“Oh, really? Is that why you’re at the mall at the Lancôme counter getting a makeover? Do you often wear high-end makeup when you go hang out with friends?” the ex-girlfriend demanded. She had her hands on her hips and her face had turned an intense shade of crimson. She was furious.
“Amanda, look. I didn’t come here to make you mad. I just wanted to get some makeup.”
“Don’t call me by my name like we know each other,” Amanda snarled. “I don’t know you. Who are you?” Her voice had become shrill and echoed through the entire store.
“Amanda, why don’t you go in the back and cool off? You can’t go off on customers like this anymore. If you get written up again, you’re going to get fired.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, Mona,” Amanda drew out the syllables of Mona’s name. “You’re not my supervisor. Besides, I care way more about Lupin than I do this dumb job. If I can save him from going out with trash like this, then it’s worth it.”
“Amanda, go. I’m calling your manager right now,” Mona said. “Ladies, I am so sorry. Please don’t leave. Let me handle this.”
“No, you should go. Get out!” Amanda screamed and tried to get into Ginger’s face.
Ginger looked stricken. It was a terrible ordeal for her first day as a human, and I felt horrible for bringing her to the mall. I stepped in between her and Amanda, and I was ready to use magic to put her in her place even if people saw me do it.
“Security,” Mona said urgently into the phone behind her counter.
They must have already heard the yelling because two uniformed security guards came rushing towards Amanda from the back of the store. A man in a brown suit was following quickly behind him.
“Guards, escort her out. Ms. Scarborough, you are fired.”
“You can’t do this,” Amanda hollered as the guards nudged her out of the store.
“You’re lucky I don’t call the police. Now go or I will,” the man in the brown suit said. “Take her all the way outside. She’s no longer allowed on mall property. Come back again, Ms. Scarborough, and I will call the police.”
I couldn’t repeat the stream of obscenities that flowed from her as the guards led her to the main mall doors. I had a feeling I knew why she and Lupin didn’t last, and it seemed like her run-in with us hadn’t been the first time Amanda lost her temper at work.
“I’m so sorry,” Mona said. “I am so happy you stayed,” she said with relief.
“Mona, see that these ladies get a forty percent discount for their trouble and give them free meal coupons for the food court,” the man in the brown suit said before hurrying off.
Chapter Three
I couldn’t have imagined that Amanda would still be waiting for us when we left the mall, but she was.
"I suppose you think you're something special," Amanda said as she stepped out from behind a huge black truck.
I hadn't seen her because the truck's frame was lifted, and it was impossible to see the short, angry woman standing on the other side.
"I really do," I said and stepped in front of Ginger.
She was still having a touch of trouble walking on her new legs, I knew there was no way that she'd be able to manage a physical altercation with Lupin's crazy ex-girlfriend. I'd protect her, though. I had no problem knocking the weirdo on her butt with or without magic. Normally, I didn't like violence, but she'd done her best to ruin Ginger's trip to the mall. I wasn't going to let that stand since Amanda had decided to start nonsense in the mall parking lot.
"I'm not talking to you," Amanda snarled through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, well, I'm talking to you," I said and squared my shoulders.
It kinda surprised me how aggressive I was being, but I felt super protective of Ginger. After all, if I hadn't helped her turn into a human, we wouldn't even be at the mall dealing with Amanda.
"I don't know who you are," Amanda said. "But my business is with the skank who is trying to steal Lupin."
I was trying to speak calmly, but Amanda was yelling again. We'd started to draw a crowd of onlookers, but so far, security hadn't shown back up yet.
"Hey, I'm not a skank," Ginger said and took a step in front of me.
"Ginger," I said. "Come on. Don't get into it with this chick. Let's just go and have a good day."
"I'm not going to have a good day unless I handle my business," Ginger said before taking another step toward Amanda. "You need to get out of our faces. I'm not stealing anyone or anything from you. If Lupin wanted to be with you, he would. But obviously he doesn't and how could anybody blame him? You're nuts, Amanda. You need to slither off back under whatever rock you crawled out from and leave me and my friends alone."
