Page 28 of Meet Cute Magic

“Across from Rosie’s place?” Jack nods. “Man, that Warlock of the Night Realm in your window is sick—where did you get it from? Was it a promo or something? It would look sick in my gaming room.”

“Oh, uh,” Jack starts. “I made it.” Thankfully, the warlock in question is back in one piece, a quick dash of my magic fixing him right up as of a few days ago. At the same time, I spelled his completed card tower so it would only come down when Jack intended it to, meaning when I step into his shop, I don’t have to worry about where my elbows are.

“No way,” Ryan says with wide eyes.

“Yeah, I uh… I have others. In my place. I don’t have them all displayed, but…” Something goes through his mind before his shoulders straighten, and a small, shy smile tips his lips. “I could show you, if you ever stop into the store. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in?”

Ryan shakes his head. “Nah, I try not to come into town more than I have to. Too many people, too much small talk, you know?” Jack nods eagerly, very much knowing where Ryan is coming from. I smile to myself, knowing I did well.

“Definitely do. Well, next time you’re in town, feel free to stop in. I won’t even try to make small talk with you if you don’t want. I can show you my collection in complete silence.” I gape at him because I think Jack just told a joke. It’s confirmed when Ryan laughs and nods.

“Nah, I’m good with small talk about the game. But yeah, I’ll definitely stop in. I’d love to play a game or two with you. I don’t know anyone in town who plays. I usually have to go to Diamond Ridge to join in games.”

“I have an in-store event coming soon, you should come. We’ll have games for different experience labels and prizes…” His words trail off nervously, but Ryan doesn’t even pause.

“That would be amazing! I’ll have to come in later today or tomorrow to get information.” Jack nods, smiling. Beaming actually. “Can we exchange numbers? I’d love to talk more. Do you play Troll Hunters? I’d love to get your thoughts on how to get through the Garnet caves, if you’ve made it that far.”

Jack nods eagerly. “Oh, those were a bitch. You have to—” They start to talk about games, the topic going well over my head, and I wander off, leaving the two of them to talk, smiling to myself and feeling like my mission was accomplished.

There’s no way Jack can say he doesn’t feel welcome here now that he’s met and talked to so many people, each of whom was genuinely interested in his shop and, most importantly, him. I check the time as I wander, noting we’ve been gone from our tables for at least thirty minutes and probably should head back. I feel like Jack has probably done more peopling than he has in his entire life.

“My mission is complete, Jack’s made a friend, make a sweet glitter that will mark the end,” I whisper, pointing to one of the jars of honey sticks right as Jack approaches me, sliding his phone into his pocket, a smile on his lips. The look of it warms my chest, but I push back as I return his grin.

“Looks like we found what we came for.”

“Yeah, he seems pretty cool,” Jack says, clearly not catching on. It makes me smile wider, and I shake my head, tipping my chin at the treats. “Oh! That’s it?” I nod, then grab a variety of the sticks, suddenly craving one, the glitter of my magic fading as I grab them. Once I have a dozen or so, we walk to the register, where Ryan stands. He and Jack talk about the upcoming release of a game and make tentative plans to talk once it’s out, and my chest fills with joy as they say goodbye.

I feel more like a matchmaker right now than I have in the entire time Meet Cute Magic has been open. It’s a reminder that this is why Heartwood Hollow is magical, to me.

My cozy, small town, where everyone knows everyone, is exempt from modern ideals of online shopping and avoiding getting to know your neighbors in favor of virtual interactions and arguing about silly things on social media groups.

But even better is getting to introduce it to Jack and seeing the shy, hesitantly executed smile playing on his face as we walk back to our booths. We move to our own booths in front of our shops, and as I face mine, I spot Phillip in the window above. He smiles at me, and I wonder if he saw the whole thing and understands. But when he winks and then gives me a thumbs-up before floating away, I know the nosy man most definitely has been watching and approves of my measures.

CHAPTER 10

Rosie

39 days until Halloween

Our next adventure requires more planning and a bit of a road trip, so I had penciled it in for today, the Monday after the fall festival, when both of our stores are typically closed for the day. I made sure to work early this morning with minimal distractions to finish my inventory and restocking, along with a much-needed cleaning, to free up my afternoon and evening. Now I’m at Jack’s with my most friendly face on, knowing I’m going to need him to be on board with my plan if he’s going to insist on coming with me today.

He’s been surprisingly at ease with all of the curveballs I’ve sent his way, from our morning treks to gather dew to chaperoning me to Jake’s bar to letting me drag him around the entire fall festival this past weekend, but our next step will challenge his previous understanding of real and fiction even more than before.

“I come bearing gifts,” I say brightly, lifting the box with cookies from Violet’s shop.

I may have made a special trip before heading here to grab a couple of her Easy-Agreement cookies to soften the blow for our next mission. I thought about grabbing her Take My Side toffee brownies, something she’s used on me plenty, but once the effects wore off and he realized I’d used magic to get him to let me go on my own, I figured it would do more harm than good. And as much as I would like to do all of this on my own, I haven’t hated bringing him along nearly as much as I thought I would.

“Are we getting another ingredient today?” he asks, and I nod. “Where are we going today?” He reaches into the box and grabs a cookie. Luckily for me, they look very similar to the sugar cookies he already seems to love, but with orange zest instead of lemon.

“Maybe you should eat a cookie before I tell you.” I tip my chin toward the cookie in his hand.

“Why?” he asks skeptically, and I don’t say a word. He looks from it to me, then back at the cookie before setting it aside. “What’s in it?” I don’t speak, and his eyes narrow before light fills them. “Are they magic?” I groan, and his smile widens. I never told him my sisters’ shops also hold magic, but clearly, he’s figuring that out himself. “What is it?”

“An agreement cookie. Just to, you know, take off the edge.” Jack, with his realistic views on how the world functions, despite his line of work, is going to need something to calm him down when I tell him where we’re going next.

Unfortunately, it’s the only way I can think of to grab the next item.

“The edge?”