Page 27 of Meet Cute Magic

“Really? Here?” I nod, then make a show of looking around, like I’m looking for listening ears.

“Yeah. I mean, time is running out—only forty-one days until the full moon. We could probably find a sweet exchanged in harmony,” I say, lifting an eyebrow. “A place like this, I bet we can find it.”

“What does that even mean?” Jack asks, confused.

“A treat of some kind that is currently in possession by someone experiencing inner peace,” I lie. I don’t tell him that when I asked Phillip, he said I just needed to get a piece of candy from someone with a friendly demeanor. When I originally wrote it down, I’d planned to go to the candy store after work one day and just say please and thank you, but this is even better. Two birds, one stone.

“How the hell are we supposed to know what that means?”

I give Jack a knowing look, then glance around once more before whispering a spell under my breath.

“We need a sweet ingredient, magic boots on the ground, make it obvious to only us once it’s found,” I say, then a spark of pink glitter leaves my hands, moving down the street. Jack watches it, awestruck as always, and I smile. It’s fun seeing that look take over his face, remembering that not everyone grew up knowing that magic was real. It’s even more entertaining, knowing Jack spent most of his life reading and learning about worlds he thought were fictional, only to find out that at least parts of them were not.

“Can anyone else see that?” he asks, staring down to where the glitter disappeared. I shake my head.

“Not unless they have magic.” There are a handful of magical people in Heartwood Hollow, not including my sisters, but there’s a bit of an unspoken agreement not to question other people’s magical use when you see it around town. We turn a blind eye, as if it doesn’t exist. “Come on. We have a sweet treat to find,” I say, gripping his elbow and tugging him down the cobblestone road lined with booths.

Our first stop is just two tables down, where the head of the business committee, Mrs. Hanna, has her craft booth. The town’s retired art teacher, she now runs a store on the very end of Main Street, where she sells crafting supplies, from yarn to beads to paints of every color. She hosts parties and classes, and Poppy had her thirteenth birthday party there, making clay trinket trays, one of which still sits in my bedroom. I give the woman a wide smile, and she returns it, then I continue to tug Jack into the booth. His eyes scan the offerings, seeing a mix of finished crafts for sale, craft kits for customers to complete on their own, and supplies.

“Hey, Mrs. Hanna!”

“Well, hello there, Rosemary,” she says, and I bite back a reminder for her to call me Rosie. She’s always called me Rosemary, even when she was my teacher. “Good turnout, huh?”

“Yes, maybe the best ever,” I agree. “You know Jack, right?” Mrs. Hanna turns to him, assessingly.

“I believe we met when you first opened your shop, right?”

Jack nods. “Yes, you were very kind to tell me all about the business committee and all of its perks. You do an amazing job with these events.”

“You never take part in the mixers,” she says bluntly, and a blush moves across Jack’s cheeks in response. God, the man is sweet. He’s always been so combative and argumentative with me, but I’m beginning to realize he’s only so bold with me—with everyone else, he’s shy and keeps to himself.

“Yeah, I…” he hesitates, that blush moving from pink to red. “I’m not big on gatherings.” I bite back a laugh at his understatement.

“Well, how on earth are we supposed to learn about your business and support you!” She moves to the map I had at my booth and scans it, trying to spot his shop. “You didn’t even add yourself to the scavenger hunt.”

“He’s shy, Mrs. Hanna, and you know how intimidating the business committee meetings can be.”

“Oh, well, that’s no reason not to get involved! We’re a bit hectic, but we’re a fun bunch. Gosh, I’m falling down on the job if you haven’t felt welcomed!” Jack shakes his head to argue, but I know there’s no use now that he’s on her radar. It’s why I brought him here first, after all.

Over the next few minutes, I watch as Mrs. Hanna does what she does best, taking a shy student under her wing and guiding him along, insisting Jack sets up a meeting with her soon to tell her all about his business, the events he holds, and what kind of collaborations he might be able to set up with other businesses. She’s suggesting a craft night for one of the games he features when a customer comes in, and she tells him she’ll call him tomorrow to set up a meeting. We wave goodbye and step back onto the street.

“There’s no sweets there,” he whispers as we leave. “Why did we go in?”

I shrug. “Sometimes she has candies she made,” I lie, then point to another vendor before he can question me too much. “Let’s try there.”

In the next fifteen minutes, I introduce Jack to four different business owners who live in Heartwood Hollow, including Mr. Corino, who owns the antique store and has a lot of questions for Jack about the value of different cards and comic books. They even exchange numbers so he can call or text to get his opinion on things and to talk about a coupon program between the shops.

Our last stop is my most ambitious one, but when I see Ryan Owens, I smile to myself, knowing that it will be a success. Ryan graduated with Vi and works at the Owens family farm. He was always into video games and card games that none of us really understood when we were growing up, and he would chat anyone’s ear off about it; I’m pretty sure he’s still into that kind of stuff.

He’s scrolling on his phone at the register, next to bins of apples from the farm along with pumpkins and gourds. There’s a cooler I know holds the apple cider that Vi uses in her baked goods, including her famous cider donuts, and shelves have everything from apple butter to canned pickles, sauces, and salsas Mrs. Owens makes all summer, plus the honey sticks I used to love as a kid.

“Hey, Ryan, how’s it going?” I ask, waving at him. He lifts his head and gives us a smile I’ve always thought looked a little goofy in a good way.

“Hey, Rosie.” He takes in Jack’s sweatshirt, which has some kind of dragon on it. “Cool sweatshirt, man. You like The Five Realms?” Jack looks to me then to Ryan and nods.

“Uh, yeah. It’s the best RPG on the market right now, in my opinion.” That now familiar blush blooms, and he shifts his glasses up on his nose.

“Jack owns the Gaming Den, so he knows all about that kind of thing,” I add to move things along. Ryan’s face takes on a look of intrigue.