A Witch Named Hazel (Crafty Witch Mysteries Book 1) Read online

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Epilogue

  A Witch Named Hazel

  by

  Sara Bourgeois

  Chapter One

  “I didn’t even know I had a Great-Uncle Charlie,” I said into the phone. I shouldn’t have been surprised. You could fill a couple of U-Hauls with the stuff my family didn’t talk about.

  “Well, Ms. Holloway, you did. You are in fact his sole heir,” the man on the phone said and then added, “which does make my job on this case significantly easier.”

  His name was Joshua Maine and he’d identified himself as my Great-Uncle Charlie Holloway’s estate attorney. He also informed that he worked for Maine & Sons Attorneys at Law in a town called Fullmourn. Which I had never heard of before. Neither the law offices nor the town.

  “How is that possible?” I asked, but I knew the answer to that even before the question left my lips. My family like to keep secrets, and as I was the black sheep, I wasn’t in on many of them. Just the stuff that people got drunk and talked about at the long since abandoned family Christmas gatherings. I wasn’t exactly up to date, and apparently Great-Uncle Charlie was never invited to those wonderful, and that’s said with a mouthful of sarcasm, family gatherings. “There’s plenty of my family left alive, and I’m not the oldest. So, it’s not like I could be his sole surviving heir. You must be making a mistake.”

  “I’m not and you’re not, but he named you as his sole heir, so you are,” Joshua said flatly. “I need you to come to my office and collect the contents of the estate. When can I expect to see you? It is important this matter be cleared up with the utmost haste.”

  “What is it?” I asked. “You know, just so I can be prepared. What are the contents of his estate?” And why is it such a big hurry? I thought to myself.

  Thinking back on it, at some point, I probably should have asked that part. If I had, though, I’m not sure that things would have worked out the way they did. Whether that would have been better, only time would tell.

  “We’ll discuss that when you come to my office,” Joshua said evasively. “Estates are delicate matters, and it’s better left to face-to-face interaction. It helps to avoid any miscommunications or misunderstandings. You understand, don’t you?”

  “It’s not like three chickens and a truck full of secondhand furniture, is it? I don’t have anywhere to put chickens or even a sofa,” I said as I looked around at my cramped, depressing little apartment. As if on cue, the curtain rod I’d just put back up the day before fell halfway off again. I needed more duct tape.

  “When can you come to my office?” he asked as he completely ignored my question.

  “Where is your office again?” The curtain thing had thoroughly distracted me. Actually, the entire conversation had the same effect. My brain felt like goo. I was.. overwhelmed.

  “3752 East Street,” he said.

  “In Springfield?” I asked. “I don’t think we have a street that’s just called East Street.” This was probably why I didn’t make it all the way through community college.

  “No, I’m sorry. My office is located in Fullmourn. As was your great-uncle’s home and it is where the contents of the estate are located as well. I could have sworn we went over this,” he sounded exasperated, and I could relate.

  “Fullmourn?” I asked. “Oh, right. You did mention that.”

  “Do you need directions?” Joshua asked curtly.

  “No, I can google it,” I said. “When do you have an appointment available?”

  “Now,” he said and offered no further explanation.

  “Well, let me Google it and see how far I’d have to drive. I wasn’t expecting this,” I said.

  “Fullmourn is just under a half hour from Springfield,” Joshua said.

  “Well, all right then. I suppose I can be there in about a half an hour. I don’t have anything pressing going on here this afternoon…” I was explaining when he cut me off.

  “Good, I’ll see you then,” he said and hung up abruptly.

  “Busy guy for being a lawyer in a town I’ve never heard of before,” I said to no one but my empty apartment.

  It just so happened to be my day off, so it wasn’t like I had anywhere else to be at that moment. I didn’t have any money to go out, so my plans had been to spend the evening reading while I ate a giant mountain of chicken nuggets.

  It might take me all evening, but because of my persistent practice, a high metabolism, and my constant state of low-level anxiety, I could work my way through an entire bag in one night. Thanks to an air fryer I got at a garage sale for five bucks, I could heat them in batches too. Hot, fresh chicken nuggets on demand. It wasn’t much, but it was the little things. One of the very few luxuries I could afford with my miniscule paycheck.

  “If I go now, then perhaps I can still be back in time for chicken nuggets,” I again said to no one. Who was I kidding? I’d stay up all night for chicken nuggets. My work had free coffee, so if I had to drag my butt in there the next day and drown myself in horrible, but free, coffee, it would be worth it. No one would stand between me and my chicken nugget-fueled haunted doll horror movie marathon.

