Scent of Magic (11 page)

Francesca and Juliette peeked through the drapes in the living room, watching as Starley and Beau walked to Beau's car.

"He's a gentleman, at least," Juliette remarked when Beau opened the passenger side door of his red Toyota for Starley to climb inside.

"Yes," Francesca said with a heavy sigh.

Juliette gave Francesca a sideways glance. "What's wrong?"

Francesca sighed again and let the curtain fall back into place. "I've got a bad feeling that I just can't shake."

Juliette nodded. She knew better than to question Francesca's gut feelings. "Do you think it's about Starley and Beau?"

Francesca sat on the sofa and folded her legs beneath her. "I hope not. You know how these feelings are, they're never completely straightforward. It might have something to do with them. Or it might be something totally unrelated."

"We could read the candle flames," Juliette suggested. "It's been a long time since we've done that."

"I don't know, it's probably just my nerves working overtime since this is Starley's first date," Francesca said.

"I'll get the candle," Juliette said.

She went to the kitchen and stood on a stool to reach the top shelf of the cupboard above the refrigerator. The candle was white for purity and truth. She took out the essential oils and some sage to dress the candle. She returned to the living room to find Francesca wringing her hands and pacing the floor. Larry watched her as though she were a ball in a tennis match.

"I'll put on some tea," Francesca offered.

When the tea had finished brewing, Francesca carried two cups out to the living room. Juliette lit the candle and turned off all the lights. They sat cross-legged on the floor with Francesca on one side of the coffee table and Juliette on the other. blew on her tea until it had cooled enough to drink.

Juliette sipped her tea. She hated tea, but Francesca said that it sat the whole gypsy-fortune-teller mood. Francesca also enjoyed reading tea leaves for fun. They never read the leaves for serious matters; usually it was all done in the spirit of fun.

The flame bounced and danced, which was a good sign as long as it candle stayed lit.

"Do you want to read the wax, or are we just going to meditate on the flame tonight?" asked Juliette.

"Meditation feels right to me," Francesca said quietly. "What about you?"

Juliette nodded. "Me too."

They sat in complete silence for several minutes, eyes glued to the flame as it changed colors and started to form different shapes. Without warning, the candle suddenly sputtered, the flame snapped and popped and the room went dark.

Francesca sucked in a sharp breath. "Oh shit. That can't be good. Did you see anything before it went out?"

"Nothing good," Juliette admitted quietly. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "Before this night is over, the phone will ring with news. I can't tell if the news is good or bad, but assuming the worst … it won't be pleasant."

"Hurry up finish your tea," Francesca said, nodding toward Juliette's cup. "Let me see if the leaves give any more information."

Juliette downed the last of the now tepid liquid, grimacing at the bitter taste. "All gone."

Francesca re-lit the candle and sat up on her knees. She bent over the cup and tossed her ebony hair behind her back. "Look here, does that look like a car to you?" She slid the cup across the coffee table.

Juliette tucked her hair behind her ears and squinted for a better look. "It looks more like one of those cube vans. A moving van, maybe."

"Crap on a cracker," Francesca said.

"I don't want to move again, Frank," Juliette whispered.

Francesca's lips flattened into a thin white line. "Me either."

Juliette stood and picked up both cups. "I think we're letting our imaginations get the better of us."

"I hope you're right," Francesca said, rubbing the chill from her arms.

She blew out the candle and carried it into the kitchen.

"I think I'm going to go upstairs and read for awhile," said Juliette.

"Maybe I'll finish writing that love story I started when we first moved to town," Francesca said.

"What are you writing about this time?" Juliette asked.

"I keep trying to write a modern day Romeo and Juliette love story, but no matter how many times I sit down to finish it, it still ends up tragically," Francesca said. "Hope it's not an omen."

"Sometimes I hate my name," Juliette muttered as she climbed the stairs to her bedroom.

Starley felt like all her wishes had finally come true when she walked into the decorated all-purpose room with Beau. Everything had been perfect. He'd shown up at the house right on time. Her sisters hadn't embarrassed her too badly with the crazy picture taking, and Beau had been a complete gentleman. She pinched herself a few times to make sure it wasn't a dream.

"There's Rue and Andrew," Beau said, nodding in their direction. "Do you want to sit with them?"

"Okay, sure," Starley said.

Beau took her hand and led her across the dance floor to where Andrew and Rue sat.

"Did we miss anything?" Beau shouted over the music.

"No. They're getting ready to crown this year's homecoming king and queen in a few minutes," Rue said.

"Like nobody knows who's going to win," Andrew said with a snicker.

Rue stood and grabbed Starley's hand. "Come with me to the bathroom."

Starley glanced at Beau apologetically. He smiled and nodded as Rue tugged Starley toward the girl's restroom.

