Annette Blair by My Favorite Witch Page A

looked up guilty, as if he’d unwrapped every gift, his and everyone else’s, and his half-grin enchanted the crap out of her.
    “Come see,” he said.
    She went to sit beside him, and just like that, three dozen hockey sticks broke a week’s worth of ice.
    They visited every mansion after that, checking building-and fire-code compliance, scoped out ballrooms for dancing, patios for cocktail parties, kitchens and dining rooms, attics, billiard rooms, hothouses, doll houses, wine cellars, carriage houses and stables.
    Kira tried to stay cool throughout, but when she saw the kitchen at Kingston by the Sea, her enthusiasm got the best of her. She knew exactly what event to plan around it.
    “This kitchen is incredible!” she exclaimed. “We can’t let it go to waste. What would you say to having Salem’s Kitchen Witch show filmed here live? We could sell tickets to a pricey, elegant cocktail party on the night the show airs, and our guests could meet Melody.”
    “Melody Seabright? She can’t come cheap,” Jason warned. “I think getting her would eat up our profit.”
    “You think so?” Kira took out her cell phone, hit a single digit and Send. She listened to it ring while she eyed her boss with a “watch me” brow. “Hey, Mel,” she said, enjoying Jason’s stunned reaction, “I have a great idea for your show.”
    Jason listened to Kira talk with one of TV’s hottest cooking-show stars, or to someone pretending to be Melody Seabright, of Kitchen Witch fame, for some time before he stopped gaping.
    Then Kira spoke to someone named Logan, from whom she solicited a documentary about the mansions, then she went back to talking to Melody again, if her conversation was to be believed.
    “Love to Shane,” Kira said. “Really? Yes, please. Hi, baby. How’s old Snoopy doing? He did?” She laughed. “Ink and Spot are what? No. Kittens? Both of them? You’re kidding? What did your dad say? No, honey, you don’t have to say the bad word. I get the picture. Love you, too. Give Mom a hug for me when I hang up, okay? Dad, too. Bye, sport.”
    Kira raised an arm in victory and did an enchanting little happy dance.
    Jason shook his head in denial. “That was a joke right? Some family member was in on it.”
    “No joke. Mel’s gonna talk to her producer tomorrow, but she said to consider it a go. She thinks the second week in November would be great. She says she has to reserve the third week for Thanksgiving, and the first is already planned.”
    “Now pull the other leg,” Jason retorted, but Kira’s enthusiasm seemed genuine.
    “Melody suggested that a documentary about the mansions might be good promo. That’s what her husband, Logan, does; he makes documentaries. He said he’d donate one for a tax write-off.”
    “I got that,” Jason said.
    “He’ll shoot some of it when Mel’s here to do her show. They’ll film ahead, Mel said. They don’t like to go live anywhere except in the studio. But she’ll be happy to come back for our reception the night the show’s aired.”
    “You’re not kidding,” Jason said. “About any of this.”
    “Of course not.” Kira placed her hand on her heart. “Witch’s promise. Mel wants to work the show around a Gilded Age Society menu. She asked if I could send her info on the dinners they served. She was thrilled.”
    Kira walked around the kitchen, touching everything as if she imagined her friend was there. “Mel likes to stay with New England themes as much as possible, so Newport is perfect. I knew it would be. I’ll bet we hook some great promo with this. Mel will plug us in her ‘upcoming show’ credits for weeks before our show airs.”
    “Is she really a witch?”
    “Melody has always worked some pretty amazing magic,” Kira replied with a wink. “We grew up together. She’s from the Boston Brahmin side of the tracks; I’m from the poor Irish side.”
    “What? Same school?”
    “Hell, no. Mel went to boarding schools, the poor thing,