No Shoes, No Shirt, No Spells (Mystic Cafe Series) (10 page)

I nodded. “Sure, I understand. I have work, too. See ya later.”

Rory looked as if he didn’t know how or why he’d ended up in my restaurant, eating a burger and talking to a guy he probably didn’t like. On his way out the door, Rory glanced back at me, then to Tom. No doubt he thought Tom and I were an item. I wanted the chance to tell him we weren’t, but what could I say? Tom is just here on a magical intervention?

And Tom wasn’t helping matters by standing so closely to me, either. I needed to have a little chat with him about personal space and boundaries.

“
I’ll see you,” Rory said as he made his way out the door.

“
Look what you’ve done,” Tom said when the door had closed on Rory. “This is bad. Very bad.”

Chapter Fifteen

After I’d closed the café, I remembered I hadn’t eaten all day. I had been around food from sunup to sundown and never taken the time to eat anything other than a few nibbles here and there. I was now living at Grandma Imelda’s cottage and she’d left the cupboards mostly bare.

Mystic Hollow was like a ghost town. If tumbleweeds had bounced across the street, I wouldn’t have been surprised. They rolled the sidewalks up when the first star twinkled. It was sad really, because the quaint little town had a lot to offer. More nightlife would do it good.

The only thing open was the supermarket, so I figured I’d grab a loaf of bread, peanut butter, and jelly for my usual meal of choice. As I passed by the window on my way toward the store’s entrance, he caught my attention. Inside the store, Rory stood out like a beacon in the night. But he wasn’t alone. Rory and his ex stood in the produce section in front of the apples, oblivious to the fact that someone was watching them. From the sidewalk, I gawked in the window, observing from afar, as if I was viewing a really bad movie.

I prayed no one would notice me gawking at them. They picked up a couple things, then moved to the next aisle. The ex-girlfriend had an exaggerated swing in her walk. It cascaded up from her feet to the top of her head, making her blonde hair swing with each sway of her hips. She slipped to his side and looped her arm through his, holding a grocery basket on the other arm. With a smile plastered on her face, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

My stomach rolled. Suddenly, I wasn’t hungry any more. At that moment, I wanted to be the one kissing him on the cheek, but I’d managed to make that impossible. I had screwed things up, and now I needed to take full responsibility for making sure my customers received the correct magic. Mama always said: when you fail miserably, be prepared to deal with the consequences.

She whispered in Rory’s ear and he shook his head. If only I knew what she’d said. The guilt washed over me again for watching them. But in my defense, they were right out there in the open for anyone to witness their cozy tête-à-tête. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t force myself to look away.

“
What are you doing?” The voice sounded from behind my right ear.

I jumped and spun around. “Oh, you scared me. Um, nothing.”

Mary Jane stood next to me. “People don’t usually window-shop at the grocery store. Are you going in, or not?”

“
No, I think I’ll come back later.” I moved away from the window.

“
But you’re already here.” Mary Jane peered through the window and I saw the realization in her eyes. “Oh,” she said quietly. “How long you been watching them?”

I studied my shoes. “Just a minute or two.”

She quirked a brow.

“
Honest. I’m not some stalker.” I held my hand up to my chest, covering my heart.

“
What are they doing?” She moved closer to the window, cupping her hands around her eyes for a better view.

“
I don’t know. What do most people do at the grocery store?” I pulled my purse strap back up my shoulder, pretending to be unconcerned. “Shopping, I guess.”

“
Well, you can’t let her keep you from doing what you need to do.”

“
She’s not keeping me from doing anything.” I fidgeted from one foot to the other. “Do you think he’s back with her? I mean, I know he said he wasn’t, but they look very cozy.”

“
I don’t think so. Look at him. He’s leaning away while she moves closer.” She pointed inside the store.

“
But why doesn’t he just walk away from her then?” My shoulders slumped a little farther.

“
I don’t have an answer for that, sweetie.” She gave my shoulders a squeeze.