Amanda's face turned bright red, and I watched as her hands balled up into fists. There were at least a dozen people standing around watching us, and I it looked like Amanda was actually about to swing on Ginger. I didn't know how many of the onlookers knew about magic, so I wasn't sure if I could use it to defend us. We weren't exactly in Destiny Cove.
It turned out that I didn't need to worry. Before Amanda could turn the fight physical, the red lights from the security patrol car appeared from around the corner.
Without another word, she took off on foot toward the neighborhood that backed up to the mall. The security car followed her to make sure she left, and Ginger and I got into my car.
I was about to back out when the security car pulled up behind me and blocked my exit. "Great," I said as I got out of the car.
"Good afternoon, ma'am," the guard said through his rolled down window. "Just wanted to check with you and make sure that everything is okay. We had reports of an altercation in the parking lot. I saw that a banned individual had snuck back onto the property. I've made sure that she is gone, and I was wondering if you needed anything."
"We're fine," I said. "She was out here waiting for us, but it was nothing more than her crazy talk. There aren't any injuries or anything."
"Well, that's good to hear," he said. "I know that things can get intense when your kind and her kind get into it."
"Excuse me?" I asked while barely containing the frustration that gripped my stomach.
"Best be on your way, ma'am. Wouldn't want to upset the good folks who are just trying to get some shopping done in a peaceful and safe environment."
"Come on, Zoe," Ginger urged. She'd gotten out of the car and was standing next to her door.
"Thank you for your time," I said with a huff.
We both got back into my car, and the security guard pulled off after making us wait a couple of minutes. I'd been almost ready to get back out of the car and ask him if he needed anything else, but Ginger kept me talking about baking. So I was able to stay calm.
"Well, that was a weird trip," Ginger said once we were back out on the highway. "Is it always like that when you're human?"
"No. I don't think I've encountered that much weirdness in a while," I said.
"Yeah, but that's just because you don't have any perspective anymore," Ginger said.
"What?"
"Well, I mean look at the things that have been happening in Destiny Cove lately. Also, you're a witch who bakes magical cupcakes and sells them to a town where half the people know what you are and the other half have no clue. Oh, and there's that whole necromancy thing," she added.
"I guess my barometer of what is and is not weird might be off a bit," I said. "I don't do that much necromancy."
"Not doing that much necromancy is the kind of thing someone with a very weird life would say."
I sighed heavily. "You're right. I suppose if I added that I'd done it for a very good reason, that doesn't really help."
"Not even a little bit," Ginger said with a chuckle. "But that's okay. I'm thankful that I have you to be my weirdo cousin."
"I find it disconcerting that you're suddenly the normal one in our little family," I said as I took the exit off the highway for Destiny Cove.
Ginger just thought for a mo
ment. "It is not what I would have expected either. Thank you for taking me today, and thank you for the lipstick and mascara. Oh, and for making me human."
"Sorry you almost got in a fistfight on your first day. Are you going to ask Lupin about Amanda?" I asked.
"I'm pretty sure he's mentioned her to me before. Just never by name. If she's who I think she is, we might not have seen or heard the last of her yet."
Chapter Four
We’d been home for about five minutes when I heard a loud thud against the front door. It was followed up with another, and then a distinct bleating sound. It made me jump half out of my skin at first, but then I realized who it was.
“Baaaa.” Then another thump and a more urgent, “Baaaa.”
“Hang on, Trucker,” I called out. “Please don’t break my door again.”
I rushed to the front door and let Glinda’s sheep familiar in. “What on earth has gotten into you?” I said as Trucker jumped over the threshold and into the entryway.
“I can’t reach the doorbell,” he said as soon as I’d closed the door behind him. “I didn’t know how else to get your attention. Maybe if you put a doorbell in a little lower.”
“Fair point,” I said. “So, what brings you by? Is Glinda okay? Does she need me at the flower shop?”
