Kitabı oku: «A Slice of Christmas Magic», sayfa 3

“Someone was looking for you,” Nadine, one of our regulars, whose blonde curly hair was always gathered in a poof on top of her head, said to me. As far as I could tell, her job in town was to spread gossip.

“Oh yeah? Who?” I asked, following her through the door.

“I don’t know. Some guy.”

“Henry?” I asked, even though I figured he would call me if he was looking for me.

“No, some curly-haired guy I haven’t seen before.” She shrugged.

“I guess this mystery man will have to come back if he wants to talk to me.” I went back to the kitchen and stopped in my tracks.

“Mom,” I said.

“You recognize me. I’m so touched,” she said, barely looking up as she sliced a peppermint cream pie. My mom’s brown hair was just a shade lighter than mine. Unlike mine, it was smooth and perfectly styled. Instead of her usual business suit, she wore jeans and a dark green sweater.

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.

She shook her head. “And today we’re not going to think about it.”

“We’re not?” I asked, my mouth full of chocolate-chip pancakes. I knew if my mother was here, she would remind me that she raised me better than to talk with my mouth full, but the pancakes were just so darn good. They were light and fluffy, and the chocolate chips were melted just right. Aunt Erma had even topped them with whipped cream and shaped them like animals as she used to do when I was a kid. I was eating the ear off a dog when I noticed Mitzy giving me a disapproving glare.

“How does she know I’m eating the dog pancake?” I wondered under my breath.

“Magic,” Aunt Erma said with a wink. “Now today, instead of focusing on the evil plot to take over our beloved town, we are going to decorate for Christmas.”

“Decorate? Even more than we already have?” I asked. I thought about all the tinsel we’d hung and the cardboard Santa cutouts in every corner of the shop downstairs.

“Yes, we’re just getting started,” she said, sitting down across from me with her own stack of pancakes and a cup of coffee. “We have paper snowflakes to make for the snowman-building competition. Last year I cut out three hundred tiny snowflakes and hung them all over the square. It was beautiful, if I do say so myself. I used this glittery paper that was thin, slippery, and a little hard to work with, but it was worth it.”

I tried not to cringe at the thought of cutting out paper snowflakes. It sounded like just the kind of project I would normally try to find an excuse to escape.

“Don’t you need me to run the pie shop? We’ve been pretty busy lately,” I said. I felt proud of my valid excuse to avoid this task.

“Don’t worry, your mother is coming, and we can all take turns serving people as they come in. The Morning Pie Crew is coming too. Flora has a project she thought we’d all enjoy as well. I think it has something to do with folding paper flowers out of book pages. I think to make garlands to hang around trees.” I tried to hold in a groan. “But anyway, they’ll be able to help while they’re here too.”

“Don’t they have their own shops to run?” I asked. Now I was desperate to get out of this. Mr. Barnes was a yoga teacher, so I knew he had some free time depending on his schedule, but Lena ran the hardware store, and Flora owned the bookstore. Didn’t people need to fix things and buy books this time of year?

“All their holiday employees are up to speed and can do without them for a few hours. Plus, today’s going to be quiet. Lots of people are getting ready for the snowman-building contest,” she said. “Which reminds me, we probably need to practice a few more times.”

Wow, this day just kept getting better and better.

***

It turned out my knitting injuries weren’t a good enough excuse to get out of snowflake making. Two hours later I could barely feel my fingers. Lena, Flora, Mr. Barnes, my mother, Aunt Erma, and I all crowded around two of the three tables at the front of the pie shop. Customers were wandering in here and there, and I always made sure I was the first one to leap out of my chair to serve them. In between Aunt Erma explained the importance of the paper snowflakes.

“We’ll use them as part of a protection spell in the town square,” she said.

“Isn’t there some magical way to cut them out?” I asked as I held up yet another disappointing snowflake. Aunt Erma kept assuring me that they were good.

“Every snowflake is supposed to be different, and yours sure are different,” Lena said.

“Thanks,” I said, glaring at her a little.

“You can’t magic away everything,” Aunt Erma said. “We aren’t in a children’s movie.”

“In order for them to have power, we have to cut them out by hand,” Flora explained.

I sighed and folded another piece of paper. A customer walked in and, of course, I was the first one behind the counter. I took my time serving them. So much so that they began drumming their fingers on the counter. The nerve! Hadn’t they ever heard of small-town charm? Where the service was slow, but the people were friendly, and your mailman was also the barber?

“So, tell us about that fella I saw you with,” Lena said during a lull in the conversation.

All eyes turned to me. There was no getting out of this now.

“Oh, you mean Josh?” I asked, buying time, trying to figure out what I was going to tell them.

My mother’s eyebrows shot up. “Josh was here?” She had speculated many times that Josh had feelings for me, and I had repeatedly reassured her that she was imagining things. The smug look on her face grated on me.

“He just came to say hi. He’s working on a job nearby. I didn’t get much of a chance to talk to him,” I said.

We must have said his name too many times and summoned him because all of a sudden he walked through the door.

“Hi, Josh,” I said, trying to keep my tone calm, but it came out a little too high-pitched. The whole table’s eyes went from me to him and back to me again.

He froze for a second when he saw me at a table full of people. He quickly regained his composure.

