And I’m so, so, so sorry. When the tea didn’t work the way I thought it would, I should have told you. But you were so miserable, and I thought I could fix this—” She shook her head. “I couldn’t stand seeing you so sad. It was killing me.”
“Momma told us to never, ever use our abilities on each other, or without permission.”
“I know, I know. I just… I thought it would be such a wonderful thing.”
“Wonderful? I’ve spent my whole life thinking I loved Blake. And that at one time he’d loved me. But now I know it was all an empty joke. A prank you pulled on us both.”
“It wasn’t a prank!”
A tear slid down Sarah’s cheek. “No wonder I can never talk to him. I was cursed.”
“Not cursed! Just… it didn’t work the way I thought it would. It made you crazy for him, too much so. Those old recipes, they’re way too strong. I know that now, but I didn’t then. I made some errors that—”
“Hello?” a male voice called from the front of the house.
Ava started. “You called Blake?”
“We’re in here!” Sarah said loudly. She looked back at Ava. “I asked him to come here so you could tell him. I would do it myself, but you know better than anyone why I can’t.”
“Sarah, no! We can work together now and figure out how to fix this. We don’t need to tell him anything that—” Ava swallowed the rest of her sentence as Blake came into the room.
He wasn’t wearing his uniform today but a pair of jeans, a soft Henley shirt showing from under his coat, which made him look younger than usual.
Oh God. He’s going to be so mad. I can’t blame either of them. Feeling sick, Ava pressed her hand to her mouth, aware that her lips were trembling as if she were cold.
He looked from Sarah to Ava and then back, concern on his face. “What’s wrong?”
Her eyes wet, Sarah’s gaze locked on Ava. “Tell him what you did.”
“Sarah, I don’t—”
“Tell. Him.”
“Fine. Fine.” Ava crossed her arms over her chest. “I did something I shouldn’t have. It was a long time ago, but… it was a mistake.”
His eyebrows rose, but he didn’t speak.
Ava’s whole body was trembling now. She hugged herself a little tighter. “When you were in high school, I gave you a tea that… did something to you.”
His expression grew dark. “What the hell, Ava.”
“It was stupid, I know.” Ava rammed her hands into her pockets.
“What exactly did you do?”
“It’s— Oh God. You need to understand what I—we—were going through. A long time ago, when we were younger, Sarah found a book in the cellar written by our great-great-great-aunt. There were recipes in the book. For teas. They made people do and feel things, not bad things—well, sometimes bad, but I never used those.”
Sarah muttered something under her breath. “Ava, just tell him!”
“Okay! After Mom died, I used a recipe from that book for a tea that would make people feel a certain way.”
“She used it on us,” Sarah said bitterly.
His gaze stayed locked on Ava. “What was this tea supposed to do?” he asked grimly.
Ava had to swallow twice before she could answer. “It was supposed to make people fall in love.”
His mouth whitened.
Ava winced. “I’m sorry! Sarah was so sad after Momma died, and I thought maybe falling in love would help her move past that. I could see that you two were already interested in each other. So I made the tea and slipped it to both of you so you would…” Ava couldn’t look at either of them. “I shouldn’t have done it. It was wrong. But it’s not as if you all weren’t already thinking about it! You just kept missing each other. You were crazy for her when she was too young to care, then she was crazy for you after you’d moved on and had started dating someone else. Back and forth and back and forth. It was obvious to everyone you belonged together. So I just… gave it a push.”
“A push?” Sarah gave a short laugh. “Aunt Mildred’s teas don’t push. They shove.”
Blake’s gaze had never left Ava’s face. “Let me get this straight. You tricked me and Sarah into drinking a love potion?”
“It wasn’t a love potion, not exactly. It’s a tea. A brew that helps…” She grimaced. “Not that it matters.”
“It explains so much,” Sarah said. She looked at Blake. “Why I can’t talk to you without feeling so