Page 40 of Brews and Banishments
“Lorna will be the first in multiple generations to get out of Willowbrook,” she continued, her praising voice beginning to warp into something sharp and calloused. “No more working at the store with the rest of the Ashfords. Luckily for dear Lorna,” Drusilla paused, leaning over the counter with a venomous stare, “shedidn’t have a backstabbing classmate to worry about.”
Daisy sighed. Not that she expected the woman to forget the issues of their past, but Daisy hardly expected her youngdaughter to be caught in the middle. Perhaps itwasDrusilla who sent the potion. The anger she held could have fostered a vengeful future, a need to see things follow the story Drusilla had written for herself.
“Can we speak in private, Drusilla?” Daisy asked.
Drusilla glanced between Daisy and Tessa before she rolled her eyes and let her hands fall off from around her daughter’s shoulders. “Well, I wouldn’t want your presence to disturb my customers, would I?” With a snarky smirk, Drusilla twisted around from behind the counter. Her airy dress flowed behind her as she led the way to the back of Ashford Groceries.
Near the back of the store were Drusilla’s parents. They stocked cans in the aisles, watching warily as Daisy passed them by. She offered them a polite smile, but merely received a pressing stare in return. Taking in a deep breath, Daisy did her best to remind herself that the anger Drusilla felt was nothing she was capable of preventing. The truth of the matter was, simply, that Drusilla had been caught in the wrong and she couldn’t handle the following consequences. That was hardly Daisy’s fault.
Drusilla led them into a back store room that doubled as a small office. She curved around the long desk and took a seat, returning to whatever work she was in the middle of doing. Across from her were a few monitors showing the security camera’s footage, one aimed directly at the front doors. Daisy looked over her shoulder at Tessa, who noticed it in the same breath. Drusilla saw them enter the moment they did.
“I presume you aren’t here to request special shampoo be delivered to the store,” Drusilla muttered as she leaned back in her seat. “Unlike some other people in Willowbrook, I happen to be too busy for useless conversation.”
Daisy stepped closer to the desk. “Can’t we talk about our issues, Drusilla? I-I can hardly remember how many years it’s been since -”
“Thirty five.”
“What?”
Drusilla huffed, tapping her long nails against the desk. “It’s been thirty five years,” she murmured. “Thirty five years since you ruined my future. Funny how easy it is for you to forget, isn’t it?”
Tessa was about to step forward and argue, but Daisy stuck her hand out.
“What you so readily blame me for, Drusilla, is no one’s fault other than your own.” Daisy’s confidence stuttered, but she kept her head up. It was her own fight, one that she wholeheartedly knew herself to be on the right side of. If she couldn’t stand up for herself, what was the point in coming in the first place? “Did you truly think you’d be rewarded for stealing another student’s essay? That your university wouldn’t have found out at the end of the day, even without my intervention?”
Drusilla launched to her feet. “Look around, Daisy! Not everything is simply handed to you! Some of us need to sacrifice our morality in order to achieve the things we deserve!”
“Is that the lesson you wish to teach your daughter?”
“You have no right to talk about my Lorna.”
Daisy pressed forward. “Maybe not,” she snapped. “But I have a right to defend what I did. Honestly, Drusilla, did you think I’d let you use the essay I wrote about my lack of a father? About something so personallymine?”
“Just because you chose to stay in Willowbrook doesn’t mean that I needed to succumb to the same fate.”
“If you couldn’t get out through your own merit,” Daisy threw her hands up in exasperation, “perhaps you were never meant to!”
Drusilla began to curve around the desk, the anger growing so sharply within her that her cheeks took on a scarlet coloring. “You know, Daisy, you are the most -”
Tessa shot forward, stepping directly between the bickering pair. She raised her hands out to either side, a warmth beginning to radiate from the center of her palms. The magic seeped out of her skin unseen, filling the atmosphere with a calming draft. Lavender, Tessa’s signature relaxing scent, slipped beneath Daisy’s nostrils. Instantly, the growing irritation trailed out of her. Across the way, Daisy watched Drusilla’s shoulders droop, though her harsh stare and tugging frown never left.
“I think we can all agree that there are some things in the past that cannot be forgotten or forgiven,” Tessa said as she turned to face Drusilla. “Whatever it is,nothingcan defend placing a curse upon another witch.”
Drusilla’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Does your anger justify putting a curse on Daisy? What would your daughter think if she knew her mother would go to such lengths for revenge?”
Whatever calming magic Tessa managed to seep into the room dissipated in seconds. The relentless anger Drusilla held within her chest surged to the forefront once more, her shocked look becoming something else entirely.
“Do you know how long I’ve worked alongside the Witch Council?” Drusilla snapped, her hands firmly against her hips. “How long I’ve had their favor? They’re the reason we’ve had this store for so long, the reason Lorna had the chance to get into a good school in the first place!”
Drusilla’s voice reached a higher pitch as she screeched, “If you think for one second I’d risk everything I have worked for just to curse someone like Daisy, you don’t know me at all! The Council could expel me from town if I did something like that! Then where would I go?”
“If you’re so confident,” Daisy said, stepping out from behind Tessa, “then you’ll let me perform a truth spell, won’t you?”
Drusilla jerked backwards. “I am not letting the likes ofyouget your hands on me!”
“So you expect us to just believe you? After all those nice things you said about me?”