"Couldn't you manage this by yourself?" Starley asked, folding her arms in front of her chest. "The less moving around I have to do tonight the better."

"Why?" Rue asked.

"My feet are already killing me," Starley said. She pulled up the front of her dress. "And I feel like a hooker in this dress with all the skin that's showing."

Rue busted out laughing. "You look fine. At least it covers your ass."

Starley giggled. "True."

The line was long, and when they finally got back, Beau wasn't sitting with Andrew. Starley scanned the room for her date but didn't see him.

"Where's Beau?" Starley asked.

"Beatrice asked him to dance," Andrew said. Rue elbowed Andrew and gave him a dirty look. "Ouch! What did you do that for?"

"Never mind," Rue said. She leaned close to Starley and whispered in her ear, "Boys can be so dense sometimes. Did you bring the cookies?"

"Yes," Starley said, tapping her clutch. "I just don't know if it's a good idea."

"I think it's a great idea unless you want to sit here all night while your date dances with someone else," Rue said.

Starley stared into the crowded dance floor. She felt the skin prickle at the back of her neck. "You're right. If he ever comes back, I'll do it."

"The band has to take a break sooner or later," Rue said.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Starley said.

Just as Rue had predicted, the band decided to take a fifteen-minute break, and Beau returned. At least he had the good sense not to invite Beatrice to sit with them.

The silence between the couples was palpable. Finally, Rue broke the ice. "So, Beau, did you try Starley's cookies?"

Beau's eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me? Getting kind of personal, aren't you?"

Andrew laughed. "Gotcha there, Rue."

"Not
those
cookies," Rue said. "Get your mind out of the gutter."

Starley decided to interrupt before the conversation got completely out of hand. "Rue and I baked cookies last night."

"Oh
those
cookies," Andrew said.

Starley reached into her purse and took out the cookies. She passed one to Beau. "Try one."

Beau took one and sniffed it. "What's in them?"

"Some crack, a whole bunch of weed, and some other unknown ingredients," Rue said. "What the hell, Byrd? They're just regular cookies."

Andrew reached between Starley and Beau and snatched the cookie right out of his hand. "Dude if you're not going to eat it, I will." He shoved the whole thing into his mouth before anyone could recover from the shock of him nabbing it away.

"I didn't say I wasn't going to eat it, you jackass," Beau said shaking his head. He looked at Starley, "Do you have any more?"

"Sure," Starley said. She pulled out the rest of the tissue paper wrapped cookies and passed them to Beau. "Here, hold on to these. This is the last of them."

Beau stuck one of the cookies between his teeth and stuffed the remainder into his pocket. He bit off a piece and chewed slowly. "Damn, these are good!"

By the time the band started to play again, Beau had eaten three of the special cookies. Maybe it was Starley's imagination, but she thought he had moved a little closer to her. When the band started playing a slow song, he stood and offered his hand.

"Let's dance," he said with a heart-breaking smile.

As they swayed to the music around the dance floor, Beau started to complain. "It's hotter than the hubs of hell in here, don't you think?"

Starley blinked up at him. It worried her how red his face was. "It's a little warm, I guess. Maybe we should go outside and get some fresh air," she suggested.

Beau stepped back from Starley and tugged at the shirt collar around his neck. He had turned purple, and his breathing was labored.

"I feel like shit," were the last words Beau had uttered before he collapsed to the floor with a sickening thud.

Starley slapped both of her hands over her mouth to stifle a scream. She felt like she was caught in a time warp, everything stood still. The band stopped playing, and people stopped dancing. The chaperones rushed over, shouting for everyone to stand back, give him some air.

Rue ran to Starley and pulled her into a hug. "What the hell happened?"

All Starley could do was shake her head as tears streamed down her face. "I don't know. One minute everything was great. The next thing I know…" she trailed off.

"Had to be the cookies," Andrew said quietly.

Starley jerked as though she'd been slapped. "Oh, God. The cookies."

Rue led Starley over to their table. "Andrew, would you get Starley some water?"

Andrew nodded and disappeared.

Starley grabbed Rue's arm hard enough to break the skin with her fingernails. "What am I going to do? He still has some of those cookies in his jacket pocket."

Rue chewed on her bottom lip and watched the crowd part to make room for the paramedics who had just arrived. "There has to be a logical explanation. Andrew ate at least twice as many cookies as Beau did, and nothing happened to him."

When Andrew returned with the water, his face was ashen. "Beau's not breathing, his heart stopped. They're trying to revive him right now."

Starley felt her stomach lurch into her throat, and she felt like she would throw up. "This is all my fault."

Rue and Andrew exchanged glances.

"No, none of this is your fault. Even if there was something in the cookies, you had no idea this would happen. I mean, it's not like you purposely set out to poison him or anything," Andrew said.

