She’s got these deep green eyes surrounded by thick lashes, flawless features, and a mass of curly red hair that ends just below her waist. Repeatedly, I slam my palm on a metal bell sitting next to an antique cash register until a small hand lifts up the fabric in the doorframe. On upper shelves, there’s a collection of lime-green blenders and soda glasses with Coca-Cola etched onto the sides.įeminine humming behind a tie-dyed curtain indicates the proprietor is near. Red bar stools sit on shiny, chrome bases, parallel to a back counter that lines the room.

Right out of the nineteen-fifties, the soda-shop-decor has white, wrought-iron chairs and matching tables. Half-expecting a bloody scene, I’m pleasantly surprised when I open the door and lower my weapon. Maybe carrying is a bad habit but if you’ve seen all the shit I have, you’d do the same. The sign on the door reads ‘open’ so I park in the empty lot, grab my gun, and slide off the safety. Just south of Philadelphia, my internal GPS went full-throttle and I rode until I got the urge to stop here, about an hour outside Atlantic City.

A violet neon sign buzzes in the window, Olivia’s Natural Herbal Remedies. Tall grasses bend at the waist, blocking my view but the water’s out there, churning and angry.Ĭlouds part momentarily in the dark sky and a full moon lights up a small, two-story building. Generally, I like the ocean but not when a nor’easter’s barreling up the coast. My motorcycle wobbles in the wind as sand blows off the dunes coating my visor. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the author's One Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination and are used fictitiously.Īll rights reserved.

A Dash of Magic by Stella Marie Alden