Enchanted Autumn Read online

  Enchanted Autumn

  Synopsis

  When Dr. Elizabeth Cowrie shows up in Salem, Massachusetts, to study the witch trials, Hazel and her best friend, Roxy, are both instantly attracted to the workaholic professor. Roxy snags a date with Elizabeth first, but when their chemistry fizzles out, Hazel sees an opportunity to pursue Elizabeth herself—until she realizes Elizabeth is avowedly anti-magic.

  That’s definitely a problem since Hazel is a bona fide witch: rides a broom, has a black cat, brews love potions, lives in a haunted house, and has a vampire ex-girlfriend. Roxy is the only person who knows the truth, and Hazel has gotten used to hiding who she is, but she can’t live a lie with the person she loves most. Can Hazel give up magic to make it work with Elizabeth? Or will she give up on the love of her life instead?

  Enchanted Autumn

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  Enchanted Autumn

  © 2022 By Ursula Klein. All Rights Reserved.

  ISBN 13: 978-1-63679-105-0

  This Electronic Original Is Published By

  Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

  P.O. Box 249

  Valley Falls, NY 12185

  First Edition: February 2022

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

  Credits

  Editors: Victoria Villaseñor and Cindy Cresap

  Production Design: Stacia Seaman

  Cover Design by Inkspiral Design

  eBook Design by Toni Whitaker

  For my parents, who always encouraged me, and for my wife, who continues to inspire me

  Chapter One

  C’mon, Hazel, I really need it.”

  “No. You know I can’t hand this stuff out like candy.”

  “But this time I really need it. Come on, bestie, pleeeeease.”

  “As your bestie, I’m telling you, I shouldn’t let you have any more.”

  “You sound serious.” Roxy’s pink lips flattened out into a straight line.

  Hazel could tell she was getting frustrated. Until that moment, there had been a lightness to their exchange; suddenly, the mood had changed. Roxy liked to get her way, but Hazel needed to put her foot down. She was her oldest friend, after all, and she wanted nothing but the best for her. She felt guilty, but she was determined to put a stop to what could be an addiction of sorts.

  “I’m sorry, Roxy, but this stuff can be dangerous. And I’m worried about you. This won’t make you happy—not in the long run.”

  Roxy groaned. “How do you know? Don’t you want me to be happy?”

  “Of course I want you to be happy. That’s not fair. You’re my best friend.” Hazel rubbed her arm. “And that’s exactly why I don’t think I should give you any more.”

  Roxy changed tactics. “Look,” she said, leaning forward on the stool across from Hazel. She put her elbows on the countertop and cupped her chin in her hands, her big brown eyes sparkling with trademark Roxy charm. She smiled at Hazel, and Hazel couldn’t help smiling back. “This is the last time. I promise. Alicia is the real thing. She just doesn’t want to admit it. All I need is a tiny bit of love potion to move things along, and it’s in the bag.”

  “You’re not actually going to put Alicia into a bag, are you?”

  “Come on. I’m not that desperate.” Roxy chucked a stray paperclip at Hazel, who batted it away, and they both laughed.

  “Okay, okay, all right,” Hazel said. It wasn’t really ethical, but she had a hard time saying no to Roxy.

  She went to the back room of the Witch Is In, unlocked a cabinet, and came back to the front counter with a small vial of light pink-colored liquid that shimmered and sparkled in her hand. She placed it in a velvet drawstring bag and handed it to Roxy, who tucked the whole thing into one of the ample pockets on her button-up flannel shirt. She patted the pocket protectively.

  “I’ll take good care of it,” she said and gave her a devilish wink.

  “Just remember, you both have to agree to use it. You can’t just dump it into her drink without telling her. That’s a consent issue.” Hazel gave her a serious look and for once, Roxy dropped some of the bluster. A look of sadness marred her features momentarily before clearing up again.

  “Of course.” Roxy cleared her throat. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

  Hazel smiled. Roxy liked to pretend she was all swagger, but beneath that brash exterior was a sensitivity most people had no clue about. Roxy had been through a lot in her twenty-five years, and Hazel knew she was still dealing with issues from her parents’ divorce—or rather, divorces.

  Hazel hugged Roxy. “I know.”

  They stepped apart.

  “What would I ever do without you?” said Roxy, her tone light and jovial again.

  “Luckily, we don’t have to find out.”

  “You know, that’s a good point,” said Roxy, putting on her buffalo plaid jacket. “Why haven’t you ever fallen deeply in love with me? It would solve a lot of problems for both of us.”

  This was a conversation they’d already had many times. Despite her jolly tone and the playful punch she landed, ever so unromantically, on Hazel’s arm, her question was more loaded than usual.

  “It’s not like you’re crazy for me, either, my dear,” said Hazel, sitting back down at the counter and absent-mindedly straightening up the area around the cash register. The shop was getting busier and busier since Halloween was just over a month away. Soon it would be nonstop crowds for the Salem Halloween festival.

