A Potion to Die For: A Magic Potion Mystery by Heather Blake Page A

white water, and I hoped the storm would hold off until they were safely on land.
    I needed to figure out a plan to get Bernice to talk with me. I was sitting there staring at the water, mesmerized, really, when I suddenly felt a presence studying me. I glanced up and found Johnny Braxton leaning against the iron safety fence not four feet away.
    The look in his eyes matched the storm clouds above.
    Johnny had always been cordial to me, less so to my mama and daddy. He was a shrewd businessman who was all about money, and it showed in the way he dressed. From his silver-tipped boots to his fussy bolo tie.
    He jutted his chin and stroked his white grizzled beard. “What’s your mama up to?”
    I shrugged as a raindrop glanced off my shoulder. “Beats me.”
    “She’s not planning to sabotage my weekend extravaganza, is she?”
    Yes. Yes, she is.
“You know my mama.”
    I recalled how my daddy told me that Johnny was going to dress as Johnny Cash for his extravaganza, and I couldn’t quite picture how he planned to pull that off, as there was no resemblance whatsoever.
    Around seventy, Johnny was not a young man by any means, but he was big and muscular with a wide barrel chest and beefy arms. When I was younger, there was something about his physique and the way he walked that always reminded me of Popeye’s nemesis, Bluto. Nowadays I thought he still looked like Bluto, though his hair had long since turned white and his muscles had atrophied some.
    Once upon a time, Johnny had been considered a catch, especially since he had a fat bank account and a big ol’ house, but money couldn’t make up for his rotten personality, and he’d remained a bachelor most of his life.
    It was a little ironic that he ran one of the most popular wedding chapels in town, though I supposed I could say the same of my mama, with her matrimonial cynicism.
    I wondered again what he had been arguing about with Nelson but couldn’t quite screw up enough courage to ask. I wasn’t frightened of much, but this man scared me some.
    “It would serve her best to mind her own business and stop trying to steal mine,” he warned, keeping his voice low. “And best you remind her of that.”
    Apparently after all these years he also hadn’t learned that no one told my mama what to do. I stood up, ready to go toe-to-toe with this man three times my size. I might be scared, but I was never one to back down from a challenge. I latched onto my locket and said, “Is that a threat, Mr. Braxton?”
    “Just fair warning,” he answered lightly. “No one messes with my bottom line and gets away with it.”
    “How much money do you rightly need?” I snapped. “You already own half the town.” He owned his chapel, several reception venues and party halls, and a couple of restaurants, too.
    “More, if I have a say in it.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “It means I always get what I want.”
    “I know what you
need
,” I said sassily.
    His tone was sharp as he said, “And what is it I need, young lady?”
    A poke from my pitchfork would work nicely. “You need yourself a woman to soften up your hard edges, Mr. Braxton. You should come see me about my matchmaking services. You’re never too old to find love.”
    Though, truth be told, finding someone to love him would be quite the task.
    Thunder rumbled, and Johnny looked to the skies before glancing back at me. “Why would I do that? I heard tell you’ve been poisoning people with those potions of yours. Isn’t it cruel how vicious some rumors can be?”
    I narrowed my eyes. Had he been fanning the flames of those rumors? “Seems to me I heard my own rumors about you fighting with Nelson in front of the coffee shop a couple of days ago. Now, what was that fight about, Mr. Braxton?”
    His jowls tightened in anger. In a low warning tone, he said, “You should mind your business, too, Miss Carly.” He tipped an imaginary hat. “Have yourself a good night, now.”
    • • •
    A good night.