The Chocolate Magic Cozy Mystery Box Set Books 1 to 7 Page 25

“Oh no,” Magda said. “Do not start today, you little villain.” The cell phone rang but there was nobody on the other end. Magda sighed and put down the phone. Crystal did what Magda had expected her to do and swiped it onto the floor. She bent to retrieve it and looked at the screen.

  “It’s the longboat again. I thought we had sorted that one out. There have been no signs of Utric or his gusts of wind since he found Racksha.”

  “It might well just be coincidence this time. Crystal knows she gets attention when she knocks things onto the floor,” Sam reasoned.

  Magda settled back into her husband’s arms and decided not to worry about it. They still had some time to recover from the wedding ceremony before getting changed into cowboy outfits.

  A while later, they were all ready for the evening event. “You sure make a handsome cowboy, Mr. Barnes,” Magda said, and thought that it was very true. Sam was tall, dark, and lean with long legs, and he moved with an easy grace that many a woman’s eyes appreciated.

  He twirled his wife under his arm. “Well, Calamity Jane,” he said. “You look good in anything, but the cowgirl skirt and jacket is just right.”

  I went mad and bought these jeweled boots,” she laughed. “Just couldn’t resist them.”

  “Let’s go and dance the night away,” he said.

  “I would like to know how big the settlement was that used to be here,” Sam said.

  “I wonder if they had hoedowns,” Magda grinned as they drove up beside the big barn. The fiddler could already be heard and other cars were dropping off people in cowboy gear near the front. They found Merle sporting the dress of a saloon lady. She looked amazing.

  “That red satin dress is stunning,” Magda told her.

  “Thanks. We run these affairs and I have to keep a supply of outfits. The caterers have done well. Food is out there for folks to help themselves, and my own staff is running the bar.”

  Sam had already started to move around and talk to friends. Rula and Mikey came looking like something genuinely out of the wild west. Branston was strolling around with the huge Stetson hanging behind his shoulders and a jeweled, red shirt that you needed sunglasses to look at.

  Carrie Starling came over with a huge smile on her face.

  “I brought you a small gift,” she told Magda. “Maybe you can pop it in the car out of the way.”

  “What on earth is it?” Magda asked. “You really did not need to do this.” She unwrapped the parcel, as Carrie told her that she so much enjoyed the seances and being part of it, that she had to say thanks.

  “I do a bit of cross-stitch as a hobby,” Carrie told her, and Magda gasped as she let the material unfold and saw the picture.

  Merle was still with Magda and they held the wall hanging between them as Magda called for Sam.

  “Is something wrong?” he asked and Magda shook her head.

  “Look.” She and Merle held it up and he saw the cross-stitch needlepoint had a figure of a Viking warrior sewn into the design. Rula came to see what the rest were inspecting and was amazed as well.

  “How on earth did you do that, you clever woman?” Rula asked. Carrie was modest and confessed that the piece was already well on the way to completion when she changed the intended centerpiece for the Viking.

  “Genius,” Sam added.

  “You could do this professionally, Carrie. It is exquisite,” Merle said.

  “And,” Magda told them, “you won’t believe this, but before we left home, Crystal just swiped the phone and showed us the longboat again.”

  20

  Merle had run the dude ranch very successfully for quite a few years and they often had hoedowns. Branston had worked for her part-time as a pony-trekking guide taking parties out on horseback. He loved the dressing up and playing at being a cowboy, but his horse-riding skills had always been excellent. Magda and he had learned to ride as children. She watched him talking to people in the room. She was glad he had come to work here full time as Merle’s manager. He obviously loved it.

  “And if I am not mistaken, he loves Merle as well,” she softly whispered with a grin on her face.

  As she watched the guests in the barn relaxing and enjoying themselves, her cousin leaped onto the stage at the end of the barn where the band was playing. He tapped the microphone and told them he was handing over to the best square dance caller in the county.

  “Grab your partners folks, let your hair down, and swing around the floor,” he grinned and held his Stetson in the air and shouted. “Johnny boy is set to go. Kick up your heels and Do-si-do.” Then he gave the mike to the caller and jumped down from the stage. He and Merle went into their usual routine. She was waiting, and they held hands and sidestepped down the length of the barn, calling for everyone to join them.

  There was no hesitation as a throng of couples threw themselves into the dancing.

  “Come on,” Sam shouted and grabbed Magda by the hand. They went into the big circle and the dance progressed. The band played like crazy and everyone danced enthusiastically. Magda went from partner to partner and met Sam again at the end. They held hands and skipped down the archway of hands held in the air, separated again, and met up once more.

  The band was well versed in what was needed and stopped at the point where the dancers were glad to go and find a drink. Magda sat on one of the straw bales provided for seats around the sides of the barn and pulled Sam down beside her.

  “I thought I was up to that, but I definitely need a rest.”

  “I’ll get you a drink,” Sam said and came back with a beer for himself and a glass of wine for Magda. Rula and Mikey came over and joined them, followed by Katie and Declan. Rula nudged Merle as they saw that Josh had found himself a pretty girl to dance with.

