Prologue
 
Miss Cassandra has been in a snit for over two weeks now and I have to tell you that my patience is wearing thin. Each morning as I’m leaving for my shop Mystique Creations, I open Miss C’s paisley carrier and each morning she crawls right on in and acts like nothing is wrong. But does she wish me a good morning or ask how I’m doing today? No way; she just turns her nose up and ignores me. She is being one persnickety cat! And I don’t even know why.
Miss Cassandra is my familiar and as such she provides me with her magical guidance and support, something every young witch needs. Or maybe I should say she provides me guidance and support when she’s in the right mood.
Things have been crazy around here lately and maybe that’s part of her problem.  Kevin or perhaps you might remember him better as Cyrus, an evil wizard, recently tried twice to kidnap me, make me his wife and steal all my powers. And twice I was able to get away thanks to help from my friends and family. Not everyone was so lucky. The last time I saw Cyrus’s accomplice, Neville Washburn, he was hopping out the front door after being turned into a big fat toad. Poor guy; I wonder where he’s hiding out now?
It seems as if all of the chaos has calmed down with my sisters and our Coven. Even though I’m now supposed to have all of these super-magical powers, my Great-Grandmother changed her mind and no longer wants me to be the leader of our Coven. Man, am I relieved about that and I think my sisters are too. They were pretty jealous for a while and not very nice to be around. 
Life has not been easy for me for some time with a Coven demanding my help, my sisters acting like bitchy witches, an evil wizard after me, new relatives popping up all over the place and a boyfriend who isn’t sure if he really wants to take a  witch home to his parents. It’s been exhausting.
Oh, I forgot to mention to you that my mother also came home after being gone most of my life. That is, my mother was released from her vanquishing by Cyrus and came back to our family. It’s kind of strange having a mother after all these years of living without one. But I think I’m getting used to it and I can tell that my father and sisters are a lot happier.
One final piece of news; I guess all of my problems with Cyrus really shook up my boyfriend, Jonathan. Much to my surprise, he actually got down on his knee and asked me to marry him. So now the whole family is in an uproar about our upcoming wedding. You see, I’m the first of the three sisters to marry and everyone wants us to have the wedding ceremony and reception at Jasmine’s Cottages By The Sea, the new hotel we just built. And I guess that I do too. It’s just that I’m a little concerned about a few things and one of them is Jonathan’s father. He doesn’t like me and I’m afraid he might make some kind of scene, like he did the last time he was here.
Life can get so complicated when you’re a young, inexperienced witch.

 
                                                                                   Chapter One
 
It’s a beautiful morning in New Moon Beach and the sea scented air makes all of my senses tingle. At least I think it’s the sea air that’s causing that reaction. I’m hoping that there are no evil spirits skulking around my beach city that might be setting off my magically enhanced wits. I’ve had my fill of evil spirits and want nothing to do with anything wicked that goes bump in the night or the day!
It’s six a.m. Sunday morning and I am overjoyed that I have nowhere I absolutely have to be. My one day of the week that I have off is perfect for a refreshing run down by the ocean and I feel free for the first time in a very long time. I throw on my hot pink and black running shoes, shorts and a matching sports bra top. I may end up a sweaty mess, but I can assure you that I start my run as one fashionably color coordinated witch!
My Dad called me last night and asked if Jonathan and I wanted to join the family for a late summer’s eve picnic. October is around the corner and there is a slight nip in the air; just enough to alert your goose bumps that fall is on its way. Here at the beach in Southern California we don’t get terribly cold weather, but there is a definite change in the air temperatures between hot September and a cooler October. I even thought about grabbing my black jacket with hot pink piping before my morning run. But I just couldn’t do it. I wanted to feel the very last warm rays of summer on my back and taste the salty sea on my lips before cool evenings and fire place nights set in.
I called Jonathan before I left to run and asked if he wanted to join my family for dinner tonight.
“Dad is barbecuing hamburgers and hot dogs and wants to know if you can join us for dinner. I think Harmony is asking Matt too and I already know that Gail and Larry are coming. The only one I’m not sure of is whether Ante will be coming with Constance,” I said filling Jonathan in on the entire guest list.
“Oh, I almost forgot. Mom will be there too.” I’m just not used to including her since, she’s been out of my life for so long.
“Sorry Doll, neither Matt nor I can make it to dinner. Our parents came into town unexpectedly, so you’ll have to go solo. Maybe you can stop by their hotel after your dinner. My mom would love to see you again. Bring Harmony with you so mom can meet her too.”
Although I’d like to see Jonathan’s mom, an evening with his dad is something that I am all too happy to avoid. With the wedding coming up I guess that I’m going to have to make peace with Jonathan’s dad sooner or later. I just think that he should be the one to offer the first olive branch. He really acted like a skunk the last time he spoke to me.