“Hi, Susie. Hi, Mrs. Daniels,” he said, nodding towards my mom. “Hi, everyone else. I didn’t mean to interrupt. Maybe I can come back later.” He backed towards the door so quickly he almost tripped over his own feet.

“Nonsense,” Lena said pulling up another chair to our already crowded table. “There’s plenty of room here, and we could really use some help cutting these snowflakes. I think Erma wants to fill the entire town with them.”

Aunt Erma rolled her eyes. “Oh, quit being a drama queen, Lena. I’ll share some of these with you.”

“I run a hardware store. I can’t have people getting distracted by all these sparkly snowflakes,” she grumbled, but I saw her perk up a little.

Josh sat down on the corner of the chair, his hands folded tightly in his lap. He looked about as awkward as I felt. After five minutes though, he had Mr. Barnes showing him how to do the eagle pose and had Flora glowing when they discussed their favorite books, and he and Lena got into a heated discussion over which brand of drill was the best. That was how Josh was. He was quiet, but had a way of charming everyone around him easily. I had always admired that skill. I had a way of alienating or making people uncomfortable with my failed jokes. He hadn’t fully won over Aunt Erma yet though. She eyed him skeptically when he asked her about the best method for making pie crust. My mother was already in love with him, so he didn’t have to bother with anything more than a little small talk with her. Sometimes I wondered if my mother would rather have him as a child than me.

I was deep in thought about how I would explain this group date to Henry when I heard Josh say, “I’d love to come. Thank you so much for the invitation.”

“You’d love to come where?” I asked.

“He’s going to celebrate Christmas dinner with us,” Flora said.

“What?” I asked. It came out sounding a little more harsh than I intended. This was going to be my first Christmas with Henry, the last thing I needed was Josh hanging around being Josh-like or trying to find the perfect moment to proclaim his undying love to me. I had been looking forward to a day of organized chaos. Adding Josh to the mix completely messed up my plans.

Just then, Henry himself walked through the door. “Henry!” the room greeted him in chorus. I waved a crooked snowflake at him.

“You’re pretty good at that.” He pointed at my pile.

“Don’t patronize me.” I glared at him. He smiled innocently at me and I couldn’t help but smile back.

He noticed Josh and extended his hand. “I’m Henry.”

Josh stood up and shook it, introducing himself.

“Josh is my friend from back home who I told you about,” I said. I saw Henry’s eyes quickly size up Josh, and I could feel the gaze of the group as they studied every nuance of our reactions. I tried to keep a neutral expression, but all the muscles in my face were straining to react. React how, I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t want my face to reveal to the room what I was feeling before I had a chance to figure it out myself.

“I should really get going,” Josh said. “Thanks for letting me join in the fun.” He puffed up his chest a little as he said goodbye to Henry. I got up to follow him out because we still needed to talk, but a large group walked through the door clamoring for pie.

“Can you help, Susie?” Aunt Erma asked, likely sensing my hesitation about going after Josh. I sighed and turned back to the front counter to serve pie.

***

“We found the perfect patch of snow,” Aunt Erma announced when she and Mitzy got back from their afternoon walk. “We’ll have to go quick and double back a few times. I saw Nancy Harrington eyeing me as though she knew I’d found fresh snow.”

“Great.” I tried to sound enthusiastic. I was enjoying the warmth of the pie-shop kitchen and in no hurry to bury my hands in the snow and lose feeling in my feet.

“Maybe we should run to the hardware store to see if we can find something better for the eyes. The bolts we’ve been using give our snowman a blank stare.” Aunt Erma had been against using the traditional coal for eyes because it was “too expected”. She also didn’t want to use the wiggle eyes because she didn’t want our snowman to look like a raving lunatic. I was pretty sure we’d tried hundreds of different items in an attempt to get the perfect expression to satisfy Aunt Erma.

“Don’t worry, I’ll go.” I grabbed my coat and was out the door before she could respond. I knew whatever I got would be wrong, but going to the hardware store with Aunt Erma was always painful. She didn’t understand that the hardware store was a sacred space to be appreciated and explored and instead opted for more of a “get in get out” approach.

Lena was rearranging her display of outdoor Christmas decorations when I got there. She greeted me warmly as she moved an inflatable Santa Claus to the other side of his inflatable sleigh.

“Do you need any help?” I asked.

“Nah, I’m just playing around.” She smiled and put her hands on her hips. “How’s everything going for you?” She nudged the Santa over another few inches.

“I’m thinking of staying.” I blurted out the words before I could stop myself.

“In Hocus Hills?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Really?” She carefully studied my face while her expression remained annoyingly neutral.

“Do you think it’s a good idea?”

“I think the real question is, do you think it’s a good idea?”

I slowly blew out a breath. “I’m not sure if it’s too much too soon. Twenty years apart and then, bam, now we’re together all the time.”

“Erma’s thrilled you’re here, but you have to do what’s best for yourself. That’s all she wants too.”

“Maybe.” I turned to one of the crystal baubles hanging in the window. I wondered if I stared at it long enough if it would show me my future.

“What’s keeping you from staying?”

“There’s a really good pizza place around the corner from my apartment. They know the perfect mushroom to green olive ratio. Plus in the city I can go days without having anyone look deep into my eyes as though they’re trying to see into my soul. Like you’re doing right now!” I accused, taking a step back.