AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I stepped into his arms, and then we danced in the magical snowfall as fireworks went off over our heads. I wasn’t sure if the tingle that ran through my body was from the magic or from being together like this. I had the strangest feeling that I’d have felt exactly the same way without the snow or the fireworks, that it was the man and not the magic that made every nerve ending in my body sing for joy.
“You know,” I whispered after a while, “this is probably visible from outside the store. People will notice if fireworks are going off indoors.”
“I suppose you’re right,” he murmured, and the sparks dissipated. The snow kept falling, though. It seemed as though the two of us were alone in our own magical wonderland, where the outside world was nothing but a faint memory. He leaned toward me, and I found myself leaning toward him, breathless with anticipation. When our lips were barely an inch apart, I suddenly remembered where I was and what I was doing.
I wasn’t the kind of girl who two-timed. I had a boyfriend. I might break it off with him tomorrow because now I knew what magic really was, but I couldn’t kiss someone else until then. It wouldn’t be right, and if being with Owen was the right thing, I didn’t want to start it off on the wrong foot.
“You know what this snow puts me in the mood for?” I asked, pulling back abruptly and trying to keep my tone light and casual to cover my still-breathless reaction to our near-miss.
“Hot cocoa.” The intense look in his eyes as he continued gazing at me told me that wasn’t what he was really thinking, but he had picked up on my reticence and was willing to shift the mood.
“You read my mind,” I said, smiling in relief. I felt like we had all the time in the world. We had no need to rush things.
The snowfall following us, we made our way up the stairs to the café. We walked side by side, not touching, but close enough that I was conscious of his proximity. I started to head behind the counter, but he shook his head. “No, I think I’ve got this.” A wave of his hand, and two steaming mugs sat on the nearest table. “Your table, miss,” he said with a gesture.
I grabbed a tray of cookies left over from the store rearranging party. Our new supplier’s cookies were good enough that I didn’t think Owen could beat them, even with magic. We wouldn’t be using them to level unsteady tables.
After a sip of magical cocoa, I looked at him through the snowfall and said, “What do you think this means?”
“I have no idea. Are we the only ones who can do this? Or can everyone, but no one thinks to try? Has it been like this all along, or is this new?”
“Maybe there’s something in the water, or space aliens have experimented on us—that would explain the missing time we’ve both experienced.”
“You know, any other day I might have said that was an outrageous theory, but since I can do magic, I’m not sure I can call anything outrageous anymore. Anything is possible.”
“Should we tell someone?”
“Who? We don’t have a ministry of magic in this world, and I’d rather not end up in some secret government laboratory.”
“So, what do we do?”
“I don’t know, but we should think about it, and we should definitely keep it a secret for now until we’ve figured it out.”
“Maybe we should use our powers to fight evil,” I suggested.
“What evil? We already vanquished the lousy coffee the old-fashioned way. That alone should earn us a medal.”
“Mild-mannered booksellers by day, magical superheroes by night,” I quipped, trying to sound like a movie trailer announcer.
We finished our cocoa in thoughtful silence, then he said, “It’s getting late, and we have a busy day ahead. I’ll walk you home.”
I started to protest that he didn’t have to, but I wanted him to. I tried to tell myself that it was only practical, but safety was the last thing on my mind. There was no sign of the magic that had happened there when we left the store. I felt like I’d left a magical world and had returned to reality, except the reality didn’t seem all that real to me either. There was a surreal quality to everything, and I felt more than ever like I’d stepped into a movie. Even the music was there, and I knew it wasn’t from the store’s sound system.
I was sure that Florence would say this was still more proof that I was staying with Mr. Wrong, my comfort-zone man, when I could have magic—literal magic, in this case—with Owen. And yet I felt weird, like I was doing something wrong, as I walked home with him, close enough to touch, but not holding hands or making any actual contact, except the occasional moment when our sleeves brushed.
We reached my front steps and paused there. “Thanks for walking me home,” I said and started to turn to go. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He caught my arm and said in a rough whisper, “Katie.” I turned, waiting for what else he might say, but he just stood there, like he couldn’t find the words.
I wanted to kiss him, more than anything, but I reminded myself that we’d have plenty of time for that. I didn’t want any nagging guilt to mar this perfect evening. I leaned back, away from him, and repeated, “See you tomorrow,” before turning and running up the steps. I forced myself not to look back because I didn’t think my resolve would hold if I saw him standing there.
The soundtrack playing in my head swelled dramatically, and the music made me want to cry.
Chapter Eight
It was with decidedly mixed feelings that I headed to work the next morning. I both dreaded and anticipated seeing Owen again. I hadn’t thought it possible to hold such contradictory views simultaneously, and doing so made me feel like my head was in imminent danger of exploding. I wasn’t even sure it had been real. There was a dreamlike quality about my memories of running around the store, doing magic. What if I had dreamed it? I decided not to say anything to Owen unless he said something to me first. I didn’t even try to do magic on my own, but I wasn’t sure if I was more afraid of finding out that I couldn’t or that I could.
When I got to the store, I slipped upstairs to the coffee shop, hoping to delay the encounter with Owen as long as possible so I’d have a better chance of having my head on straight. I was tying on my apron when Florence arrived. “My, but someone’s glowing,” she said, raising an eyebrow and smirking.