Truth be told, in Jonathan’s absence, I guess I’m looking forward to having a few minutes of quiet time with my mom to talk. We are just getting to know each other. Well, really - I guess I am the one getting to know her. She knew me as a baby and she watched me for some time through her mirror and knows a lot about me and my life at Mystique Creations. And, of course, my dad and sisters have memories of mom to build on. But for me, this is all new territory.
The ocean this morning is really wicked, spitting sea salt everywhere.  From periwinkle blue to deep indigo it seems as if every dark blue wave is topped off with little bubbling white caps. It’s truly breathtaking and I just want to collapse on the sand and take in this moment.
But like any good witch I have laundry to do and dishes to wash and other boring, domestic tasks to conquer. I’ve been tempted lately to come up with a couple of spells to command my dishes to just walk themselves to the dishwasher and to float my dirty laundry to the washing machine. But as you already know, even though I’m supposed to have all of these super powers - I’m a bit of a disaster when it comes to spell making. And it would be just my luck that Jonathan would walk in and freak out seeing dishes transporting themselves across my kitchen counter. I really do need to work with him about my magical abilities before we get married.
After my morning run, I decided to defer my trip home just long enough to stop by the Be Careful What You Wish For giftshop to take advantage of their early morning hours. I love this store; it’s filled with all sorts of eclectic stuff - healing stones, magic oils, art work, stationery, decorative match boxes and more. Most people don’t suspect that it has any ties to witchcraft and our Coven members pretty much keep that information to themselves. Penelope Martin is the store owner, but she works for me and my family now at Jasmine’s Cottages By The Sea, so her little sister Hermione has stepped in to manage the shop. I realized last night that I was in need of some healing oils and knew Hermione would have just what I was looking for, hence my trip.
“Olivia, wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen you or your sisters,” Hermione said, offering me a warm cup of herbal tea to start my day.
“This is yummy Hermione. Is it Lavender tea?”
“It’s my own creation. Do you like it?” Hermione asked anxiously.
Taking another sip I gave a smile and nod of confirmation and said, “Love it! You’re right, it has been a while. We’re all crazy busy with the cottages and my shop business has really blown up. Seems as if we are all running in a million directions these days,” I responded, uncertain as to whether she was up to speed on the Cyrus issue and how it had actually taken me out of circulation for a while.
“I just figured that your time was being filled up by that gorgeous man of yours,” she said with a giggle. Hermione is such an interesting woman; 52 years old, quite beautiful and never married. I’ve heard that she regularly plays the stock market and has been quite successful. I can only guess that she doesn’t want to share her financial fortunes with a man as she is one of the most sought after women over fifty in town. There isn’t a bachelor around who hasn’t pursued Hermione; all to no avail.
I have to confess that I have always wondered if she really does dabble in the mystical arts. Although I know she’s over fifty years old; she looks about thirty five. It’s either good genes or good magic and I’m not sure which one it is. If it’s magic, I need to find out her spell, healing oil or mystical crystal before I celebrate my next birthday.
“Well, actually Jonathan’s been super busy of late with the cottages and everything. I really don’t get to see him as much as I’d like,” I explained to Hermione. Just as I was finishing my statement I watched as Hermione spied what looked to be a large round toad hopping across her shop floor.
“Damn. I wish I could get rid of that toad. I don’t know where he came from but he has got to go. There are no ponds around here; he must be one lost bugger. He’s really loud and he scared Mrs. Taylor so badly that she swore she’d never come back into my shop. Hang on a minute while I go get my broom.”
Taking a closer look at the toad I got a funny feeling that I knew who he was. As Hermione went in search of her broom I got down on one knee and whispered, “Neville, is that you?” The panicked amphibian looked up at me and shook his head; something not particularly easy for just any amphibian to do.
Coming back into the room, Hermione announced, “I got my super vacuum instead. That disgusting toad doesn’t have a chance against this baby!”
The suction on her machine was surely ample to suck in the fat little demon, but somehow I found that thought unsettling. I’m not sure why, but I actually felt sorry for Neville.
“Why not just chase him into your garden?” I asked. “Your cat, Matilda, is sure to give him a run for his life.”
“Excellent idea,” she said and went in search of her cat mumbling, “I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with that toad anyway once I’d sucked him up.”
In a loud whispered voice I said, “Run Neville. Get out of here before Matilda finds you.” And with that the fat fellow took off with one mighty hop. Even though Neville had attempted to help Cyrus marry me off, I had a soft spot in my heart for him. I’m not sure who he was more terrified of - my great-grandmother or Cyrus. Unfortunately for him, in the end, the threat that both great-grandmother and Cyrus had leveled at Neville had come to pass. And although I can’t remember which one of them had actually cast the spell, Neville was now indeed a toad.
