Page 30 of Meet Cute Magic

I give him a soft look. “Do you? Have plans?” A beat passes before that now familiar blush burns on his cheeks.

“No. But it would have been nice if you had asked.”

“I can go alone…” I say, my voice trailing off, though the idea of going alone no longer holds the same appeal. I’m strangely looking forward to this outing. After a moment, he grumbles.

“Stay down here. I’m going to go change.” I nod with a smile. “Don’t…” he looks around his store as if cataloging how everything looks, just in case I cause a tornado or something. “Don’t touch anything.” I salute him, and he stares at me for a moment longer before sighing and turning around and making his way toward the stairs.

And despite myself, I can’t help but admire his ass as he walks up the stairs.

The car ride is silent for fifteen minutes before the question he’d clearly been holding back breaks.

“So, your sister’s shop is magic?” I smile and nod. “What about Poppy’s?”

“Mayfields all have a specialty. Well, all witches do, I assume. But the Mayfields find their specialty and apply it to a business, helping the people of Heartwood Hollow. My Gammy makes tonics and potions to help people out—cough relievers and balding tonics, that kind of thing. People think it’s holistic medicine, but it’s her magic.”

He nods, understanding now. “And your sisters?” His mind is running through things, and I’m pretty sure he’s figuring it out.

“Vi’s baked goods are spelled. Not all of them, and she only gives the spelled ones if someone needs them, but yeah. The only thing that’s always spelled is the chocolate chip cookies.”

“Feel Good Chips,” he says with understanding, and I nod.

“Exactly. One bite will lift anyone’s spirits, just like a good chocolate chip cookie should. Her magic also keeps the chips perfectly melty and the center warm and gooey. Poppy’s not as obvious, though she does occasionally do arrangements to help people out. Apology bouquets make the recipient more receptive to hearing the apology, and sympathy arrangements help to alleviate some of the sting of their grief, if only for a moment. For weddings, she puts love spells on everything, so everyone at the wedding is in an amazing mood, a little love drunk. But her real power is making ingredients for potions and tonics.” He raises an eyebrow, and I shake my head.

“Whatever I need from her is already in my place, so don’t worry. She just has the basics. Lavender dried under a July sun, mugwort.” He nods, even though he obviously does not know the basics at all. “It’s in the room behind her main shop.”

“How does yours work? I know you help them pick out a book and they fall in love, but… is it that simple?” I sit for a moment, realizing I haven’t actually had to explain my gifts to anyone, and I’m suddenly eager to. I shift in my seat, turning to him before explaining further.

“So people come into the store looking for a book. If they’re true of heart and ready to find love, I get… I don’t know. A jolt or something? A tug? I can’t explain it, but my magic takes hold, and I assist the customer, guiding them to the right book they need to find their person. The right one will be on a shelf, sparkling like my normal magic does. Once they read the book, they meet their true love. Sometimes it’s right after, sometimes it takes a bit, but the next person they date is their… person.” I let out a humorless laugh and shake my head.

“So you’ve spent a good chunk of your life being the catalyst for other people finding their love stories—literal and just books—but because of my grandfather, you’ve been unable to fall in love yourself?”

I bend forward a bit, letting my hair fall to hide my face as I grimace.

“What happens if they don’t read the book right away?”

I shrug. “Then it sits there. Sometimes they take a bit to read it, adding it to their to-be-read pile, but when they’re ready… they pick it up. A little magic, a little faith, a little good timing. They all work together, you know?”

“Have you never tried it on yourself?” he asks. I roll my eyes.

“Of course, I have,” I grumble, a little bitter.

“And?”

“And it didn’t work, obviously.”

“Is that typical?”

“What?”

“Is it typical for your magic not to work on yourself?”

“No. Normal spells work just fine. It’s just my own magic.” The first time I tried my magic on myself was three weeks after I opened Meet Cute Magic, following a horrendous date. Even though I’d known for some time my magic was most powerful in love, I’d been wary to try it on myself. I worried that if I intervened and tricked fate, it would be doomed from the start. But one day after closing, I wandered the shop, moving from book to book to try and find the story that spoke to me until I landed on a dragon-shifter romance.

I read the entire thing that night, staying up way too late to get to the happily ever after. When I hit the end, a sense of peace and calm washed over me, and I thought that was it. The following week, I went on a date with George at the auto mechanic shop two towns over, thinking it was going to be perfect. Unfortunately, we dated for six months, six months where I chewed my nails to the quick trying to decide if I was brave enough to test the curse and tell him I loved him, or if I wanted to live in my little fairy tale for just a little bit longer.

When I finally mustered the nerve, he instantly turned green, telling me he was married and that he thought I knew all along.

So yes, I’ve tried my love magic on myself, and it undeniably just doesn’t work.