“She’s fine. You got any sandwiches?” Trucker said and headed for my kitchen. “I haven’t eaten for like a half an hour. I’m starving.”
“I’ll get it,” Ginger chirped from the living room. “I think this is one thing I can totally handle, and I’ve always wanted to do it. I can make sandwiches for all of us.”
“Stay away from the sharp knives,” I said as I trailed behind Trucker. “Just use the butter knives. I don’t need you cutting off a finger so soon.”
“So it is true?” he asked as he nosed past Ginger and stuck his head into the open refrigerator.
She’d opened it to take things out, but he just sort of butted in. Ginger just shrugged and smiled as Trucker rummaged through my food. I took a deep breath and reminded myself that he was special. We loved Trucker for being special.
“What’s true?” I asked.
“That’s why I’m here,” he said before chomping down on a wrapped slice of American cheese. “Glinda sent me. She said that Lupin was in the shop buying flowers for a lovely lady named Ginger. Glinda said that was very mysterious considering that Ginger is supposed to be a guinea pig, so she sent me over to find out what’s what.”
“Don’t you want to unwrap that…” I started to ask just before Trucker swallowed the whole thing.
“I’ve got goat in my lineage somewhere,” he said before grabbing another slice.
“Oh, he was buying me flowers? Wow, it really is a date,” Ginger said before letting the jar of mayo slip from her hands.
It bounced three times, since it was one of those plastic jars, and rolled across the floor before stopping against the cabinets. I bent down to pick it up and returned it to the kitchen island where Ginger was putting out ingredients for sandwiches. She’d laid out lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, three kinds of meat, and a couple of containers of cheese. I loved cheese. I had a huge supply of baby Swiss and Colby Jack. I needed to remember to go to the store and get some more sharp cheddar and fresh mozzarella.
“What kind of meat do you guys want on your sandwiches?” she asked.
“All of them,” Trucker said quickly. “I would like a little of everything, please. And then a little more, if you don’t mind.”
“I’d have thought you’d be a vegetarian,” I said. “Possibly even a vegan. But I guess you did eat plastic.”
“Don’t make it weird,” Trucker retorted.
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll have turkey, bacon, and Colby Jack. There should be precooked bacon in the meat drawer. I think I have two boxes left. If not, I can fry some of the uncooked stuff up real quick.”
I also loved bacon.
“I think I’m going to have veggies,” Ginger said more to herself than to us. “These peppers and lettuce are really fresh. This tomato is super red too. That’s got to be good.”
“That sounds about right. Are you at least going to put them on a sandwich?” I asked. “You should really try them as a sandwich. I think you’ll be pleased.”
“You know, that’s a good idea. I’ll make a veggie sandwich. I’ve never had bread, and it smells amazing. The bacon is tempting too, but I think I’m going to take it slow.”
“Make sure you put mayo on it too. Wait ‘til you try that. You’ll never want to be a guinea pig again,” I said with a chuckle.
But the truth was the idea of her never being my familiar again made me a little sad. I blew it off at the time as being irrational, but I could already feel that something had changed. The cosmic forces around us shifted when I performed the ritual to change her to a human. A new path had opened up for us both.
Nothing would ever be the same again, and I guess I’d gotten a little too used to the way things had been. I had to remind myself that a new door opening was a good thing. It wasn’t just Ginger either. I had to remember how much my relationship with Joe had changed, and that had been a good thing. I could always get another familiar, but to have a sister was a treasure.
After we ate our sandwiches, Trucker took off for Petals to the Metal to fill Glinda in on Ginger’s transformation. I sent him with a sandwich and cupcake for his witch, but I had no idea if it would actually make it to her. I wondered if he stole the sandwich if he’d eat the bag to in order to hide the evidence.
“You want to go through my closet?” I asked after he was gone. “We still need to find you a dress for tonight.”
