Easy Bake Coven: Book One of the Vivienne Finch Magical Mysteries (5 page)

Taking
a seat at one of the three bistro-style tables that took up the remaining floor
space, she opened a spiral-bound notebook that contained her ‘to do’ lists and
went over the agenda for the day.

As
she sipped her tea and let the liquid warm her throat, the peaceful morning was
interrupted with the sound of a man and woman having some sort of argument.

She
couldn’t help but wander over to her empty display window to see what all the
fuss was about. She had a clear view of the couple arguing across the street
and was shocked to see Joshua in his deputy uniform writing a ticket in front
of Mona Clarke’s gray luxury sedan.

“This
is outrageous!” She shrieked, her voice transmitting easily through the thin
glass of Vivienne’s store. “I was only parking here for a minute. And on
official city business, I might add.”

“Which
is directly in front of a fire hydrant,” Joshua interrupted, “And clearly
marked as a ‘no parking zone’ with several signs.”

Mona
put her hands on her hips. “That’s because there is never any parking on this street
for anyone thanks to all the tenants who live above the businesses.”

“I’m
not the parking commission, ma’am.” Joshua finished the ticket and handed it to
her with a black-gloved hand.

“Do
you even know who I am?” She took a step toward him, defiantly.

“Mona
Clarke. Fourteen hundred Presidential Circle.” He recited from memory.

“I’m
the mayor’s wife and as I tried to tell you I was conducting vital city
business when you so rudely interrupted me.” Her voice was stern and cold, as
if she were addressing some petulant teenager.

“This
vehicle isn’t one of the city fleet.” He reasoned.

“I’m
doing my civic duty to save the taxpayers money by using my own vehicle and
gasoline.” She sniffed.

‘That’s
a hot one.’ Vivienne thought to herself as she took another sip of her tea and
watched the argument continue to unfold outside. It was proving to be better
than anything on daytime television these days.

“You
can take it up with the city manager or the Mayor if you desire, Mrs. Clarke.”
Joshua kept his voice flat and at a professional yet controlled volume.

“Why
don’t you give tickets to all these cars that hog up the streets so people
can’t shop?” She asked him. “Aren’t they supposed to use odd/even parking?”

“A
blocked fire hydrant is a clear danger,” he insisted, “One that could cost
lives if a fire broke out.” He gestured to the other cars around her. “Everyone
else is legally parked.”

She
snatched the ticket from his hand. “This isn’t over, you know. My husband is
going to hear about this. He will personally visit Sheriff
Rigsbee
to let him know how displeased he is with this sort of nonsense.”

He
tipped his hat to her. “You have a good morning Mrs. Clarke.”

She
stomped away from him and yanked open her car door. “I wouldn’t get too cozy
settling in here. This is a small town and people who make waves don’t usually
end up staying terribly long.”

“I’m
going to pretend I didn’t just hear you make a threat against an officer of the
law.” He warned her. “Now please move along.”

She
disappeared into her car and slammed the door with enough force to make sure he
knew she meant business. Vivienne couldn’t help but feel bad for Joshua who had
the misfortune of seeing the real Mona Clarke. She kept her public persona up
so well that it was rare to see her true colors. Kathy and Clara certainly
weren’t exaggerating the other day at the diner.

As
Joshua started to get into his patrol car he paused for a moment and then
looked right at Vivienne.

She
gave him a little wave and went to open her door to see if he wanted to come in
and see her new store.

He
nodded politely and then sped off in a hurry leaving her alone on Main Street
once again.

She
removed her hand from the door knob and sighed. “Must not be a good time.” She
spoke to herself and went back to her lists.

*
  
*
  
*

The
next time she glanced at her watch it was quarter to three in the afternoon.
She took a step back to admire the wire shelves that were now filled with all
the items from her stockroom. She had rearranged everything several times until
deciding on the perfect placement for easy viewing and purchasing.

The
echo that she had become so used to hearing inside the store was less
noticeable as she walked over to the counter where her new register was
installed. Next on her list was the tedious task of programming all the
individual department buttons to help her keep track of inventory and sales.
The clerk at the warehouse store had tried to steer her toward one of the new
fancy ‘point-of-sale’ terminals, but she never was much of a fan of computers.
True, she had grown up with them as a child of the 80’s, but they never seemed
to like her and the feeling was mutual.

She
did have a computer at home, but it was only used for email and for browsing
the internet while shopping at Christmas. How it worked was a mystery. One she
was very happy to leave as such. As long as it turned on and did what she
asked, she was happy.

She
pulled out the rather skimpy manual that was barely four pages, two of them in
Spanish. As she pressed the power button, the machine hummed and emitted a
shrill beep to announce that it required a roll of receipt paper.

Nora
stepped through the front entrance with her usual greeting yodel of “
Yoo
hoo
.” As she closed the door,
she stopped in her tracks. “You colored your hair!” She gushed.

“Thanks
for noticing and hello to you too, Mother.” She tore open the plastic wrap
around the receipt spool and dropped the paper into the proper slot.

Nora
joined her at the counter. “It’s such a rich color, really goes well with your
pale complexion.” She turned her attention to the new cash register. “I didn’t
think they still made these things.”

“Yes,
they do.” Vivienne answered as she closed the receipt bin and turned her
attention back to the manual and the tiny section of how to assign different
departments to specific keys.

“Most
of the stores I shop at have these wonderful computer terminals.” Nora
continued. “Just amazing what they can do with those.”

“That’s
all well and nice.” Vivienne’s brow furrowed as the instructions did not yield
the information she hoped for. “But I’m not coordinating a NASA launch, just
selling cakes and cookies.”

