Page 76 of The Soulmate Bakery

But I waved her off and concentrated on the spell in my mind. Slowly, the stain started to fade, and my nightshirt started to look normal again. Rani looked at me with an impressed look in her eyes that made my heart swell.

‘You really have improved,’ Rani said, pride glimmering in her voice.

‘You thought I faked my report card?’

‘I wouldn’t put it past you to get Mum off your back,’ Rani replied. ‘She just had a tough day at work because Ivy visited her to talk about the Treasure Trove.’

I jolted a little. ‘The Treasure Trove?’

‘The new dragon bakery,’ Rani explained, like I wasn’t the one living in Maple Falls. ‘Apparently, it’s been getting a lot of attention, and I think Ivy’s feeling the pressure. I mean, whoever the owner has baking in the back is clearly a stellar kitchen witch.’

‘Oh,’ I said, nervously. My heart was thundering in my chest. Feeling pride at being complimented and terror at being caught out was a terrible combination. ‘But what can Mum do?’

‘Nothing that will calm Ivy’s fears,’ Rani replied. ‘But she probably will want to find out who’s in that kitchen. No one seems to know who it is, and you know that’s unusual in Maple Falls. Everyone knows everyone here.’

Great. Exactly what I needed. I had a partner who was AWOL, a crush who I still needed to confess to, a best friend who was preparing to leave me for MAC and now a mother set out to discover my biggest secret.

‘And she just told you all of this,’ I said, not liking the edge to my voice.

A smirk erupted over Rani’s mouth. ‘You were too busy sitting in your room texting Silas Moon.’

I ignored my sister’s teasing – she’d already noticed the jersey in my bedroom, so I knew I was due a grilling. ‘Yeah, but Mum could’ve mentioned it to me too, you know. I’m also here to listen. It’d be nice to get something other than a lecture.’

‘She means well. You know that, right?’ Rani asked, her purple-painted lips pulling into a grimace. ‘It doesn’t always come out right, but Mum only ever wants us to be happy.’

‘I know,’ I replied, because I did.

I knew Mum said things because she wanted us to be safe; because she wanted us to be successful. I knew the lectures didn’t come out of nowhere.

‘But I’m tired, you know?’ I said, aggrieved. ‘Of being constantly treated like a disaster.’

‘Poetic,’ Rani said. I pushed myself off the ledge, ready to go back to the living room, but she stopped me. ‘OK, OK. I’m sorry. I was kidding.’

‘Of course you were kidding,’ I snapped. ‘You’re perfect. You can’t relate.’

Rani’s face constricted slightly. ‘I’m not perfect. I mess up too, you know.’

I laughed, sounding caustic to my own ears. ‘Right, you mess up.’

‘I do,’ Rani insisted, and then she shrugged. ‘I’ve just learned to be really good at cleaning up my messes by myself.’

‘You don’t go to Mum?’ I asked, head tilting in confusion. ‘She’d help you in a heartbeat.’

‘I know, but like you said,’ Rani replied, her arms tightening in their folded position. ‘She has standards we’re all trying to reach, right?’

I rocked back on my heels, contemplating what my sister had just said. I had always assumed that Rani and Mum were similar, and it made me wonder – how many of my sister’s dreams, like being Coven leader and going to MAC, were her own?

And how many of mine belonged to me?

‘Are you girls done talking about me in there?’ Mum called from her place on the couch. ‘You’re not that slick, you know?’

On cue, Rani and I rolled our eyes at the same time, before we made our way back to the couch and settled into our usual spaces.

The next day, after another shift at the Treasure Trove without Orion, I decided enough was enough. He still needed to help me with the soulmate spell, and whatever his project was, he needed to put it aside. I was frustrated beyond measure. It didn’t help that whenever I tried to catch Silas at school – to try and tell him about my feelings – all I got was an apologetic smile, while he explained that he didn’t have time to chat until after the upcoming game.

This meant it was looking like my night at the Fallen Leaves Festival was going to be spent confessing to Silas and hoping he wouldn’t be horrified by what I’d done, then casting the spell and hoping to break the curse with true love’s kiss.

Not so easy, right?