  “Oh, it is so good to see everyone enjoying themselves,” Magda said. “Thank you, Merle and Branston, for laying this on. It is a perfect end to a perfect day.”

  “I think it is the best wedding I have ever been to,” Katie added.

  “We have the best friends in the world,” Sam joined in and grinned. “My wife and I are very lucky.”

  That brought chuckles, and Magda told them that Crystal had been up to her tricks again with the picture of the longboat.

  “Oh, no,” Merle said. “I thought we had gotten that all taken care of.”

  The band finished another fast and furious dance number and then calmed the pace down with some slower music. Josh came to join everybody and leaned over his aunt and then they both looked across at Magda.

  “Hesitantly, Josh says that he keeps getting the feeling of water of some sort. The same feeling he got when we thought the longboat was the key.”

  “Maybe Crystal did know something, after all,” Magda said. “Nothing we can do about it, though.”

  “True,” Sam said. “I quite enjoy this slow and smoochy dance with my wife,” and pulled her to her feet. The others stood up to follow suit. Sam wrapped his arms around her and didn’t actually dance very much. As they stepped around, Magda saw that Carrie Starling had just come in the door and was watching the dancers. Carrie was looking at something above the fiddler’s head. Then all around the band, Magda noticed a pattern of light.

  “Sam, look,” she whispered and they stood still and saw another couple in a trail of golden light, holding hands and dancing together. It started above the band and moved around. It could have been something projected onto the wall from a high-tech computer. The trail looked like the tail of a comet and made patterns in the air. It swooped up and down and made patterns like the waves of the ocean. The Viking and his blonde warrior wife were barely visible but if you knew who they were, they were unmistakable. Their arms were twined around each other and both had long, flowing, blonde hair that merged into the light patterns and seemed to be part of it. The apparition floated down to the dance floor and moved across to Sam and Magda, followed by the trail of light. It circled them several times and the warm wind that was the signature of Utric swirled around them both.


  “Thank you,” Magda whispered.

  Then it swirled once around Rula and Mikey and blew a warm breeze over Merle and Branston. Josh was heading toward Carrie Starling when the light made a circle around him and he stood stock still and held out his hands to Carrie. She took them, and the Viking couple in the beam of light, twirled them around and around—and then with one magnificent sweep of the room—the dancing vision disappeared out the door.

  The dancers had all stopped to watch the show, and there were oohs and ahhs from around the room and then a burst of applause.

  “Oh, my Lord,” Magda said. “Did you see what I saw?” Carrie and Josh came over to them.

  “I saw him,” said Carrie. I saw the Viking and his wife, and he blew his warm wind over us. They swept us around in a circle.”

  “We saw them as well,” Magda told her. “What a magical way to end the day. That darn cat was right again.”

  The caller with the band had seen lots of Merle’s lighting effects before, assumed it was one that she hadn’t mentioned, and took the microphone.

  “I hope you enjoyed the romantic light show, folks. You’ve had enough time to get your breath back. We’re gonna speed things up again.” The band went into a fast-tempo number and Magda dragged Sam back to their seat.

  “Too much for me. I want to sit.”

  “Me too,” Sam said, and the others obviously felt the same.

  “I think that was a great big thank you,” Merle said.

  “They have gone completely,” Josh added. His aunt nodded.

  “We did the right thing,” she said and put her hand on Carrie’s arm. “You know that love exists in the other world as well.” Carrie Starling had tears on her cheeks but a smile on her face.

  “We will all remember this wedding for the rest of our lives.”

  “Did you realize,” Declan asked her when he came over, “that your handmade wall hanging really did look like him?”

  “It hasn’t sunk in yet, but you are right.”

  “And I can draw both of them,” Katie added. “What a dream that will be. I actually saw them myself. I can see the twining of their hair and the beams of light. It’s waiting to be put on paper.”

  The evening progressed with lots of food, drink and dancing, and in the end, everyone eventually stopped dancing and sank into seats.

  In twos and threes, people started to come and say their goodbyes and thank yous to Sam and Magda. They thanked Merle as well, and some said they would come back to see the ranch properly.

  “Give me a call,” Merle told anyone who mentioned it. “Either Branston or I’ll give you the grand tour.”

  Branston nudged Magda and said that Merle never missed a chance to do business.

  “She deserves to be congratulated. This place is fantastic.” She laughed. “Could easily picture a few days here myself with the hot tub on the veranda.”

  “I think,” Sam said as he overheard, “that you have indulged yourself quite enough for one day.”

  “See, he’s being bossy again already.” Magda gave him a friendly punch. “It was wonderful though.”

  The last of the guests drifted away.

  “Thanks,” Magda said to Rula, “You were a fantastic bridesmaid.”

  “And she looked exquisite,” Mikey said.

  “Hmm,” Magda said, “Are you two admitting to being a couple then?” Mikey gave Rula a squeeze.

  “Sure thing,” he said.

  “Okay, yes,” Rula agreed as she smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

  Sam thanked Declan for the day and the speech and the wedding gift. “I’ll hold you to that promise,” he said.

  They all drove away, and Merle stood in her gorgeous red satin gown and said she would leave the cleaning up until the next day.

