Valleys, Vittles, and Vanishings

  Valleys, Vittles, and Vanishings

  Smoky Mountain Witch Mysteries Book 2

  Smantha Eden

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  1

  I set the paintbrush down with a huff, wiping a few beads of well-earned sweat from my forehead and looking at my handiwork.

  “Not bad, is it?” I asked, looking over at Riley, whose white overalls were covered in the blue paint which now colored the walls of my soon to be opened restaurant. When my former best friend, Emily Morningside, went a little crazy and tried to burn me alive in this place, I never imagined I would end up owning it. Still, her father had moved away to live a life of leisure with his new wife, and since I had always been close to her family, it shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise when he offered it to me at a gift of a price. Given that I was intent on building a new life for myself in my hometown of Spell Creek Mountain, Tennessee, and that cooking was one of my greatest passions, I snapped it right up, thanking the man a million times for his generosity.

  “It’s almost too good, actually,” Riley said, grinning at me from across the room. “Some people might even use the word magical.”

  I groaned at him in response. While Riley and I had been friends since we were knee-high to a grasshopper, the deputy had only recently come into the knowledge that my family and I were witches. Well, that’s not actually true. He actually came into the knowledge five years ago, when he was recruited to The Order, a human-run supernatural policing force. But I had just come into the knowledge that he had come into the knowledge, so this sort of back and forth was still new to us.

  “Real funny,” I muttered, pushing the lid back on the paint bucket and shaking my head. “I’ll have you know that I take pride in doing all of this by hand. I could have wiggled my fingers and had all of this done in an instant, but there’s something about breaking a sweat to make your dreams come true that makes it that much sweeter.”

  “That may be true,” he answered, grabbing the paint bucket I had just sealed up and carrying it toward the backroom, “but I guarantee that if you gave any red-blooded human being walking along the sidewalks of Spell Creek Mountain, they’d take the magical option every day of the week and twice on Sunday.” He smirked at me. “Besides, isn’t wiggling your fingers technically doing it by hand also?”

  “Ha-ha,” I answered sarcastically, though my heart did skip a beat as I looked at him. Though I hated to admit it, the feelings I’d developed for Riley when we were kids, the feelings I walked away from during my five-year sabbatical in Chicago, had come back in full force. I couldn’t tell him about them now, though. Even though I had suspicions that he might feel a similar way about me, we had just gotten to be friends again. We were still rebuilding that relationship, and with the secrets between us finally laid bare, we could build it on stronger ground. Rushing that would only prove disastrous. Besides, if Riley was the guy I was meant to be with, it would all work out. I truly believed that.

  As it turned out, I would have other things to worry about.

  “We’ve got trouble!” The front door burst open as a familiar voice rang throughout my new, almost-opened restaurant. Jerking a little, I looked up to see my cousin Charlotte rushing toward me with an envelope in her hand. “Big, big trouble, Izzy.”

  “What is it?” I asked, narrowing my eyes and trying not to panic. The thing was, when a witch comes running into a room screaming about trouble, the possibilities are quite literally endless. It could be something as simple as my other cousin Savannah setting her bedroom on fire while trying to cast a spell. Or it could be as complicated as tensions between the vampires and the werewolves. You never knew what you were going to have to deal with when it came to my family.

  “It’s bad!” she repeated, shaking her head furiously.

  “Yeah. I heard that part, Charlotte,” I answered, grabbing my cousin’s shoulders and settling her. “But I need to know what kind of bad we’re dealing with. Is it ‘late speeding ticket’ bad or ‘end of the world’ bad?”

  ‘You guys have ‘end of the world’ bad?” Riley asked, his voice cracking as his eyes widened.

  “It’s rare, but it happens,” I answered. “I’d have figured an operative for The Order would know that kind of thing.”

  Riley shuffled nervously. “Well, you know, I’m still kind of new.”

  I gave Riley a little smile before I turned back to Charlotte. Something about teasing the man made me really happy. “Spill, Charlotte,” I muttered, tightening my grasp on my cousin’s arms. “What’s wrong?”

  “We got a letter for you at the B&B,” she said, nodding firmly.

  “A letter? That’s it?” I asked. “That’s not a bad thing, Charlotte. I already had my mail forwarded to Lockheart Estate. It’s not a big deal.”

  “That’s because you haven’t seen what’s inside it,” Charlotte said, pulling away from my grip.

  “And you have?” I balked. “You opened my mail, Charlotte?”

  “Pfft. Of course, I opened your mail. How long have you been away from home, anyway?” Charlotte asked.

  “Long enough to forget that my family engages in federal offenses on a daily basis, apparently,” I muttered. “Okay, though. What is it? What does the letter say?”

  “It’s from the county building inspector,” Charlotte said breathlessly. “Apparently, there was a mix-up with the scheduling, and she’s coming a little sooner than expected.”

  My brows tightened. “How much sooner?”

  “When was she supposed to come originally?” Charlotte asked.

