Chapter 11

 

 

Kelly pulled two stools up to the big wooden table in the center of the room, then brought the leather-bound book from the shelf. The cat jumped up to the table and watched in fascination. Kelly stared at the first page for a moment before remembering that she had to handle the wooden box before the rune-like characters would make sense. The lower sections of the bookcase were enclosed and one of those was equipped with a lock. She pulled a silver chain with a key from beneath her sweater and unlocked the door to it.

Within moments of handling the box it began to glow and her hands began to feel warm. The cat’s orange ear twitched, then the black one.

“Okay, that should help. Did you bring Virtu with you?”

“No, sorry, I had no clue we’d be going in this direction.” Each of them could read the book, but only after handling her specific carved magic box. No other method had yet worked for them.

“That’s fine. I’ll see what I can find.” Kelly laid the ancient book on the table and paged through it slowly, handling the old parchment carefully.

From the beginning, when the book had been handed to Kelly by their quirky Romanian chocolatier friend, Bobul, the two women had noticed oddities about it. Unlike a normal book, this one didn’t appear to have been printed or bound in the usual way. Some pages were parchment, some appeared to be as thin as rice paper, some were yellowed with age, others crisp and much newer. And the edges had not been trimmed to match up. Smaller sheets were inserted at random places. Some larger pages extended slightly beyond the covers. And they’d yet to discover a table of contents or index.

“I wish I’d taken more time with this,” Kelly mumbled. “I might have discovered if there was some rhyme or reason to the way it’s organized.”

Sam smiled at her daughter’s fierce concentration. “There’s not a section called Relationship Problems?”

“I wish.”

“Okay, so let’s say we do discover some ‘anti-love’ potion … How will we get Lila to take it? I can’t see either of us approaching her with a vial, or her falling for the Drink Me label if we could leave it in her car.”

“We have to find something she loves to eat and we’ll put it in that,” Kelly said, turning another page and staring at the writing on it.

An idea flashed through Sam’s mind. “Jen met her. Lila stopped in at the bakery one day and Jen said she bought a triple-chocolate cupcake. Lila admitted she’s a real chocoholic.”

Kelly looked up with a huge grin. “That’s it, then! We give her a spiked cupcake.”

“Um, we need to think this through. She might trust me more with a cupcake than a vial, but what if she doesn’t?” Sam paced the length of the big, open space. “And we probably need to witness her eating it. What if she gave it to Danny? I mean, the guy couldn’t be much more not-in-love than he already is. A potion could take him from apathy to downright hatred and I wouldn’t want to see where that could lead.”

“Hm, you’re right about that.” Kelly drummed her fingers on the table for a moment. “Well, we just have to hope that the potion recipe comes with directions.”

Kelly was a fraction of the way into the book, and Sam could feel her bakery order calling. “Look, I’ll leave you to it. Call me when you find something, but don’t actually stir up anything on your own. Let’s do that part together.”

“Right. First things first—we have to hope the ingredients are something we can actually get our hands on. If it requires eye of newt or shavings from a witch’s fingernails, I’m not sure what we’ll do.”

“Meow,” said Eliza, tapping the open book with a white paw.

Sam came around the table and gave her daughter a hug. “If we get lucky, Lila will just leave town on her own. But I’m not counting on that.”

“Nope. That one’s like a bad rash.”

Sam grinned. “Which, if we can’t find the potion we want, would be another avenue. We come up with something that gives Lila a miserable rash and she’ll leave Danny alone because she won’t want him to see it.”

“Oh, Mom, you’re starting to think like your devious daughter.”

 

* * *

 

The bakery felt quiet when Sam arrived. Julio was pulling a tray of cupcakes from the big bake oven. Triple chocolate. She imagined the rich devil’s food cake, the molten center filling, and the decadent pile of chocolate buttercream frosting that would go on top. Which of those would provide the best cover for the potion? It would depend on the taste of the magical ingredients. The molten center could conceal the texture and flavor, but if the ingredients wouldn’t stand up to heat, it would have to go into the frosting. Besides, what part of a cupcake could no one resist—the icing!

What am I thinking? This plan is so over the top—

“Sam?”

She snapped to attention. “Sorry, Julio?”

“I asked if you wanted me to bring that wedding cake out of the cooler. I’m putting this inside.”

“Oh, yes, please.” She hung up her coat, donned her bakery jacket, and washed her hands.

The tall pink and burgundy cake was a confectioner’s delight, Sam had to admit. She didn’t remember whether Jen had suggested the champagne bubbles theme, or if that had been the customer’s idea, but they set off the draped fondant and the roses around the lower edge so well. All it needed now was a dusting of edible pearlized powder.

Sam found a clean brush, similar to one from a makeup kit, large and fluffy. She dipped it in the pearlescent dust and tapped off the excess, then swished the brush over the clusters of little spheres she’d made yesterday. Instantly, they took on the glow of pearls, the iridescence of liquid bubbles. She stood back for a look, and decided the roses could benefit from a dewy glow as well. A few more flicks of the brush, and the cake was perfect.

Becky stopped in the middle of her Easter bunny cookies. “Wow, Sam. That’s one of your best. It’s spectacular.”

“It’s ready to go, whenever. The order says it needs to arrive at the church between three and five this afternoon.”

“I’ll take it,” Becky offered. “I have two birthday cakes to deliver as well. One is done, and I’ll finish the other one right after lunch.”

Sam walked to the sales room. Two women sat at one of the bistro tables, chatting and nursing cups of coffee. An empty plate with a few crumbs sat in front of each.

“Busy breakfast and morning rush,” Jen said, bending to reach inside the display case. “We have a few muffins left for the teatime crowd, and I’m about to add cheesecake and cupcakes as soon as Julio has them ready.”

“He’s nearly there. Just took triple chocolates out of the oven, so as soon as they’ve cooled and Becky adds the frosting. Plus, she’s got more seasonal cookies decorated for the after-school kids.”

“Good. We’ve kind of had a rush on triple chocolate this week. Not sure why.”

“You mentioned a young woman a day or two ago … has she been back?”

“Twice. She’s clearly addicted.”

The door bells tinkled and an older man walked in, his eye on the last blueberry muffin. Sam left Jen to tend to the sale.

So, Lila was hooked on the triple-chocolate cupcakes. Interesting.

Sam’s phone vibrated in her pocket just as she reached the kitchen. Kelly.

“Can you stop by on your way home? I think Eliza found us just the potion we need.”