A Modern Witch - By Debora Geary Page 0,5

in a headstand on the narrow strip of carpet between the two beds.

If it hadn’t been for that initial upside-down introduction, Lauren might have joined the masses who totally blew their first impression of Nat. Natalia Elizabeth Eggerton Smythe came from wealth, class, and impeccable breeding. It took longer to see beyond to her artist’s soul, dancer’s need to move, and deep well of generosity.

Lauren had known by the end of the first week of college that her world would always be better with Nat in it. Life as a high-powered realtor could get fairly insane, but she’d always found time for Nat. Even if that meant sweating her butt off.

Lauren let the opening mantra wash over her and soaked in the last few moments of rest before Nat went after all those toxic energies with a vengeance.

…

Nell added four dozen eggs, a gallon of chocolate-swirl ice cream, and a case of granola bars to her online grocery cart and hit submit. $343.82. Yikes, and that would only hold her brood for a week or so. All kids ate like famine was imminent, but little witchlings were food vacuums. Aervyn had eaten six scrambled eggs after his last training session with Jamie, and then had dinner two hours later.

Taking the last bite of her bagel, Nell heard the ping she’d been waiting for and turned to the monitor behind her. Well, hallelujah—Sophie and Moira had finally made it into chat.

Sophie: Nell, are you there?

Nell: I’ve been here for days, girl.

Sophie: Sorry—it took a bit to show Aunt Moira how to work the login spell.

Moira: Haven’t I been working spells longer than you’ve been alive, Sophie? It’s not the spell that was the problem, it’s all this technology. Nell, this is an odd way to be having a conversation, but I’m so very delighted to have a chance to chat with you.

Nell: It’s been too long, Moira. One summer soon, I’ll bring my brood to visit you. Maybe you can convince Aervyn that not everyone wants to be teleported.

Moira: Oh my, he’s moving people around now, is he?

Nell: He is. And speaking of spells to move people around—Sophie, are you ready for me to turn on the fetching spell?

Sophie: Is it behaving now?

Nell: It is. Jamie and I finished debugging it earlier today. I tweaked it to pull in only one person at a time for a while. Thinking about Aervyn’s teleporting escapades, I realized how crazy it might get if we fetched a horde of witches all at once.

Sophie: Trust a mom to think of details like that. Sounds good, and thank you for all the work you’ve put in. Go ahead and turn it on.

Moira: While we wait, Nell, tell us about the rest of your brood. How are my sweet girls doing?

…

Crap, thought Lauren. She surveyed the pathetic contents of her fridge. She was always starving after yoga class—which hadn’t been a real problem until her New Year’s resolution to stop eating out so much and use the money to take some really nice vacations instead. The beaches and jungles of Puerto Rico beckoned.

Sighing, she pulled a can of clam chowder out of the cupboard. She hated clam chowder, which is why it was the last edible thing left to eat in her apartment.

Lauren dumped the soup into a pot, put the kettle on for tea, and dug out her laptop. Chloe from work swore by some online grocery site. Since she clearly wasn’t getting to the real grocery store often enough, maybe a virtual one would have to do.

She clicked on Chloe’s email link and looked around. It was grocery shopping for idiots. You set up a master grocery list on the first visit. After that, you checked items on your list to re-order and food showed up at your door twenty-four hours later. Sweet!

Figuring it made sense to add basic staples first, Lauren clicked on the link to Dairy, then to Ice Cream. They stocked all sixty-three flavors of Ben & Jerry’s. She was in love. Lauren checked off Phish Food, Karamel Sutra, and Mud Pie, and clicked ‘add to master grocery list’.

Nell: Then Ginia hid Aervyn’s favorite pajamas because he teleported her out of the shower, and now she can’t remember where she put them. Oh, the light’s blinking—the fetching spell is bringing someone in. Her name is… Lauren.

Sophie: Lauren—hello, and welcome to Witches’ Chat at amodernwitch.com. We’re delighted you could join us!

Lauren: Me? Where am I? Where did my master grocery list go?

Nell: We