Love Spell

Chapter 1

Keira stuck her bottom lip out and blew a puff of air to move her bangs out of her eyes. They always fell in her eyes when she tried to pour her potions. "Dang it! I've added too much." She shrugged and referred back to her book. "Do you have his blood, Lucy?" She looked up from the spell book and studied the short, plump, middle-aged woman.

"Um..." Lucy rummaged around in her purse. "Here." She handed Keira a blood-stained tissue. "Will this work?"

Keira pinched the tissue with tweezers out of Lucy's grasp, her nose scrunching at the wadded crunchiness.

"I guess it will have to." Thank God she wore gloves today.

Tearing the tissue apart and using one big red stain, she shoved the piece into the tube with the tweezers and swirled it around to dissolve it. She added two drops of mint flavoring, swirled again, and then poured it into a glass vile.

"Okay, have Jimmy swallow this in one gulp first thing tomorrow morning on an empty stomach. Wait an hour before he has anything to drink or eat, and that should be it." She smiled at Lucy and handed her the vile.

Lucy shoved a wad of cash at her. "Thank you, Miss Weathersby."

"Anytime. Let me know how he's doing in a day or two."

The little woman waddled out of the shop door.

She checked her watch. Nine-fifty. "Shnizzle! I'm going to be late." Untying her apron, she turned in circles in the small, single garage she called her shop to find her bag. She got down on her hands and knees to search under the tables. Organization was the key if she wanted to continue to mix her potions and work at the pharmacy. Life without her craft or medications wasn't an option. Her dream ever since she was a little girl was to help cure people of what ailed them. Both body and heart.

A knock at the door made her jerk her head up and slam it against the table edge. "Fudge!" She carefully crawled out from underneath the table, crossed to the door to open it an inch, and peeked out at her visitor. Greeted with a pastel pink dress, matching clutch, and bleach blonde hair styled in thick curls as a tissue was dabbed at the watery eyes, Keira swallowed back a wave of nausea. "Anna, what's wrong?" She shoved the door wide and ushered in her client.

Anna glanced around outside before she stepped into the shop. "Keira, something went wrong."

"What happened?" Keira tied on her floral apron.

"I gave the potion to Connor like you said, but nothing happened. He hasn't changed at all. No I-love-yous, no I-need-you-in-my-life-forever, and no here's-my-fraternity-pin." Anna flopped down in the single chair that graced Keira's shop, her curls bouncing and falling into place perfectly. "Why didn't it work?" Her green eyes welled and she dabbed at them.

Keira's shoulders dropped and she released a deep breath. She kneeled before Anna and gently proceeded. "I hate to ask, but are you sure he loves you?"

Anna brought her hand to her heart, eyebrows raised. "Of course he does, silly. What kind of question is that?"

"A foolish one, obviously," Keira mumbled as she stood up.

"What did you say?" Anna demanded.

"Oh, umm... I was just wondering out loud what might have gone wrong." Keira nibbled her lip under Anna's hawk-like scrutiny. "Let me consult my potion book."

Keira opened the book to the love potion index and slid her finger down the listings until she located the Love Profession potion. She turned to the page and scanned the directions, the side effects, and then the troubleshooting fine print. "Was he drinking when you gave him the potion?"