A Slice of Christmas Magic Read online

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I didn’t think it was a big deal.” I shrugged.

  “Or maybe you were thinking about taking it?” It was part statement, part question.

  I didn’t respond fast enough, and he stood up. “I have to get back to work,” he said.

  Just then, Josh walked in. He gave Henry a little wave. Henry narrowed his eyes at him and left. I saw my mother peeking around the corner from the kitchen with an amused look on her face. I was glad my personal struggles were entertaining her.

  Josh came over and sat down across from me.

  “I heard you were hobbling around, so I brought food.” He set a bag down in front of me. He’d picked up some sandwiches from the diner, including my favorite grilled cheese.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  He noticed the bag of tacos and cringed. “You’ve already eaten?”

  “Yes.”

  “Never mind, I should have known.” He grabbed the bag off the table.

  “It was really sweet. Thank you.” I snatched the bag from his hand. My stomach felt as if it were going to burst after the nachos, but I unwrapped the sandwich and took a small bite.

  I told him the edited version about my fall. I left out the fact that I was chasing a man I’d recognized from one of Aunt Erma’s photos.

  My mother came out to talk to Josh, and, within the first ten seconds of the conversation, she managed to work in the fact that I’d gotten a job offer from Top-Notch Construction.

  Josh’s eyes lit up. I was going to tell them both that I wasn’t planning on taking the job, but the two of them went off on a conversation about my future that didn’t seem to require any input from me. I stopped paying much attention and started watching the camera feed on the computer again.

  Then I saw him with his slicked back hair. I tried to zoom in on the picture, but it was grainy. I was pretty sure it was him. The guy from Aunt Erma’s photo. The tag on the corner of the security camera said he was in the next town over. He paused on the sidewalk, looked both ways, and then crossed the street and went through the door of a coffee shop.

  My mother got up to serve some customers. I put my walking cast on.

  “Where are you going? I’ll come with you,” Josh offered.

  I closed the computer and stood up. “No need,” I said. “We’ll catch up later.”

  I mouthed to my mom that I would be back soon, and I limped out the door without looking back. Josh followed me out.

  “How are you going to drive?” he asked. He pointed at my right foot.

  He had a point. I hadn’t thought about that. I probably couldn’t push the pedals. At least not safely. I would just have to come up with a plan to get him out of the coffee shop once we got there.

  “Sure, if you wouldn’t mind, that would be great. Thanks,” I said.

  “So where are we going and why can’t we tell your family?” he asked. I had almost forgotten how well he knew me.

  “I have this meeting at a coffee shop,” I said. My mind was racing. “I’m going for an interview. I don’t want Aunt Erma to know because, you know, awkward.”

  He nodded. “Sure. Is the family time too much?”

  “Yes,” I said, but I could feel that it was forced. I felt disloyal to Aunt Erma for even saying the words.

  The drive was nice. We caught up on everything that was happening back home. I promised I would return to the job site to finish hanging the light fixtures. He told me it wasn’t necessary because the electrician had arrived and taken care of it. I felt a twinge of disappointment, but realized, with everything going on, it was probably for the best. I was beginning to relax and not think about how he had proclaimed his love or how I was on my way to meet a man I didn’t know.

  “Can we get back to our earlier conversation?” he asked the moment there was a lull. We were at a stoplight, and he turned to look at me. His eyes gazed intently.

  How did I let a lull happen? I should have kept talking. I should have asked him questions about everyone we’d ever met just to keep this conversation from happening.

  “I really should focus on my interview,” I said. “We’re almost there.”

  He sighed and turned his eyes back to the road.

  Chapter 16

  Dear Elodie,

  I’m at a crossroads in my life. One of those truly big life-changing moments. The problem is I can’t decide which path to take. Left or right, my life will be completely different. How do I make this major decision?

  Sincerely,

  Wondering Which Way

  Dear Wondering Which Way,

  I could go on and on about making pro con lists or doing research, but the truth is you should follow your heart.

