Dizzy Spells (10 page)

I ran into the hallway to get some fresh
air, and saw the silhouette of someone outside the front door. No
doubt I hadn’t been able to hear the knocking over the crackle of
the flames.

I hurried down the corridor and opened the
door. It was Camino. She handed me a gift-wrapped box. “A small
gift for you, dear. I’ve noticed you only have those flimsy
pajamas.”

“Come in,” I said, and shut the door behind
her.

We walked into the living room and I at once
unwrapped the gift. It was a koala onesie with oversized matching
koala slippers. “Oh thank you, you delightful, wonderful woman,” I
gushed, throwing my arms around Camino and hugging her.

“You’re so welcome, dear,” she said. “And
what lovely white smoke filling the room. How pretty it is as it
makes it way around and around.” She giggled and clapped her hands
with delight.

I smiled at Willow and Hawthorn who were
purring loudly and rolling around the floor.

I hugged Camino again. “It’s wonderful to
see you!” I exclaimed. “I haven’t seen you for hours.”

Camino smiled. “Amelia, you’ve done a spell!
How clever of you, you adorable girl.”

I beamed. “Thank you for your compliment,
dear woman. It was a sweetening spell.”

“I thought as much,” Camino said. “I
wondered why the house was purring.”

“Oh, I thought that was just thunder,” I
said. “What a wonderful sound!”

Camino hurried to the windows. “Let’s open
all the windows in the house and get this smoke out. There’s only
so much sweetness one can take.”

Chapter 15

I looked up at the front counter as the door
chimed. I was placing four cupcakes in a white cardboard box for
Mrs. Smythe, an elderly woman who came in once a week and always
purchased the same thing, four vanilla cupcakes with pink
strawberry frosting. My breath caught in my throat as I saw who had
just walked in. Craig.

I’d had a crush on Craig since I’d moved to
town, but that had waned somewhat since I’d met Alder Vervain. I
thought there was chemistry with Alder, and not so much with Craig,
but was that just because Alder was mysterious? The mysterious—and
possibly witch-hating criminal, if Thyme was right—Alder, versus
the good, wholesome firefighter Craig.

I placed Mrs. Smythe’s order on the counter,
and then took the payment. It was exactly the right amount, down to
the change. Some customers handed me fifty dollars for a four
dollar cupcake. If only all customers were like Mrs. Smythe. She
thanked me, took her box, and turned for the door. Craig stepped
back with her, and held the door open for her. When she was
outside, he returned.

“Hey,” he said with a smile.

“Hey,” I replied, doing my best to sound
cool and normal, and most likely failing. “Do you need a
cupcake?”

“I always need a cupcake, but I came to ask
you something,” Craig said.

“What’s up?”

“Will you have lunch with me today?”

I wasn’t sure I had heard him correctly.
“Sorry?”

Craig grinned, an easy, lopsided smile. “I
was wondering if you wanted to come out with me for lunch. I was
thinking… Oh well, I don’t know. It’s probably stupid, probably not
your thing…” His voice trailed off.

“No, it’s totally my thing,” I said
hurriedly. I’d had a crush on the man for ages, and just because I
had recently taken a weird liking to a potentially dangerous man
didn’t mean I shouldn’t give Craig a chance. No, in fact that was
even more reason why I should give Craig a chance.

“Well,” Craig said, “what time do you go to
lunch?”

I could tell he was somewhat embarrassed.
“Around twelve, usually,” I said. “If that suits you?”

Craig nodded. “I’ll see you then.” His face
flushed red, which I thought was cute. He turned and left.

I then noticed Thyme standing in the
doorway. She was holding open the door that separated the back
kitchen and the showroom floor with her hip. “I knew it,” she
said.

“Knew what?”

Thyme came forward, swinging her hips as she
did so, dancing around me. “He loves you! He loves you!” she sang
in the most irritating fashion.

I laughed and shook my head. “Settle down!
Stop that!”

That only seemed to spur her on. “He loves
you!” she sang, more loudly this time.

“Shut up!” I said, pushing her away. “He
doesn’t!”

“Maybe you’ll get your chance today,” Thyme
snickered. “All I’m saying, is you and this guy, are in love.”