  “Two weeks from today,” I answered.

  “Okay,” Charlotte said, clearing her throat. “So, it’s two weeks sooner than that.”

  “What?” I balked.

  “Today,” Charlotte answered. “She’s coming today.”

  “Today?” I shrieked. “But there’s so much stuff that still needs to be done! The Country Cauldron isn’t even close to being ready for inspection!”

  “Calm down,” Riley said, walking over to me. “Awesome name for the restaurant, by the way. It’s just so spot-on.” He settled in front of me and stared right into my eyes. “I’ll help you. We can do this.”

  “You can’t do this,” Charlotte said.

  “Excuse me?” Riley asked, looking over at her.

  “Well, see, the thing is, this letter came early this morning. I was supposed to bring it to you way before now, but something important came up.”

  “What sort of something?” I growled at my cousin.

  “It was important!” she said.

  “Charlotte!” I snapped.

  “Half-off mani-pedis at Rosco’s Nail Salon,” she answered sheepishly. “You know how rarely that guy gives discounts!”

  “I’m going to murder you,” I muttered. “I’m going to straight up murder you.”

  “Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” Charlotte said. “You act like we don’t have access to enough magic to close up the Grand Canyon, let alone fix up
a restaurant.”

  “It’s not about that,” I said. “I had decisions I wanted to make. I wanted to do this myself.”

  “Oh, well,” Charlotte muttered. “Can’t have everything.” She waved her hand and fixed the entire restaurant. But she did more than just fix it up. She changed my blue walls to purple and stamped giant lilacs across all the walls. To say it wasn’t what I was going for was an understatement of epic proportions.

  “Charlotte, you’re not helping!” I yelled.

  “I’m sorry, Izzy, but we don’t have time to argue about all the reasons that my taste is obviously superior to yours,” Charlotte said. “Because I haven’t even told you the worst part.”

  “Oh, no,” I said with a sigh. “What’s the worst part?”

  “The letter held the name of the building inspector who’s going to be meeting with you today,” she answered.

  “Okay,” I said nervously. “Who is it?”

  “Me,” a voice said from behind me. I turned in shock to see a woman with long red hair, an oval face, and eyes I hoped I would never see again staring at me.

  “Crystal Mangrove?” I stammered. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

  “Who is Crystal Mangrove?” Riley whispered to Charlotte from behind me.

  I heard her mutter a response.

  “You ever heard of the Hatfields and McCoys?” she asked. “They’ve not nothing on the feud these two have been nursing for the past ten years.”

  I shuddered, looking at the woman.

  “What’s the matter, Izzy?” Crystal asked, grinning menacingly at me. “Aren’t you happy to see me?”

  2

  Crystal Mangrove. The name banged against the inside of my skull with all the pleasantry of a feral cat clawing its way up a tin roof. I hadn’t seen Crystal since before I left Spell Creek Mountain five years ago, but that didn’t mean the animosity I felt for her had died down even a little.

  Now, I wasn’t the type of woman who hated people. That sort of thing was reserved for bad people and wicked witches, and I was neither. Still, if I were going to hate someone, it would be the redhead with the evil grin and the black heart who stood across from me at this very moment.

  What could she have done, you might ask, to earn such a rare turn to my usually forgiving nature? She’d said something horrible, a lie that had such ripple effects that it changed the whole of my life forever. Not once had she apologized for it, and not once had she even accepted blame in the matter. Maybe that was why I could never quite move past it. Maybe that was why, to this very day, I couldn’t look at the woman without a chill running down my spine and my breakfast threatening to make a return appearance.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, staring daggers into the woman. As I took her in, I realized she was pretty fashionable, all things considered. She had on a black and white sweater dress with hoop earrings and a pair of boots to match. Of course, stuff like that had never been Crystal’s problem. She had always been beautiful on the outside. It was her insides that needed work.

  “My job, Izzy,” she answered, tapping a clipboard that I had somehow not noticed in her hand before. “It’s good to see you too.” Her eyes drifted over to Charlotte. “Charlotte,” she said flatly.

  “Crystal,” Charlotte answered tersely. “It mustn’t be as cold down in the valley as it is here on Spell Creek Mountain yet. Otherwise, you’d have known enough to pair some pants with that shirt you’re wearing.”

  “It’s called fashion, Charlotte. Not that I’d imagine they’d have much in the way of that in the Sears catalog.” She eyed my cousin up and down. “That is where you’ve been shopping, isn’t it?”

  “Enough of this,” I said looking from one of them to the other. “I take it that you’re the building inspector?”

  “And I take it that you’re the person who’s decided to buy a burned-out building and try to pass it off as an actual place of business,’ Crystal responded. She looked around at the room Charlotte had just reimagined with her magic purple walls, lilac stamps and all. Her mouth turned down distastefully. “How’d you refurbish a room and somehow manage to make it look older than it did before you started?”

