Page 90 of The Neighborhood Witch

“Can I help you?” Hugo asked.

A deliveryman stood on the porch examining his digital delivery pad. “I have a shipment here for a Dodds. Hugo Dodds.”

“That’s me,” Hugo answered.

He squeezed his way through the gap to not reveal too much. Max tried to stick her head through the opening, but Hugo pushed it back. The end of Galahad’s broomstick poked out from behind the door, but Hugo was quick to shut it behind him.

“Dogs. Her bark is louder than her bite, and she’d kiss you to death before attacking.”

“Sign here, please.” The deliveryman handed over the digital pad.

Hugo drew his name with his index finger and handed it back.

“Where do you want them?”

“Right here is fine. I’ll take them in,” Hugo replied.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Right here will be fine.” He pointed to the porch.

“Suit yourself. That’s a lot of grapes. What are you doing with this much, anyway?”

Hugo paused, trying to think of any answer other than making magical wine. “Fruit salad,” Hugo replied. “We make a lot of fruit salad. Grapes are our favorite.”

“To each their own,” the deliveryman said as he trudged down the porch steps. “It’ll take me a moment to unload all of this. You sure you don’t want me to take it in for you?”

“No, I can get it.”

The lights flickeredin the wine cellar. The room was darker than usual as the lights from the wall sconces were dimmed. Alice sat hunched over on a stool in front of her workstation. Her head hung low. She flipped through the pages of her spell book.

She reviewed each and every spell she made that day. She read each line multiple times.How could I have messed up? I never mess up. She was far too distracted from her encounter that day. She slammed the book shut.

Alice focused on the spot where Hugo had placed a cup of tea.She buried her head into her hands. He had tried to help her, but she had turned him away. The one person who tried to help her, she turned away. She remembered the blank stares. The empty thoughts. She was far too distracted, and that encounter messed everything up.

She got up from the workstation and meandered toward the wooden platform. She lumbered up the steps to the top. A few discarded, empty boxes littered the area. She checked the vats. There was nothing of use inside. She screamed and kicked one of the boxes into the corner.

“Damn you, Sam!” she yelled.

She picked up the other box and threw it across the cellar. It landed with a thud and partially collapsed in on itself. She screamed again.

There was a knock at the wine cellar door.

“Go away!” Alice yelled. “I want to be alone.”

The door opened, and Hugo entered with a box of grapes. “Then I suppose you don’t want these?”

Alice stood there in shock at the box Hugo held in his hands. “Where did you get those?”

“I worked my magic and called in a few favors,” he replied as he set the grapes down on the floor. “There’s more where this came from. A lot more. I’ll need your help to bring them in.”

Alice rushed down the steps and examined the box. She couldn’t believe it. She looked up at Hugo with tears in her eyes. She wanted to say so many things. She tried, but words failed her. She could only conjure an almost inaudible, “Thank you.” She buried her head into Hugo’s chest.

He wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back and shoulders with his palm. “You’re welcome.”

“I… I don’t know what to say. No one has ever done something like this for me,” Alice said through tears. “Thank you.”

Hugo pulled back from Alice. He looked her right in the eyes. “Hey. You helped me. I helped you. This is how it works,” he said. “We’ll fix it. Together. Okay? You can boss me around and tell me what to do.”

---