“Watch your tone.”
“Sorry.”
“Leggo, I want you to keep Rhoda in the yard until after Alanna Lu leaves. That dog’s opinionated—and she’s not used to the treat rules. A fine thing that would be, having her burst out talking while Alanna Lu and I are discussing things! Promise me you’ll keep her busy.”
“‘Kay,” said the Frenchie.
“All right.” The witch picked Leggo off the stool and set him down on the floor. They walked together to the sewing room door. “Go on, now.”
The Frenchie hurdled up the stairs one by one.
Knocka-knock!
“Coming!” said the witch. Grabbing the banister, she followed the dog up.
Chapter 13
After replacing Leggo’s food bowl back in its proper spot, Vivian and Alanna Lu sat down at the kitchen barstools, going over arrangements for the Valentine’s dance. The kettle boiled. After it had whistled, Alanna Lu served the tea, grabbing her favorite package of maple iced cookies from the cupboard on the way back to the table.
The steam rose thin and white against the winter blue of the sky. Vivian lifted out of her seat once to check on the dogs through the window, then spoke to Alanna Lu.
“So! How’s it going with Tom?”
Alanna Lu smiled with a cocked brow, as if to say, how did you know?
“Sheesh, Auntie, I’d hate to think how much you’d know about me if you actually were on Facebook!”
“Ooh, c’mon, you’ve been the go-between for him and me ever since the Valentine’s party got started! I was just asking a question.”
“Okay, you’re right, I’m sorry.”
“So? Tom?”
“Auntie, you act like there’s a ‘thing’ between us. He’s a nice guy! But I don’t know very much about him.”
“You don’t? Why not?”
“I don’t know. We only talk business.” Alanna Lu ran her palm over her black hair.
“Do you like him?”
“I don’t know him well enough to say.”
“What’s his major in school?”
Alanna Lu sighed. “Auntie…”
“Don’t you ‘Auntie’ me! When do you see him next? Before the dance, right? Ask him that the next time you see him.”
“Aunt Vivvy, all those questions are just so…so…mundane!”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing! A little boredom ought to be appreciated every now and again. Has he asked about your college plans?”
Alanna Lu put down the cookie she had just picked up. “Yes.”
“So you find that taxing.”
“No, just—”
“You don’t mind it when those dating sites ask you the same four questions over and over!”
“But Auntie, they ask unusual questions, too! Interesting ones!”
“Then ask a few yourself.” Vivian ticked off each suggestion on her fingers, bangles clicking. “Ask him about his college, his family, and one question your choice. Freestyle.”
Alanna Lu faceplanted on the table.
The witch stood, clearing the tea. “Then it’s settled. Three questions, then report back.”
“Yes, Auntie,” said Alanna Lu to the table.
“Good girl. You can take the cookies home.”
Chapter 14
It was the night before the Valentine’s dance. Rhoda’s outfit was hung up in plastic to keep it clean, along with the other outfits to be sold, and Marty’s tuxedo hung next to it in its own garment bag, de-linted and with a sparkling red heart applique on the back, because the witch couldn’t resist a great idea when she heard it.
At the witch’s insistence, Alanna Lu and Tom were picking her and Marty up to see the venue Tom had rented for the dance to see where she would set up the following night.
The Xterra pulled up to the house and the awaiting Vivian climbed in with Marty’s carrier in hand.
“Oh,” said Vivian, suddenly face to nose with Rhoda. “Hello, dear.”
“BARK!” Rhoda wagged her tail and smiled. Marty wuffed back.
“Rhoda, hatchback,” said Tom. The dog scrambled from the backseat into the very rear of the car.
“Sorry, Mrs. Feng, but we came straight from the office,” said Tom.
“I already told him about the carriers and the safety tests,” said Alanna Lu, twisting around in her seat.
“Next paycheck, I’ll get one, I promise,” said Tom.
“You’d better,” said the witch. “She’s too beautiful a girl to be getting hurt in a car wreck! If she could talk, she’d make sure you buckled your seatbelt!”
