No Shoes, No Shirt, No Spells (Mystic Cafe Series) (11 page)

She wiped a tear from her cheek. I moved over and squeezed her in a big hug.

“
Now stop that crying and help me, okay?” I lifted her chin with my index finger so she’d have to meet my gaze.

She grinned and nodded. “Okay.”

“
There has to be something in the book to tell me how to reverse this magic. My grandmother never had any problems with this. Maybe I’m just not cut out for this type of thing. I should go back to work for someone else, I can’t be my own boss.”

Mary Jane rushed over and helped me hoist it down from the shelf. I carried the book from its spot on the shelf over to the counter. The thing was almost as big as I was.

“
Quit the silly talk. You and I both know how much you hated your job. Now set that hefty hardback down here and let’s see what we can find.”

She pulled the book toward her and I joined her in front of the counter.

I flipped open the cover and with my index finger went down the list of contents. “
Reversal of Spells and Magic Gone Awry
, page five-fifty-six. How many pages are in this thing?”

“
I think over one thousand. Too many.”

I quirked a brow and Mary Jane shrugged. Apparently, she’d taken a peek at the book before I had.

“
I hope they don’t expect me to memorize this thing,” I said.

“
I think as long as you have it around for reference, that’s good enough. Like for when I screw up.”

“
Well, I wasn’t going to say it, but yes, that’s one instance.” I laughed and she jabbed me in the side.

I flipped to the page. “All it says is see your National Organization of Magic representative.” As if. “Can you believe it?”

Mary Jane leaned over my shoulder and read the page, then shook her head.

I scanned the page again. “No new information. No spells for reversal. Just that someone from the company would be by soon to tell me what to do. How the heck do they know when someone has screwed up, anyway?”

She shrugged, not offering an explanation.

I read on and got the answer to my question. “Magic is felt in the air and sent back to headquarters. When it goes wrong, it sends off a different wavelength and they can follow it back to its origins.”

Good to know, like radar. I’d never get away with bad magic. Not that I intended to perform bad magic. I didn’t want to perform magic at all, but suddenly I had no choice in the matter.

“
Well that settles it, there’s nothing I can do but wait and hear my fate. It’s completely out of my hands.” I wanted to cry.

“
It’ll be okay, your grandmother wouldn’t have left you this place if she didn’t think you could handle it.

“
Oh, she just couldn’t give it to anyone else. My mother has zero magical ability and grandma had to give it to someone. She couldn’t leave the café closed. They need her to stay in business for the townspeople of Mystic Hollow. I just didn’t know enough to say no. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.” I let out a deep breath. “But enough about me, that isn’t my biggest concern, my concern is for Rory.”

“
Well, you make really good pies, if that counts for anything.”

“
I don’t think it counts for much.”

Mary Jane tossed a towel at me and I ducked. She took my hands and stared into my eyes. “Ever since that first day in middle school when we met, I’ve looked up to you. You’re smart, funny, and a sweet person. You can do anything you set your mind to. If you want to reverse the spell, I know you’ll figure it out somehow.” She waved her hands through the air, gesturing across the space. “Carpe diem.”

Over the twenty-eight years of my life, I couldn’t think of one moment, other than leaving Mystic Hollow, that I’d ever seized the day, and look what that had gotten me. “Thank you. I needed that little pep talk.” Her chat may not have helped, but she didn’t have to know.

“
So what if there isn’t a spell? You’ll think of something. Google it if you have to.” She patted me on the back and gave my shoulders a big squeeze. “I have to set up the dining area. What are you going to do?” She motioned with a tilt of her head toward the book.

“
I guess I’ll bake a special pie.” I winked.

She grinned and moved toward the swinging door. “Good for you. Go get ‘em.”

The open
Mystic Magic
book lay beside the mixer. I refused to believe there wasn’t a way to reverse the spell. I’d just improvise a little and cross my fingers I didn’t make things worse. But how much worse could it be, right? Having this over my head was consuming my thoughts and making life unpleasant. And I thought it had been bad before.

