At my job, I’m the one everyone comes to with questions.”
“Give yourself time.” Magan slides an arm around my shoulders and squeezes. “We’re all still learning.”
“Trace did some kind of testing and said I did ‘okay.’” I do air quotes. “I don’t want to do okay. I have to be good at what I do.” I purse my lips. “He gave me homework, and I keep looking at those old books and… honestly, I feel like giving up.”
“Oh no.” Felise’s eyebrows pull together. “Don’t do that.”
“It just seems…” I tilt my head back.
“Say it.”
I meet their eyes, biting my lip. “I still can’t quite believe this is real. Yet Trace was so serious. And he knows so much.”
“It is real,” Magan replies solemnly.
“Trace doesn’t know everything,” Felise says. “Nobody does. But yes, Trace is very smart. Was he… short with you?”
“No, he was fine. I don’t think he appreciated some of my dumb questions, but he didn’t laugh at me or mock me.”
“He wouldn’t do that,” Magan says confidently. “But…” She stops. “He hasn’t been very involved with the coven for a while now, and I don’t think he uses his magic much.”
“Oh. Really?” My forehead pinches, the corners of my eyes tightening. “Why is that?”
They trade glances. Despite Felise’s chattiness, I can see she’s reluctant to share personal details about Trace. I have to admire her loyalty and protectiveness of him.
“Trace got very frustrated with the Board of Elders,” Magan says. “And I think with magic in general. After that, he pulled back from the coven.”
Curiosity heats my insides. “Oh.” I chomp down on my bottom lip briefly. “Does it have anything to do with what happened to his family?”
They exchange another look, then focus back on me. “Did he tell you about his family?” Felise asks.
“He told me they died when he was sixteen. And that your family took him in.” I pause. “He also said he was a little rebellious when he was a teenager, which is understandable after going through something like that.”
They nod slowly. “He told you that,” Magan says as if she wants to confirm it.
“Yes. The night we first met.”
“Ah.”
I feel like they’re communicating silently with each other. “What?”
“So what happened that night you met?” Felise asks.
“That’s none of your business,” Magan answers for me.
I laugh, then sober, remembering Trace’s rejection of my offer of dinner. I shouldn’t have said that; I already knew whatever happened between us is now dead as disco. “Nothing happened,” I say, trying not to sound sad. “Anyway. Will I see you when I come for dinner next week?”
“Yes! Mom said she invited you.” Felise beams.
“Perfect.”
“Don’t give up, Romy,” Magan says. “We’re all here to help.”
My heart squeezes. “Thank you.”
I leave the shop and walk to my car. I had to park a couple of blocks away.
I think about Trace… about his reluctance to tutor me, which I now understand more. I think. I thought it was me, but maybe it’s not. I really want to know more about why he doesn’t use his magic, after he went to all the trouble to convince me to accept it and learn. He obviously knows a lot about it and is very skilled.
As I pass by another shop, I stop at the window. It’s a home decor store, and the display in the window is all in shades of pink that makes me think of the painting I’m holding in my hands.
I step inside to get a closer look. Oh my gosh, I love everything—the cushions, the candles, the flowers.
“Can I help you?” A saleswoman approaches with a smile.
“I want all of this.” I wave a hand at the display.
She laughs. “I can do that.”
“Okay, maybe not all. But those cushions…”
She leads me to the shelves of cushions and finds the three on display—pink, pink and gray and white, and a faux fur blush-colored one. I pick out a gold pillar and a pink candle to go on it, a vase and artificial peonies, and rose gold bookends. When I see a wall clock in shades of blush and gray, I have to have that too. I fall in love with a tall, pale pink floor vase, and the woman suggests a big fake palm leaf for it.
My credit card is whimpering when I leave the store laden with all my purchases. Again, my mom would be aghast. But I can’t wait to get home and spread them all out and see how they look.