Deep down, I knew it was the magic. Not wanting to admit it didn’t make it any less real. Women had begun to gather around the area. Wherever Rory went, they followed. The ladies smiled, waved, and giggled as they walked past him. I’d created the perfect storm without intending to, and I needed to find a way to fix this mess soon. Before something terrible happened. Rory said he didn’t enjoy the attention. But what man wouldn’t enjoy that much admiration from the opposite sex?

We stood in silence, watching the couple. The ex picked up a bag of what appeared to be rice cakes, or some other corkboard-like snack. Rory nodded, while scanning the store. Was he looking for a way out? As they moved down the aisle, a couple women headed in their direction. Their focus was on one thing, and it wasn’t the food. When they walked past Rory, one grabbed his butt and the other reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. He darted to his left, escaping the clutches of the magic-entranced ladies who were only acting out the calls of my lust spell. His ex-girlfriend didn’t seem to notice the unwanted advances Rory endured. She was too focused on the bag of Styrofoam disguised as food.

“
There sure are a lot of women in there.”

I frowned. “You’re telling me. They’re following him around like lost puppies.”

“
Gosh, they’re so bold. Isn’t that a friend of your mother?” Mary Jane asked.

“
I’m afraid so. I’m so glad my mother’s out of town. What if she was affected by the spell? I’d be so embarrassed.”

“
Luckily, you don’t have to worry about it.”

Without saying another word, Mary Jane reached out and tapped on the window. It rattled and I cringed.

“
What are you doing?” I attempted to hide behind the line of shopping carts while glancing around for an escape route. I wanted to conceal my guilt-clenched face.

“
I want Rory to see you.”

“
No! That’s the last thing I want.” I dashed away from the window and Mary Jane hurried beside me.

Before I made it all the way to my car, the sound of my name carried across the night air. Rory sprinted across the lot.

I froze
as if I’d taken a tranquilizer dart right in the chest. When I finally forced my legs to move, I slowly turned around. “I’ll get you for this, Mary Jane,” I whispered through my forced smile.

“
Only doing what needs to be done,” she sing-songed.

“
Hi.” Rory’s mouth stretched into a wide smile. “What are you doing?”

“
I was just leaving.” I clutched at my purse as if it was a life preserver.

He looked down at my absence of groceries or cart.

“
Well, it was nice seeing you. I gotta go.” I waved.

As if the situation couldn’t get any worse, before I made an escape, the gorgeous ex approached. She eyed me up and down, giving me the once-over. Her eyes judged me and I couldn’t help but glance down at my food-covered clothing. I probably smelled like fried chicken and potato salad.

“
You must be Elly Blair?” She knew my name? I didn’t even know her name yet.

I moved closer to her and stretched out my hand. “Yes, that’s right. Nice to meet you.”

She ignored my offer of a handshake and gestured toward the store with her thumb so hard I thought she might have broken it. “What a coincidence that you’re here. Rory was just talking about you in the store. He recognized you when you knocked on the window.”

“
I didn’t knock.” I looked at him, then to Mary Jane and back to Rory. “I didn’t knock.” I shook my head.

Her mouth dropped. When she regained her composure, she said, “I’m Kim Barnes, Rory’s girlfriend.”

Rory didn’t correct her.

Kim stood ramrod straight. This whole scene creeped me out—standing in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot next to Rory, talking to his crazed maybe ex-girlfriend, who may or may not be willing me dead in her mind. I needed one of those eject buttons to get me out of there.

Rory shuffled his foot. “I thought I’d come by tomorrow for a slice of pie.” Just like that? She made a statement like that and he segued into pie?

“
Oh, that’s a fabulous idea, Rory. I could really use a fix for my sweet tooth.” She squeezed his arm. Yeah, right, it looked as if her sweet tooth never got a fix.

“
I think we only have one piece of pie left,” Mary Jane chimed in, sending a poisonous glare Kim’s way.