“You’re right, Miss Vivian,” said Tom. “I’ll go slow.”
And he did, though it hardly took fifteen minutes to get to the business park. The outside of the party venue had a red brick exterior and green, leafy trees in the sidewalk planters along the front.
Alanna Lu took Marty’s cage and Rhoda heeled at Tom’s side.
Tom held open the door. “After you, ladies…No, not you!” Rhoda had tried to cut in front of them but sat down at a stern whistle. Vivian and Alanna Lu exchanged smiles and went inside.
Once the overhead lights were switched on, the cavernous space turned friendly, if a little bare with its wooden floors and empty walls.
Alanna Lu let Marty out. Rhoda sniffed at his teal polo shirt.
“We’ll be putting twinkle lights up tomorrow and someone’s lending some quilts or something to hang on the walls…”
Tickatickatik! went Marty’s nails on the floor. He lumbered forward a few steps, then sat down, admiring the place. It smelled like lacquer with a hint of damp—fresh, yet comforting.
“The tables for the candy bar are going over here,” Tom spread his hands to indicate the far wall, “and we’ll have some booths set up on the outer walls—Trucido Data and other local businesses. This thing really exploded. At first it was just going to be us…Well, I guess that’s good for me—my boss says if this event goes well, I’ll be hired on during the semester.”
“Is that how you’re paying your way through school?” asked Vivian.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good boy. It’ll be a balancing act, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it.”
“Don’t I know it!”
Vivian waited for Alanna Lu to add something. When her niece kept silent, Vivian spoke again.
“My table’s seventy-two inches and I have some wire rack walls to display the clothes on. Do you think there can be room for me over there?” Vivian pointed to a spot near the back of the room. Her display was eye-catching and would easily be one of the first things people saw when they entered, especially if she could get it placed across from the doors.
“Hmm…” Tom rubbed his chin. “That kind of depends on how the DJ’s set up. Let me call Jen, she’s more in charge of this stuff than I am.” He pulled out his phone.
“You go on and do that. I want to check outside for a potty area for the dogs.” Vivian squeezed Alanna Lu’s arm and led her back out the door. Marty and Rhoda joined them.
Vivian had been to this particular business park just a year ago when she was considering moving Feng’s Canine Fashions out of the house, but couldn’t afford the steep rents. So she already knew that the back exit led to a central field of grass, bigger than the two-by-two square outside the venue entrance.
They soon stood in the field. Rhoda began sniffing around their feet.
The witch turned to her great-niece. “So, what’d you find out about him?”
“Huh?” said Alanna Lu.
Marty whined at the witch’s tone. There was a warning in it.
“Oh! Right!” said Alanna Lu. “Well, he hasn’t decided what to study in college yet, but he likes English.”
Rhoda looked up from examining the grass, completely still.
“He lives with his family, and his favorite ice cream flavor is vanilla.”
“Good girl, Alanna Lu! See, that wasn’t
so hard, was it?”
Rhoda looked between Alanna Lu and the witch and gave a warbling bark. Marty darted up to the setter, snuffling and snorting.
“Would you go out with Tom if he asked you?”
“Auntie! He’s not going to ask me out.”
“I didn’t ask you that. But if he did…”
Alanna Lu sucked air in through her teeth.
“We don’t have much in common.”
“You’re starting at the same college together this year, aren’t you?”
“Well, yeah, but aside from that…” She shrugged.
“All right, all right. Fair enough.”
Alanna Lu nodded. “Will this field work for the dog potty?”
“Oh, yes, yes. I already knew it was here.”
“What?!”
“I just wanted to check up on you. Well, keep at it, my dear! Come on, puppies, let’s go back!”
The witch couldn’t help but notice Rhoda’s head hanging low as they walked back. From time to time the setter moaned softly in Marty’s ear. But she forgot about it when Tom met them at the door. She watched every move Alanna Lu and Tom made with each other, but saw nothing of note. Soon their decisions regarding the next night’s plans were finished.
When they were done, Tom and Alanna Lu dropped Vivian and Marty back at home.