  Ask and I’ll Answer,

  Elodie

  I sat in the truck for a minute after we pulled into a parking spot. We could just turn around and go back to the pie shop. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to find out Aunt Erma’s secret. Maybe there wasn’t even a secret to find out. There could be a perfectly logical explanation for the strange voicemail, Aunt Erma’s odd behavior, and this man from the photo who was suddenly lurking around. All this IMP stuff had me on high alert, and maybe I was creating drama where there wasn’t any.

  Josh was watching me. “Remember to mention all the marketing you did at Hal’s during that holiday promotion,” he said.

  “Right, the ‘Give the gift of straight shelves’ campaign,” I said with a laugh. “Everyone loves shelves, but most people hate to hang them. Don’t hesitate to call Hal’s Handyman Services.” I gave him an overly enthusiastic thumbs-up after running through part of the commercial I’d written for Hal. I had told Josh I was interviewing for a marketing job. It was the first thing that had come to mind.

  “You’re going to be great in there,” he said.

  “Thanks.” I opened the car door. Josh got out too. I froze. “I can’t bring a buddy to an interview,” I said.

  “I’ll sit at a different table. You won’t even know I’m here. I just want to make sure you don’t slip on your way in,” he said. I finally agreed because the more I fought it, the more suspicious he was getting.

  “Just sit far away so you don’t make me nervous,” I said.

  I held my breath as Josh held the door. I scanned the faces in the shop. It was one of those large warehouse spaces with cement floors and exposed beams in the ceiling. There were two large wooden tables and several smaller ones where people were working on their laptops.

  He was still there. Sitting at a small table in the back corner, staring at his phone, was the man from the picture.

  “Do you want a cup of coffee?” Josh asked.

  I shook my head. The last thing I needed was coffee. I was already feeling anxious and jittery. He nodded and went to the counter to order himself a cup.

  I approached the table. The man’s white hair was slicked back, and I could see streaks of the dark brown hair that he’d had in the picture. His bushy gray eyebrows were pinched together as he typed furiously on his phone. He wore the same tan coat he’d had on at the ice show. He hadn’t taken it off even though it was plenty warm in here. I stood over him until he looked up. He looked annoyed for a minute before recognition swept over his face.

  “You look like her, you know,” he said, then studied me as though debating his next move. I had him pinned in the corner. His only way out would be to push me down. “Sit.” He nodded to the chair across from him.

  I sat. I really wished I had prepared better for this meeting. I shouldn’t have been chatting so much in the car. I pulled out my phone where I had the picture of the photograph of Aunt Erma and this man.

  “Is this you?” I asked. It was obvious it was. Unless he was going to pull the “I have an evil twin” thing.

  He nodded.

  “How do you know my aunt?”

  “Don’t you know who I am?” he asked. He said it in a way that made me really wish I did know who he was. I shook my head. I took a mo
ment to glance over and make sure Josh wasn’t sitting anywhere near us. He was at a table across the room playing on his phone and drinking a large cup of coffee.

  Great. Josh could never handle his caffeine. I would be barraged with show tunes the whole drive back. Or worse, his impersonations of actors, musicians, and talk-show hosts. He would go on and on and there was no stopping him when he had too much coffee in his system.

  “Who are you? Do you know Dennis and Brenda? Or Stan?” I asked.

  He took a deep breath. He was interrupted by a pitch pipe. A group by the front door began singing “Deck the Halls”. They were wearing Santa hats and red capes. I’d forgotten we were still in a small town and things like this happened. They were loud carolers, and we had to pause our discussion for a minute. Finally, they finished. I joined in the applause, but the man sitting across from me did not. He just stared into his coffee cup until it was all over.

  “I’m Ivan Price,” he said once the noise died down. He seemed to be looking for a reaction.

  “How do you know my aunt?”

