Page 13 of Clearly Charmed

‘It’s no big deal. I met a guy out on one of the trails yesterday. Told him his dog was sick. Of course, he ignored me. A few hours later, he showed up at Clo’s while we were waiting to celebrate Aster’s birthday. He was freaked out because his dog was not eating and very lethargic.’

‘He showed up thanks to Mo’s big mouth,’ Lia added.

The warm brown lines around Elena’s mouth pinched. Like Lia, she was fiercely protective of me. We’d met on the first day of seventh grade when she’d marched straight up to me, her pigtails swinging across her shoulders, and announced she was new to the school and wanted to be my friend.

I loved that she was brave and outspoken. When one of the local boys started chanting ‘witch’ at me, she kicked a soccer ball straight at his gut, sending him tumbling to the ground. Ever since that day, she’d protected me like a lioness, even though she knew after twenty years of friendship I could fight my own battles.

‘And this guy’s a stranger?’ Elena said.

‘Yeah, his uncle owned a place over near Greer’s Bluff, but he died recently and left it to him,’ I said.

Elena propped a hand on her hip. ‘So he does have ties here?’

‘Yes, but I don’t think that matters. By the non-existent tread on his hiking boots, and the way he stumbled through the woods, there’s no way he’ll stay long.’

She grabbed a rag from under the counter and casually said, ‘I don’t suppose either one of you has heard about some reporter from Metropolitan Lifestyle Network that’s in town?’

Lia gripped the edges of her paper. ‘Who told you about that?’

Elena stuffed the rag into the front pocket of her red-and-white-checked apron. ‘Judge Greene and Mo were chatting about it at the tavern last night. They said he’s already sent emails to half the town. A lot of the questions were about the town’s history.’ Her gaze darted to the ground. ‘And the founding families, specifically yours.’

‘Well, shit,’ Lia hissed. ‘That’s not good.’

‘It’s okay. Nothing says we have to talk to him,’ I said, trying to reassure her.

‘Doesn’t matter. I’ve read enough about some of our wildfires to know that writers can play fast and loose with the facts. If this guy wants to build up some crazy story about this town, he’ll do it. Hell, Mo and the other shop owners will help him, because it’ll be good for business.’

‘We can’t jump to any conclusions. Maybe he’ll figure out how boring we are and leave,’ I said.

Lia quirked a thick, dark brow at me. ‘Right, and a bear doesn’t shit in the woods.’

‘What do bears do in the woods?’

Aster was at my elbow and I jumped. ‘Where the heck did you come from?’

‘Through the front door, silly.’

Maybe it was her slight frame, or just her tiny feet, but Aster had a knack for making zero noise when she entered a room. When we were kids, Lia and I tried to talk secretly about the whereabouts of Belladonna, because any mention of our mother always made Aster weepy. But just when we thought we were alone, Aster would appear like she’d sensed our fears. Knew we were hiding our emotions. Looking back at it now, it was the first signs she was showing of her connection to people, we just didn’t know it yet.

She set her big leather bag on the counter and took the stool next to me. I tried not to smile at this month’s choice of hair color – a vibrant shade of lavender.

‘What were you all talking about?’

Lia and I loved to tease her so we both gave her an empty stare.

‘Fine. Be that way.’ She snatched her purse off the counter. ‘Guess I’ll go open the shop, considering no one has said, “Sorry your birthday dinner got messed up last night.”’

Before she could get more than a few steps, I called for her to come back. Lia quickly echoed the same sentiment.

Aster stilled and mumbled, ‘Give me one reason why I should?’

‘You’ll be leaving your present behind,’ I teased.

That’d definitely do the trick, because Aster loved surprises just as much as she loved using her gift to find people their perfect love match.

Aster’s shoulders continued to droop like a well-loved rag doll until Lia sang out the first line of a song, and I followed. In terrible harmony, we belted out Blink 182’s ‘What’s My Age Again?’ It had become our tradition since Belladonna ruined the birthday song for us years ago by stating it was ‘too commercial’ and made us ‘conform like robots’.

Yeah, our mother was a real ray of sunshine.