Inside, Vivian was tickled to see that Frank had set out her packaged outfits neatly on the table. It would make it so much easier to pack the next evening. She rushed off to give him a thank-you kiss.
It wasn’t until later that she realized Marty hadn’t said a peep since they came home. She’d already been in bed an hour when it hit her. Even when the dogs had been tucked into their kennels for the night, he’d already been in his, but his back had been turned to her. At the time she assumed he’d been sleeping, but thinking back now, she realized she hadn’t heard him snoring, and her Frenchies always snored when they slept.
That wasn’t like him. Normally he chatted nonstop the night before a dress-up gig. Was he getting sick?
She creaked out of bed, wrapped on her robe, and went to Marty’s kennel. Still no snoring. She undid the latch.
“Marty?” she whispered.
No response.
“You silly pup, I know you’re not asleep.”
The dog swiped his face with his arm.
“What’s wrong? Do you need to see Dr. Kim? Do you need tummy herbs?”
“No, Mom,” he finally said.
“Then what’s going on?”
Nothing.
“I’m waiting.”
Behind her, Freckles stirred. “Whuzza? Missus Feng? —Sallright?”
“Everything’s fine, dear. Go back to sleep.”
She heard the spaniel nestle into his blanket. She reached into Marty’s cage and carefully took the dog in her arms. He let her carry him to the living room. It was dark with only the clicking of the automatic light timers gently ticking away.
She clicked on a lamp and sat down with her dog. For a few minutes she just held him, stroking his back.
“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” she asked.
“No. Nuh-uh.”
“You’ve been quiet since we got back home. That’s not like you, Marty.”
“Been thinkin’.”
“Yes? About what?”
The bulldog shoved himself with his front legs, arching his back and groaning. “I don’t wanna tell you!”
“Why not?”
“You’ll be mad. Or sad. I don’t know which.”
“Did you break a rule?”
“No! And it’s not about me, anyway.”
The witch thought back. “Is it about Rhoda?”
“No. Yes. Kinda?” Marty tilted his head at her.
“Why don’t you tell me. I promise I won’t be mad at you.”
“I know you won’t be mad at me! It’s not about me!”
“But if you don’t tell me, then I might be—well, maybe mad is too strong of a word…but I’m sure I’ve got a green polyester suit we can use tomorrow instead of—”
The bulldog said something in a fast ramble the witch didn’t catch.
“Go on—you said it once, now say it again. Should be easy!”
“Alanna Lu was lying to you.”
She let go of Marty. He fwoomped onto the couch cushions.
“What?”
“Rhoda said she never heard Alanna Lu ask those questions—and all the answers were wrong! He’s gonna go to college for marketing, the guy thinks English papers are dumb. And his favorite flavor of ice cream is something called ‘baseball nut,’ NOT vanilla, and he visits his parents, like, every other weekend ‘cuz they only live a couple miles away inna house…Hey, where you goin’?”
The witch stood up and went to the kitchen. Marty thought about following her until he heard the big pot being pulled out from the pantry. Suspicious, he sniffed the air. Smelled gunky. The Special Spice Cupboard had been opened.
He was right. Telling her the truth had made Mom mad. He listened as the witch began clanking around the kitchen, muttering to herself in Chinese. He wormed his body into the cushions and set his head down on his paws. He wanted to go back in his kennel and sleep for reals now, but to do that, he’d have to go through the kitchen. No way he was doing that, not while Mom was upset.
He sighed. Human problems were so complicated. And while he didn’t like hearing his mom chop herbs in anger, it felt good getting the secret off his chest. Now he could focus on dog problems, like helping Leggo with his mooshy love-crush on Rhoda. Dog problems, in his experience, usually worked out without too much trouble.
He just hoped he hadn’t put Alanna Lu in the dog house. But, well…Mom wasn’t a bad witch. She’d never hurt Alanna Lu. She’d just teach her a lesson, that’s all.
All this thinking tired the Frenchie out. Within minutes, he was softly snoring.
