by A. G. Mayes
My mother had gone back to the city a couple weeks after Aunt Erma had become human again after being a cat. We’d had a wonderful week where our days were full of baking and gossiping – we were a regular holiday special! – then the bickering had begun, and the comments under our breath, and my mother had decided she had to get back to her clients at home. I didn’t blame her. It was a lot of intense family time after a long separation.
“She’ll be back soon,” Aunt Erma had reassured me as I had watched her car drive away with a lump in my throat. I had been enjoying the gossiping and reminiscing. It had been so long since I’d seen my mother laugh that much.
That was less than two weeks ago, and here she was again. I guess I didn’t have anything to worry about.
“Erma called and asked me to come help at the pie shop while you guys went on some sort of mission.” My mother began cutting the next pie more forcefully than was actually necessary.
“We have to go—” I began.
“No,” my mother cut me off, still keeping her eyes on the pie. “I don’t want to know. I know it has to be dangerous. I could tell from Erma’s tone. It’s best if I just worry here instead of knowing the specifics. I’ll just serve pie and worry.”
Ah, my mother the martyr.
“How long are you here for?” I asked.
“I booked a room at the inn for three nights, but we’ll see,” she answered. My mother preferred to stay at the local inn instead of squishing into the apartment with us.
Aunt Erma had already fulfilled the orders of the crowd before sneaking to the back of the kitchen to make a phone call. She faced the corner and spoke in a low voice, probably talking to Violet. The angry grumbles out front had turned into happy chattering as people drank their free cups of coffee.
“I’m taking my cats to see Santa,” someone said.
“My sister is coming to visit with her four children, and they’re all staying in my one-bedroom apartment,” I heard someone else say as I filled an empty mug with more steaming coffee.
“My husband is in a Christmas play, and he wants me to go watch all twelve performances,” another voice chimed in.
I heard a familiar voice say my name. I saw him in the crowd, but it didn’t register because he was a familiar face in an unfamiliar place. I was shocked and speechless for a moment.
“Josh,” I finally managed to croak, reaching out to hug him.
“Hey, Susie.” He was warm and smelled like sawdust. He held me for a second longer after I had let go.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, taking a step back to look at him. His dark curly hair had gotten a little long. He had dark circles under his brown eyes, and his usually rosy cheeks were pale. “Is everything okay?”
“Hal has me working at a big remodel in Mavisville,” he said. Mavisville was another nearby town. “It should take a couple of weeks.”
“That’s great. We’ll definitely have to get together to catch up,” I said.
“Someone gave me one of these.” He held up one of the IMP fliers, and I snatched it out of his hand.
“That’s for a holiday play the town is putting on. They’re very creative here.” I could hear my voice coming out a little too high-pitched as I crumpled the paper and stuffed it into my pocket.
“I need to talk to you,” he said.
At least four people in the store stopped their conversations to openly stare at us.
“Let’s go outside.” I grabbed the sleeve of his coat and led him towards the front door.
“Who is that?” I heard someone whisper loudly as I opened the door.
“Beats me. I’d bet an old boyfriend,” someone else said.
I glared over my shoulder in the general direction of the voices. Josh and I had been co-workers back home. We had grown to be good friends, but it was never anything more than that. Josh was the one I’d call when I was having trouble with a relationship, and I would give him insights on the people he dated whether he asked for it or not. I hadn’t really talked to him since I’d left – just a couple quick text messages that didn’t really say much.
I wrapped my gray sweater more tightly around myself and faced him. I thought longingly of my red coat hanging on the hook at the back of the kitchen. Why had I suggested going outside? The mid-December wind was biting against my skin. Oh yeah, outside was the only place we had a shot at not being eavesdropped on. However, if anyone could lip-read, we were in trouble as all of the customers in the shop were blatantly staring through the window. They practically had their noses pressed against the glass.
I took a couple of steps back toward the flower shop next door so we were at least a little out of sight, though I wasn’t sure there was anywhere completely out of sight in this town …
Josh stared at the ground for a minute.
“Is everything okay?” I asked again. I wanted this to hurry up, so I could get back to the toasty warm kitchen.
“So, you live here now?” he asked, looking up and down the street.
“I think so,” I said with a shrug. “I haven’t really figured it out long term yet. I live here for now, I guess.”
“I’m glad you got to reunite with your aunt,” he said. Josh had heard my sob story more than once about my long-lost Aunt Erma. Usually it was after a bad day at work or a fight with my mom and a few beers.
“Yeah, it’s been nice,” I said. It was silent for a minute, and I was about to tell him I had to go back inside.
“You didn’t even say goodbye to me,” he said suddenly, meeting my eyes for the first time since we’d stepped outside.
“What?”
“We were friends. Maybe more. At least I thought we were.” He said the last part more to himself than to me.
I opened my mouth. Nothing but air came out.
“Was I just imagining it? I kind of thought we were on track to get together. I thought you felt it too. Heck, I’ve loved you since I saw you fix that hole on the side of the Morrow’s house. You were fearless at the top of the ladder while the rest of us were too chicken to climb that high.”