An electrified energy whirled around me as I pinched off and sprinkled spices across the pie filling, up from my feet, traveling up my legs and flowing to my arms, stopping at my fingertips. My fingers vibrated as I sprinkled more spices across the pie. The flash of blue and red light whizzed around the pie, making a popping noise before disappearing into a blue-tinged puff of smoke.

“
Reverse the spell gone awry, let the magic gone astray wait for another day. So mote it be.” It surprised me how easily the words popped into my head. Maybe I had that natural talent, after all. Although, typically, natural talent doesn’t screw up and let the wrong person receive a life-altering spell.

Grandma Imelda said to concentrate, and that’s exactly what I did. Apprehension bubbled up inside me. I hadn’t been sure what to expect this time, but the flashing lights and buzzing energy led me to believe I’d just added magic to the pie. What magic exactly, I had no idea.

I placed the pie in the oven. Now I’d wait until the opportunity came to give Rory a slice. That was, if there was an opportunity. Rory had said he’d come by for a piece. I prayed he wouldn’t change his mind.

Chapter Seventeen

Tom was waiting by the door when I opened it for the day. Little did he know I’d already been practicing magic. With any luck, I’d slip Rory the pie, and Tom would be none the wiser.
Tom wanted to watch all the magic performed at the café and apparently, he planned to be around every second of the day the café was open. Did the man never sleep? Didn’t he have more important magical tragedies to investigate? Maybe I could slip him a sleeping spell in a pancake or something. That would probably be frowned upon, too. Too many magical rules and I probably only knew a fraction of them so far. Without Tom breathing down my neck, watching every move I made, maybe then I could reverse Rory’s spell.

“
Good morning, gorgeous.” Tom waved.

Whether the day would be good or not was yet to be determined.

“
How about a cup of coffee?” he asked.

“
You know, Tom, if you’re going to be hanging around I think I’m putting you to work. I think you know where the mugs are and you’ll spot the coffee.”

A sly grin spread across his face as he marched off to retrieve his own coffee.

A few customers strolled in, but one in particular had me wanting to turn the sign to read
Closed
and lock the door. Miss Perky Blonde strolled into the café. I hadn’t expected to see her, not without Rory, at least. She’d volunteered to come by for pie with him. Where was he? She plopped down at the counter, setting her Louis Vuitton bag on the counter next to her. Her emerald green blouse matched her long-lashed eyes.

“
What can I get you?” I smoothed the apron over my T-shirt and wiped flour off my jeans.

Next to her I was underdressed, but I needed to remember, I was working. No time to play dress-up in Mystic Café. Had she ever worked a day in her life? What had Rory seen in her, anyway? Was it purely looks? Men were superficial that way. Surely someday he’d realize there was more to a relationship than looks and sex. Ugh, sex. I didn’t want the image of the two of them going at it like rabbits.

“
I’ll have a skinny cinnamon dolce latte.” Her golden hair curled slightly inward on each side, falling perfectly in place next to her cheeks.

Was she looking at a menu that I wasn’t aware of? Mary Jane walked behind Kim and made the crazy sign with her index finger. I averted my eyes to keep from snickering.

“
Will coffee work?”

“
Um, sure. Can I at least get cream and sugar?” Her neatly plucked eyebrows rose into confused arcs.

Mystic Café was the
nearest thing we had to a Starbucks in town, but I still didn’t offer more than plain old coffee.

“
Of course.” I placed the mug down in front of her and poured. “It’s none of my business, but you seem upset. Is everything okay?” It was none of my concern but nonetheless, I really wanted to know. Why was she here? Maybe if I attempted being nice to her, she’d do the same in return.

“
I don’t know what’s wrong, actually.” She hesitated, picking at the napkin on the counter. “Heck, I don’t even know why I’m in town. I woke up the other morning with this overwhelming need to come here and see Rory. Now we’re back together and I don’t know what to think.”