“Shut it. Get back to work,” I said in a
fake stern voice.

Thyme giggled and returned to the
kitchen.

I rolled my eyes. “What, are we back at
school now?” I said to the empty shop.

The morning seemed to drag on, and it was as
if all the irritating customers had come at once. There was a woman
with three children under five, three of the most undisciplined,
wild children I had ever seen. They had put their sticky fingers
all over the glass display fronts. Their mother hadn’t noticed–or
perhaps she had, and simply didn’t care. As they were leaving, the
three children had a cupcake fight right in my store.

I was on my hands and knees, scrubbing globs
of frosting and half-chewed cupcake off the floor, when the next
customer had come in. This one was irate, and had demanded her
money back on a sponge cake. I excused myself to wash my hands, and
when I returned to the counter, saw that she had removed the cake
from its box. It had a large mouthful out of one side. “It’s
vanilla!” she had screeched at me. “I asked for caramel! I want my
money back!”

I checked the order book, and sure enough,
there were the words, ‘Mrs. Hall: vanilla sponge cake’ right next
to her signature. Still, the customer is always right, so I gave
her back her money. She stormed out of the shop.

I had been examining the bite mark,
wondering if the woman had a werewolf in her family—who would know?
It was Bayberry Creek after all—when the next customer had come in.
This one had demanded a refund because her cake was stale. She had
bought it the previous week.

Okay, I admit I’d lost it by the next
customer. I was standing behind the counter, and a red-faced man
rushed in. “Do you work here, love?” he asked.

“No,” said. “I’m a supermodel just doing a
photo shoot.”

He called me a few fancy names and then left
even faster than he’d come in.

By then, I was wondering what job I could do
if I sold the cake shop. I thought of some options, and none of
them included retail.

Thankfully, there were no more customers for
a while, and so there was time for my nerves to turn to jelly. The
last half hour before Craig arrived seemed to drag on forever.

And, finally, there he was. Craig had always
been cute. Well, more than cute actually—he was handsome. For once,
he wasn’t in his firefighter uniform, and he looked just as good in
his street clothes.

“Ready?” he asked. He was holding a bunch of
flowers. They looked like wildflowers, as though he had picked them
straight from a beautiful meadow of which only he knew the
location, because as he frequently proved, he was the perfect man.
Or at least it seemed like he might be to me, but in fairness, I
hadn’t exactly spent much time with him. But still, in my fantasy
life in my head, he was perfect. I felt like I was in a cheesy
romance movie. “These are for you,” he said, stating the
obvious.

“Oh, wow,” I said. “I don’t think anyone has
ever brought me flowers before.”

Craig grinned. “Well, now someone has.”

I reached forward and took the flowers.
“Just give me a minute to put them in something.” I turned and
hurried into the kitchen, but Thyme immediately snatched the
flowers from me and pushed me back out the swinging doors. “Have
fun!” she said. “I’ll put these in water.”

Craig was waiting at the front door, and he
held it open for me. He led me to his SUV, a big black thing that
suited him perfectly. He even held the door open for me as I
climbed into the large car. He closed the door and hurried around
to the driver’s side. The engine roared to life, and Craig floored
it. I was all but flung back in my seat. He drove two blocks, and
then we pulled over.

I had the urge to say, “Why didn’t we walk?”
but I thought the better of it. I had a bad track record with
dating, so perhaps I should do the opposite of what I had done in
the past—at least to some degree.

He had stopped outside Rewards Café, a place
I usually avoided. For a start, the name was ironic. Also, they
were so slow that once I’d had to wait over half an hour for a take
out soy latte and a tomato toastie, and I was the only customer
there at the time. To add insult to injury, the latte was so weak
that I’d thrown it out. I don’t like strong coffee, but I do like
to be able to taste it.

I also had an uncomfortable thought. Rewards
Café was by far the cheapest place to eat, probably because none of
the locals frequented the place. I thought back to the wildflowers.
Was Craig a cheapskate? No, surely not. I shook my head and
silently scolded myself. I was just looking for faults.

