Usually it was after a bad day at work or a fight with my mom and a few beers.
“Yeah, it’s been nice,” I said. It was silent for a minute, and I was about to tell him I had to go back inside.
“You didn’t even say goodbye to me,” he said suddenly, meeting my eyes for the first time since we’d stepped outside.
“What?”
“We were friends. Maybe more. At least I thought we were.” He said the last part more to himself than to me.
I opened my mouth. Nothing but air came out.
“Was I just imagining it? I kind of thought we were on track to get together. I thought you felt it too. Heck, I’ve loved you since I saw you fix that hole on the side of the Morrow’s house. You were fearless at the top of the ladder while the rest of us were too chicken to climb that high.”
I remembered that job. I had been terrified too, but I had been new at Hal’s Handyman Services, and I’d wanted to show off in front of my new co-workers. Afterwards I’d had to excuse myself to the side of the house where I’d promptly thrown up in a trash can. I thought back to my time with Josh. Had I missed the signs? Sure, we had been good friends. I would even consider him to be one of my best friends. I hadn’t meant to drop him when I came to Hocus Hills, but finding my long-lost aunt, discovering magic was real, and trying to squash an evil plot to take over the world all took up a lot of one’s free time.
“Josh, I …” I paused for a minute. “I’m sorry I didn’t say goodbye.” It sounded lame when I said it. He looked at me expectantly. “And I’m sorry I haven’t kept in touch better. It’s been so crazy around here.”
I didn’t even know where to begin with his other confessions. There had been a time a few years ago when I’d thought about him that way. I’d even tried to flirt with him and hang out with him more than usual, but shortly after I’d begun to have those feelings, he’d started dating a woman his sister had set him up with. It had been serious for a while, and I’d moved on too. I hadn’t really let myself think about it again since then.
I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Lena.
“I hate to interrupt, but Violet wants to talk to you,” she said with a polite nod towards Josh.
“Now?” I asked.
“I’m Lena.” She stuck her hand out towards Josh.
“Nice to meet you, Lena. I’m Josh.” He shook her hand. “I’m a friend of Susie’s from back home.”
She looked at me with raised eyebrows.
“So, we need to get going, huh?” I said.
“Right, yes,” she said.
“Bye, Josh. I’ll call you later.” I followed Lena inside, trying to ignore the guilty feeling in the pit of my stomach when I looked over my shoulder and saw him watching me go.
The chatter inside the pie shop stopped immediately when I came through the door. No doubt they’d all been talking about me. I ignored them and went back to the kitchen where Violet was waiting. My mother moved out front to help customers, clearly not wanting any part of this conversation.
I told Violet everything I’d overheard by the gazebo and what the people looked like. She thanked me and told me to keep my ears open and let her know if I heard anything else.
After she left, I thought about what Josh had said. Henry and I were having such a wonderful time, but Josh and I went way back. He was comfortable in a way that only someone you’d known a long time could be. He was like a thick warm comforter. But with Henry there was a spark. People always said the spark didn’t last forever – that you needed more in your relationship besides electricity – but the spark sure felt good right now. Maybe it would develop into the comfortable relationship I had with Josh. Maybe it would be even better. Plus, Henry knew about magic. There was a whole part of my new life that I wasn’t sure if I could share with Josh. The people of Hocus Hills were very private about their magic, and I certainly didn’t blame them. You never knew who you could trust, and if word got out that there were magic people in the world, there would be chaos.
***
The crowd at the shop was starting to clear out when Holly came in.
“I felt like I deserved pie after all my hard work doing trash pick-up,” she said, casually leaning against the display case.
“I completely agree. What can I get you?”
“I heard you had some hunky, curly-haired stranger show up today.” She was carefully reading the options on the chalkboard.
“Hunky?” I asked.
“My mother’s words, not mine,” she said.
“How did she see him?”
“Nadine texted her a picture,” she said, as though the answer were obvious.
“What?”
“I forgot you’re still new to this small-town living where everyone knows your business,” she said. “So, what’s the story?”
“Josh is a friend from back home,” I said evasively.
“Two men vying for your love, that must be tough,” she said. I let my chin fall to my chest with a groan.
“I don’t know what to do,” I said. “I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.”
“That’s your problem,” she said. “You have to stop worrying about their feelings and think about what you want.”
“I want to learn how to windsurf,” I said, thoughtfully tapping my chin.
“Fair enough,” she said, and selected a piece of berry cream.
I quickly asked her about the latest book she was writing, and she was off telling me how she wasn’t sure if she should kill off one of her favorite characters or not. I was off the hook for now, but as she finished her pie we made plans for a girls’ night out on Friday, and I knew there would be more questions then.
***
Later that night I was bundled up in my very large new red knitted blanket watching television when Henry stopped by. I struggled to get out of the cocoon I had wrapped myself in.
“Did everything go okay?” he asked after greeting me with a long hug. I studied my reaction to his hug. Had anything changed after Josh’s confession? I still felt the sizzle in all the right places, I decided as I pulled away.
“I didn’t realize magic was such hard work, but, yes, it went fine,” I said. I was too tired to give him the details, and I was pretty sure he would have heard them already from someone in town. News spread fast. Especially the news that you wanted to keep quiet. Just yesterday I heard Mrs. Lansbury yell across the street asking Mr. Knight about his colonoscopy.
“Anything interesting happen after you saved the world?” Henry’s tone was strange, as if he was trying to stay super casual, but his voice was too high and too tight.
“Oh yeah,” I said, also trying to keep my tone light as though I were just remembering something that I’d actually been thinking about all day. “A friend of mine from back home stopped by.”
“Really?” He tried to sound surprised, but his acting wasn’t that good.
“Yeah, we were co-workers. He came to say hi.” I shrugged in what I hoped was a casual gesture.
“That’s an awful long way to come to say hi,” he said.
“He’s working on a job in Mavisville for a couple of weeks,” I said.
Just then Aunt Erma bustled in. “I’m so sorry to interrupt. Henry, how are you?”
Aunt Erma’s arrival saved me from an awkward conversation and her glance out of