  “It’s a shame. Two good-looking ladies like us, who have known each other forever, and we could be happily in love instead of ‘just friends.’”

  “There’s nothing the matter with being ‘just friends.’ You know I love you like a sister. And I really do want you to be happy. I’m just not sure that Alicia is ‘the one.’”

  Roxy rolled her eyes. “We’ve been through this over and over again. What Alicia and I have is magical. Pun intended. When we’re together—”

  “In bed, I assume?”

  “Yes, of course. But not just in bed. Even when we hang out—”

  “Doing what?”

  “What?”

  “What are you doing when you’re not hanging out in bed?” Hazel asked innocently.

  Roxy hesitated. “Oh, you know…whatever. Having breakfast. Or dinner.” She stumbled around for the right answer before Hazel burst out laughing. “What’s so funny?”

  “It sounds like Alicia is just another sleepover friend.” Hazel wiggled her eyebrows. “Are you sure you want to waste your last ever love potion on her?”

  “That’s not fair. You don’t know Alicia. She’s…she’s…” Again, Roxy was lost for words, and Hazel supplied her with some options.

  “Good in bed? A great lay? A perfect pillow princess?”

  Roxy laughed, but Hazel got the impression that it wasn’t sincere laughter. Ever since her mother’s second marriage had failed about five years earlier, Roxy had been on a quest to date as many women as possible. Hazel wasn’t a shrink, but it didn’t take a degree in psychology to figure out that Roxy wanted to succeed where her parents, evidently, hadn’t. Hazel had tried to broach the topic with her several times, but each time Roxy shut her down; she wasn’t ready to talk about it and Hazel respected that.

  Hazel started the business of closing up the shop for the evening. Technically, the shop closed at six, but she usually didn’t lock up until a little later in case anyone needed something at the last minute. A good portion of her customers were day trippers who wanted to shop at a store like the Witch Is In as part of the whole “Salem experience.” For them, she had postcards, souvenirs, essential oils, numerology guides, short and easily digestible Salem history books, various stones and minerals, as well as a wide assortment of tchotchkes relating to the supernatural world. She had a contingent of local, regular customers who liked to browse her used books section or pop in for sage smudging kits.

  Her shop was also patronized by local witches like herself; for them, she had a special section that most customers never knew about. Witches, wizards, and fey customers were the ones who might come in for spell scrolls or potion ingredients like butterfly wings or mandrake roots.

  Today was a quiet day, though, and there were no last-minute shoppers. Hazel let her assistant, Rita, go home early. While she locked up, swept the floors, and did some dusting, she let Roxy tell her all about the wonders of Alicia—both in and out of the bedroom.

  “I’m sorry you haven’t had a chance to really get to know her,” Roxy concluded after regaling Hazel with how they had met by chance at a club in Boston and then both realized they lived in Salem. According to Roxy, the honeymoon phase had been a wonderful whirlwind, though Hazel was getting the impression that it hadn’t lasted very long. Hence the need for a love po
tion. “She’s so busy these days trying to set up her online business. I keep offering to help, but she wants to do it all herself. I told her you could probably give her some great pointers on running a small business, but I think she felt intimidated.”

  More like threatened, Hazel thought to herself. She had a feeling that Alicia was, in actuality, using Roxy for sex and then ghosting her the rest of the time. Meeting Roxy’s friends would mean having to admit they were in a relationship. Sadly, Roxy had had many “girlfriends” like Alicia—women who weren’t looking for anything serious, who just wanted to have some fun.

  And Roxy was fun. She was funny and outgoing and terribly adorable, with her mop of dark curls, cropped close to her head, her sparkling brown eyes, and her irrepressible dimples. She was tall, athletic, and full of butch swagger. She was too cute for her own good, apparently—she attracted all the wrong women.

  Hazel wished Roxy could meet someone who deserved her, who actually made her happy for more than a night at a time. Alicia was obviously a loser. Hazel regretted giving Roxy the love potion and wondered if she could take it back. Her potions were carefully crafted so that they only worked to heighten existing feelings between people—sort of like hitting the accelerator in a relationship. They didn’t work if there were no real feelings to build on, and Hazel had a pretty good idea that Alicia’s feelings for Roxy weren’t very strong, in which case, the potion wouldn’t do anything at all.

  “Earth to Hazel. Come in, Hazel,” Roxy was saying, waving her hand in front of Hazel’s face. “Are you ever going to finish sweeping?”

  “Sorry. I’m done. I just need to feed the cat.”

  Hazel’s familiar, a large black cat with golden eyes named Beezle, was currently out chasing squirrels or whatever he got up to during the day, but she liked to leave him a little bowl of crunchy food at night.

  Sometimes he showed up at the shop; other times he showed up at the house; either way, Hazel always left him a treat. As a familiar, Beezle was a magical animal whose rights to roam couldn’t be curbed. He was always around, though, when Hazel needed him.

