Mountain Charm (2 page)

It was hard to argue with her. Despite Celia’s failing health, her visions of the future were as clear as ever.

After finishing breakfast and clearing the dishes, Angelina grabbed her bag, and her mom followed her to the door. It was a half-hour drive into town, and Angelina wanted to beat the city traffic and do some paperwork before the shop opened at nine.

Celia handed her daughter an umbrella. “Red dawn. Rain’s coming.”

“I know.”

“See? You
do
believe.” Celia’s blue eyes twinkled, and Angelina smiled because it was so good to see her mom excited about something. Celia reached for her daughter’s blouse and adjusted the collar that didn’t need adjusting at all. “You look so pretty today. I’ve always loved this color on you. It brings out the blue in your eyes.”

All of their female ancestors had bright blue eyes. It was the one physical trait that never seemed to skip a generation.

“You have been given such gifts, Angelina. You should use them. And I wish you could see the spell as a blessing instead of a curse.”

“But it
is
a curse.”

Her mother laughed lightly, knowing it was a losing battle. They’d had this same argument for years. She’d always believed
curse
gave the whole thing a negative connotation. She preferred
spell
or
enchantment
, while Angelina preferred to forget she’d ever blown out that silly candle.

“My sweet, pessimistic daughter. You’ll see.”

Angelina grinned and kissed her mom’s cheek.

“That’s what you keep telling me,” she said.

Soft bluegrass music flowed from the speakers, flooding the shop with the sounds of acoustic guitars and gentle mandolins. Angelina spent the morning hanging the new instruments on the far wall of the shop. They were well-crafted and beautiful, just as the Massey brothers had promised.

“Celia’s right, you know,” Maddie said.

Angelina shook her head and climbed down from the stepladder, taking a second to admire the craftsmanship of the newest selection of instruments. Customers flew in from as far away as California to buy them—a fact that had always made Samuel Clark immensely proud. Providing musicians with quality instruments was the one family tradition Angelina was determined to uphold.

 Her best friend and business partner, however, was always reminding Angelina of the traditions she wished to forget.

They’d been best friends since elementary school, so Maddie Price knew all about Angelina’s family heritage. Actually, the entire community knew. For Angelina, it hadn’t been easy growing up in Maple Ridge when the whole town believed she dabbled in witchcraft. That was why she’d always been cautious and reserved when it came to using her gifts.

Sure, she’d had some fun with it back in school. Back in eighth grade—after catching Christine Williams kissing Maddie’s boyfriend in the school library—Angelina had pretended to curse Christy with pimples. It’d been a complete coincidence, of course, when the girl woke up the next day with her very first zit—right on the tip of her nose. Celia had grounded her daughter for two weeks, but even at the age of twelve, Angelina knew the punishment was worth it.

The witchcraft rumors had quieted down over the years, but some of the older residents still loved to talk about Abigail Rose, the famous Witch Doctor of Maple Ridge. If the tales were true, Angelina’s great-great-great grandmother had delivered all the babies in the county and used mountain medicine to heal everything from snakebites to chicken pox.

Maddie had always been fascinated by it all and had spent most of her childhood begging Angelina’s parents to adopt her.

“You are blessed, Angelina, no doubt about it,” Maddie told her friend. “You are beautiful and smart. You own a successful business, and this is the year you’ll finally meet the love of your life. No more horrible dates with complete losers. It’s the ultimate fairy tale, and I’m a little disappointed you aren’t sufficiently excited about this.”

 “First of all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” Angelina said as she walked back toward the counter. “If I
were
beautiful—which I’m not—it would be because of my mother’s genes and not some crazy curse. If I am successful, it’s because I work my ass off seven days a week.”

Maddie laughed. “And when your true love walks through the door? Are you going to tell me it’s some cosmic coincidence and has nothing to do with that spell?”

“I never should have told you that story.”

“Oh, I love that story,” Maddie said, her voice wistful and soft. “It’s so romantic, and yet you refuse to believe it. Why wouldn’t you
want
to believe it?”

Maddie sighed and twirled a lock of her curly red hair around her finger. Angelina couldn’t help but think her best friend, with her ivory skin and bright hazel eyes, was the truly beautiful one. Freckles dotted her nose, despite her useless attempts over the years to conceal them with the most expensive make-up on the planet.

 “For argument’s sake,” Angelina said, “let’s say my true love walks through the door any minute now. Why would I want to be with someone if the only reason they love me is because of some ancient mountain spell my ancestors conjured centuries ago?”

From her perch on top of the counter, Maddie looked at her friend with bewildered eyes. “Angelina, I remember your thirteenth birthday party. We had strawberry cupcakes and danced to Britney Spears, and all you could talk about was that sacred candle. You were so innocent and hopeful and—”

“The word you’re looking for is
naïve
.”

Maddie grinned. “I was so jealous. That candle was going to give you happiness, beauty, and love, and you believed it with all your heart. I know your faith in magic has really been shaken, but
this
is a good thing. You should believe in this.”

