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Chapter One
“Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble --”
“What thefuckis that, Hazel? That’sneverworked!”
The bent aluminum pot on Hazel’s rickety stove rattled as its contents boiled. The bright afternoon sun managed to peek through the drapes of both her apartment windows, shining on the old mayonnaise jars resting in her windowsill. She’d never been able to afford the expensive glass flagons she should have been using to store her potions.
Grasping the metal handle with a potholder to stop the rattling, Hazel took a tentative sniff of her brew. She wrinkled her nose, but gritted her teeth in determination, wanting only to complete this spell even if it did stink.
Horribly.
Hazel gave her best friend, Irene, an exasperated look. “Nothing else has, either. Do you have a better idea?”
Irene snorted. “Just don’t pull out the eye of newt or I’m outta here.”
“Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble…” Hazel paused. “What comes next?”
Irene threw up her hands. “It’s no wonder your spells don’t work.”
“Hey, they work. Just not like they’re supposed to.” Hazel wanted to be indignant, but couldn’t manage the effort. Irene was right, to a point. “Now, are you going to make fun of me, or help me?”
“As much as I’d love to help you, Hazel, I don’t know anything about witchcraft.”
Hazel sighed. “That’s okay, Irene. Neither do I.”
They looked at each other a moment, then both started to giggle.
“Oh, well.” Irene hugged her life-long friend with one arm as she picked up her coat from a nearby chair with the other. “At least you didn’t turn Mrs. Johnson into a goat again. It’s a damn good thing she didn’t remember what happened or she’d have you locked up.”
“Don’t I know it! That woman already thinks they should kick me out of this apartment building simply because I’m forty years younger than everyone here.”
“Well.” Irene grinned wickedly. “Noteveryone.”
Hazel groaned. “You could have gone all day without mentioninghim.”
“You’re the one who said he was a hunk.”
“Sure. But you didn’t have totellhim I said it.”
Irene held up her hands in mock defense. “I only stated the facts as they pertained to the moment.”
“But that wasn’tallyou told him. Was it.” Hazel made that last a statement. They both knew she had told the tall, dark, and oh-my-God handsome Drake Cole more about Hazel than she should have. At least, from Hazel’s point of view. She’d met Drake at the wedding of her friends, Laura and Jake, and he’d taken a permanent residence in her fantasies from that point on.
“He seemed to take it in stride.”
Irene’s innocent look didn’t fool Hazel for a moment. “He thinks I’m a blooming idiot, thanks to you.” Hazel pouted. “And I really wanted to jump his bones. Now --” She sighed dramatically. “I guess I’ll just have to slip him this love potion I was making for your hamsters.”
“Why not just cast a spell that makes him forget I told him you were a witch?” Irene deadpanned. They both knew Hazel couldn’t “cast” her way out of a paper bag.
“I would, if I wasn’t afraid I’d completely erase his memory.” Hazel sighed. They joked about it, but it was a very real concern to her. Her spellsalwaysworked. But sometimes what she got and what she intended weren’t in the same ballpark. Or the same universe, for that matter.
Irene hugged her sympathetically. “Oh, honey. I would never have said anything to hurt you on purpose. It was Laura’s wedding reception and she’d filled me up with champagne. I suppose my tongue ran away from my brain.”
“Now,there’sa mental image.”
They both laughed.
“I have to go.” Irene picked up her purse, slung it over her shoulder, and opened the door. “I’ll try to make things right with Drake. He knows I was tipsy. It shouldn’t be hard.”
