One Potion in the Grave: A Magic Potion Mystery Read Online Free PDF

the notion.
    Tears puddled again. “He’s only marrying me because his daddy is forcing him to. Some sort of political ploy, an agreement they made years ago.”
    Dang. That was low, even for Warren Calhoun.
    “You’re okay with that?” I propped a hip against the counter. “With marrying a man who doesn’t love you? Seems like you’re borrowing trouble, and I don’t think that’s the ‘something borrowed’ meant for your wedding day.”
    “I know I should have more pride, but he’s just . . .” Her voice trailed off, and her eyes once again filled with a sadness so deep it nearly broke my heart. “He’s everything I want.”
    “Is he?” I asked softly. “Truly?”
    Gabi looked between us, and I knew instantly the moment she realized she’d said too much. A cloud crossed her eyes—a flash of panic—before she slipped on a mask of indifference.
    “You didn’t hear any of that from me,” she said. “I should go.”
    The door swung open and Caleb Montgomery came into the shop carrying a cardboard tray filled with coffee cups and a take-out bag from Dèjá Brew. “Carly Hartwell, just for you I snatched the last fudge brownie straight off the plate of some national news reporter fromwho-knows-where who then called me a two-bit hillbilly.” He snorted and set the bag on the counter. “I’m worth at least four bits. I mean, come on.”
    Divorce attorney Caleb Montgomery was one of the town’s peacocks and was probably the least hillbilly of anyone in Darling County, with his fancy clothes and haircut, which cost a lot more than four bits. We’d been friends since second grade.
    Gabi quickly set her hat on her head. “Look at the time. I best get going.”
    “What about your potion?” I asked. “It’ll only take a second. . . .”
    Emotion tumbled across her beautiful features. “I should go. Thank you for your time and for listening to me go on and on.” She dashed out the door.
    Caleb lifted the tab on his coffee cup and an eyebrow at the same time. “Something I said?”
    “Just your usual way with women.” Ainsley dug into the bag and pulled out a chocolate cookie.
    Caleb smiled at her jab, taking it in stride. He was used to it. “At least I don’t have to bribe my mother-in-law with hooch to watch my kids.”
    Ainsley bit into the cookie. “Not yet, leastways. Your time will come.”
    A look of pure terror crossed his face—I wasn’t sure which comment hit him like a two-by-four. The fact that he might some day have a mother-in-law . . . or kids. He was a confirmed bachelor and liked it that way just fine. I, however, was determined to set him up. I had someone in mind, too, but getting them together was easier said than done considering they couldn’t abide being in the same room.
    “Was that . . .” He gestured toward the door.
    Crumbs littered the floor as Ainsley nodded and spoke around the cookie she was chewing. “Poor girl.” Poly happily pounced on the crumbs, lapping them up with a swift pink tongue. “If I were her I’d run and never look back.”
    Caleb looked between us. “I give them six months. If that.” He had an uncanny knack for predicting how long a marriage would last. I’d never had the nerve to ask him if he thought Dylan and I could make it to happily-ever-after. There were some things this witch didn’t need to know.
    “Only because she left without a love potion,” Ainsley said.
    Poly stared up at her, hoping for more crumbs. He was out of luck.
    “She was looking for a love potion?” Caleb set his coffee on the counter and leaned forward. “Spill.”
    Ainsley and I filled him in on the strange visit—and on Katie Sue’s return as well.
    His eyes widened. “I can’t believe Katie Sue is planning on going up against the Calhouns. It’s akin to playing with fire.”
    “Maybe Katie Sue’s the one holding the matches,” I said, thinking about her possibly being a woman scorned. My skin tingled again. Trouble was in the air,