Craig led the way to the seating area in the
garden. I sat in the only available shady spot, under a spreading
lilac tree. It dropped bits of blossom on me every time a breeze
came up, but I didn’t mind. That was preferable to sitting out in
the sun.

Craig handed me the menu with a flourish.
There were burgers, sandwiches, salads, and quiches to choose from.
I chose a soy latte and a big garden salad with no onion. I
stressed that part to Craig. I still wasn’t sure who was paying, so
I reached for my purse.

Craig patted my hand. “My treat,” he said,
before disappearing inside to order and leaving me to contend with
the blowflies.

I would have preferred to sit inside. It was
cool in there, and the surroundings were pleasant, nicely polished
floorboards and charming chalk-painted tables. However, the outside
eating area featured mismatched iron tables and uncomfortable
wooden chairs scattered randomly over what looked like an old
parking area.

Stop being so critical
, I scolded
myself, as I shooed a particularly large blowfly with the plastic
menu.

Finally, Craig returned, and we had the
chance to talk. I had been looking forward to this since I had
arrived in town. Yet it did not quite meet my expectations. Craig
talked the whole time about himself, and never once asked me
anything about myself.

During a particularly long dissertation
about Craig’s childhood, I wiped a lilac blossom out of my hair and
looked around aimlessly at the other patrons. To my shock, I saw
Alder Vervain sitting at a table across from us. He was close
enough to hear what we said. When had he arrived?

“Are you all right?” Craig asked. “You look
like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I realized I must have gasped. “Oh, it’s
just the time, I said. “I should be getting back to the shop so
Thyme can go to lunch.” I stood up, and at that moment, Alder and I
locked eyes.

Fortunately, Craig stood up too, blocking my
view of Alder. I followed Craig out of the café after shooting a
glare at Alder on my way. I was cross. It was taking it too far to
follow me when I was on a date. And how dare he sit so close that
he could hear what we said! I shook my head. The nerve of the
man!

“How about tomorrow?”

“Oh, sorry?” Craig had pulled to a stop
outside my store. In my anger with Alder, I hadn’t realized that
Craig had been speaking. “Tomorrow?”

Craig smiled at me and cut the engine. “I
asked if you would like to come to dinner with me tomorrow
night.”

I nodded. “I’d love to,” I said, “and thanks
for lunch.”

I was about to get out of the car when Craig
leaned over and pressed his lips to mine. I pulled away before he
had much of a chance to do anything. I didn’t want to kiss him for
the first time on a first date, and certainly not in a car.

Craig pulled away with a roar of the engine,
waving out the window and blasting the horn.

Chapter 16

As soon as I returned from lunch with Craig,
I was busy tackling customers, cleaning, and doing paperwork.
Oh, the joys of owning your own store
, I thought.

“Here are the cakes that Mr. Sanders
ordered,” Thyme said, emerging from the kitchen with several boxes
in her arms. She placed them in a neat pile on top of the counter.
“We’ve been so busy that you haven’t told me how it was.”

I was puzzled. “How what was?”

“Don’t you what was me!” she shot back. “Are
you going to stand there and act like nothing happened between you
and Craig today?”

“Oh!” I said with a laugh. “For a minute I
didn’t know what on earth you were talking about.”

Thyme walked over to me and put her hands on
her hips. “Well, now that you do, spill it!”

“It’s not that big of a deal,” I said, my
cheeks warming with embarrassment.

“So, did he ask you out again?”

I nodded. “We’re just going out to dinner,
that’s all.”

“That’s all? Do you at least know where he’s
taking you? Or what you’re going to wear?” Thyme seemed more
excited than I was.

“I love your enthusiasm, but calm down,” I
said. I would have said more, but the jingle of the front door
opening interrupted us.

Dianne walked in. “Hi, you two,” she
said.

“How have you been?” Thyme asked her.

Dianne crouched in front of the display case
and slowly pointed to each pastry in turn. “Madam Dianne has been
okay, but it would be much better if the police would stop snooping
around my shop.”

“Are they still bothering you?” I asked with
dismay.

“From time to time,” she said. “They treat
me like a suspect and it’s rather annoying. I mean, seriously, why
would I want to hurt that man?”