Pies and Potions (3 page)

Chapter Three

When I had first met Rory and he’d gotten the magic-laced burger, I’d made an ass out of myself by smacking it out of his hand. But I couldn’t do that again. Or could I? No, no. I’d have to trust my grandmother on this one. After all, had she ever steered me wrong?

Rory cut through the moist, deep red cake with his fork. I’d added more than enough creamy frosting. I stood motionless as I watched him devour several bites. During the first few bites, he closed his eyes while chewing. The more he ate, the slower he chewed, savoring every morsel.

He must have felt my eyes on him because he looked at me and smiled. “Elly, this is the best cake I’ve ever tasted.” He gestured toward the plate with his fork. “I think I had an out-of-body experience.”

I felt heat move to my cheeks. “Thank you.”

Would he still feel the same if he knew Grandma Imelda and I had cooked up a potion in the kitchen and dumped it in the batter? He was getting his fair share of it too.

“It’s her best recipe, if you ask me,” Grandma Imelda said. She was awfully sneaky.

She refilled Rory’s mug and placed a couple of extra napkins down as he took another bite. If people weren’t supposed to even have the potion yet then why was she making it available at all? It was as if she knew Rory would be unable to avoid the rich, moist dessert calling out to him. If she was truly up to something, I’d find out. She might have kept the magic secret from me for years, but I was on to her now. What could Rory possibly get out of the spell? He was doing fine without any magical intervention. I sensed it from him. My sensitivity to magical needs had grown over the past couple months. That electric-like charge had grown stronger.

I forced myself to move over to the stool next to him. If only I had time to sit and talk with him. Maybe then I’d notice if the spell really did start to work instantly. Alas, there was no time because the customers were already becoming restless. They usually got cranky when they were hungry.

“Miss, we’re ready to place our order.” The man in the booth waved his menu at me. Everyone at the table wore a scowl across their faces.

“I’ll be right there.” I plastered on a fake smile, then turned my attention back to Rory.
“Sorry, I don’t have time to talk. Everyone kind of came at once.” I gestured over my shoulder at the crowd.

He placed his fork down. “It’s okay. I really did come just to see your beautiful face.” He touched my chin with his index finger. “And to see if we’re still on for tonight.”

Rory Covington knew all the right things to say and he always made me smile.

“Of course we’re still on for tonight.”

Having a romantic evening with Rory was going to be the highlight of my day. Please let it be the highlight and not that spell we’d just concocted. A date with him was just what I needed, especially with the added pressure of potions. I needed time off to relax and take my mind off the magic. All the worrying was obviously for nothing. I had a tendency to overreact. Grandma Imelda said it was inherited from my mother. Who, by the way, did not perform magic. She had many talents, but cooking was not one of them.

Rory picked up his fork again. Why had she given him such a huge slice? As the thought crossed my mind, Grandma chose that moment to stroll by whistling. She seemed more than pleased with her feat.

No matter how gorgeous Rory looked, my gaze was still fixed on that fork as he lifted it to his mouth again. This was the last bite and I was thankful for teeny favors. As I watched him chew, I wondered if maybe the potion wasn’t as potent as Grandma Imelda had thought. Maybe it would have zero effect on him. Okay, I was officially paranoid, but anyone would be in my shoes. If you’d ever seen your boyfriend chased by women as if he was Elvis Presley showing off his pelvis thrusts for the first time, you’d feel the same. With any luck, she was wrong. Who was I kidding? The woman was never wrong.  

What was I so worried about anyway? A spell to make Rory happy wasn’t a bad thing, right? What was the worst that could happen? Okay, I wouldn’t answer that question, but just because the first spell he received had turned out badly didn’t mean all the rest would be that way. Although I had hoped he would never get another bad spell, or any spell for that matter. I needed more answers from the Organization. Why did they give out a mass spell? Weren’t the individual spells enough? They sure did like to make people happy. Maybe I needed a big dose to get me through my anxiety.

