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We worked in silence for a few minutes before he was once again at the Curiosity Corner, this time with a rooster-shaped biscuit cutter in his hand.
“Do you remember the first time you ever matched an object with someone?” he asked.
I wrote½ c. flouron the board and said, “I was eleven. It was a penny, bright and shiny as could be. I found it on the beach the day my mama—well, that day, and I felt a strange sort of dizziness. When I ran over to show my father, I felt the same kind of vibration. I knew instinctively that it was meant for him.”
My mama had told me that it would happen that way. I’d justknowwhen I’d found a curiosity, and also know who it was for. I could hear her voice now, whispering memories into my ear.
When the time comes, pay attention to the vibrations, Magdalena. They won’t lead you astray. And I promise you that wherever I am, I’ll help guide you. Always and forever, I’ll help guide you.
I blinked away tears and sighed, thinking about the penny I’d found. Thinking about how my father’s pet name for Mama had been Penny. He liked to say she’d sent us the penny as a way of letting us know she was okay, wherever she was.
I glanced around the coffee shop. If I really concentrated, Icould see her, walking around, smiling, welcoming everyone with open arms and a story to be shared. I recalled her saying many times, “Did you hear?” as she filled coffee mugs and leaned on the counter to talk. And talk. Mama didn’t have an off button. I had never minded. I’d loved growing up here in the coffee shop, in her shadow, listening to her stories.
She’d always been the first to accept a dare, to try a new food, to learn a new dance, to test a new recipe, to give a hug, to embrace a challenge, like opening a coffee shop in a small town.
Dad had once confided in me that Mama hadn’t even liked coffee much, only able to drink it with lots of milk and plenty of sweetener. Mama opened the shop because it filled a need in the town as a place to gather, to share life. Its good, its bad, and everything in between.
Very little had changed in here since she’d been gone. She could walk straight in and take over like she’d never even missed a day, which was exactly why I kept it this way. And I knew some around here thought I was naïve or even delusional for believing she was still coming back, but I was never going to give up hoping that she’d return to me, someway, somehow.
I said, “It’s kind of a magical feeling, the joy that matching gives me. Helping others connect to something missing from their life, something that brings them happiness, helps take away some of the sadness that comes with my mama being gone.”
Donovan had stopped sweeping again. He looked at me with such tenderness that I almost climbed down from the step stool to give him a hug. I got that look a lot when I talked about my mama.
He cleared his throat and said, “The penny? Is that the one Dez wears around his neck?”
I nodded. “About a month after Mama went missing, he asked Javier to make the penny into a pendant. My next experience with my curiosities was actually a matchforJavier. It was a small chipped ceramic bird I’d collected from a yard sale. It turned out he’d always wanted a pet bird, and he told me I’d inspired him to finally get one. Soon after, he got his firstcockatiel, Marcos, and he loved that bird more than life itself. After Marcos went to the big perch in the sky, he got Alistair.”
Donovan smiled. “Ah, yes, the escapee. Some in town are starting to suspect Javier is the one letting Alistair out, knowing he’ll eventually land at Redmond’s.”
I suspected something else entirely. I had the feeling the little bird’s partner in crime was none other than Madame Meddlesome herself, Estrelle. I knew of two times now that she’d been in the vicinity when Alistair made an escape. If I asked around, I’d bet she’d been nearby each time.
I wrote1 c. sugaron the board in swirly letters. “I suspect there’s going to be a reconciliation soon.”
“I hope so,” he said. “I do like a happily-ever-after.”
I glanced at him. “I didn’t know that, either.”
“Like I said, lots to learn.” Donovan picked up the dustpan, waved it around. “I have to admit I’m a little put out that you’ve never had a curiosity for me.”
“Do you feel like something is missing from your life?”
When he didn’t say anything, only kept staring at me, my heartbeat soared.
Finally, he said, “No, I don’t, actually. Not anymore. What about you? Do you feel like something is missing from your life?”
My heart, I was certain, was doing jumping jacks inside my chest, banging around, making me so lightheaded I wanted to sit down.
I was saved from responding by the sound of a key in the back door. I leaned to my right to look down the hallway. The door swung open and Ava came in carrying a small box, followed by my father, who was saying, “You can set that right there, Sprite. Do you think you can manage the other bin in the truck?”
I adored the nickname he’d given her. It fit.
Ava saw me immediately. “Hello! Don’t mind us. Just some boxes for the storeroom.”
As she bent to put the box down on the floor, my gaze met my father’s, and I was taken aback by the misery in his eyes.
“Didn’t realize you were still here,” he said. “We’ll be outof your way in no time at all.” One of his eyebrows went up when he saw Donovan crouched low, herding sweepings into the dustpan. “Afternoon, Donovan.”
A wave of emotion swamped me. Dad and I hadn’t spoken since the fight, not even on the green yesterday in the fire’s aftermath, and it was breaking both our hearts. I climbed down off the step stool, capped the marker, and stuck it in my back pocket.
