Page 28 of Bewitched & Bewildered
Juniper is playing dumb—and the more questions she asks, the more I think she’s not here to shop. I lead her to the crystals anyway, picking up a massive slab of quartz.
“This thing?” I hold it up to the light. “This will go for sixty dollars. But if you want a little point—that will only run a few bucks.”
“I’d like a breakdown of your price by weight,” Juniper says.
I squint.
“Please,” her sister adds.
I set the quartz down and cross my arms. “You’re not here as customers, are you?”
“No.” Juniper lifts her head higher. “You cannot truly think we would shop here.”
“Actually,” Laurel says, “I’m coming back for the deck. You can’t stop me.”
Juniper glares at her.
“I’ll give you a discount,” I tell Laurel, grinning. Anything to get under Juniper’s skin.
It works. Her face is red when she looks at me again.
I lift my hands, feigning innocence. “What?”
“You know what!” Juniper snaps.
“You’re in my shop,” I say.
“Yeah,” Laurel says, “I don’t think you should talk to him like that. How would you feel if someone came into our shop like this?”
I snicker.
“I’m leaving!” Juniper announces, marching away.
“Wait!” I call.
She pauses. Both witches look at me.
“I’ll give you a breakdown of my prices,” I say. “Free of charge.”
Juniper turns back around with narrowed eyes. “Why would you do that?”
“Because you need help,” I say, “and Starbrook has never been about competition. Why would it be now?”
I know why. It has nothing to do with the town and everything to do with Juniper and me. We’ll never be close enough to be coven mates or even friends. Hell, I don’t think she considers me an acquaintance.
It doesn’t matter. I’m still going to help her out when I can.
And I do, even though I know it’s silly to put so much effort into someone who doesn’t like me. I send them away with a printout of my prices. It does nothing to lift Juniper’s spirits. There’s still a scowl on her face when she leaves.
JUNIPER
“You need to tell me who that fine specimen is right now,” Laurel hisses.
“He’s no one. Drop it.”
We got what we came for, but I don’t feel successful on the way out. I pass the papers to Laurel, not wanting to think about them. His prices are higher than Mom’s. That means we can raise ours without suffering too badly, but…
I can’t believe I’m competing with Ozan again—and he’s winning! People were in his shop until the last minute. How? I bet he’s not even doing online marketing.