Rory placed the fork down next to his plate and wiped his mouth with the napkin. Glares from customers were directed at me, so I knew I had to go. Grandma Imelda had moved over to the first table to collect their order, but there were plenty more waiting. She was supposed to be retired and I didn’t want her working. I should be able to handle this without having a panic attack, for heaven’s sake. Only a few red crumbs remained on the plate. Too bad Rory liked to eat cake for breakfast, although something told me Grandma would have gotten the spell to him one way or the other.

Rory leaned over and kissed me softly on the lips, lingering for just a moment and making my heart go pitty-pat.

“I’m looking forward to seeing you tonight. I have to tell you, Elly, every time I come into this café I feel better and better. Are you using magic on me?” He chuckled.

My stomach turned as I chuckled nervously along with him. “Magic? Of course not. I promised I’d never do magic on you.”

See, I’d already broken that promise. Okay, technically it was Grandma Imelda who had given him the magic, but still. I hadn’t stopped her and I’d baked the cake. I was a rat. A big fat one. My mouth had stopped working. I tried to speak, but nothing came out. I should have just explained the spell to Rory right then and there. He’d understand. Maybe. Or maybe not.

“Thank you for the cake. It was delicious. Are you sure you won’t let me pay for it?”

He asked every time. I shook my head. “No way.”

“You can’t do business by giving me free food.”

I waved off his statement.

Rory playfully touched the tip of my nose with his index finger, then turned and moved toward the entrance. When he reached the door, he looked over his shoulder and winked. I watched as he moved down the sidewalk and out of sight. Whew. So far, so good. Keep a positive attitude, I reminded myself. Nothing had happened instantly, so that was always a bonus. Maybe this magic spell would be just fine. I shook off the bad feeling lodged in the pit of my stomach.

Chapter Four

Grandma Imelda had been pretending not to eavesdrop as she placed the menus back in the slot. “Don’t look so worried, dear, he’ll be fine.” Grandma Imelda patted my hand. “This isn’t like the spell before. Nothing can go wrong.”

Had she met me? Of course things could go wrong. They could always go wrong. I could look at things and they’d go wrong.

“But I said I’d never perform magic on him. I just broke that promise.”

“Well, you didn’t, I did.” She brushed hair away from my face. “Now don’t you worry your pretty little head any more. We have customers to take care of.” She motioned for me to get to work. “You go take the rest of the orders while I get started with the food.”

I grabbed my pad of paper and pencil. “Fine, but as soon as Mary Jane gets here, you are not to do any more work. You’re retired, remember? And no arguments, either.”

She brushed me off with a wave of her hand. She had never followed my commands, I didn’t know why I continued to try and give them. After I took the orders, I walked in the kitchen to find Grandma Imelda already working on eggs and bacon.

“Why can’t we add the potions to the orders this morning?” I asked.

“It’s not time just yet, we need to wait a bit,” she said as she grabbed the spatula.

I’d never been the patient type.

I frowned. “What are we waiting for?”

“Orders from the Organization. They tell us when it’s time.” She shrugged. “But I have no idea what is taking them so long. They usually have everything arranged by now. They’ve made some internal changes and haven’t worked out the kinks just yet, I guess.”

As she cracked more eggs and moved them around the grill, I said, “Imelda, I can’t believe you gave Rory the potion. What were you thinking?”

“Well, I can’t believe you called me Imelda.” She didn’t look up from the grill.

I snorted. “Fine. Grandma, I can’t believe you gave him the potion. You know how nervous I am.”

“He needs the spell just like everyone. He’s a part of this town now, isn’t he?”
She shoved slices of bread into the toaster.

“Yes, but why does he need the potion? Did you see the smile on his face? Rory seems happy, if you ask me. And I’d like to think I have a little something to do with that.” I winked.

“Oh, I’m sure you had a little something to do with it. That man is positively smitten.”

Heat rose to my cheeks. “He really is a great guy. I can’t believe how easily he accepted the magic.”

She looked at me with a knowing smile. “He’s seen magic before this. Before you, even if he doesn’t realize it. He’s closer to it than he knows.”

“What does that mean?”

“Anyway, I am sorry for making you nervous,” she said changing the subject.

