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

knew, and she’d call me at my mama’s chapel if any help was needed.
    I set Roly and Poly in the basket of Bessie Blue, my turquoise bike, and took a look around the Ring. Tourists roamed the stone walkway, window shopping at the shops that lined the cozy circle. An idyllic park was set in the middle of the Ring, with picnic benches, pathways, and a gazebo that was often used for weddings.
    Hitching Post was consistently named one of America’s most beautiful small towns, and it was easy to see why. In the distance, verdant Appalachian foothills overlooked the Darling River, and the town’s landscaping committee went above and beyond with its colorful flowerbeds and hanging flowerpots. Everything was neat and clean, picturesque and quaint.
    The discordant image of a blood-covered GabiGreenleigh didn’t mesh with the peaceful setting, and I hoped that Delia’s dream had been just that . . . a dream, or rather, a nightmare. Not a premonition. But I couldn’t shake the tingles of my own internal warning system and feared that all hell was about to break loose in this charming little town.
    What I wondered was if I could prevent it from happening . . . or if the trouble had already been set in motion.
    I was pondering that as I pedaled toward home to drop off the cats before heading to my mama’s chapel. As I passed Dèjá Brew, I did a double take when I spotted my curmudgeonly aunt Marjie, one of the Odd Ducks, and her new boyfriend, Johnny Braxton, sitting at an outside bistro table.
    Along with a host of other businesses around town, Johnny owned the Little Wedding Chapel of Love and was my mama’s biggest competitor. Their rivalry knew no limits, and neither was opposed to fighting dirty. My mama had recently one-upped him in a big way, and he was undoubtedly looking for retribution.
    Johnny knew my mama’s Achilles heel was her family, and I didn’t think it was any kind of fluke that he’d started dating Marjie not long after Mama bested him. An added incentive for wooing Marjie was that he wanted to buy her inn, and would do just about anything to get it from her, including trying to slip her one of my love potions. Fortunately, I’d thwarted that plan.
    Marjie knew all this.
    So
why
she had agreed to date him was still a bit of a mystery. However, my aunt was no one’s fool, so I wasn’t too worried about her getting hurt. She had her ownmotives, and though I didn’t know what they were, I was curious about the game they were playing with each other.
    I rolled up to their table to say hello.
    If Bluto from
Popeye
had a grandfather, he would look like Johnny Braxton. Barrel chest, white hair, trimmed white beard, permanent scowl, and a hint of villainy. He was one of the richest and most successful businessmen in Hitching Post, but his sour personality had kept him a bachelor all his life.
    Johnny eyed the cats with disdain (they returned the look), and said with a measure of judgment, “Quittin’ early today. Some might question your work ethic, Miss Carly.”
    “I’m off to help my mama at her chapel,” I said, sugar sweet. “There’s some kind of big wedding there this weekend.”
    The vein in his forehead pulsed. He’d just about busted a gut when he found out the Calhouns had chosen Mama’s chapel over his, a fact my mama had managed to mention each and every time she’d run into him. My mama wasn’t above a little gloating.
    Marjie lifted an eyebrow, and I swear her eyes were twinkling.
Twinkling.
Then she said to me, “You’d best get on with yourself then.”
    I noticed that she’d actually tried to tame her brown Brillo-pad brown hair into some semblance of a style, and that there was a smear of blush on her cheeks.
    I lifted my own eyebrow. My aunt was taking this dating game very seriously indeed if she altered her normally nonexistent grooming habits.
    Johnny’s cheeks reddened. Just the sight of me tendedto have that effect on him, but I also knew he had heart troubles.
    I