Vance and I found a spot on the sidewalk that wasn't too crowded to stand and wave as members of Silverlake paraded by. The marching band played a rendition of Michael Jackson's Thriller, with the school spirit squad dressed up as zombies, performing the iconic dance moves in sync with the music. Our town's littlest witches performed a separate routine as they marched past, cheering with their orange and green metallic pom-poms. The Simmering Sisters even participated. The ladies in the cooking club had donned pointed witch's hats and purple aprons as they passed out packaged sugar cookies and brownies. A few other members walked down the middle of the road with a large bowl tucked under one arm and a whisk in the other. A steady stream of purple smoke floated out of their bowls, smelling impressively like chocolate chip cookies. Whatever that spell was, it would be torture if you were on a diet. I eyed the brownie Vance had, suddenly wanting to trade.
"Switch you," I held the sugar cookie out.
"How about we split fifty-fifty?" Vance countered.
"That's an even better plan.” Vance and I opened our goodies, and I broke the cookie in half and passed him over a chunk.
"You know what would go good with this," I said after swallowing a bite of buttery frosted goodness.
Vance looked at me, and at the same time, we said, "Coffee."
"Doesn't Diane have a booth over at the high school?" Vance reminded me.
"You're right. Mayor Parrish insisted she sell pumpkin spice lattes, but knowing Diane, I'm sure she's offering up more than that." We could see the food trucks from where we were watching the parade, but what we couldn't see was all the other vendors set up around the perimeter. Diane was selling baked goods and hot drinks. The high school's PTO was selling licensed apparel. It looked mostly like sweatshirts and blankets in the school colors and embroidered with the mascot. A smart move seeing the air was getting colder, and wrapping up with a blanket while standing around the town's bonfire sounded like a cozy idea. I also spotted my friend Luke, the owner of the Candy Cauldron, along with his nieces, Sabrina and Beatrice. The witches were offering up free samples of chocolates. I shied away from the troublesome twosome. No offense to Luke, but it would take a lot for me to trust anything the girls were passing out. I didn't want to turn orange, grow a tail, or anything else they came up with. But plenty of other folks seemed eager to try their latest creation. From what I could see, they looked like truffles with a glossy bright green exterior. I could only guess the flavor. Sour apple, maybe? Beatrice retrieved a second tray. This batch had a colorful purple coating.
"I'm almost tempted," I said to Luke as we passed by. I pointed down at Beatrice’s tray.
Luke chuckled. "I don't blame you for being worried, but they're really good. I've already had three, and I promise you I haven't had smoke come out of my ears or anything."
"What flavors are they?" Vance asked the girls.
Sabrina took the lead. "The green ones have a key lime and coconut center covered in a graham cracker shell and then coated in white chocolate." She sounded like a professional chocolatier.
"And the purple ones are salted caramel cashew with layers of milk and white chocolate," Beatrice added. The young witches beamed with pride.
“We had pumpkin spice ones too, but Mayor Parrish bought all of them," Sabrina added.
"Wow, I'm impressed. Those do sound good," I replied.
"Do you want to try one?" the girls asked in unison. I couldn't very well say no now, could I? "We promise we didn't curse them or anything," Beatrice added.
"Promise. We only used fair trade, non-GMO ingredients."
"Only the best."
"We're making a name for ourselves. Uncle Luke here isn't going to live forever," Sabrina looked solemnly at Luke.
“Then somebody's gonna have to run his business.” Beatrice nodded.
"Nothing like children to remind you of your mortality," Luke spoke above them. "The girls have been apprenticing with me since summer. I find that if I give them something constructive to do, there's less destruction. So far, they've been quick learners."
"Uncle Luke says we're naturals."
"How about I try one of the key lime coconut ones?" I suggested.
"And I'll try the salted caramel," Vance said.
I hoped I wasn't making a mistake as my teeth cracked the soft outer shell and sunk into the smooth middle. "Oh my goodness, this is good." I put my hand over my mouth while I spoke. "Girls, this is impressive. I think your uncle's right."
"I'd say so. You have a future in the chocolatier business." Vance added.
The girls beamed with pride. "Great! We're selling them in four or six packs if you'd like. You can see Ben at the stand, and he'll ring you up."
My eyebrows shot up. "They're good in sales, too."
Luke shook his head. "Don't feel obligated."
"No, no, it's fine. The chocolates are good. Happy to support you guys," I said to the girls. We said goodbye to them, purchased six truffles, and headed farther down the line.
"That was surprising," Vance remarked.
"I know. Hopefully, their mischievous days are behind them." Their mom worked full-time as a nurse at the community hospital on the other side of the lake, and she only had her brother to help with the girls. Luke was always more than willing to help, telling me that they were all the family he had. They always stuck together.
"Who's this?" Vance asked, motioning to the next booth before us. It was hard to make out the words at first with all the glitter and stickers on the posterboard sign, but as we got closer, I could see it read, “Fortunes $5”.
A line had formed behind the booth where Amelia confidently told Misty her fortune while her mother fidgeted nervously beside her.
"That's Amelia and her mother, Jane. They just moved to Silverlake and are staying at the inn until they can get settled."
"And she's a psychic?"
I wanted to say that I hoped not, given the look she shared with her mother when she brought up our wedding, but who knows what she was going to say. By the length of the line quickly growing behind her booth, I assumed the young girl had to be somewhat gifted.
Misty joined us with a scowl on her face.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"I wasted five bucks. That's what's wrong."
"What did she say?"
"That I’ll have my heart broken, which is just dumb. Everything is going great with Daniel. He's supposed to return from Prague in two weeks, and we’re planning to spend some downtime together.”
"Maybe she didn't mean Daniel?" I offered, hopefully.
