Emma
It'd been a really long day and not as satisfying as most. Usually, when I was this tired and this beat up, I'd had a successful mission. But not today. I'd done my best, yet it wasn't good enough. The nice thing about working in a partnership with Beth though was that we got to share our defeats just as much as our successes, and after a little while even hard days felt easier.
Staring down at the contents of our small first aid kit, I glanced at my injuries. "I don't think this will be enough."
Beth gave a little nod. "I'll grab the bigger kit." As she went upstairs, I again was thankful for our more comfortable office/house situation.
A knock at the door made me groan as I climbed to my sore feet and dragged myself to the front door, but when I threw it open and spotted Deva with bags of food from her restaurant, I almost moaned in happiness. "You are a sight for sore eyes!"
"You mean the food is?" She said, with a grin.
My stomach growled, loudly and embarrassingly, in response. "It’s been a while since I ate, and I definitely worked off my breakfast and lunch."
Standing back, I let Deva in, and she hurried to the kitchen. I closed and locked the door behind her, then watched as she started setting things out on plates and moving them to our little table. Deva had personally filled our kitchen with things she felt she would need. I'd barely looked in the cupboards, but Deva seemed to know exactly where everything was.
"Need any help?" I finally managed.
Her gaze ran over me, and she laughed. "Just sit at the table."
"I'm still cleaning my wounds," I told her, feeling bad about my medical stuff sitting next to her perfectly made dishes.
She grinned. "I wouldn't have expected anything different."
"Have I told you that I love you lately? Because I do."
She threw back her head and laughed as I returned to the table, crumbled into my chair, and grabbed a cotton ball and doused it in disinfectant. As miserable as it is to be hurt, having friends who you know love you no matter what is amazing. I can't even imagine living the way I did with Rick, always having to tidy up my home for hours before having the spouses of my husband's friends over. Plastering on a fake smile. Serving food I knew half of them wouldn't like. Seeing the way they not-so-subtly inspected my clothes and home. It was all just... a lot of work to still feel alone and miserable.
I dabbed a little disinfectant on the worst of my scratches and winced when it stung. “It’s too bad one of us isn’t good at healing,” I grumbled.
Deva chuckled, dropped the rest of the food on the table, then pulled up a chair next to me and dabbed the liquid on my other arm. “I’ll work on some candy that speeds healing. I think I can do that. Who was this woman again?”
“The woman we tried to help? Her name is Callie.” I peered down at the deepest scratch and tried to apply a butterfly bandage, but it just didn’t want to go. “She’s got a curse on her that means she shifts into a cat at random and has no control over it.”
She'd gotten our name from somewhere, and we'd taken off to wrangle her in cat form. It did not go over well. But we'd had to at least try to help the poor woman.
“I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Deva said as she took the bandage from me. “Can we not just remove the curse?”
“I’ve already tried,” Beth said, walking into the room with the second first aid kit for her own arms. “I’ve tried to help this girl several times.”
Before I'd come back to Mystic Hollow, I guess Beth had made several attempts to help her. But Beth had explained this was powerful magic, more powerful than almost any she'd seen before. She was hoping my special skills might be the answer. The thing was all just very weird though. When I touched the cat, I got the deep sense that it wasn't my place to intervene. I'd still tried to, but it was as if my magic was being stubborn.
Yet another reminder that I might be Karma, but my powers were different from those of my friends. Whereas they could control their powers, I feel more like a tool my powers used to create a karmic balance in the world. Sometimes I even felt like my magic worked when I didn’t know it was working, but I wasn’t sure.
“Well, did it work this time?” Deva asked as she finished caring for my cuts and moved to Beth’s.
Beth's weren't nearly as bad as my own, although there were a couple of deep ones. She apparently knew how to handle an angry cat better than I did. No surprise though since her witchy powers involved communicating with animals. The thing was, this cat didn't seem to want to do a lot of talking, at least according to Beth.
