Page 3 of The Soulmate Bakery

Familiar warmth tingled on the tip of my index finger; my magic bloomed to life under my skin. The whispered spell crystallized in the air as the vanilla extract turned a bright gold before settling back down to its usual amber colour. I held my breath for several long moments, waiting for the bottle to shatter, for the Wishing Well Bakery alarm bells to blare to life, for Vale to break through the doors and burn me to a crisp.

But nothing happened.

The enchanted vanilla essence sat in front of me, waiting to be used. I was a flurry of movement after that. I ended up making a batch of twenty cookies, hopeful that Ivy might let me sell them if this all worked out. She’s not always on board with my more adventurous bakes, but this could change everything. I mean, I could be Maple Falls’ resident matchmaker baker; the baker who helped people find their soulmates.

My head was full of excitement and daydreams as I shaped the biscuits into hearts and popped them into the oven. I sat on one of the stools Ivy had peppered around the kitchen, tapped my fingers anxiously on the steel countertops and settled in to watch the timer.

Twelve minutes later, the trill of the bell rang through the air, and I was off my chair in a breath, pulling the trays out. I laid the cookies on a wire rack, staring down at them while they cooled. They were a perfect light-brown colour, bursting with melted chocolate chips. Nothing about them screamed I-will-help-you-find-the-love-of-your-life.

I waited exactly three minutes before taking a cookie. When I finally sunk my teeth into it, melted chocolate chips, vanilla, butter, sugar and warm deliciousness exploded on my tongue. It was a good cookie. A spectacular cookie, if I do say so myself.

As I brushed the crumbs from around my mouth, I looked down at my wrist to see if the string had started to form yet.

Nothing.

OK, maybe I just needed to wait a little longer.

While I waited for the spell to come into effect, I cleared up around me – glancing down at my hands every so often.

No change.

Not after ten minutes. Not even after twenty. The relentless optimist in me reminded myself that magic could be slow sometimes. Maybe another cookie could help. So, I ate another.

And another.

And another.

I stood there, eating bite after bite of the cookies and nothing happened. No silver string formed around my wrist, winding down the streets of Maple Falls to Silas Moon’s home – or anyone else’s for that matter. No major cosmic shift as my soulmate was revealed.

My phone flashed, and Raven’s name showed up on my screen. I picked it up without thinking.

‘Put me out of my misery and just tell me – did it work?’ Raven asked, full of excitement.

‘It didn’t work,’ I replied tightly.

‘What do you mean it didn’t work?’ Raven demanded. ‘Did you cast the spell wrong?’

I looked over the pages of the spellbook, wanting, desperately, for there to be a glaring error.

‘No, no, I did everything right,’ I complained, checking off each step.

There was no reason for the spell to fail. None at all. Not unless –

‘Oh.’ I exhaled quietly.

‘What? What is it?’ Raven asked, alarmed.

‘I’m never going to have someone to share the last pizza slice with,’ I replied, my voice sounding far away to my own ears now. ‘I’m never going to be with someone who can read me like an open book.’ I couldn’t stop. ‘Someone who knows my coffee order, or my hot chocolate order, or my tea order. Someone who walks on the road-side of the pavement automatically. Someone who will –’ The lump in my throat wouldn’t allow me to continue.

‘Maya,’ Raven’s voice had softened but still carried worry for me. ‘I’m sure –’

‘I didn’t cast the spell wrong,’ I interrupted, my throat aching with the urge to cry.

At a little past midnight my life did change. Just not in the way I expected.

‘The spell didn’t work, because I don’t have a soulmate.’

CHAPTER TWO