Heading into the healing oils section of the store I found Lemon, Lavender, Tea Tree, Eucalyptus, Peppermint and more oils. Hermione really does have a great selection of oils, I thought to myself as I opened the Lavender, took a deep whiff, relaxed and put the top back on.  Having spotted what I wanted, I scooped up two other oils and headed to the counter.
Putting Matilda down on the floor and watching as she raced towards the garden and presumably Neville, Hermione said, “Okay let me guess. You’re too young for hot flashes so I don’t think you’re buying the peppermint oil for that and I don’t think you’ve got a cold, so you’re not buying eucalyptus oil for that so… are you trying to keep a negative spirit away?”
“Boy you know your oils, Hermione. Actually, I am doing some house cleaning in my shop and yes, I always want to keep evil spirits away and I want to boost the prosperity of the shop too. But I also want to clean the air, and make it fresh and welcoming for all of my patrons.”
“Well, you’ve picked the correct oils but I think you might need a little Tea Tree oil too. That’s the best natural sanitizer there is.” Walking over to the display she grabbed a bottle of the oil and tossed it in my bag. “On the house; use it in good health!”
Thanking her for her generosity, I hurried home, anxious for a hot cup of Hazelnut coffee and the chance to just sit and read the newspaper. I revel in all of the Sunday ads, the real estate section and especially the comics. Opening my front door I was stunned to find my mother and my two sisters sitting on my couch. Miss Cassandra was pacing back and forth in front of them and gave me one dirty look as I entered the room.
“She forgot. I knew it. She forgets everything these days. In fact, she’s forgotten to feed me more than once,” said Miss Cassandra in her most offended voice.
“She didn’t forget, she’s just running late,” offered Constance. “You didn’t forget did you, Olivia?”
I headed off to my kitchen to fill my coffee carafe with water. Adding a few more scoops of Hazelnut to the coffee machine I turned and admitted, “I guess I did forget something that is apparently very important to all of you. But the problem is that I don’t know what it is that I forgot.”
“She’s had a lot going on in her life,” soothed Constance.
“I have to admit that you have had a lot going on, but I thought that this was going to be such a special day that you wouldn’t forget,” said Harmony, looking rather disappointed.
“Well, I did,” I said defensively. “So instead of beating me up would someone please fill me in?”
“Olivia, this is the day your sisters and I are taking you shopping for your wedding gown,” offered my mother.
A sharp knock on my front door brought Gail bursting in. “Oh good, I was afraid you’d leave without me. Hey, why aren’t you dressed, Olivia? We have an appointment to keep. That new designer Dina Dorsette doesn’t agree to meet with just anyone on a Sunday. I had to work pretty hard to get her to agree to see us. Well, that and maybe give her a small, magical nudge,” she said giggling.
“Help yourself to coffee. I’ll be back in a moment,” I said as I flew towards the shower. How had I forgotten that today was the day that we’d be shopping for my gown?  Did I even know that it was today? Had anyone actually told me? I must really be losing it. Thank goodness that I was normally a well-organized person. After showering, I raced to my closet and grabbed a pair of white linen sailor pants, a peach gauzy top and white strappy sandals. I tied my wet hair on top of my head and applied minimal make- up. As I left my room my damp curls were already attempting to escape from the band. Oh well, by the time we got to L.A. my hair would probably be dry and I could just shake the curls free. I’m sure that sounded a lot better than it was going to look.
As I returned to my living room, I found it silent. Each witch wore a more guilty face than the next.
“We just realized something, Olivia,” said Harmony.
“I was supposed to tell you that today was the day we were all going shopping for your wedding gown,” said Gail.
“And I was supposed to remind her to tell you,” said Constance.
“Sorry,” Gail and Constance uttered in unison.
“Well, I did what I was told to do. I arranged for a town car to get us all downtown, together and on time. So let’s go!” said my mother with a victorious look on her face.
“Don’t forget to throw in a pair of heels, Olivia. You’ll need them when you try the dresses on,” finished Harmony.”Oh, and maybe a pair of Spanx?”
“She doesn’t need Spanx” said Constance and Gail at the same time.
“What are you two getting so upset about? I wear them all the time,” said Harmony.
“Well, I should but I don’t,” said Constance defensively.
“I’m not sure I even own a pair,” I said more to myself than to anyone else. Before dashing out I filled my travel mug with my morning brew, grabbed a pair of heels and turned to see Miss Cassandra sadly slipping away.
“Well, are you coming?” I asked as I reached for her carrier. Faster than I had ever seen that cat move before, Miss Cassandra was in her carrier, the door fastened and her purring audible.
“Can’t imagine anyone I’d rather have with me today than you Miss Cassandra. Did you really think I’d leave you behind?” I asked. I swear, I think I actually saw my cat smile before she snuggled down into her carrier without another sound. I guess her snit is over for now.