I remembered that job. I had been terrified too, but I had been new at Hal’s Handyman Services, and I’d wanted to show off in front of my new co-workers. Afterwards I’d had to excuse myself to the side of the house where I’d promptly thrown up in a trash can. I thought back to my time with Josh. Had I missed the signs? Sure, we had been good friends. I would even consider him to be one of my best friends. I hadn’t meant to drop him when I came to Hocus Hills, but finding my long-lost aunt, discovering magic was real, and trying to squash an evil plot to take over the world all took up a lot of one’s free time.
“Josh, I …” I paused for a minute. “I’m sorry I didn’t say goodbye.” It sounded lame when I said it. He looked at me expectantly. “And I’m sorry I haven’t kept in touch better. It’s been so crazy around here.”
I didn’t even know where to begin with his other confessions. There had been a time a few years ago when I’d thought about him that way. I’d even tried to flirt with him and hang out with him more than usual, but shortly after I’d begun to have those feelings, he’d started dating a woman his sister had set him up with. It had been serious for a while, and I’d moved on too. I hadn’t really let myself think about it again since then.
I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Lena.
“I hate to interrupt, but Violet wants to talk to you,” she said with a polite nod towards Josh.
“Now?” I asked.
“I’m Lena.” She stuck her hand out towards Josh.
“Nice to meet you, Lena. I’m Josh.” He shook her hand. “I’m a friend of Susie’s from back home.”
She looked at me with raised eyebrows.
“So, we need to get going, huh?” I said.
“Right, yes,” she said.
“Bye, Josh. I’ll call you later.” I followed Lena inside, trying to ignore the guilty feeling in the pit of my stomach when I looked over my shoulder
and saw him watching me go.
The chatter inside the pie shop stopped immediately when I came through the door. No doubt they’d all been talking about me. I ignored them and went back to the kitchen where Violet was waiting. My mother moved out front to help customers, clearly not wanting any part of this conversation.
I told Violet everything I’d overheard by the gazebo and what the people looked like. She thanked me and told me to keep my ears open and let her know if I heard anything else.
After she left, I thought about what Josh had said. Henry and I were having such a wonderful time, but Josh and I went way back. He was comfortable in a way that only someone you’d known a long time could be. He was like a thick warm comforter. But with Henry there was a spark. People always said the spark didn’t last forever – that you needed more in your relationship besides electricity – but the spark sure felt good right now. Maybe it would develop into the comfortable relationship I had with Josh. Maybe it would be even better. Plus, Henry knew about magic. There was a whole part of my new life that I wasn’t sure if I could share with Josh. The people of Hocus Hills were very private about their magic, and I certainly didn’t blame them. You never knew who you could trust, and if word got out that there were magic people in the world, there would be chaos.
***
The crowd at the shop was starting to clear out when Holly came in.
“I felt like I deserved pie after all my hard work doing trash pick-up,” she said, casually leaning against the display case.
“I completely agree. What can I get you?”
“I heard you had some hunky, curly-haired stranger show up today.” She was carefully reading the options on the chalkboard.
“Hunky?” I asked.
“My mother’s words, not mine,” she said.
“How did she see him?”
“Nadine texted her a picture,” she said, as though the answer were obvious.
“What?”
“I forgot you’re still new to this small-town living where everyone knows your business,” she said. “So, what’s the story?”
“Josh is a friend from back home,” I said evasively.
“Two men vying for your love, that must be tough,” she said. I let my chin fall to my chest with a groan.
“I don’t know what to do,” I said. “I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.”
“That’s your problem,” she said. “You have to stop worrying about their feelings and think about what you want.”
“I want to learn how to windsurf,” I said, thoughtfully tapping my chin.
“Fair enough,” she said, and selected a piece of berry cream.
I quickly asked her about the latest book she was writing, and she was off telling me how she wasn’t sure if she should kill off one of her favorite characters or not. I was off the hook for now, but as she finished her pie we made plans for a girls’ night out on Friday, and I knew there would be more questions then.
***
Later that night I was bundled up in my very large new red knitted blanket watching television when Henry stopped by. I struggled to get out of the cocoon I had wrapped myself in.
“Did everything go okay?” he asked after greeting me with a long hug. I studied my reaction to his hug. Had anything changed after Josh’s confession? I still felt the sizzle in all the right places, I decided as I pulled away.
“I didn’t realize magic was such hard work, but, yes, it went fine,” I said. I was too tired to give him the details, and I was pretty sure he would have heard them already from someone in town. News spread fast. Especially the news that you wanted to keep quiet. Just yesterday I heard Mrs. Lansbury yell across the street asking Mr. Knight about his colonoscopy.
“Anything interesting happen after you saved the world?” Henry’s tone was strange, as if he was trying to stay super casual, but his voice was too high and too tight.
“Oh yeah,” I said, also trying to keep my tone light as though I were just remembering something that I’d actually been thinking about all day. “A friend of mine from back home stopped by.”