She might as well have stabbed me in the heart. What would she say if I told that her magic had brought her back? Letting her talk may give me answers, but did I really want to know? But wow, the guilt was awful.

“
Oh, really?” I asked.

“
He broke up with me last year.”

“
What?” I almost dumped the pot of coffee.

“
Yes.” She sipped the coffee, then puckered her lips. “He spread nasty rumors about me, but I forgave him.”

This was the opposite of what Mrs. Perkins had said. Could she have had her facts wrong? She was rather old.

“
What kind of rumors?” I had to know.

“
Basically that I was a nasty person and that I’d cheated on him.” Kim pursed her lips together.

“
Oh, and you didn’t cheat on him?” I tried to hide my emotions.

“
Of course not. My mama taught me how to be a lady.”

I had to get to the bottom of this. Was Rory really a dirty rat? No, he couldn’t be. Kim probably couldn’t be trusted. Mrs. Perkins seemed far more trustworthy.

“
The fact is I have no idea why I’m here. It’s as if I can’t control myself, you know?” She poured more cream, and then dumped more sugar into her cup, stirring feverishly.

“
That doesn’t make much sense.” I chuckled.

I knew all too well what she meant. And if she knew it was my fault, she’d probably strangle me with the strap of her ridiculously expensive purse. Maybe she’d jab me in the eye with her stiletto heel. Heck, if she knew my stomach did somersaults every time I saw Rory, she’d really want to clobber me.

“
Well, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” I waved to a new customer, attempting to appear nonchalant.

She responded with a careless shrug.
“I don’t know if I will, but maybe this is fate telling me Rory and I need a second chance. I’ve never really been alone before. When I break up with someone, I always have someone else waiting in the wings. I have to be in a relationship.”

There was that fate word again, and hearing Kim confessing to not wanting to be alone made me feel bad for her. Nonetheless, I couldn’t allow the spell to continue without trying to stop it. “How do you know Rory really wants you back? If he dumped you once, what makes you think he’s interested again?”

She waved a dismissive hand. “Oh, I heard he never got over me. Of course he wants me back. I just don’t know what to do.”

“
I’m sure you’ll think of something,” I said halfheartedly.

I watched as she took another sip of coffee, then placed her mug down.

Kim leapt to her feet, slinging her purse across her shoulder. “Well, thanks for listening to me. I’ll sure we’ll be back later for that cherry pie he keeps raving about.”

My stomach danced. Rory raved about my pie to Kim? “Not a problem.”

She placed a couple dollars on the counter and sashayed toward the door. Why had she come into the café just to take a few sips of coffee and tell me the opposite of what Mrs. Perkins said had happened between her and Rory? Maybe she had done it on purpose. But why? The thought hit me: because she thought I liked Rory. Or because she knew I liked Rory. Was I that obvious? Did I have an ‘I’m smitten with Rory’ sign across my forehead?

Tom sauntered up behind me right after Kim walked out and tapped me on the shoulder.

I groaned. “Now what?”

“
Take it easy, tiger, I just wanted to prepare you for what’s about to happen.”

“
What’s about to happen, Tom?” By the expression on his face, I guessed he wasn’t delivering happy news.

Chapter Eighteen

Before he answered,
movement drew my attention to the glass entry door. A man in a wrinkled suit stumbled up the old front steps—the concrete had cracked and crumbled a long time ago.

The bell on the door handle jangled as the man entered. His brown, striped suit looked as if it may have fit him about twenty years ago, which was probably when he’d bought it. His thinning gray hair stuck to his head with perspiration.

“
May I help you?” I asked and gave the widest smile my face would allow. The café may be on the verge of closing, but in case this man was a real customer, the least I could do was give him a pleasant dining experience. I’d want the same done for me, although some folks in this town weren’t the hospitable type, to say the least.