Table of Contents
COPYRIGHT
TITLE PAGE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
EPILOGUE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Copyright
Copyright © Ellen Dugan 2017
Cover art designed by Kyle Hallemeier
Cover image: fotolia: bublik_polina
“Legacy Of Magick” logo designed by Kyle Hallemeier
Copy Editing and Formatting by Libris in CAPS
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any other form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Ellen Dugan
All rights reserved to the Author
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Sugarplums, Spells & Silver Bells
By
Ellen Dugan
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
To my fabulous crew of beta readers: Becca, Erin, Ro and Shawna. Thanks for your speed reading skills, the notes, and of course for patiently listening to me while I plotted my way through this novella. Thanks to Kyle for the enchanting cover and for bringing Violet to life, and to Mitchell for the editing.
This one’s for the fans! Happy Holidays and Brightest Blessings!
Other Titles by Ellen Dugan
THE LEGACY OF MAGICK SERIES
Legacy Of Magick, Book #1
Secret Of The Rose, Book #2
Message Of The Crow, Book #3
Beneath An Ivy Moon, Book #4
Under The Holly Moon, Book #5
The Hidden Legacy, Book #6
Spells Of The Heart, Book #7
Sugarplums, Spells & Silver Bells, Book #8
Magick & Magnolias, Book #9 (Coming 2018)
THE GYPSY CHRONICLES
Gypsy At Heart, Book 1
Gypsy Spirit, Book 2 (Coming 2018)
Christmas waves a magic wand over this world,
And behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.
-Norman Vincent Peale
The Sugarplum Fairy herself could have made no grander gesture.
-Shana Alexander
PROLOGUE
“I don’t care what you think,” I said to my familiar. “I won’t resort to magick to win the holiday decorating contest.”
Tank, a gray British shorthair, narrowed his bright yellow feline eyes and made a chirping noise that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle.
I glanced down when he rubbed against my ankles. “This year, Tank,” I said, adding the last of the amethyst ornaments to the main display tree. “We are winning a prize for best decorated shop in the William’s Ford Holiday Happening.”
“Meow?” Tank tipped his head, sat beside me and began to paw at a silver star.
“Our Sugarplum Fairy theme is perfect.” I stacked up the empty ornament boxes, carried them to the storage tub, and placed them inside. “When we open the flower shop tomorrow we are going to have our best Black Friday sales, ever. You’ll see.”
I checked the clock and rolled my shoulders. It had been a long day. It was almost 10 p.m. and my mother and I had been in a holiday decorating frenzy since two o’clock in the afternoon. It had been our family tradition for years. Eat an early Thanksgiving dinner, then dive in and flip the shop to holiday décor on our day off. As florists it was vital to our business to have the store decked out to coordinate with the seasons, since this boosted sales and our seasonal arrangement orders.
Thanks to our Sugarplum Fairy theme, I was finally able to celebrate the holiday with my favorite color—purple. Some folks would probably be surprised by the untraditional hue...but it would stand out and make us distinctive. I should know, as it’s my signature color. Even my long blonde hair was streaked and dip dyed a soft lavender, and I loved the ombre effect.
Some folks think that I’m quirky, but I prefer the term unique—thank you very much. Whenever anyone rolls their eyes at me I’m quick to point out that my mother started it all with her choice for my first name.
I’m Violet O’Connell. Florist, Witch about town, and purple aficionado.
I’d become full partners with my mother Cora in the flower shop four years ago, and for the past few weeks we’d been slaving away creating garlands, a variety of wreaths, and smaller trimmed holiday trees at my mother’s house. This year’s theme was a closely guarded secret, and our color scheme was purple, white and silver with pops of teal and pink.
Today, we’d finally hauled everything in and decorated our little hearts out. After my mother had headed home, I was left thinking about a glass of wine and a long hot bath. All I had to do was drag myself upstairs to my own apartment.
I snapped the lid closed on the storage tote and went to make sure the covering on the front window would stay securely in place until we were ready to unveil the store’s holiday display. I double-checked the lock on the front door and slowly turned back around for a critical assessment of the overall effect.
It was perfect! A trio of table top sugarplum theme trees in staggered heights, added a faery tale aura to the room. They featured a heavy emphasis on pastel pink and lavender ornaments and were located centrally in the shop. Also, a large white tree dominated our main display window. The eight foot tree was a show stopper. Covered in sparkling silver and deep amethyst glass ornaments the tree was decorated completely around, as it could be viewed from all sides.
Rich white garlands were draped around the walls of the shop as well. Their swags and swoops were highlighted by twinkling purple and white fairy lights and beautiful shimmering ribbon in silver and metallic plum.
On the big round table in the center of the display area, silver toned trays were out and waiting for the cakepops, candies and cookies for tomorrow evening. The rest of the table itself was covered with votive cups of mercury glass and glistening vases filled with arrangements of coordinating silk flowers, peacock feathers and metallic holly. A large silk bird with plum colored feathers was tucked into a large central arrangement, and the effect was festive and extravagant.
I walked over and trailed my fingers along