“I don’t know if anything will fit me now,” Ginger said and patted her stomach. “I probably shouldn’t have had that third sandwich. Will my stomach ever go back to normal? It feels huge. Am I going to die? Can you die from too many sandwiches?”
"I wouldn't worry about it too much," I said. "You probably got the witch metabolism. You'll burn through those sandwiches in no time and be ready for some mac and cheese. And even if you didn’t, three sandwiches isn’t going to kill you. I’ve seen people eat far scarier amounts of food at the seasonal festivals. One year at the Summer Solstice Festival, I swear a guy ate so much chili at the chili cookoff that he came near to a heart attack. That guy almost died for chili. But to be fair, Buzz’s chili is pretty good."
"Oh, mac and cheese sounds good. Can we put some broccoli in it? I see you eating it a lot and I always thought it would be better with broccoli," Ginger said. “Is there broccoli in chili? I don’t think I’d die for it unless there was.”
"I'll put some in your mac and cheese. Now, let's go upstairs and find you a dress for tonight."
"I already have some ideas," she said. “Well, I don’t know which dress, but I already know how I want to feel when I wear it.”
We went upstairs, and I plopped down on the edge of the bed while Ginger went into the closet. I expected her to take a while deciding, but when she'd been in there for ten minutes without making a peep, I decided it was time to go help. Inside the closet, I found her standing there just staring at the dresses with her mouth open and eyes glazed over.
"I'm sorry," I said. "I shouldn't have left you to do this yourself, but I didn't want you thinking that I was pushing anything on you. You seemed like you had ideas, and I didn’t want to stifle that."
"Push away," Ginger whispered. "I have no idea what I'm doing. I have no ideas."
"Well, in that case," I began, "I have a few things I bought that are way too girly for me. I bought them thinking I'd try a new look and then decided not to bother. They've even got the tags on them," I said as I pulled out three dresses. “I think any of these three would be amazing for you even though they didn’t work for me.”
"Why didn't you return them?" Ginger asked. "I mean, I'm glad you didn't, but why not?"
"Because that would have been admitting defeat," I said. "Okay, so I've got red, blue, an
d hot pink.” I took the dresses and laid them out on the bed. “I’ve got shoes to go with all three of these, and I think I have necklaces that would be perfect with the red and pink."
The red dress was a simple silk dress with spaghetti straps and a v-neckline. The blue was a classier sheath dress with a boat neck and a little black belt that went around the waist, and the hot pink number was short, flirty, and had a bit of flounce. Ginger stood at the end of my bed and stared at them for a minute. For a second, I thought that even three choices was too much, but she finally spoke.
"I want to try the red and the hot pink," Ginger said. "The blue is gorgeous, and I love the color, but it's feels a little too formal. I want to stay on the fun, flirty, and I’m just being casual side of things."
"You're right," I said. "Though it would look amazing with your hair. Sapphire blue goes well with your color."
"You mean your hair color," Ginger said with a chuckle. “It would look amazing with your hair too, Zoe.”
"You know, you're right. If you don't choose it, maybe I will wear it tonight and make Joe take me somewhere special," I said. “He’d probably enjoy seeing me dress up every once in a while. I can do it.”
"That's the spirit," she said. “I’m sure Joe will appreciate it even though he really does love you just the way you are.”
Ginger went into the bathroom and put on the red dress. When she came back out, I understood why I'd bought it, but seeing her in it confirmed that I'd never wear it outside of the house. She looked amazing, though, and pulled it off completely. Ginger exuded a glamorous confidence. It was as if she’d waited her whole life for this moment, and I guessed she had.
"I think I'd need to wear my hair up with this one," Ginger mused. "Red hair and a red dress calls for an updo. I’m not sure I want to wear my hair up this time. Let me try the pink."
I handed her the pink dress and she disappeared into the bathroom again. When she emerged, I was stunned. "You have to wear that one," I said. “You absolutely have to pick that dress. I don’t know much about this stuff, but I know it’s got to be that one.”
A Howling Good Time (Wicked Witches of Destiny Cove Book 3) Page 2