“Really?” He tried to sound surprised, but his acting wasn’t that good.
“Yeah, we were co-workers. He came to say hi.” I shrugged in what I hoped was a casual gesture.
“That’s an awful long way to come to say hi,” he said.
“He’s working on a job in Mavisville for a couple of weeks,” I said.
Just then Aunt Erma bustled in. “I’m so sorry to interrupt. Henry, how are you?”
Aunt Erma’s arrival saved me from an awkward conversation and her glance out of the corner of her eye told me she knew exactly what she was doing. Thank goodness for Aunt Erma.
Henry left after a little more small talk, saying he had some work to finish, which I knew meant his “Ask Elodie” advice column. I had asked him once if all the letters were sent in from people in town. He’d said some of them were, but on the days there weren’t any letters he would make them up and then answer them as Elodie. “So, you set up a problem you know you can answer?” I had teased him.
Then I’d begun to quiz him about which ones he had written. “I’m not going to ruin the magic for you by giving away all the secrets,” he’d said.
I felt bad for not telling him more about Josh, but I wanted to be able to process it more myself first. I hadn’t figured out how to present the facts because I hadn’t figured out how I felt about the whole thing.
The truth would come out eventually though.
Chapter 4
Dear Elodie,
My sister recently moved back to town. She had lived out of state for the last fifteen years. I’m so excited about her return and want to invite her along to everything I do. My problem is the only thing she wants to do is square dance. She turns down all of my invitations and will only call me once a week to ask me to go square dancing with her. I’ll be honest, I hate square dancing, but I’ll go to be with my sister. I’ve tried telling her I would like her to come along to some of the things I invite her to, but she just dismisses me, saying she’s busy. Am I wrong to be upset by this? Can I quit square dancing without quitting my sister?
Sincerely,
Round Peg in a Square Dancing Hole
Dear Round Peg in a Square Dancing Hole,
It sounds like you’ve given your sister every opportunity to do something other than square dance with you, and you’ve made your feelings known. It’s possible she feels overwhelmed. If she’s been away from family for fifteen years, it could take some adjusting before she’s used to your invitations. Maybe she’s getting just as many invitations from other family members. Also, if you keep doing exactly what she wants, she has no reason to accept your invitations. Maybe you can square dance with her one week and the next week you can tell her you’re busy on square dancing night, but if she’d like to go to dinner with you a different night, that would be wonderful.
Ask and I’ll Answer,
Elodie
The next morning, I woke up to the smell of pancakes. I took a deep breath and stretched out on the sofa. Mitzy, so excited to see movement, catapulted onto my face.
I yelped, thinking for the umpteenth time that I needed to get my own place. I had been looking. Sort of. But part of me wasn’t sure it was worth the effort. Was this just a temporary move or a more permanent one? Life in Hocus Hills had been so crazy from the moment I got here that I hadn’t thought about my life in the city much since I’d arrived. Josh’s arrival reminded me of the simple comforts I had there – an apartment to myself, a job I was good at, and weeks on end without the threat of being attacked by some power-hungry magical person.
“Oh good, you’re up,” Aunt Erma said, peeking her head around the corner from the kitchen.
“Yup, thanks to the fuzzy alarm clock here.” I pointed to Mitzy, who danced around on the floor next to me. She was like that friend that everyone had. The one that thought you were best friends even though you weren’t. She never sensed
my hesitation to reciprocate her affections.
“I made chocolate-chip pancakes,” she said, holding up a steaming plate.
“Yum.” I was off the sofa now. I poured myself a cup of coffee. “What’s on the agenda for today? Please tell me we’re not tackling a town who’s set on making the world’s largest pot-holder, are we? I’m still recovering from yesterday.”
“No, nothing like that,” Aunt Erma said. “At least, not that I know of,” she added.
“Look at this.” I pulled up the side of my shirt to show her two small bruises on my ribs. “Someone jabbed me with their knitting needles. I guess I should consider myself lucky that they didn’t skewer me.”
Aunt Erma inspected the bruises closely, her brow furrowed. She ran her finger over them, and I flinched.
“That’s not good,” she said. “They shouldn’t be able to hurt you.”
“What do you mean? Was I supposed to have some sort of magical shield around me? Because I definitely forgot to wear my armor yesterday.” I scooped a couple of pancakes onto my plate and slathered them with butter. “Do you think they make such a thing? Like giant thimbles for your body.”
“They shouldn’t have been able to hurt you because none of the magic from my spices should make people do that,” she said.
“But the Drakes changed them. Can’t they make the magic do whatever they want?”
She shook her head firmly. “Not my magic. Not like this.”
I stared at her, waiting for more of an explanation.
“I’m careful. Even if they redirect the power, they shouldn’t be able to redirect my original intention,” she said.
I nodded slowly, not sure I completely understood. “But aren’t some people inclined to hurt other people? Maybe it was the person, not the magic.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Aunt Erma said, but I could tell she was still concerned.
“Have you heard anything more from Violet?” I asked.