I pursed my lips. “No, unfortunately, Callie is still the occasional firehouse cat for Blackwater Falls.”
“Will you try again?” Deva asked, finishing dabbing Beth's wounds, then reaching for the bandages.
I looked at Beth, and she shook her head, her voice filled with regret. "We just can't. Not any time soon."
"Why?" Deva asked, her brows drawing together in confusion while she wrapped up Beth's injuries on her arms and chest.
But Beth didn't have to tell me why because I already knew. Pulling a little notebook out from behind the counter, I opened it to the marked page. “This is the list of people requesting our help.”
With a low whistle, Deva looked over the list. “That’s got to be twenty names.”
At least. I'd been shocked by how many people had been calling us recently. Beth had told me it was really strange. That before I came along, she was lucky if she had one person a week. Now, we had a voicemail box filled with messages we hadn't even had a chance to check yet, and even more people we'd talked to and agreed to help. At first, we'd quickly agreed to each person, but now we were having to tell them it might be a little while until we could get to their problem. It was sort of bitter-sweet. Beth and I were both happy to make more money and stay busy, but this whole thing was verging on being overwhelming.
“I know, it's a lot," I confessed, more exhaustion in my voice than I'd wanted to show. "I don’t think we can spare the time to try to help Callie again. We’ve tried three times, but this curse is bigger than us. She’s going to have to try someone else. We can’t be the only game around.”
"We aren't," Beth told me. "I already texted Callie with the name of another agency. I'm not sure how much Callie knows about the supernatural world, but the number I gave her was to a group of witches with a strong ability when it comes to shapeshifting."
"That's something at least," Deva said, gathering up the trash on the table and dropping it into the trash before washing her hands.
“At least we’ve dealt with the worst cases,” I said. “We sort of prioritized them, the way a hospital would triage patients after a large-scale emergency, rather than first come first served.”
Deva returned to the table and took the list, focusing on the names and the info after them. Each name had a short description of each person’s problem listed beside them. “You know, I think a couple of these I could help with the right recipe.”
Help with? A strange chill rolled over me. Of course, our other friends could help!
“I never thought of that,” Beth said excitedly.
“And, when I opened Deva's Delights, I wanted to help people, and I do, but this way I could help individuals in a different way.” Deva’s eyes brightened. “Let me see what I can cook up.”
I couldn't possibly explain how grateful I was, so I just gave her my best smile. Overhead, one of Beth's birds flew over our table, then landed on her perch in one corner of the office. Buster, who was sitting on his scratching post, eyed the bird with a look that made me want to take it far from the grumpy cat. But Beth had reassured me that Buster was all bark and no bite. She'd actually caught the bird snuggled up to the sleeping cat one day. It made my heart soften a little toward the cat who always seemed to have something snarky to say about me.
“Stop staring,” Buster said. “Your eyes will freeze that way.”
“Oh, hush, you curmudgeon.”
Marble, another one of Beth's cats, crossed the room and lifted the little doggy door we'd had installed to let the animals enjoy the deck and the fresh air. I almost asked what in the world the cat was doing, when Beth's lizard went shooting out the door. Marble fell in after him, lazily, and then the two of them adjusted themselves on the deck just outside the window we were seated by, apparently bathing in the sun.
"These animals are so dang lucky," I muttered.
Beth laughed. "Well, we're lucky to have them too."
"Darn right," Buster mumbled, not even bothering to open his eyes.
I shook my head, but I was smiling.
We sat down to the lunch Deva had brought with her, and I started telling them about the fiasco at Carol’s this morning. “You guys, I couldn’t tell her.”
“Why not?” Beth asked with surprise in her voice. “It’s for her own good.”
How could I explain? I knew all logic said I should tell her. That by letting her date a possible murderer, a man who had asked me to kill someone, and then the same person had ended up dead, was a bad idea. Even though we hadn't told Vance or the other detectives, Bryan was our number one suspect. And yet, I hadn't told her.