  Perhaps I did have plans…

  “I told him I’d come right away,” I said to myself. “It would be unkind to just not show up.” Plus, whoever this Uncle Charlie was, he obviously didn’t have anybody. It felt wrong not to show up for him. Even if I had no idea who he was.

  I packed my backpack with two bottles of water and a package of trail mix. I wasn’t sure how long the meeting with Joshua the lawyer would take, and I really didn’t have the money to stop anywhere to eat.

  Wendy’s had a family pack of spicy chicken nuggets for ten bucks, and I eyed my rent money while biting my bottom lip. Maybe… no. I couldn’t risk eviction for chicken nuggets, and my landlord would evict me for being ten bucks short on the rent.

  I also threw my book in with my jacket in case I had to wait. Waiting in lines sucked, but I loved waiting somewhere I could just space out or peruse a book. Waiting rooms were great because you had no reason not to veg out and read.

  Packed and ready to go, there was nothing to do but leave. I’d lived alone since I was eighteen, so there was no one for me tell goodbye. I locked my door and headed down to the building’s parking area. Thankfully, my car was right where I left it. Auto theft wasn’t a constant thing in my neighborhood, but it did happen.

  After throwing my backpack into the passenger side of the car, I slid in behind the wheel. I punched the address for Joshua’s office into my GPS and waited for it to do its thing. My car was pretty old, but it wasn’t so old as to not have navigation. The engine didn’t always sound like it was going to make it in the winter, but the navigation system hadn’t gone out yet.

  Chapter Two

  You know how as your gas tank gets lower, it seems to head to the dreaded empty faster? A few miles from Fullmourn, I noticed that exact thing was happening to me.

  Fortunately, there appeared to be one of those mega gas stations and truck stops at the next exit. I clicked on my blinker and took the exit ramp when it came up.

  The sign on the pump looked like it was made just for me.

  “Credit, Debit, or Prepay Only.”

  I had to go in and pay before I could pump because I kept all of my gas money in a little white envelope in my purse. I did the same with my grocery money to make sure I didn’t overspend my budget.

  After digging around in my bag for a few seconds, I found the envelopes. They were rubber banded together, so I freed the gas envelope and opened it.

  There was seven dollars inside of it. That would get me less than three gallons of gas, and it was all I had left until I got paid again. Obviously, I didn’t really have extra trips out of town in my monthly gas budget, but what could I do? I didn’t have enough to just turn around and go home, so all I could do was spend the seven bucks and hope that my inheritance included a little cheddar to pad my budget.

  I left the car and walked across the lot to the station’s convenience store. It was attached to a diner, and there was a sign that directed people around to the side of the building to access the showers.

  Since it was the middle of the afternoon, the gas station wasn’t too busy. There were only a few cars at the pumps, and it seemed even fewer people were inside milling around looking for the perfect bag of chips and bottle of soda.

  I made a beeline for the cash register because I was on a mission. Unfortunately, just as I was about to reach the counter, a man stepped out from behind a rack of gift cards and beat me to the cash register.

  “Morning, George,” the clerk said. “The usual?”

  Oh, good, I thought. He should be in and out. I still thought it was rude for him to step in front of me like that, but I decided it wasn’t worth saying anything.

  Ooh, boy. If a person could be wrong about things, I should have won a prize.

  “I won a few bucks on the scratchers from yesterday
, so I’ll take an extra five today,” he said and pulled a scratch-off lottery ticket out of his pocket. The man named George slid it across the counter, and the clerk turned to grab the tickets from the plastic dispenser.

  The clerk turned back and slid the new tickets across the counter to George. Thinking the exchange was nearly over, I readied myself to step forward and pay for my gas.

  Much to my dismay, George pulled a quarter out of his baggy jeans and began scratching the tickets. If there was a thing I hated, it was people that stood at the counter scratching their tickets. How could anybody think it was okay to just block the line like that?

  I let out a heavy sigh, and George seemed oblivious. He just kept scratching.

  “Oh, good,” he said as he scratched the last one. “Got another winner. Give me five more, Kendra.” He handed the clerk the winning ticket.

  “Excuse me,” I said and cleared my throat. “Can I pay for my gas? I’m kind of in a hurry.”

  Kendra offered me a sympathetic smile and reached out her hand to take my cash. “What pump, sweetie?”

  “Hey, excuse you both,” George groused. He turned halfway around and looked at me. “You can wait your turn, young lady. Ain’t my problem you didn’t give yourself enough time.”

  I was about to argue with him about how there was no way someone could account for someone standing at the counter scratching off tickets at the gas station when the man who had joined the line behind me spoke up. “Hey, bud. Why don’t you move off to the side? People have got places to be.”

