Page 16 of Cookbooks and Demons

Horrified, Helena did drop the brochure to slap her hand over her mouth, but it was too late to take those imprudent words back.

Scarlet broke out laughing so hard she practicallycackled.

“Yes and no, of course. Like I have said, I have enjoyed your work so far. I saw a lot of talent in you, but that dinner cinched it for me. I like you and I like your style. I believe I can pass what is most important to me to you, and if I am right, I will possibly be passing more things.” She arched an eyebrow at Helena, whose mind raced.

Could she mean … passing the company to her? While Helena had admitted to only Cindy that she wanted more than anything to own and run her own publicity company, Helena neverthought…

She looked Scarlet straight in the eye. The thought did occur to her that there had to be dozens of people more qualified than her, more people in line for such a gift. She had a passing thought to say exactly that because it would be the humble thing to do.

“Thank you, Scarlet. I will not let you down,” she saidinstead.

“Excellent.” The older woman sighed. “Honestly, I’m relieved. I thought I was going to have to coax you a little bit. Assure you that you were qualified for this task.”

Helena gave a lopsided grin, then shrugged one shoulder. “Yeah, but … Iwantit. So I’ll figure it out.”

Scarlet’s grin morphed into a smile that made her seem ten years younger. “Take anything you need from these materials. You will also be working from my office. I’ve had a desk put in for you. God knows I have enough space for one or ten. You make all the decisions and I will give you final approval. It’s a big job so Yosef will be your partner in this, but I want to see what you do with the creative side of it, so think of it as you are the director of the show and he is your assistant director. And don’t worry about me stealing credit. This is going to be an open secret, and I have plenty of things I will need to teach you in theinterim.”

Helena nodded, already deciding her next move would be to race to her desk, grab her phone to call Cindy, and tell her everything.

“You’ll also be getting a raise and an upgradein title—”

“Thank you, ma’am!” Helena cried, too excited to stop herself—she was already grabbing up all the materials Scarlet had laid out for her.

“Slow down, young thing. Slow down, I need you to take notes on this. You’re going to want to figure out flowers, and negotiate with the venue, and the catering, the decorations and invitations—”

“The caterer?” That made Helena pause, the word making her flinch a little. Though there was no good reason it should have. Of course she would need to hire a cateringcompany.

Scarlet winked. “You may hire whomever you want. I know you have at least one ace up your sleeve.”

Helena hated to do this, but she knew what her answer had to be. “I’m sorry, Scarlet. But I can’t … do that. It was a one-time thing…”

She could see her whole future burning up right then and there.

No one ever told Scarlet no.

“Ah yes, I understand,” her boss said instead, then waved a hand at Helena. “Don’t make that face and don’t worry. I’ve worked with plenty of ‘artists’ before, trust me. I was just saying if you want to pass the opportunity to that extraordinary talent, you are free to do so. It isn’t your fault if they don’t want to make any money doing what they love. Now take a seat. We have plenty more to discuss today.”

Chapter 10

ItGot Weird

Helena stared at her to-do list in frustration. She had a dozen caterers waiting for her to make calls and start setting up tastings, but she had been avoiding this task the most. She looked at their portfolios, flipped through their websites, and checked out their online videos. Perfect credentials and prideful mission statements.

And there on her kitchen counter next to where she had propped up her computer sat her grandmother’scookbook.

She hadn’t been able to make herself put it away, nor could she dare to cook anything else out of it. Like she had a dozen times before, she laid her hand on the stained cover. After a minute of that, she flipped it open slowly and fingered her way to the back pages. There in her grandmother’s script was the spell to summonRafferty.

Don’t ever summon me again.She could practically hear his stern voice warning her.

She closed the book firmly and picked up her phone.

“You’re just setting up appointments. It’s no big deal,” she assured herself. Yet, she only got three numbers in before she canceledthe call.

Moving so she didn’t have time to stop herself, Helena picked up the book, turning to face the middle of her kitchen. It had been two weeks since she had first summoned the demon. Two weeks of washing her floor according to his instructions with the vinegar, lemon, allspice, and soda. There wasn’t a trace of the summoning circle left that the naked eye could see. There was no way this would work.

“Stir once and tap three times, spin widdershins, and spit your tongue, take a deep breath, and say three times, ‘Tribblespins, tribblespins, tribblespin…” She waited with a held breath.

Nothinghappened.

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