  “So, I’m seeing Alicia later tonight, actually, and I can give her the potion right away,” Roxy said as they left the shop and walked down the street to the coffee shop, the Magic Bean. It was a chilly evening in late September, and the wind blew down sharply, making Hazel shiver in her cardigan. It was time to pull out her autumn cape.

  “I think you mean, you can both take it tonight. And shush! Don’t talk about it so loudly.” Only a few of her closest friends and some trusted, regular customers knew about her side business of brewing up distinctly non-FDA-approved love potions. She didn’t need to get investigated because of Roxy’s indiscretion.

  “Sorry. Sheesh, don’t be so paranoid.”

  “Remember that you have to be the first person she sees after taking it. And you need to take some, too.”

  “That’s silly. I’m already crazy about her.”

  “It’s how the potion works—and it ensures that there isn’t any consent issue.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I’ve told you this before. It only enhances existing feelings—it can’t force someone to fall in love with you.”

  The love potions that Hazel brewed were meant to help existing couples get through a rough patch. The idea was that even healthy relationships had problems sometimes and partners could grow distant. The potion would take the rough edges out of arguments and restore some peace of mind while reminding partners what they loved about each other. Ideally, both partners should take some for it to work correctly.

  Currently, the person or people in question still needed to see the object of their affection in order for the potion to work. There was a slight chance that the potion wouldn’t work otherwise. Hazel was working to improve the potion to eliminate that requirement, but the new batch needed some crucial ingredients that she wouldn’t be able to collect until the next new moon.

  “You know, if she doesn’t have any feelings for you to begin with, then the potion won’t work. I can’t just magic something that isn’t there.”

  “I’m not asking you to,” Roxy assured her. “Alicia is just scared to admit her feelings. The potion will allow her to relax into them, that’s all.”

  “You could just wait. Keep dating. It could happen organically. Why force things?”

  Roxy heaved a sigh; it seemed she was actually putting some thought into her answer.

  “I don’t know…I know we’re only twenty-five, but I just…I feel like a failure. I’ve never had a relationship. You know that. At least you had Camille, even if it didn’t work out. Sometimes I just wonder if it’ll ever happen.”

  Roxy’s voice was small, almost shy sounding, by the time she finished the last words, and Hazel’s heart squeezed.

  “Of course it’s going to happen! I just know it. You’re a catch, and don’t you forget it.” Hazel hugged her around the shoulders, and Roxy flashed her a grateful smile.

  They reached the café and walked in. The warm air of the café engulfed them pleasantly after the evening chill of the street. It was agreeably cheerful inside, with lots of squashy vintage furniture and mismatched chairs and tables. The café was about half full, and Hazel and Roxy stood in line to order at the counter.

  “Are you telling me you can see the future now too?” said Roxy, attempting some humor.

  “I think I can already see it. It’s called hot chocolate and I’m buying.”

  “I won’t say no to that as long as I can have a chai! I’m feeling spicy tonight.”

  “Oh, I think we can manage that.”

  They both grinned as they approached the counter, and Hazel saw that Roxy’s good mood was restored.

  “You two are in a good mood,” said Joanna. She was the proprietor of the café and spoke with a thick accent. Joanna was originally from Poland, but she’d been running the café for the last ten years, and it had become a standby along Salem’s main drag. She was in her late fifties, but looked good for her age, and she and Hazel were both on the board of the Chamber of Commerce for Salem. Sometimes Hazel wondered if Joanna had some magical abilities, as she always seemed to know what was going on in everyone’s lives. But that could just as easily be explained by the fact that the café was a popular hangout spot for locals, and anyone could learn a lot by listening to people’s conversations.

  “Just talking about Roxy’s love life.”

  “Oh, must be interesting,” said Joanna. She took their order. “What about your love life, Hazel?”

  “I’m married to the sea, don’t you know?” said Hazel, affecting the mannerisms of a hoary old sea captain. She took an imaginary pipe out from between her lips. “Aye, she’s a rough mistress.”

  The three of them laughed and made more small talk as Joanna prepared a chai latte for Roxy and poured a hot chocolate for Hazel. Hazel’s love of all things chocolate was legendary among their friends.

  “Thanks, Jo,” said Roxy, offering to carry Hazel’s drink and her own to a nearby table. Their “usual” table was far enough away from the door to stay warm in the colder months, but close enough to the air conditioning units in the summer to stay cool. It also had a perfect view of the front door, as they shared an incorrigible love of gossip.

  The shop doorbells jingled, and Hazel and Roxy turned to see who was entering the café. A woman there was struggling with a large suitcase. Before anyone else moved, Roxy jumped up to help her. Together they lifted the heavy, over-packed suitcase into the shop interior, and the newcomer huffed in relief.

  “Thank you so much.” Her voice rang out sweetly, clear and cool in the dry autumn air, with a hint of an English accent. When she lifted her head, Hazel grew dizzy. The woman was the most beautiful, enchanting woman she’d ever seen. And by the look on Roxy’s face, she thought so too. There was no question in Hazel’s mind things were about to become complicated.

  Chapter Two