“There’s
no need to get snippy.” Nora chided as she set down a large shopping bag from
Trade Winds Clothier
.

Vivienne
looked up from the manual. “Kathy said she was having a good sale. Looks like
you found some things.”

“It’s
never too early to start Christmas shopping.” Nora sat down in one of the
bistro chairs and sighed. “I hope to have all of it done before Thanksgiving.”

“What
about Black Friday?” Vivienne thought of the many cold nights spent with her mother
outside waiting for stores to open with door buster sales. Each year the
openings seemed to come earlier and earlier and the behavior of the eager
crowds grew worse and worse.

“It’s
getting a little too crazy, even for me.” Nora answered as she looked around at
the stocked shelves. “Is that really the best place to display the aprons?”

“It
makes sense.” Vivienne answered.

“About
no longer shopping on Black Friday or the aprons?” Nora asked.

“Both.”

Nora
chuckled. “You sound so much like your father used to.”

Vivienne
missed her father, even after five years of not having him around anymore. She
thought of him often, usually whenever something good happened. “I wish he
could be here to see this.”

“He
sees it.” Nora was quick to answer. “He sees more now than he ever did.”

“I
know.” Vivienne’s voice grew soft. “I just miss him.”

“I
do like where you have the cookbooks.” Nora changed the subject. “Do you have
any Rachael Ray ones?”

“She’s
not a baker.” Vivienne reminded her.

“She
had some actress on her show the other day, that one from that show we watch on
Sunday nights.” Nora snapped her fingers. “You know who I’m talking about.”

“Are
you talking about the blond that plays Sandy Briar on ‘Retribution’?”

“Yes!”
Nora smiled. “She was a real class act, I must say. They made some kind of
vegetarian club sandwich together.”

“I’ve
been so busy here I haven’t paid much attention to daytime television.”
Vivienne set the manual down and pushed ‘program cash register’ to the bottom
of the list.

“Speaking
of our nights, how was yours?” Nora coyly asked.

“It
was fine.”

“You
didn’t chicken out, did you?”

“Why
does everyone jump to that conclusion first?” Vivienne asked.

“Who
else thought that?” Nora asked.

“Kathy.”

Nora’s
eyes narrowed. “She was nicer than usual to me at the store. Must be she was
fishing for information too.”

Vivienne
threw her hands up in frustration. “You all don’t have to tip toe around to
find out what I’m doing in my private life. Why don’t you just ask me what you
want to hear?”

“This
isn’t the Spanish Inquisition.” Nora interrupted. “I was just wondering how you
two sparked.”

Vivienne
took a moment to compose her emotions. She knew that the stress of opening the
store was growing as the grand opening crept closer to reality. She didn’t wish
to take it out on everyone around her like so many others seemed to do these
days. “He was a gentleman in every sense of the word.” She revealed and pulled
up a chair to sit down across from her mother.

“I’m
so glad.” Nora gushed with pride. “Hard to believe he’s still single.”

“We
had dinner at
Shanghai Sunset
.”

“So
what did you learn about him?”

Vivienne
paused for a moment and then realized how little he had talked about himself.
She actually couldn’t think of anything new or personal that he had shared
during their date. “Not much.”

“Where’s
he from?”

“He
mentioned a city, I think.” She thought back to their conversation over dinner.
“But I don’t recall if he gave a specific name.”

Nora
shifted in her chair. “That’s a bit odd.”

“Is
it really?”

“That’s
the topic of conversation when you’re new in a small town.” Nora replied. “I’m
surprised that he never brought it up.”

“Well
we had a great time, despite the lack of personal information.” Vivienne took
her mother’s hand in hers and gave it a little squeeze. “Thank you for setting
us up.”

Nora
smiled at her daughter. “So you’re going to go out with him again?”

“Yes.”
Vivienne thought carefully of her answer and amended it to curtail any gossip.
“If he asks me again, that is.”

“He’d
be a fool to let a successful small business woman opening her own shop in this
terrible economy slip away.” Nora gestured to the bakery with pride. “Not to
mention such a beautiful daughter.”

“Thanks,
Mother.”

It
was right at the peak of dinner hour that Vivienne stepped into the Monarch
Grocery store and snagged one of the smaller grocery carts, stashing her green
fabric grocery bags on the lower rack near the wheels. As she pushed her cart
along through the produce aisle, she stopped to admire the display of apples
from some of the local orchards. There were so many varieties to choose from,
but she had her favorites when it came to baking.

The
Northern Spy apple, with its partly green and red coloring was the one her grandmother
always picked on their fall orchard visits. It was a hearty apple, with a tough
exterior that allowed it to keep much longer than the other varieties. It was
the perfect choice for her grandmother, who had grown up during the depression
and always looked for the best value for her money.

She
found a half-bushel and placed it into her cart with the intention of turning
out some rustic apple blossoms for the grand opening. As she wound through the
displays of vegetables, she picked up a small bag of salad mix that would serve
as a quick dinner at the bakery when she finished programming the register.

She
had just turned the corner toward the deli counter when she nearly bumped carts
with Kathy who appeared to also be on a dinner scouting mission. “They just let
anyone shop here now, I tell you.” She joked.

Kathy
blinked for a moment before recognizing her best friend. “You colored your
hair. It looks wonderful.”

“Did
you finally go see Marie at
Nouveau You
?”

“I
did it on my own.” Vivienne smiled and moved her cart to the side so a harried Mother
with four hyper children could get past her. “But thanks for the compliment
regardless.”