It took me a minute to form the words, but nothing sounded right, so I just started talking. “I’ve never, and I mean never seen her that happy. This is beyond anything I’ve ever seen from her. And I just... I couldn't do that to her. Not if we're not sure.”
Deva nodded. “It's true. She positively glowed when she walked into the house last night.”
“She’s happy, let her be happy,” Buster the cat said in his gravelly voice. “You only live once. And the guy smelled okay to me.”
Smelled okay? Uh, yeah, not sure if that should be the deciding factor on what to do with Bryan, but I wasn’t about to say so. Buster could be a real pill when he's in a mood like he was today. Okay, the mood he's typically in.
But Beth arched her eyebrow at the kitty. “Glad to know your opinion.”
“You’re welcome.” He stretched and arched his back, then presented Beth with his butthole before jumping off the counter and ambling toward the stairs.
“Maybe he’s right,” Beth mumbled as she unwrapped a sandwich. “You do only live once.”
I gave her a look.
Beth shrugged, wincing as she did so, probably from the bandage pulling on her chest. With a small movement, she pushed her curly blonde hair back from her shoulders, then seemed to relax. "Animals usually have a good sense of whether people are good or bad."
I almost said something snarky, even though I agreed, but Deva started talking, preventing me from angering the grumpy cat further.
“She did seem happy.” Deva munched on a pickle. “What do you think, Emma?”
I sighed and looked down at my chicken salad sandwich. What did I think? I thought that I wanted Carol to be happy, but not end up dead. “We need to keep a really close eye on him. He could be dangerous, but then, he could be in danger. We just don’t know.”
"Agreed," my friends said, although they didn’t sound happy about it.
"So, that's agreed, for now," Beth said, her blue eyes sparkling. "Any other news?" Her gaze locked on Deva.
Deva caught her gaze, and her cheeks burned. Looking down as if she wasn't blushing like a schoolgirl, Deva dusted off her black blouse as if she had flour on her clothes. Which we all knew she didn't, she wasn’t avoiding the question , she just wanted an extra minute to figure out her response to Beth. When she was done brushing off her clothes, she ran her fingers through her short, black hair, glancing at her reflection in the glass.
"Come on!" Beth groaned, miserably.
I laughed. "Okay, what is going on? What have I missed?" Whatever it was had to be good if Deva seemed this flustered.
Deva pulled out little baggies of homemade potato chips and tossed Beth and me each one, trying to seem nonchalant, and failing miserably. “Well, you know, Carol isn’t the only happy one in our little friend group.”
Beth and I tittered. “Please do tell,” Beth said, rapidly blinking her dark lashes, which told me darn well she already knew. “Is it about Marquis?”
“Maybe.” Deva sighed and clutched her hand to her breast dramatically. “We have a date tonight.”
Our giggles only got worse. “Oh, are you going to relieve the itch that only Marquis can scratch?” I asked, the words coming out broken and stupid through my laughter. “You’ll really feel better if you do.”
Both women stopped and turned their heads slowly my way. Uh oh! My laughter immediately stopped, and I knew I'd made a terrible mistake.
“Oh?” Beth asked, turning this mess onto me. “And how would you know that?”
It seemed that it didn’t matter how old we got. The first time we slept with a man was a cause for a big gossip session. My skin heated as I sucked in a deep breath. “Daniel spent the night last night. Like, uh, actually spent the night.”
The laughter turned into squeals, and I joined in myself after I swallowed down my embarrassment. Yes, maybe some people would think we were too old for this, but I honestly thought any chance for laughter and fun we should take advantage of. Life had taught me it was full of a lot of twists and turns. Lots of dark moments too. Any time there was a good moment, well, I was happy to share in it, even if the glee was at my expense.
“Well?” Deva asked, leaning so far over the table that she looked like a cartoon character. “How was it?”