  “I’m with you there, Boss,” Branston said and she smiled.

  “We are really good at this sort of thing, aren’t we?”

  “We sure are,” he answered and offered his arm to walk her across to the main building.

  At last, Mr. and Mrs. Barnes arrived home. They were finally alone in what would be their new home together.

  Magda kicked off her boots and then made her way to see how the cats were doing in the new addition. She stopped in her tracks. Sam came to see why. He put his arms around her waist and saw the raspberry leaves and rose petals on the floor.

  “Well that was a lovely idea, Sam. Thank you,” she said and turned around in his arms to kiss his lips.

  “I didn’t do it,” he said. “Honestly. I didn’t do it.”

  They both stepped into the room and gazed at the pretty foliage on the floor. The cats were all high up on the spiral staircase and came down step by step.

  “Maybe one of the others did,” Sam said. Magda shook her head.

  “I just know it was Utric. He might have been a warrior, but he was a romantic as well.”

  She wrapped her arms around Sam’s waist.

  “I love you, Sam Barnes. Always have and always will.” He took her lips with his own and then picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.

  “This, I did do,” he said, and she saw the candles flickering and the soft, pink rose petals on the bed.

  “Oh, Sam. I am so lucky.”

  “If only you had gone out with me when you were fifteen, we could have done this years ago,” he said as he dumped her unceremoniously on the bed. “Enough. This is you and me.”

  She laughed and pulled him toward her.

  The kiss that he gave her was so gentle and so tender that she knew his heart was in it. “I do love you, Sam, and you know what? I can say it and know it is real. I can love you until death do us part and then go on loving you in the next world as well.”

  “I already knew that I would love you till the end of time,” said Sam. “Thing is, I knew it when you were fifteen.”

  She started to giggle. The cats made their presence felt by joining them on the bed.

  “Life is back to normal, I guess,” she said contentedly as she settled into his arms. “I am where I want to be.”

  “Me too,” he said. “Happy ever after, Mrs Barnes. Happy ever after.”

  THE END….until their next adventure!

  Celtic Spirits

  A Chocolate Magic Cozy Mystery - Book 3

  Copyright © 2019 by Olivia Swift

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  1

  Happily married, Magda and Sam were now living in the new addition to his house. Of course, their cats were really in charge and had claimed the most comfortable sofa for themselves. Fortunately, there were other chairs and Pushkin, the black and white kitten who had been named after a ghost, had positioned himself halfway up the spiral staircase that led to the roof terrace. The soaring roof was a tribute to Sam’s architectural skills.

  “Thank goodness they are all asleep,” Magda said. “I think Crystal thinks she is the boss around here.”

  Sam laughed. “She is.”

  It was a month since the wedding and the two of them were still coming back to earth. They had moved into Sam’s house instead of having a honeymoon, leaving Magda’s house currently empty. Her café was taking most of her time. All of her truffles were handmade. She was always experimenting with new flavors and ideas to keep her customers interested. She looked up from her tablet and told him she had found another company which made molds.

  “I think they do a shamrock,” she said. “Saint Patrick’s Day sales might be worth pursuing.”

  Crystal, the beautiful, fluffy, cream-colored cat stalked over to the tablet and actually looked at the screen.

  “Oh, no. Don’t start your psychic stuff again, Crystal,” Magda pleaded and ruffled the cat’s fur. Crystal shook herself and straightened her coat o
ut again, giving her attention back to the screen. Then she turned and gazed at the front door very intently. Magda sighed and went to the door.

  “She knows when someone is around. Her ears must be remarkable,” she grumbled and saw the mail had been delivered. She smiled as she picked it up. There was a catalog for herself and a letter for Sam. She handed it over to him. As he turned it over in his hands, he said it had an unusual postmark. He opened up the envelope and scanned the letter. Magda waited with curiosity while Crystal was sitting under Sam’s legs and staring intently at the paper.

  “This is from my Aunt Alison. I haven’t seen her in about ten years.”

  “In Ireland?” Magda queried and he nodded.

  “She asks if we would like to take a holiday/honeymoon in Kilkenny. Listen to this.” He read out that his aunt was planning to come back to America because her husband had died, however she wants the cottage to stay in the family.

  “Her husband’s family have owned it for about two hundred years. She says that if we would like to buy it as a cottage to rent out, she will let us have it for a very reasonable price. If we don’t want it, at least we could enjoy a holiday.” He handed over the letter for Magda to read.

  “What do you want to do?” Magda asked.

  “Let’s find out how much the flight would be and think about it.”

  Magda went back to the tablet and searched for flights to Dublin. They both looked on the internet and then at each other.

  “It’s not a bad price,” Magda said.

  “Can we leave the businesses for a couple of weeks?” Sam said.

  “Well, Rula and Katie could manage the café easily with Rita and Josh helping. I could make extra truffles before I went away.”

  “Rula and Declan between them would see to the cats,” Sam added.

  “We could ask them how they feel about it. What about your construction work?” Magda asked. Sam said that he could put off the next plans he had to do, and the team of builders could finish the current job without him.