"Who else would break my heart?"
"She might just be making it up," Vance suggested.
"I don't know. That's the part that bothers me. You could feel the magic coming off of her. That little girl knows her stuff," Misty scowled. “It’s just my luck. I fall for a guy, and then he dumps me. Why do I even bother?”
“He’s not going to dump you!” I wanted to shake my best friend silly.
“Whatever. See if I care. I don’t need Daniel to make me happy.”
Vance opened his mouth to say something. I subtly shook my head.
“Now that I'm officially depressed, I'm going to see how many cupcakes Diane has. I’ll see you guys later.”
“Wow. Overreact much?” Vance said to Misty's retreating form.
“Just a bit. She’ll calm down. I’m sure of it." Especially after she caught up with Daniel.
"It looks like your aunt and Clemmie really got the fire going." Vance motioned to the grassy area between the parking lot and the football field, where a bright blue and orange fire blazed. In the off-season, the area was the soccer field, but tonight it housed the community bonfire. Mr. McCormick told me all about how the town council had laid the fire pit, brick by brick, and tomorrow they would work on disassembling it once the bricks had cooled. Townsmen had already gathered around the fire to cast their spells. The way it worked was you were supposed to write something you regretted on a piece of paper, something you wanted to let go of. Then you crumbled up the piece of paper and threw it in the fire, making a wish on the smoke as it rose into the air.
Did I have any current regrets? That's what I was trying to think about. Sure, I regretted leaving Silverlake and giving up magic, but I was already making peace with that. Then there was Vance and my relationship. Talk about regret. Neither one of us had been very mature all those years ago.
The better question would be, what do I want to let go of? The answer suddenly came to me. I wanted to let go of being afraid of failure, of never mastering my magic, and continuously making a fool of myself. I needed to let go of feeling inadequate and like I'd never live up to my Nightingale heritage. My dream was that I would step into all my powers and continue to open myself up to the possibilities. I wanted to love freely and wholly. I wanted to build a family with Vance. To get married and settle down in Silverlake for years to come. I wanted to stitch together a beautiful life, one day at a time.
"Hello? Earth to Angie?" Vance had been talking, and I wasn't paying any attention. "I guess you have a lot of regrets?" Vance suddenly looked unsure of everything.
"Not regrets. But there are things I want to let go of and dreams I want to reach for. Good things," I quickly clarified. "Dreams for us, our future, and what that looks like." I took a deep breath and let the cool evening air fill my lungs. "I'm so happy that I came home, and yet I still feel like I'm punishing myself for the past. I want to let go of all that and live in the now. That's all."
"I want that for you too. For us. C'mon, let's head to the fire."
Vance and I hadn't made it very far when Mr. Haggerty caught our eye. He seemed to be arguing with Mayor Parrish.
"That doesn't look good." I hadn't even noticed the journalist had shown up to the high school, but there he was, standing next to the Terry Dawes stand. The rough and tough shifter recently started selling jerky. I heard Terry used to make it out of his home and pass it out to coworkers on the road crew, but he’d since started selling it at local shops. I hadn't paid much attention when we'd passed by the stand the first time, but tonight Terry was also selling raw meat on the stick that you could roast in the fire. It was a twist on roasting hotdogs over a fire. By the looks of the number of people snacking on meat sticks, the idea wasn't only a hit with shifters. Everyone seemed to love the idea except for Mr. Haggerty.
"I've never seen something so barbaric!" Mr. Haggerty snapped.
"That seems a bit harsh." Mayor Parrish tilted her head from side to side as she tried to weigh her words. "Look around. Everyone's enjoying it. We have shifters, which is —"
"Talk about disgusting things," Mr. Haggerty said, not bothering to hide his contempt.
"Now, what is that supposed to mean?"
"What's next, vampires?"
"We do have a vampire pop in from time to time," Mayor Parrish started to say until she realized that was exactly the wrong reply.
"Witch Reader’s Magazine is for witches. We don’t cater to shifters, vampires, or any other half-blood, supernatural creature you have roaming around here.”
“Pardon me?”
“I've seen enough. Silverlake is not the right fit for this award."
"Now, wait a moment. Please. Wait until the gala tomorrow night before making up your mind. I promise you will be impressed."
"You couldn't pay me enough to stay. Good evening and goodbye." Mr. Haggarty stomped off, leaving Mayor Parrish distraught.
"How could he say such awful things about Silverlake? And everyone that lives here? I'm just speechless."
"I say good riddance. I know how hard you worked to please Mr. Haggerty, but do we want an award if it comes from the likes of him?" I asked.
"Well, I thought it would be a nice addition to the town's website." Mayor Parrish swallowed nervously. "Oh, what am I going to tell everyone?"
"I wouldn't say anything," Vance added.
"Vance is right. This weekend wasn't about trying to win an award. It's about honoring Silverlake. We should be focusing on that."
"Oh, I suppose you're right. It just puts a damper on things. I am downright depressed."
That seemed to be a common theme tonight, I thought to myself, recalling Misty. "I heard Diane has pumpkin spice lattes," I offered, thinking that might cheer the mayor up.
"If I drink one more pumpkin spice latte or eat one more pumpkin spice truffle, it'll be too soon. Hopefully, Diane has some strong black coffee. I need it."
"I'm sure she does." I hoped she did, anyhow.
"I'll catch up with the two of you later." Mayor Parrish didn't move. Instead, she shook her head and suddenly looked as if she might cry.
"What, what is it?" I rubbed the mayor's shoulder.
"I was thinking how truly awful that Mr. Haggerty is. I, for one, hope he never returns. Rotten, rotten, man." Mayor Parrish thrust her finger in the air as if she was making a declaration and then turned and marched off.