Winter Wishes: A Christmas Paranormal Cozy Mystery (Winter Witches of Holiday Haven Book 4) by Elle Adams

Author:Elle Adams [Adams, Elle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-11-10T16:00:00+00:00

9

Holding onto my patience throughout the night while we waited to confront Janice took all the willpower I possessed. It didn’t help that I kept expecting to wake up to another snowstorm or some other disaster that had fallen upon us while we slept. Early the following morning, I went downstairs to check on the choir in the hopes that the frog spell had worn off. Oh, and to make sure Charlie hadn’t eaten any of them. I’d hope he’d have more sense, but you never really knew.

“They’re still frogs,” Mercy said dismally from behind the front desk, looking as tired as I felt. “I checked. We’re going to have to tell their families ASAP unless we can find some way to turn them back into humans again within the next few hours. Not to mention keep them safe from the cat.”

My heart sank when I spotted Charlie wandering around the reception area, having probably slipped out of my parents’ room the instant my mum turned her back. “Has he been near the back room?”

“He tried. That’s why I’ve been sitting here for the last hour.”

“I think he’s the one who initially took the wishing box. I forgot he has a habit of hoarding shiny things, but he’s been building quite the stash in one of the recycling bins around the back of the inn. He’d have been quite capable of sneaking into the back room and swiping it while I was showing my parents around town.”

Her eyes rounded. “You think so?”

“If he did take it, anyone might have swiped it from his hiding spot,” I added. “We know Janice was hanging around here more or less at the same time as it vanished. If he left the recycling bin open, she’d have spotted its glittering gemstones a mile off.”

“Sounds plausible,” said Mercy, “but we don’t have long left if we’re going to get it back before the event starts, and we can’t prove where it ended up after it disappeared from Charlie’s hiding place.”

“True.” I tailed the cat to the back door again in the hopes of getting a better look around in daylight, but it was obvious the wishing box wasn’t in the recycling bin. Not anymore, in any case. Worse, Janice would even be able to claim she hadn’t stolen it but had simply found it lying around—which was, technically, true.

I returned to the inn, finding that Mum, Dad, and Bella had come downstairs for breakfast. Only Bella looked well-rested out of the three of them, though Mum and Dad wore cheerful expressions despite the dark circles under their eyes.

Mum carried a half-made hat with antlers on it and placed it on the counter in front of a bewildered Mercy.

“We worked on making the new hats for hours,” she said.

“I did tell you not to stay up late on our account,” I protested.

“Oh, it was fun,” Dad said brightly. “Come upstairs and see the rest, won’t you?”

“All right.”

I obligingly followed them upstairs to their room, where it couldn’t be more obvious that Mum and Dad had worked hard at putting the hats together for hours.

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