“You know I’m not going to kiss and tell.” I bit into my sandwich and made them both wait until I’d fully chewed the bite and swallowed before I dissolved into more laughter and told them the gist of the night, minus the details. “It was wonderful,” I ended it all with, followed by a sigh. “Nothing like my ex-husband, and you know he was my only, until Daniel. With the right man, it’s like the storybooks. More than that though. It's like... my soul had always needed Daniel and until last night I’d never even realized it.”
Deva nodded and held up one hand. “I imagine it is all about being with the right person.”
I smiled. "Well, maybe Marquis will be your right person."
She took a sip of her drink, swallowed awkwardly, and then said. "Maybe. I mean, my heart is kind of saying he might be, but I don't have a lot of experience. Sometimes I worry I'll just never have that... magic with a person. That with enough time Marquis will be the same as my ex."
"That's a completely valid fear," I told her. "But I don't think that's how your story ends. If Marquis isn't the right person, then someone will be."
Beth smiled. "I know I'm the only one of our little crew without a romantic prospect, but I agree with Emma. I think we're all good people. When Roger left me for my sister, I was so heartbroken, but a part of me always knew that it just meant he wasn't right for me. That someone else would be though, I just have to be patient. I have to be okay kissing a few frogs before I find my prince."
"And kissed a few you have," Deva said, giving her a teasing look.
But Beth didn't mind. "I have. I've gone on about a dozen dates since we split, but none of them have been right. The thing is, I’m okay with that. I’ve been in therapy, working on myself, my business, and my friendships. Perhaps I wasn't ready to meet the right person."
"Do you think you're ready?" I asked Deva.
After a second, she smiled. "I think I am."
"Then, there you go," I told her, smiling.
"And I really, really like Marquis," Deva confessed, finally letting her guard down. "I mean, he's a doctor, the good kind. One of the ones who really care about their patients. And a warlock, so I don't even have to explain all the witchy stuff. I'm just scared to get my hopes up."
I reached over and squeezed her hand. "You know, it's okay to get your hopes up. Especially because if they happen to fall, we'll be here to pick them right back up."
She squeezed my hand back. "I know. Thanks."
We dove into our food then, keeping our conversation light. Laughing. Discussing dating at our age, and the changes, and also what our kids were up to. We tried not to just talk about our kids all the time because we knew darn well that could get old, but in moments like this, it was nice. Some of our kids were struggling a bit. But most had found happiness, one way or another, and that was every parent's goal in life. Just to have happy kids.
“Well…” I stood as soon as I finished eating, patting my finally full stomach. “I need to get home and get ready for dinner tonight.”
Deva grinned. “More time with Mr. Daniel, bear extraordinaire?”
“Oh, no.” Shoot, I’d almost forgotten to tell them. “I have to go to dinner with Vance, the vampire inspector. He wants me to try to get a read on the vampires at his dinner party. I think I’m supposed to sort of pretend I’m there with him on a date.”
"A date with a vampire?" Beth asked, lifting a brow.
"A pretend date with a vampire detective that appears to follow the rules and doesn't want to just serve me up as dinner," I corrected.
Beth didn't look like she agreed.
But Deva laughed. "Not all witches cook children in cauldrons and not all vampires are mindless monsters. So if Mr. Detective asked for Emma's help, and Daniel says he has a good reputation, I say we take this as a fun opportunity for Emma to go to dinner with some of the elite in Mystic Hollow."
"I like that," I told her. A heck of a lot better than thinking of this as a careful dance to make certain I'm not going to be eaten.
Deva’s face lit up. “Come on, Beth. Let’s pack up shop and take her shopping. She can’t go to Vance Acheron’s house without wearing a new dress.”
A new dress? Oh, yes, that would be lovely, and would take my mind off of the coming ordeal. “Let’s see if Carol can come along.”
It was settled. We were going shopping and hopefully dragging the moon-eyed Carol out with us.