Rue gave Andrew a
will you shut up
glare. "Come on, we'll give you a ride."

Starley nodded numbly and stood to follow them out.

"Do you think you should go to the hospital?" Rue asked.

"Yeah, I probably ought to," Starley said. "In cases they need to ask me anything."

"Are you going to tell the police about the cookies?" Andrew asked.

"Police? What police?" Rue asked. "Why would the police be at the hospital?"

"If he dies, then there's bound to be an investigation," Andrew said.

Rue stopped walking and put her hands on her hips. "You watch too many crime shows. He is not going to die. So stop implying that Starley should call her lawyer already."

"She might want to once Beau's dad finds out she fed him the cookies that poisoned him," Andrew reasoned.

"Andrew?" Rue said.

"Yeah?" Andrew answered.

"Shut up. I don't want to hear one more word from that mouth of yours," Rue said.

They were almost to the exit when Starley heard a woman's voice shouting her name. She stopped and turned to see who it was and didn't recognize her.

Rue mumbled under her breath, "Oh, shit. Sandy Davidson."

Starley's eyebrows pinched together with confusion. "Who?"

"Pastor Byrd's private secretary," Rue said.

"What's she doing here?" Andrew asked.

Rue was beginning to question her attraction to Andrew. Every time he opened his mouth, something stupid came out. "She's a chaperone."

Starley wanted to bolt through the front doors and keep on running until she was safely behind the closed doors of her house. Instead, she held her ground on shaky legs and waited for Sandy to say whatever it was she'd stopped Starley to say.

"Hi, Starley, I'm Sandy Davidson," Sandy said. "I'm sure you must be worried sick about Beau. The ambulance is taking him to County General Hospital. Can I offer you a ride?"

"Thanks for the offer, Miss Davidson, but Andrew and I will give her a ride," Rue said.

Starley managed a small smile, but couldn't find her voice to respond.

"Okay, I'll see you there," Sandy said.

"Maybe you should take me to my house first," Starley whispered to Rue as she struggled into her jacket. "I should probably let Francesca and Juliette know what's going on."

"That's a good idea," Rue agreed. "Andrew, why don't you just drop Starley and me off at her house?"

"Sure," Andrew said.

When they pulled up in front of Starley's house, all of the lights were off. "Thanks, you two," Starley said as she went to open the door and climb from the back seat.

Before the door closed, Starley heard Rue say, "Andrew, there's no point in you sticking around. I'll stay here with Starley."

In spite of her rotten mood and nervous discomfort, Starley smiled inwardly. She recognized a brush off if ever there was one.

"Oh, yeah, well, if you're sure you don't mind?" Andrews said.

"Positive," Rue said, patting him on the arm. "Thanks for the ride."

Starley ducked her head and peeked into the car. "Yeah, Andrew thanks for the ride."

Andrew nodded and drove away.

"Oh, my God," Rue said shaking her head. "I swear to you, he never used to be that annoying."

Starley said, "I wonder if that's another side effect of the cookies?"

"I guess being irritating is better than being dead," Rue said.

Starley's eyes rounded to the size of quarters. "That's not even funny."

"Sorry," Rue said.

Francesca met Rue and Starley at the door with a creased forehead. "Starley, where's Beau?"

Starley's eyes darted to Rue. "The ambulance took him to County General Hospital."

"What?" Francesca exclaimed. She felt her knees turn to rubber and reached out to the banister to steady herself.

Juliette had been standing on the landing. "Hell's bells. That wasn't a moving truck we saw. It was an ambulance!"

"What are you talking about?" Starley asked.

Francesca held up her hand. "Never mind that. What happened to Beau?"

"Everything was fine. We were dancing, when all of a sudden, he turned beet red, said he felt hot," Starley said. "Next thing I know, he's flat on his back on the floor trying to catch his breath."

"Had he been drinking?" Juliette asked.

"Not that I know of," Starley said.

"Did he eat anything that he might have had an allergic reaction to?" Francesca asked as she folded her arms in front of her chest.

Again, Rue and Starley looked at one another. After a few seconds, Starley hung her head and said, "He ate a few of the cookies that Rue and I baked the other night."

Francesca's mouth dropped open. "What kind of cookies did you bake, Starley?"

"Magical cookies," Starley croaked in a tiny voice. "But I didn't mean to kill him. I swear."

"Kill him?" Juliette asked, her voice several octaves higher than usual.

"Magical cookies?" Francesca said shaking her head.

"Stop saying that," Rue said to Starley. "His heart stopped, but the paramedics were able to revive him. They had him stabilized before they left with him in the ambulance."

"We've got to get the hospital," Starley said.

"Yes, we do. And while we're on the way, you can explain to me exactly where you got the recipe for these so-called magical cookies and what ingredients were in them," Francesca said as she put on her coat and grabbed her purse.