leaving nothing out. When I finished, she focused on a random detail.
“What’s the deal with Tristan?” she complained. “I basically did a dirty dance in front of him and put these on display, but nothing.” She grabbed her ample bosom and gave it a squeeze. “Nobody can say no to these.”
“Is that really important?” I challenged, frustration getting the better of me. “Tristan is essentially what happens when you step in dog crap and it dries over a five-day period. You’re never truly getting rid of that stain after that. We’re talking about me here.”
“We are talking about you,” Alice agreed. “We’re talking about you and Hunter. What were you saying to one another that got Monica so riled up that she’d attack you that way? I’ve never really cared for her — she’s a witch with a B, if you want to know the truth — but she’s usually smart enough not to attack her enemies so openly. You must be deranging her.
“I have to say that I did see it coming,” she continued. “I knew she wasn’t long for Hunter’s world the second I heard you were coming back. I thought he would put up more than a token fight, though — you know, really dig his heels in — but it’s as if he’s already ceded the battle.”
I stared at her for a long time. “We’re not talking about Hunter,” I snapped, the frustration I’d been trying to tamp down for almost an hour returning with a vengeance. “We’re talking about the fact that I think I burned Monica’s eyebrows off.”
Alice snorted. “There’s no way you did that.”
“I think I did. It’s all a blur, but I swear I felt something rip free from inside of me.”
“It’s probably all that pent-up lust you’ve been hiding away for Hunter. I bet if you guys ever hit the sheets — and we all know it’s going to happen, because it’s been, like, five days and you guys can’t stay away from each other — that you’ll scorch the world it’ll be so intense. Okay, maybe not the first time. You’ll both be awkward and stiff the first time, but after that, I bet it’ll be really good. You should jump on that and then tell me all about it so I can live vicariously through you.”
I wanted to choke her. “I’m serious,” I gritted out, my hands clenching and unclenching at my sides. “I know I did that to Monica. You can deny it all you want, but it’s true. I burned her eyebrows off.”
“But ... how?” Alice’s expression was blank. “How could you have possibly done it unless ... .” She trailed off, uncertain.
I waited for her to continue. When she didn’t, I almost screamed to drag her back to the conversation. “Unless what?”
“Well, there is this one thing.” She chewed her bottom lip, and for the first time since I’d started talking about the weird things that had been happening to me, she looked concerned.
“I’ll kill you if you don’t spill,” I threatened.
“I heard Grandma talking once,” Alice explained. “She was arguing with Grandpa. I didn’t think much of it. They always argue. She was mad because he made a huge mess in the kitchen and didn’t clean it up.
“Anyway, she was yelling and said to him, ‘I’m not your mother. It’s not as if I can magically clean the kitchen,’” she continued. “I thought it was a weird thing to say, but Grandpa started yelling back that he didn’t want someone who could magically clean the kitchen, that he didn’t like witches, and that’s why he married her instead of the woman his mother wanted him to marry.”
“Witch?”
Alice nodded. “That’s the word she used.”
I ran my tongue over my teeth as I considered the possibilities. “Do you think she was accusing Great-Grandma of being a witch?”
Alice shrugged. “I don’t know. It sounded that way to me — especially now looking back. What are the odds, though? I think we would know if there were witches in our family.”
My knowledge of Great-Grandma was scant. She’d moved from the area when I was still a small child, leaving the restaurant in Grandpa’s capable hands. Still, the name Two Broomsticks had always seemed weird, yet nobody ever talked about why the name stuck. The only thing I knew is that Great-Grandma entrusted the restaurant to Grandpa with the caveat that nobody ever change the name.
I swallowed hard. “She’s due for a visit in about a month, right?”
Alice nodded “Yeah.