  I grimaced, looking over at Charlotte. “It’s an aesthetic choice,” I growled.

  “Well, it’s a bad one,” she answered, crinkling up her nose. “Plus, I can smell magic all over this room. I know you’ve been out of the game for a while, but I’d have thought your hocus pocus was better than that.”

  “It was my hocus pocus!” Charlotte answered, stomping the floor with her foot. “And it’s just fine. Or would you prefer I give you a more direct example?” Charlotte’s hands balled into fists.

  “No,” I said, stepping between the pair. “We’re not fighting here today, especially not with magic.”

  “She’s a witch too?” Riley asked, narrowing his eyes at Crystal.

  “Seriously?” Charlotte asked. “You don’t know that either? What kind of information has The Order been giving you anyway?”

  “Not the best kind, obviously,” he said flatly.

  “And who is this hunk of law enforcement?” Crystal asked, smiling and giving Riley the bedroom eyes as she slinked over to him with all the subtlety of Jessica Rabbit.

  “I’m Riley Davis,” he answered, wiping paint-splattered hands on his overalls and extending a hand for her to shake. She took his hand and used it to lift her own hand up to his mouth. “Am I supposed to kiss this?” he asked.

  “Do whatever feels right, darling,” she purred, winking at him.

  Riley looked at her hand for a moment, shook it lightly, and then dropped it.

  “Eh.” She shrugged, turning away from him. “So, Izzy, I have to admit, I’m a little surprised you came back home.”

  I took a deep breath, steadying myself. “Well, it turns out that the bright lights of the big city don’t tempt me the way they used to.” I looked at Charlotte and Riley, a bit of warmth running through me. “Turns out I had more reason to come home than I ever thought.”

  Crystal chuckled. “Oh, you’re misunderstanding me, Izzy,” she said. “It’s not that I didn’t think you’d want to come back home. It’s just that, after everything you’ve been through with the failed engagement and lost job and everything, I didn’t think you’d actually have the nerve to show your face around here again.”

  “You are on my last nerve, Crystal Mangrove!” Charlotte yelled, huffing loudly.

  “Calm down, Charlotte,” I said, holding my hand out to stop my cousin from blowing her stack. “I’m sure Crystal didn’t mean anything by it. Even she’s not dimwitted enough to go insulting a Lockheart witch on Spell Creek Mountain.” I smirked at her. “Unless, of course, all that red hair dye has finally seeped into her brain.”

  “I’ll have you know this is all-natural,” Crystal answered, fluffing her red tresses with her hand.

  “And the moon’s made of cheese,” Charlotte murmured.

  “You know what?” Crystal said, shaking her head and pursing her lips at us. “I don’t need to take this. I came here to do my job, but if you’re going to make it hard on me, I can just give you a failing grade right now and get it over with.”

  “You wouldn’t!” I said.

  “Try me, Izzy Lockheart,” she sneered.

  “I don’t think that would be very ethical,” Riley said, stepping forward and settling beside me. “And I wonder what the county zoning and building offices would have to say about an employee who would allow personal bias to get in the way of doing her job.”

  Crystal looked at Riley, and surprisingly enough, started to smile. “I remember you now,” she said cheerfully. “You’re that little geeky boy who followed Izzy around like a lost puppy.” She looked him up and down. “You filled out nicely, but what happened to your glasses?”

  “I got contacts,” Riley said, obviously a little uncomfortable about the way Crystal was looking at him.

  “I wonder if—” Before Crystal could finish
her sentence, her phone rang. She pulled it up and her smile dropped. All the color left her face as she stared at the screen. Shoving the phone back into her pocket, she gave me a look. “I’m afraid we’re going to have to do this another time.”

  “But I—”

  “Something came up, Izzy,” Crystal said. “So, I’m afraid you’re just going to have to wait.” She stared at Riley again. “Good thing you’ve got a big slice of law enforcement like that to keep you company.” She shot us a little wave. “Later, y’all.”

  With that, the person I most disliked in the world left my establishment.

  “She’s awful,” Riley said, looking at the door Crystal had just exited through.

  “In other news, water is wet,” Charlotte muttered.

  “I can’t believe she’s the person who’s going to say whether I can open,” I lamented. “I just can’t imagine how she—” I narrowed my eyes at Riley. “You’re not wearing your uniform,” I said.

  “No,” he answered, looking down at himself and his paint-covered overalls. “I didn’t want to get it dirty. We get charged for excessive dry cleaning, and that isn’t cheap if you let it pile up.”

  “But how did she know then?” I mused.

  “How did who know what?” Riley asked.

  “Crystal,” I said. “She called you a slice of law enforcement.”

  “She actually called him a big slice of law enforcement,” Charlotte corrected me. “Plus, while she didn’t actually use the word delicious, I think we can all agree that it was implied.”

  “Delicious or not, she didn’t recognize Riley at first,” I answered. “So, she obviously hadn’t heard he had become a police officer. Without the uniform, how did she know?”