  The man was big, dressed in what I assumed truckers wore, and had the expression of someone who hadn’t taken crap from anyone in at least a couple of decades. George sized the guy up and decided the man wasn’t someone he wanted to tangle with.

  “Fine,” he said and moved down the counter a foot. “Nobody has respect for their elders anymore.”

  “Thank you,” I said to the trucker.

  He just gave me a nod, and I handed Kendra my seven dollars. “Pump thirteen.”

  “All that for seven dollars. What a joke,” George sniped as Kendra put my cash in the machine and set the pump for me.

  “You’re all set. Thank you,” she said as we both ignored George.

  “Thank you,” I returned and bolted for the doors.

  Chapter Three

  The rest of the drive over to Fullmourn was pleasant. The radio played all songs that I liked, and that was rare. Usually it was like one song I liked and a bunch I either didn’t care for or totally hated. It was a good thing I had my windows up because I found myself belting out a few tunes. I was sure I looked crazy, but I didn’t care.

  I was in a decent mood as I drove into town, but I turned the radio down once I crossed over into the Fullmourn town limits. I don’t know why but it felt like you could find things better with the radio down. Have you ever tried to read a map with the radio all the way up? Doesn’t work.

  The navigation took me through the center of town and past the square. I didn’t pay too close of attention because I was trying to focus on finding Josh’s office, but I did notice there was an old church on one end and several cute little stores. There was also a coffee shop, bakery, and a café. It was a lot of choices for such a small town, but I was impressed. The various eateries caught my attention, but since I didn’t have any money to stop and dine, I just sighed and kept going.

  “Maybe on my way out of town, I can spring for a cup of coffee,” I told my empty car. “I bet it’s good,” I said as I thought I caught a whiff of fresh roasted beans. “I can afford one cup.”

  Just outside of the square was the county courthouse. It was a large, beige stone building with the old jail located across the street. Except I figured out pretty quick that it wasn’t really the “old” jail. The building was from 1869 per the stone sign over the entryway, but it looked to be still in use. “Remind me never to get arrested,” I said to myself, and then laughed too hard at my own silly joke…

  Fullmourn was only a half hour away from my city, but it was in a different county, and it might as well have been in a different world. It felt like I’d stepped back in time, and if not for the modern cars parked along the streets and driving around, I would have believed I had passed through some sort of time portal.

  A couple of blocks later, after driving past a diner and a small park, I found the lawyer’s office. It was in a former Victorian-style house that had been converted into business space. He shared the building and parking lot with an accountant and a dentist. The entrance for Josh’s office was in the front with the dentist’s door being in the back. The accountant’s office was on the second floor, and you accessed it by going in through the front door and taking either the stairs or a small elevator up.

  I walked past the stairs and elevator to find the door into Josh’s office. When I went in, I found myself standing inside a small reception area outfitted with a desk on one side and four chairs around a coffee table on the other. There were plants on every available surface and pots hanging from the ceiling. The smell of lemon-scented Pledge hung in the air, and it quickly became apparent why.

  A woman was by the window dusting the baseboards. “Oh, hello,” she said and set her can and rag down on the coffee table before standing to greet me. “Sorry I’m not at my desk. I get bored and start cleaning. There is so much wood trim in this place.”

  “It’s okay,” I said as she walked around me and went behind the desk. “I’m here to see Josh Maine. I guess I’m his afternoon appointment.”

  “Hazel Holloway?” she inquired.

  “The one and only,” I said, but then thought better of it. “You know what, I’m probably not, though.”

  That elicited a chuckle from the receptionist, who I was about to find out wasn’t just the receptionist. “I’m Amanda Maine, Josh’s wife and receptionist. I’ll let him know you’re here.”

  “Nice to meet you, Amanda,” I said.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you as well,” she replied. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  I briefly thought about correcting her and telling her I didn’t know Charlie. So, it wasn’t really a loss, but I realized I would sound like a jerk and decided to leave it alone. “Thank you,” I said instead.

  She picked up the phone on the desk and called Josh. “Your appointment is here,” she said before nodding and then hanging up.

  “He’ll be up in a moment,” she said. “Can I get you anything? I was about to grab a cup of coffee or we have Coke?”

  I almost said no, but a Coke was a luxury I wasn’t about to turn down. I allowed myself one a day at home with dinner, but if she was offering, I was taking. Great-Uncle Charlie had probably paid more than enough in legal fees to cover one free soda.

  “I’ll have a Coke,” I said. “Thank you.”

  She disappeared through a door behind the desk that I’d assumed was a closet and reappeared a couple of minutes later with a huge steaming mug of coffee in one hand and a bottle of Coke in the other.

  “We keep them in the fridge, so it’s icy cold. I can get you ice if you want it, though,” she offered.