“It just makes me nervous after what happened, you know? I’m afraid Rory is super-sensitive to the magic. Maybe he can’t handle spells like other people?” What had she meant when she said Rory was closer to the magic than he realized? It would be pointless to ask her though. Until she was ready to divulge the details, she would just avoid the question.

“Nonsense. He was given the wrong spell, that’s all. This is a perfect potion and he will be just fine. Stop worrying about it before you give yourself an ulcer.” She wiggled her eyebrows and touched my nose with the tip of her index finger. “Although I must admit, there is something special about Rory. Something tells me maybe he should be practicing magic too. Hmm. Maybe someday he will.”

See. There she went again dropping clues. “Are you going to stop dropping hints and tell me what you mean?”

“I’m not dropping hints,” she said innocently. “Just making conversation.”

Yeah, right.

Rory and magic? That was something I didn’t even want to think about. I already had enough issues to deal with. Rory didn’t seem like the magical type to me. This potion was leaving a bad taste in my mouth and I hadn’t even tasted it.

“Fine. So after we give out the magic spell when will it take effect?” I asked while grabbing plates from the shelf.

“Oh, it starts working right away. The potions work much faster than the spices. Remember that when you’re working with the liquid. Don’t add too much.”

How the heck was I supposed to know how much was too much?

She flipped a pancake, then gestured toward me with the spatula. “Just be careful and you’ll be fine. I know you learned your lesson from what happened before.”

That was what she thought. Learning lessons didn’t come easy for me. I still hadn’t learned my lesson from getting myself into tight spots that I couldn’t handle. Like the time I volunteered to teach a Zumba fitness class to the senior citizens at the community center. That was what I got for listening to Mary Jane. “You’ll be a great instructor,” she had said. My hip was still trying to recover from that injury. Those old ladies had danced circles around me.

I let out a deep breath. “Grandma, even though I’m nervous, I’m going to trust you on this one. If you say the spell will be fine, then it’ll be fine.” I shook my head. “After all, you’ve been doing this a lot longer than me.”

“See, that’s the Elly I know. Full of energy and spunk. Never letting anxiety hold you back. That’s why I knew you’d be perfect at running the café.”

Perfect? That was not the word I’d use. I was far from perfect at running the café. But I hadn’t let the Organization shut me down and it was still operational, so that was a plus. Maybe all that I could ask for.

We hurried and finished the orders. I placed as many plates on a serving tray as I could lift, praying that I wouldn’t drop it on someone’s head.

“Where the heck is Mary Jane?” Grandma Imelda fumed while lifting a tray of her own.

As I hurried through the swinging door from the kitchen into the dining room, my best friend Mary Jane O’Donnell hurried through the front door. Funny thing, she’d known about the magic long before I had. How she’d kept it from me was beyond me. Heck, how she had kept from telling everyone was beyond me. Mary Jane had a voice loud enough to break the sound barrier. She loved to talk and she was known to let a few things slip once in a while. I’d learned that the hard way.

Her penny-colored hair peeked out from under her black newsboy cap. Mary Jane had a penchant for hats. All kinds of hats: baseball caps, cowboy hats, fedoras, just to name a few. She claimed the hats distracted from her round cheeks. I hadn’t seen her without one since high school. She probably slept in a hat.

She hurried toward me. “Sorry I’m late. I had a late night studying, then I couldn’t get my car to start and my hot water heater isn’t working again. There’s nothing like taking a cold shower to start the day off right.” She looked around. “I can’t believe you’re this busy. What’s going on around here? Is there a coupon you didn’t tell me about? Are you giving away free food?”

Mary Jane had been taking her college courses at night and working at the café during the day. She was the hardest-working person I’d ever known. Well, her and Grandma Imelda.

“So what did I miss?” she asked as she grabbed an apron and draped it over her neck.

“Oh, not much.” I handed her my tray. “The usual stuff.” When we moved away from the first table and I knew no one would hear me, I continued, “I made red velvet cake with the new potion that Grandma Imelda introduced me to, and then she proceeded to give Rory a big slice of it. He ate every bite.”