  “Erma and I were …” he paused for a second “… close, for a while.”

  I didn’t like the way he said “close”.

  “That was almost twenty years ago. We were doing some amazing things back then. Making real changes. I’ve been trying to get a hold of her, but she seems to be dodging me.”

  “Maybe you should leave her alone,” I said.

  “It’s not like everything that’s been happening to Erma is completely unwarranted,” Ivan said.

  “What do you mean?” I was instantly defensive.

  He laughed, which made me even more angry. “You don’t know that much about Erma, do you?”

  My face felt hot, and I wondered if I could spill his coffee on him without making a big scene.

  “She hasn’t always been the good fairy of Hocus Hills, you know,” he said. “Her magic hasn’t always been so innocent. Why do you think everyone is after her?”

  I’d always thought it was because she was so powerful.

  “We want her back on our side. We could make major strides improving the lives of magical people if she came back to our side and quit hiding at her pie shop.”

  My head was spinning. Was he just trying to mess with me? Aunt Erma had never been involved with the IMPs. She definitely would have told me in one of our drunken late-night chat sessions. Definitely, I told myself.

  “You’re lying.” I tried to keep my voice from wavering.

  He took a smug sip of his coffee.

  “Hasn’t she been acting strangely lately?” he asked.

  “No,” I lied.

  “Let me see that picture again,” he said. I pulled it up on my phone and showed it to him. “See that necklace she’s wearing?” I looked at the green teardrop necklace. “All the IMPs wear them. It was actually Erma’s idea. They connect us.” He reached under his white button-up shirt and pulled out an identical necklace to the one in the picture. It was the same one Sally had been wearing in her shop. Sally was an IMP too? The necklace had a sinister glow, and I leaned back in my chair. Then it hit me. I knew where else I’d seen that necklace. Nellie had been wearing the same one.

  “So you’re one of them.” I couldn’t keep the disgust out of my tone.

  “One of them?” He laughed. “I’m not just one of them. I started the movement. Well, with Erma’s help. I’m Ivan Michael Price, founder of the Improvement for Magical People.”

  I realized my mouth was hanging open, so I closed it.

  “I know you’re new here, but you belong with us. So does Erma.”

  “My aunt wants to stop the IMPs,” I said. I was clutching my phone tightly.

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Why are you starting trouble now?”

  “I wouldn’t call it trouble.” He dismissed me so calmly. I tried to slow my breath, which was now coming out in short angry bursts. “Things kind of died down after Erma left. People lost interest without the promise of her power, but people are getting tired of hiding. We’re picking up steam again. We’re going to take over with or without Erma. We just need the secret to her power.”

  For the first time, I felt as if I might actually be in danger. I didn’t want Ivan to try and get Aunt Erma’s secret out of me. What if he put a truth spell on me?

  I glanced across the room to check on Josh again. He wasn’t at his table. Instead he was looking through a stack of newspapers at a table not too far away from where I was sitting. How long had he been there? Could he hear what we were talking about? We had to get out of here.

  I stood up quickly. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Price,” I said loudly. Ivan made a move to stand up. “No,” I said sharply. He fell back in his chair as though I’d knocked him over. His eyes were wide for a second, then he smiled slightly.

  “I see you take after your aunt,” he said.

  I didn’t give him the chance to say anything else. I hurried out the door as fast as my walking cast would take me. I was halfway back to the car before Josh caught up to me.

  “Hey.” He gently grabbed my arm as he caught up to me. “Are you okay?”

  “Of course,” I said, flashing him a smile, but I could feel the smile waver a little. I struggled to keep my balance on an icy patch on the sidewalk.

  “How’d it go?” He looked as if he wanted to offer his hand to help steady me. I folded my arms across my chest.

  “Fine.”

  He began humming the song “Maybe” from Annie and I braced myself for the full-on singing outburst. It didn’t come, though. “I was definitely not trying to listen in,” Josh said when we got into the truck. “But I may have overheard a thing or two, and it sounded like you guys were having a weird conversation. What is that? Some new kind of interviewing technique?”

