A Witching Well of Magic: A Cozy Mystery (Witchy Women of Coven Grove Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

watchfully silent just for a moment before he nodded appreciatively. “Well done. I think a little seafood is in order. You have saved me once again, Bailey. It’s getting to be a habit.”
    Entirely too slick, entirely too charming. Bailey wasn’t going to fall for it. Oh, no, mister. Not this girl. “Be sure and tell them I sent you,” she said. “They love to know people are talking about them.”
    “ I’ll do that,” Aiden said. Then he straighted and shook Avery’s hand again, as well as Bailey’s. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Avery; and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow morning, Bailey. I’ll be there early.” He winked at her, and then turned to leave.
    When he was gone, Avery’s jaw dropped, and he took his thick-rimmed glasses off to polish them with the bottom of his shirt. “Holy. Crap.” He put them back on, and leaned on the counter with both elbows. “Who is this mysterious handsome man?”
    “ Aiden Rivers,” Bailey said flatly. “You’re welcome to him.”
    “ Don’t think I wouldn’t,” Avery said archly, “but I think it’s pretty clear that he is way into you.”
    “ What?” Bailey balked. “He’s just… that’s just him. He flirts. I feel like he would talk to his grandmother like that. No, no, no. If anything, he was laying it on you pretty hard.”
    Avery shrugged a shoulder. “That’d be nice,” he said, “but I think that’s just his affect. He didn’t ask me to dinner.”
    “ He didn’t ask me to dinner either,” Bailey said.
    “ For someone as literate as you are,” Avery muttered, rolling his eyes, “you are so dyslexic when it comes to reading between the lines. Him asking all about ‘oh, woe is me, I have no groceries, where should I eat supper’? That was a line. He wanted you to throw it back to him, and end up going with him.” He held up a finger. “Which you couldn’t have, because we have dinner with Piper tonight and you promised you wouldn’t forget—again—which of course makes it my job to ensure it all happens.”
    It was lucky, too; Bailey had forgotten. The last few times, she’d stood them up, busy working on magic with one of the witches to the point that she was entirely unaware of the passage of several hours, sometimes.
    “ I remembered,” she lied, plaintively.
    “ I had complete faith in you,” Avery said. “So in other news—can we celebrate you getting your old job back with a much better boss?”
    When Bailey sighed, and agreed to it, Avery came around the front desk and did a ceremonial happy-dance with her; it involved jumping up and down, squealing and squawking and being generally excited for a moment. Bailey went ahead and indulged. It was exciting. More so than it had been the first time around, when she’d gotten the job from Poppy at seventeen. Then, it had been grudging and she’d begged the woman to hire her until she caved. This time, she was asked for by name; even if she had slightly shouldered her way into it a little bit.
    It didn’t make Aiden any less mysterious, or Bailey less suspicious. But at the very least, it did make life seem momentarily a little bit like it was inching it’s way back toward normal. So, she’d take it.
     

Chapter 5
    Bailey and Avery met Piper at Brick-a-Brac a few hours later, after the day’s load of books had been re-shelved, and the library locked up for the night. It was a short walk, no need to drive, and gave Bailey time to reflect on just how long it had been since she had more than a short phone call with her friend.
    Avery it was easy to stay in touch with; working at the library with him meant that she saw him at least once a day most days. The witches didn’t call for Bailey to work with them on Wednesdays, so she did have some free time but she rarely took it. There was so much to learn, and the more she delved into the magic, the more she forgot about the world outside it. That would have to change if she wanted to keep her friends, she