Chapter 15
The next evening the Feng household was wrapping up preparations for the party. The love potion, simmering for days, had turned a cloudy white color. Vivian added the grape soda, then dropped in some red food coloring to help it stay pink.
Having been up so early that morning with Alanna Lu’s problem, the witch had also pulled out her other slow cooker and gotten her famous hot and sour dip started. Now that it was evening, the cooking time was up and she began stirring the first glop of cream cheese into the mix.
The bell rang.
She set down her wooden spoon. “Must be Alanna Lu. Coming!” she called, hurrying out the kitchen.
Marty, who had been supervising the dip’s manufacture at key moments throughout the day, army crawled out from beneath a barstool.
“Hsst, Frecks! C’mere and help me push this chair over!”
Leggo was at the toy box in the other room, trying to decide what toy to take to Rhoda. Freckles was starting to get bored watching him, so when Marty called, Freckles galloped right over.
“Okay, I’ll help. But why?”
“‘Cuz cream cheese is bomb dot com, the best food ever invented. Over here.”
While he led Freckles through the kitchen, Marty kept an ear aimed at the front door. Mom was laughing and hugging Alanna Lu. There was some deceit in the sound, but that didn’t concern him. “Hurry, before she comes back! And keep it down, or she’ll hear us!”
The two dogs butted their heads against a four-legged chair and pushed it up against the counter.
“Okay, you stand there…” Marty clambered onto Freckles’ back and vaulted onto the chair. Freckles leapt up after as Marty braced his paws against the counter. His legs were too short for him to jump up on the counter, so the cream-cheese-covered spoon was just out of reach.
“Ooh!” said Freckles, sniffing. A slightly bigger dog, he was able to nose the spoon closer to them. The prize was within reach.
Freckles watched Marty lick the white stuff off the spoon. Steam still coiled off it.
�
��Isn’t it hot?” he asked.
“Totally worth it. Try some.”
Freckles hurried to get some before it was gone. The Frenchie was a fast eater.
“OH! It is good!”
They stood on the chair, licking the spoon. It clattered across the counter, but thanks to Freckles, didn’t get too far from them. Soon it was clean. Freckles sniffed the air again, then spotted the silver paper. “Is that more?” he said.
Marty’s eyes gleamed. “YUP.”
This was how Frank found them when he came through the kitchen with the last clothing load.
“Ah-ah!!” he scolded, rushing to put down the sacks before the dogs ate the remaining block of cream cheese. Freckles dove off the chair and dashed from the room. Marty, less agile, danced on the chair, not sure if he should risk jumping down.
“Not for doggies! Marty, you know better!”
The Frenchie moaned in agony. “But it’s so-oo GOOD!!” he tried to say, but it came out a pathetic howl. He’d forgotten: since Freckles wouldn’t be getting any talkie treats tonight, he and Leggo had decided to forego their own, in solidarity.
“What’s going on in there?” Vivian sang from the other room.
Marty threw on the biggest puppy eyes he could and aimed them at Frank.
“Nothing,” said Frank. “I got it.”
He went to the counter, tossed the licked spoon in the sink, then hefted Marty down from the chair. He replaced it back at the table.
“No more, buddy,” he said, wagging his finger at the Frenchie. “Your gut will go off and you’ll have to leave the party early.”
Marty hung his head. He hadn’t thought of that. Oh, but that forbidden taste had been YUM-sauce!
Frank pulled out another spoon and set it next to the slow cooker. After a second, he smushed some more cream cheese onto it, so his wife wouldn’t be tipped off.
Vivian stuck her head in. “Everything OK in there?” she said with a glance at Marty.
“Absolutely,” said Frank.
The dog threw him a grateful smile and panted.
“All right, then! Now for the final touches…” Vivian went to the red slow cooker and finished the dip. In minutes, both the slow cookers were carefully wedged in the back of the Fengs’ SUV.
The dogs’ crates were packed in after, and soon the whole family, two-footed and four-footed alike, was on their way to the dance.
Love Potion Commotion! Page 5