I flashed a cross look in Mary Jane’s direction. “We have plenty of pie and I’d love it if the two of you stopped by.” I gave a fake smile.

Rory frowned and squinted at Kim. “Sure, okay yeah, we’ll stop by.”

Kim smiled a sweet, obviously phony, smile and looped an arm through his again. He slid to his left, gently pulling away from her. She scanned the length of my body before focusing on my face again as if waiting for a response. I shrugged. The last thing I needed was a feud with her. Judging by the scowl on her face, and the fact she hadn’t shaken my outstretched hand, I was too late. She whirled around, stumbled on her wedge heels, and stomped off.

“
I’ll be waiting in the car,” she huffed.

“
Nice meeting you, Kim,” I muttered in her wake.

“
Okay, I’ll see you for that pie,” Rory said as I turned away.

“
Go suck on a rice cake,” Mary Jane said to Kim’s back.

I hurried away, beating a hasty retreat, not giving him a chance to say another word, or offer an explanation. It was almost too painful to hear him speak.

Mary Jane shuffled along with me. “Why didn’t you tell her to get lost?”

“
I can’t do that. She’s done nothing to me. And I can’t turn away customers.”

“
If they’re lousy people, you can. She was lousy to Rory.”

“
Maybe she’s changed. Maybe that’s why she came back for him.” I unlocked my car.

“
Oh please, she hasn’t changed and you know it. I can see right through her fake persona.”

I nodded. “Yeah, she is pretty transparent, isn’t she? But we’ve ruined this woman’s life.”

“
We haven’t ruined it, she’s with Rory.”

“
Did you have to remind me of that? We are very bad, Mary Jane.”

“
I don’t like being bad.” She frowned.

“
Me neither. What am I going to do?”

“
I don’t know, honey. But we’ll think of something. I have faith in you. You always were smart.”

That was questionable. One thing wasn’t questionable, though. I needed to work on the magic. There had to be something to reverse this. And I didn’t want to wait around for Tom Owenton to tell me what that something was. If I did the magic right the first time, I had to be able to do it right again. At least I told myself that. It made it easier to deal with.

“
I’m going in the store now that the showdown is over. Are you coming?” Mary Jane asked.

“
I think I need nothing more than to bury myself under the covers. Tomorrow can’t be any worse, right?”

She shook her head and waved over her shoulder.

I didn’t look for Rory’s car as I pulled out from the store parking lot. I didn’t want to know if Kim had gotten into the same car as Rory. Thinking about the two of them together made me cringe. If they were a couple and in love once, it wouldn’t be a stretch to think it could happen again.

Chapter Sixteen

Another thing I hadn’t considered when agreeing to take on the café: the ungodly hour at which I would have to crawl out of bed. The sun was still sleeping when I went to work. By the time it became light outside, I’d already started serving customers. I’d arrived even earlier to prepare a pie for Rory. Part of my brain said: leave well enough alone. But the other part, the part I most often listened to when I shouldn’t, said: give it a shot! So I did.

I measured off the flour and dumped it into the big stainless steel bowl. Then I added salt before cutting in my eggs, water, and vinegar. I’d make a couple pies for customers and a special one for Rory. Rolling out the dough put me in a slightly hypnotic state. It was therapeutic, and I needed that more than anything at that moment. After preparing the other pies and placing them in the oven, I was ready for Rory’s special pie.

The back door rattled, and Mary Jane stepped into the kitchen.

“
You’re here early,” I said.

“
I thought I’d find you here. I came to help you.”

“
Help me with what?” I played dumb.

“
The magic, of course.” She gestured toward the book on the shelf. “There must be something I can do to help. I don’t want to just stand around and do nothing. After all, it was my fault. You should have fired me because of it.”

“
Nonsense. I don’t even want to hear it. It was a mistake. Anyone could have made it, and to be honest, I’m shocked I didn’t do it before you did. We just have to keep it from happening again.”