Just then, a tall, middle-aged man walked through the door, gave the girls a nod, and headed straight for the vintage vinyl. Maddie wiggled her eyebrows, and Angelina stifled a giggle.

“If we have to play this game, could we at least hope he was born in my decade?” Angelina muttered under her breath.

Maddie nodded and hopped off the counter.

“This conversation isn’t over, but I’m going to run next door and get us some coffee.”

“I’d like a tea instead, and take an umbrella.”

“Why?” Maddie curiously glanced out the window.

“Just take it.” Angelina grabbed her mom’s umbrella from behind the counter and tossed it in her friend’s direction.

Maddie’s eyes flickered with understanding. “I bet that was a pretty red sunrise.”

“It always is.”

“You know,” she said, leaning her elbows against the glass counter and grinning. “You can’t pick and choose, Angelina. You either believe or you don’t.”

It wasn’t the first time she’d been called a hypocrite. Angelina was immune to it.

With a grin, Angelina nodded toward the window. In a matter of seconds, the heavens had opened.

“Maddie, I can believe in the rain. I can
see
the rain.”

 “I wonder what we’ll
see
today.” Maddie’s eyes widened. “I can’t leave! What if
he
shows up while I’m out getting your tea?”

With a groan, Angelina walked around the counter and grabbed her friend by the arm, all but shoving her out into the torrential downpour.

The rain continued throughout the day, keeping the customers away. Angelina was secretly glad. Even though it wasn’t good for business, she couldn’t deny the strange sense of satisfaction in seeing the miserable look on Maddie’s face. Whenever the door would chime with an occasional customer, Maddie would practically jump over the counter to get a better look. She’d nearly given David Murray a heart attack, which wouldn’t have been good considering he was still recovering from his last one.

“What can we do for you, Mr. Murray?” Angelina asked.

A disgruntled Maddie shot her a glare and headed toward the stock room.

Thank goodness it’s nearly closing time.

“Evening, Angelina. I need some banjo strings.”

She nodded and gingerly took the man’s arm, leading him over to the selection of strings. Time hadn’t been good to David. As if the heart attack wasn’t enough, he was almost blind due to the cataract in his left eye. Regardless, he still drove around town and played the banjo like a pro.

 His voice was low as they walked back toward the register. “Angelina, I don’t mean to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong, but I was just having supper over at Sally’s Diner. There was some reporter snoopin’ around, asking questions about your family. Said he was doing a story about Appalachian folklore and someone in Cumberland County pointed him in this direction.”

It wasn’t the first time a stranger had been interested in her family’s history, but the attention always made her uncomfortable.

“I appreciate you telling me,” Angelina said as she placed his receipt in the bag. “Did you get his name?”

“No, just that he worked for some magazine in Nashville.”

She smiled and handed him his strings. “Well, I’ll keep my eyes open. Thanks for letting me know.”

“Sure thing.” David’s expression turned somber. “How is Celia feeling? I haven’t talked to her in a few days.”

“She’s hanging in there. The treatments are hard on her.”

“And on you.”

Angelina nodded slowly and swallowed down the emotion that threatened to choke her.

“Don’t you worry about that reporter,” David said, patting her hand. “The people in Maple Ridge might be nosy, but we protect our own.”

She thanked him and grabbed an umbrella. After walking David to his car, Angelina headed back inside and locked the door. When she turned around, she was met with the steely glare of her best friend.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Maddie’s hands were on her hips. “It’s closing time!”

“And I couldn’t be happier. You’ve been so preoccupied with the spell you haven’t even wished me a happy birthday.”

She narrowed her hazel eyes.

“Happy birthday, you skeptic.”

Angelina laughed and began to empty the register. With the day’s slow sales, doing the evening bookkeeping would be a breeze.

“You have to believe in true love,” Maddie said as she followed her partner back to the office, “otherwise, he’ll never show up.”

Angelina sighed and sat down behind the desk. “First of all, the spell doesn’t stipulate he’ll arrive
today
.”

“I know, but your parents met on Celia’s twenty-first birthday.”

“Yes, but my grandmother met my grandfather almost a year after she turned twenty-one. It’s not time-specific, Maddie.”

“You mean I might have to wait a whole
year
?”

Angelina smirked. “My deepest apologizes. And for your information, I do believe in true love. My parents were proof that it exists. I just don’t believe blowing out a candle and singing some silly song on my thirteenth birthday is going to make the man of my dreams appear out of thin air to sweep me off my feet.”

“He’s out there somewhere,” Maddie said, sighing dejectedly, as if it were
her
heart on the line. “What are you doing tonight?”

“Mom wanted to bake me a cake, so I’m headed home.”

She frowned. “You’ll never meet him at
home
, Angelina.”

“Who knows, Maddie. Maybe he’s waiting for me on my front porch.”

“Do you promise to call me if he is?”

Her eyes were wide, and she sounded desperately hopeful, so Angelina resisted the urge to laugh at the silliness of it all. Instead, she made a vow to her best friend.

“Absolutely, Maddie. If there’s a man waiting for me on my front porch, you’ll be the first person I’ll call.”