wishing for bad things to happen to the local real estate agent, but his actions were making it harder and harder.
Anyway, that was a worry for another day. Today, the school reunion committee was arriving early for a final walk-through of the weekend’s events. Mia had been skeptical when Robin Hanover, the committee chair, had called a few months ago, asking to rent the building and have Mia cater all the reunion’s events. However, when Robin had told Mia the budget, she’d agreed to host. This one event would be enough to pay the mortgage on the building for a year, but she was going to tuck it away in savings, just in case she needed a new oven or worse, a furnace.
Christina Adams walked back from fixing a loose streamer across the basketball court that had fallen after the decorating committee had finished their final touches last night. “It looks like prom night at a small-town high school.”
“They did the best they could. Besides, when we turn off the main lights and turn on the lamps, it will be lovely.” Mia smiled at her assistant. Christina had gone to the best private school in Boise and had been poised to attend a high-end Ivy League school when she’d taken a gap year and gone to Vegas to be a dancing star. When she’d come home, she’d moved in with Mia and decided to get her degree at the local college in Twin Falls. Her mother was paying the tuition, but not without a lot of protesting. Mia glanced at her watch. “Are you staying for the walk-through? They should be here any moment.”
“Do you need me?” Christina looked around the gym one more time. “Since we’re going to be swamped all weekend, I told Levi he could take me to dinner tonight. We’re going to Twin to the new steak place. He says it’s amazing, but he doesn’t eat at your table every night.”
“What a sweet thing to say.” Mia liked Christina’s new boyfriend, but Levi Majors was a bit of a local playboy. His brother, Trent, ran the small-town grocery store and was a much safer choice, at least in the romance arena. Mia should know—she was dating him. She motioned toward the door. “Go get out of here and have some fun. I’ll take notes, and if there are any last-minute changes, we’ll fix them tomorrow morning.”
“You’re awesome. Best boss ever.” Christina paused on her way out to the lobby. Her long hair was pink this week and pulled up into a bouncy ponytail.
Mia liked Christina’s hair; it fit her personality and her mood lately. Out of the two women, Christina was the adventurous one. Mia never knew what color hair her assistant would come back from the salon with. Mia kept her own hair brown, although she had been ironing out the curls to make her bob straight.
“Is Trent coming over for dinner tonight?”
“Nope. I’m going to heat up leftovers, then grab a book and soak in the tub. It might be the last chance I have to relax until Sunday night. We’ve got a lot of orders for delivery next week but no event on the weekend. So catch your breath now. We’ll be running full steam until after Tuesday’s deliveries.”
After Christina left to get ready for her date, Mia walked over to the windows to take in the breathtaking view of the Magics. The mountain range started outside the town that had been nestled in the small valley. In winter, the mountains were covered with snow. Early summer, like today, you could still see snow on the top peak, but the mountains were getting ready for campers and hikers rather than ski bums. In any season, the view was breathtaking. Another reason she’d wanted to reinvent her life here rather than in Boise after her breakup. She knew she’d made the right choice—every time she looked outside at the view.
A window company had been here earlier this week, finishing the cleaning of all the windows in the school at considerable cost. But the early summer light was too beautiful to let dim through dirty glass. The large building that had held the school was hard to maintain, but oh so worth it. Mia’s magic tingled as she walked through the empty room. She’d known when she’d moved here that buying the school was the right thing to do. Now with this event and a delivery service that had continued to grow since she’d opened it, she thought she might just be able to keep Mia’s Morsels in business for at least another year. One day at a time. That’s all she needed. One event, then another.
When she made her way to the lobby to wait for the reunion committee, she was surprised to see a figure standing by the menu board, reading the dishes available for takeout. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t know anyone was here yet. You must be from the reunion committee. I’m so excited to be hosting your event this year.”
Mia approached the figure, her hand outstretched, but dropped it when the woman turned and smiled at her.
“Mother?”
“Mia, darling, it’s so good to see you. I didn’t realize how much you’d already done with the place.” Theresa Carpenter Malone looked around the bright yellow room Mia had just finished touch-up painting. Her mom was the light to her dark. She wore her straight blond hair in a stylish bob with a touch of curl at the end. And from the look of her skin, her mother might have had another spa treatment, meaning plastic surgery, recently. “Your father is busy with a case, so he won’t be joining us this weekend. Come give me a hug.”
Mia’s hands went up instinctively and smoothed her hair. Then she forced her hands down and stepped forward to open her arms and hug her mother. The physical contact was short, and her mother stepped away first. Mia took a breath before asking, “What on earth are you doing here?”
Her mother frowned. “I thought you knew. I’m one of the committee members. When Robin found out you owned the school, she asked me if I’d come on board to try to get you to take on the event. I told her I’d be glad to serve. But I knew you would love to host our little reunion.”
“The guest list is fewer than a hundred people. I can’t believe that’s all the kids who went to school here.” Mia had wondered about the lack of participants but thought it rude to ask the person who was paying her. Since her mom was on the inside, she might be able to gain some intel on the group before the rest showed up.
“Of course not. But not everyone wants to be part of the fun. I swear, people take one little incident and blow it completely. . .
We hope you are enjoying the book so far. To continue reading...
Please log in to recommend or discuss...