  “He was a strange guy,” I said. “Apparently everyone in the company wears matching necklaces, and he kept going on and on about how they try to create magic wherever they go. A little too hippy dippy for me.”

  He started the truck. “So, what’s the plan, then?”

  “I think I’m going to stay at the pie shop for a while.” I looked out the window, so I didn’t have to look at his face. I was silent for a minute. “I got an apartment in Hocus Hills.”

  He let out a long slow breath. “Is this your way of saying you don’t love me back?”

  “I don’t love you like you want me to. I love you like a best friend,” I said. I saw his fingers tighten around the steering wheel. I wished that we weren’t having this conversation in a car like this. I wanted to give him a hug. Instead I watched the car in front of us too.

  “We’re so good together,” he said.

  “But we’ve never been on the same page at the same time. It shouldn’t be that hard,” I said. We pulled into a parking spot near the pie shop. Josh turned off the engine and looked down at the keys in his hand. I reached out and gently touched his arm. He didn’t move. “We’ve always been better suited as friends. I’ve missed you, but I’ve been selfish leading you on because I like your company.”

  “You’ve always been selfish,” he said. He got out of the truck, shut the door hard, and walked away.

  I sat there frozen for a minute. My heart was pounding. I tried not to cry. I didn’t want to start, but once the first tear was out, there was no stopping the rest from following. That was the problem with crying. It released all the emotions that had been carefully caged. I cried for Josh. I cried for Aunt Erma and the years we weren’t together and the things she might have done. I cried for another Christmas without my dad.

  There was a tap at the window. Darn these small towns. I wiped my face on the sleeve of my coat and looked over to see Henry’s concerned face peering in at me. I tried to pull myself together as I opened the door, but instead a fresh wave of tears came. He didn’t ask me what was wrong, he just wrapped me in his arms and let me cry.

  Chapter 17

  Dear Elodie,

  Last wee
k I gave a friend/co-worker of mine flowers for her birthday while we were at work. The next day I saw the same flowers in the dumpster. When I asked her about it, she said she felt uncomfortable displaying flowers from me. I wasn’t trying to make any major proclamation. I just wanted to get her something to brighten her day. I can’t help but feel hurt, and I’m not sure how to talk to her about it. Any advice would be appreciated.

  Sincerely,

  Friend Flower Fail

  Dear Friend Flower Fail,

  Try something like this – “I just wanted to get you something to brighten your day. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.” In the future maybe just pitch in on an office present or sign the office card to avoid putting anyone in an uncomfortable situation.

  Ask and I’ll Answer,

  Elodie

  My meltdown didn’t last too long. I had questions to ask Aunt Erma. I pulled away from Henry and started laughing.

  “What?” He looked alarmed, as if I might have actually fallen off my rocker this time. He was twisted awkwardly so he could hug me.

  “How are you holding that position?” I asked in a tearful giggle.

  “I sneak into yoga sometimes,” he said. He straightened up with a slight groan. “Maybe I should sneak into some more classes.” He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, because, apparently, he was a gentleman from the eighteen hundreds. I wiped my face and blew my nose.

  “Here,” I said with a wicked smile as I handed him the dirty handkerchief back.

  “Thanks.” To my surprise he took it and put it back in his pocket. I was simultaneously touched and repulsed.

  I told Henry about my conversation with Josh. He remained silent while I talked. Occasionally his face would twitch as though his emotions were threatening to burst out. When I finished my story, he somehow managed to look angry, sympathetic, and relieved all at the same time.

  “You are the least selfish person I know. He shouldn’t have said that to you. But if he feels even a fraction of what I feel for you, I can imagine how awful he must have felt when you told him you don’t feel the same way,” Henry said. “But that doesn’t excuse his behavior,” he added quickly.