No Shoes, No Shirt, No Spells (Mystic Cafe Series) by Rose Pressey Page A

Imelda’s perfect track record, I realized how lame of a question that was. Of course it was my magic in question.
    “ Yes, young lady, I have. This is a serious situation.”
    He knew my name, why didn’t he use it? It was as if my father was scolding me.
    Tom avoided my glare. Did he call Mr. Wibble here?
    “ You called in backup?” I whispered in Tom’s direction.
    Tom glanced at me, but remained tight-lipped.
    Mr. Wibble pulled a stack of papers out of his briefcase. One flew across the floor. Mary Jane reached down and grabbed it. She’d been straining her neck to hear what he was saying from the moment he walked in the door. I should have just told her to come on over before she did permanent nerve damage.
    “ And? How bad is it?” I asked. Did I really want him to answer?
    Mary Jane handed him the paper, but she didn’t back away. She lingered nearby.
    “ I can’t answer that just yet, not without a full investigation, but I can tell you it doesn’t look good.” He stepped closer to the counter, his shoes squeaking as they moved across the hardwood. “Do you want to go somewhere else to talk, or is this good right here?”
    “ Well, um, we can speak here, if that’s all right with you?” No way was I waiting to hear what he had to say. Mary Jane would drill me for the details anyway.
    I paused, waiting for him to speak. He didn’t say a word as he looked down at his shoes. How long could he keep up the silence? Was he trying to kill me with anticipation? After a few seconds, he cleared his throat.
    Awkward silence again. Was he praying while looking at his shoes? Was it a moment of silence for my soon-to-be closed café?
    “ It’s fairly straightforward, Ms. Blair. You have to right this wrong.” Mr. Wibble cleared his throat and continued, “Or we’ll close the café for good.”
    Tom had said the same thing earlier, but I thought he had been exaggerating. Mr. Wibble appeared to be dead serious. I glanced at Mary Jane and practically saw the little wheels spinning in her head. She lived for gossip and big events such as these. It didn’t matter if it was someone getting good news or bad news, as long as there was news.
    “ Your face looks green.” Mary Jane placed a hand on my arm.
    “ Are you okay? I didn’t mean to shock you.” He leaned closer to the counter, meeting my gaze.
    “ I’m fine. I don’t need y’all fawning over me.” I waved a dismissive hand and grabbed the towel next to me, then wiped my forehead. “Please, do go on.” I took the glass of water Mary Jane handed me and gulped half of it. They watched me as if they’d never seen anyone almost pass out before.

Chapter Nineteen
    After another few seconds, Mr. Wibble studied one of his papers, then stuffed it back into his briefcase. “Like I said, unless you correct this little snafu, we’ll be forced to close the café.”
    “ But I have tried to reverse the spell.” I covered my mouth with my hand. “Well, I made a pie. He hasn’t eaten it yet.”
    “ Secretly,” Tom said and looked at Mr. Wibble. “She didn’t know I was aware of what she was up to.” He smirked as if proud of himself.
    Mr. Wibble frowned and I swallowed hard. “That’s the problem,” he said. “There’s more to it than that. Yes, you must reverse the magic spell, which is more complicated, but first you need to get to the root of the problem.”
    I quirked a brow. “What does that mean exactly?”
    He pulled the paper out again and adjusted his glasses. “This woman…Kim?” He glanced up for confirmation. “She needs to understand why she’s here, and Mr. Covington….” He studied the papers again. “He needs to understand his feelings for her.”
    “ So I need to play matchmaker?”
    Mary Jane coughed from somewhere behind me.
    “ If need be, yes.” He nodded.
    There was no way I could put the two of them together. “I can’t do that.”
    Tom placed a hand on my arm.
    “ Then shall we put the closed sign in the