Good Witch

It was October 31, 1818.

In those days, Middleton and Blairsville lived in harmony.

That was all about to change.

Patience Merriwick's hand was promised

to Roderick Davenport. Upon their exchanging of vows,

the most prominent family in each town

would be forever joined. But Patience's heart

belonged to someone else. William Spry.

William worked in the mines. It was there he unearthed

a ruby like no other. Some say it held a magic inside.

They would need every ounce of that magic after their secret

was discovered by Roderick's family...

That night at Grey House,

William was conscripted into the war,

his hasty departure cleverly orchestrated by the Davenports.

William vowed to return before Patience's wedding day.

He promised, no matter where he was in the world,

the ruby would lead his heart back to hers.

Patience's father was worried she would sneak out

to try and find William, so he confined her

to Grey House... or so he thought.

One year later, on All Hallows' Eve,

the night before her wedding to Roderick,

Patience was waiting for William to come back for her...

and then she vanished.

Neither Patience or William were ever seen again.

Roderick and his family never got over the slight,

causing a rift between Blairsville and Middleton

that exists to this day.

No one knows for sure how Patience made her way out

of Grey House. Some say it was the power of the ruby,

some say it was the power of true love.

William wrote these letters to Patience,

but they stopped when she vanished.

Some say he never made his way to her

and others say-- - That they were reunited.

And she left the ruby behind to allow true love

to blossom in Middleton every Halloween since.

- And you've finished that story for me ever since you were 8.

- I can't help it. I just love it so much.

Wow...

That really is the Heart of Middleton.

I saw a picture once, but it didn't do it justice.

- Some say a picture is worth a thousand words,

but sometimes the real thing can leave you speechless.

I'm Cassie Nightingale. Welcome to Grey House.

You must be Karen Alexander. - The one and only.

- I was on the museum curator hiring committee

and your resume was very impressive.

Especially your internship at the Louvre.

Paris changed my life.

May I? - Oh, sure.

This ruby's been in my family for 200 years.

- And I've been in her family for 18 of those.

I'm Grace. - Grace is my daughter.

- Spectacular. - I've been called worse.

- What? Sorry, I'm always doing that.

Sometimes I'm better with objects

than I am with people. - You clearly love your work.

I hope I find something that I love that much.

- I know what I'd love. A cup of coffee

and a piece of Martha's pumpkin pie.

Halloween can't come soon enough.

I wish she'd bake that pie more than once a year.

- Well, there are pumpkin scones

in the dining room if that helps.

- I think I could force myself to eat a couple.

After I answer the door.

Uh, shall we?

- You're gonna love it in Middleton.

You picked the best time of year to be here.

- I kind of feel like Middleton picked me...

or at least, the museum committee did.

- You're welcome to stay at Grey House

until you find a place to call home.

- Great, because I'm gonna be putting all my energy

into the history of Halloween exhibit at the museum...

the Cotton Perriwood prophecy, the gargoyles,

the infinity brick, not to mention

the most important thing, how properly display

this glorious ruby. - You really did your homework.

- Middleton is a fascinating place.

And I love that you're having a black tie gala

on Halloween Eve. - Oh, yes! Well,

it's a masquerade black tie gala

celebrating the 200th anniversary

of the rivalry between Middleton and Blairsville.

- Abigail just texted pictures of the flowers.

Are those for the gala?

- For my mom's wedding. She's getting married the next day.

How exciting!

- It is exciting, though true love is tested

when you're trying to find a cake that you both like.

- I know the cake I'd pick. I saw it at a cafe in Paris.

- I adore Paris. And I adore this place!

I'm Addison Brubaker.

- Cassie Nightingale. Welcome to Grey House.

- I'm so glad I'm staying here while I visit my Edward.

I hope my room is ready because I have to make myself amazing.

Sam?

What's wrong?

- So, I just got off the phone with Barry.

There's a problem at Cypress Villa.

The chairs didn't arrive?

- Oh no, the chairs got there. Just in time for the flood.

- Sam! No! - The whole place is under

three feet of water. - No wedding?

- No, not unless we use snorkels.

- This is my favorite time of year.

I don't want it to feel this way.

I don't either.

Let's not give up.

We'll find the perfect place.

I would never give up

and I love how you do that. - Do what?

Find the best in everything.

It's easy to do

when you're marrying the man of your dreams.

Let's just go to city hall.

- It's not fair to our guests... or us.

Stressing out trying to find a place last minute

is not how I want to remember our wedding.

- I can't believe we're gonna have to wait...

Again. - At least we have

the black tie gala this weekendat the museum.

- You still wanna go? - I do. You?

I do.

I now pronounce us man and date.

- You may now kiss your plus one.

- Let's take the pedestal up about six inches.

- Oh! I don't know how it's possible,

but that ruby gets more stunning every year.

- They do say things get better with age.

- Well, you and I are living proof of that.

Oh, dear! I can see

you're not quite our Cassie today.

- I'll be fine. - Fine? Oh no, no, no, no.

That will not do. You live in Middleton

and Middleton lives for Halloween.

So, wedding or not, you will be transported, transfixed,

dare I say, transformed from the beautiful bride

you would've been into the belle of the Halloween ball...

or gala in this case.

- Thanks, Martha. - Believe me, you'll be

thoroughly distracted once you're deep in the trenches

helping us to defeat Blairsville

in our Halloween harvest festival brouhaha.

- I thought the Heart of Middleton was supposed

to inspire romance, not competition.

- And it most certainly does. Oodles and oodles of couples

are married because of the ruby. - It works on couples,

not necessarily rival towns. - Well...

Our Halloween feud has reached legendary status.

It's gone viral, as kids say, which is why, this year,

a victory is crucial. Of course, we haven't lost

in the last 20 years. - Thank you.

I appreciate your calling. See you soon.

Ronnie Sue Campbell will be judging

the best pumpkin pie contest at the black tie gala.

- The chef from Baking with Ronnie?

I love that show. - Everybody loves that show

and everybody's gonna love me

for bringing her to Middleton. - Oh! How quickly they forget!

I was the one who put in countless calls and emails

to Ronnie Sue about coming to Middleton while you were off

"galavanting" about town. - If you're talking about Phil,

that's over and I'm fully committed to my duties as mayor.

- Just so you know, I was the mayor

until a small snafu with the town's boundary lines

made me a citizen of Blairsville

and I was rudely removed from office.

- You were asked nicely to hand over your gavel.

Even so,

no one bangs a gavel quite like you.

- Thank you, Cassie! You always know

exactly the right thing to say.

Oh! No, no, no! You cannot put a doom and gloom prophecy

next to the source of true love in Middleton.

- I need you to trust me, Mrs. Tinsdale.

I care about the Heart as much as you do.

- How about we all give Karen some space and give her

some time to work her magic? - Absolutely.

It's nice to see someone working as hard as I do.

Martha worked pretty hard

getting the Halloween festivities up and running.

I'm sure you can appreciate that, Abigail.

- I appreciate how easy it's gonna be for me

to get re-elected after the gala is a smashing success.

So... Thank you, Martha. - You've been mayor

for all of what, two minutes and you're already talking

about re-election? - I like to plan ahead.

Uh...Well.

Have a great day!

Oh, hey! - Hey!

- How you holding up? - I'm actually okay.

Maybe this happened

because Sam and I need to be focused on the gala.

- Well, here is some organic iced strawberry green tea.

- I'm guessing this is to soften the blow

that you couldn't stop the wedding food delivery.