“Good!” Faith bit her bottom lip in a grin, smearing her pink lip gloss. “It’s on Thursday. Or maybe Tuesday? At seven, I think. I’ll fine-tune the details.”
“Fine.”
“Thank you, thank you,” cheered Faith. “We’re going to have so much fun!”
One of us would at least. I smiled, standing up as the conversation continued for another half hour. My slice of orange-cranberry bread was done, and with my stomach finally feeling the effects of being slightly full, I either needed to go home and eat something with more substance or take a long nap before I woke up and did this all over again.
“Is the coven meeting officially closed for tonight?” I asked.
Gertie looked away from where she had been speaking with Essie and Celeste to address us all. “Any needs, wants, or manifestations to bring forth to the table for us to help with or discuss?”
No one said a word.
“Have a good night, Ana,” said Gertie, reaching across to pat my hand. “And get some sleep. You look like you could use it.”
“Thanks, Gertie. That’s what every middle-aged woman wants to hear.”
“If you’re middle-aged, I’m ancient,” Celeste muttered.
“I don’t even want to think about what that makes me.” Gertie cackled before she kindly repeated, “Have a good night.”
“Night.” I waved as I headed out of the kitchen while they immediately picked up their own new conversation—or maybe it was the same one that had been going on.
I needed some sleep. Or at least some me time.
In the entryway from the hall and the living room, Lu and Ryan murmured back and forth. Anyone else who didn’t know them might have paused when they first caught sight of them. Lu was all darkness and earth tones. Ryan was a boy-next-door golden child with strawberry-blond waves that curled around his ears. The two of them were complementary in all ways.
“There is a lot going on, and we still have a lot to wait on, like your interview here and everything else …”
“I know. But you don’t have to worry about it alone.” Ryan looped his arms around Lu’s waist. “I got you. Whatever you decide or whatever happens here, I’ll be here—you know that.”
“I know.”
“Good.” He pecked a kiss down onto her lips. “Go back to the girls. Then, come back to me.”
“We were together almost every day.”
He shook his head, as if she was nuts. “Never enough Ryan and Lu-Lu time.”
Lu whacked him on the ass before he went upstairs, laughing the whole way. Lu’s eyes landed on me. Once, I would’ve seen Lu’s eyes widen in shock or even embarrassment at being caught in their little lovers’ embrace. Now, that was no longer the case. With Ryan and taking on her new role in the coven and in Barnett, Lu was more herself than I had ever seen her these past few months.
A little magic and a lot of love did that to a person.
“Are you heading out already?”
“According to Gertie, I look like I could use the sleep,” I said.
Lu sighed, though she looked amused. Usually, we were saying that to her and her late hours she often kept, especially ever since she had signed off on the apothecary off Barnett’s Main Street. The place needed a lot of work, and Lu was putting every second she had into it. She had told me after she signed off on the window-filled store that she didn’t want to make a mistake, but if there was one thing I knew Lu couldn’t do, it was that.
She could worry all she wanted, but Lu didn’t make mistakes. She fell into them, and things worked out.
Just look at Ryan.
The space between her dark brows crinkled. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah. Like Celeste said, it was just a little cut.”
“Not your hand,” said Lu. She took a breath as she studied me. “You seem … off.”
