Page 15 of Charmed, I'm Sure
My head fell back with a groan as I watched the stars twinkle into existence overhead. “Just get in the car, Aunt Evie.”
With a huff, she did as I asked, and I let out a heavy breath, doing the same. At this rate, this was going to be the longest thirty minute trip of my life. She didn’t even wait until the key was in the ignition before she started up again.
“Magnolia, is that boy bothering you again?”
“Yes,” I replied reluctantly before amending, “but not in the same way he used to.”
“Please, bemorevague,” she deadpanned, her eyes boring into the side of my face as I merged onto the interstate.
“He just keeps…popping up.Everywhere. The shop, the store,here.”
“You know his daddy runs the clinic at the festival.”
“Yeah, I know. But didhehave to be there? What was he doing anyway?”
“Hmmm.” Was her only response, but from the corner of my eye, I could see a smug smirk pulling at the corner of her lips.
“What?”
“Well, honey. When a boy justhappens tobe wherever you are, it usually means he likes you.”
“Oh my god. What is this? Middle school?”
Aunt Evie’s answering laugh was coupled with a slight shake of her head. “Mock all you want, Magpie. But I’ll be here to tell you ‘I told you so’ when the time comes.”
“Even if you are right, there is no way in hell I would ever date Taylor Hallows.” A faux shiver ran through my body as I said his name, earning me another laugh from my aunt. “I mean it! He tormented me in high school; why would I give him the time of day?”
With a shrug, she said, “People change, Magpie. And from the drool on your chin when you were helping him, I’d say you’d want to give him more than the time of day.”
“I wasnotdrooling!”
“Keep telling yourself that,cher. Yeah, I heard him. But, baby girl, if you make those walls any higher, not even you are going to be able to knock them down.”
5
Laissez les bons temps rouler, y’all!
Magnolia
Nothingquitebeatsridingin the car with your best friend, windows down, hair a tangled mess, as you both belt out song after song. And the ride to New Orleans with Jae was no different.
To say that we were excited for Halloween on Bourbon Street was an understatement. We hadn’t been in years, and as she pulled into the parking lot in front ofCrescent Witchery, both of us singing the final lines of Journey’sDon’t Stop Believin’at the top of our lungs—much to the chagrin of tourists passing by—we couldn’t help but laugh.
I’d missed this. Yes, I saw her every day at work. Yes, she spent more time at Bellevue Manor than at her apartment. But trips like these, where it was just us and we got to let loose and justbe,were fewer and farther between the older we got.
“Do you think Mama Jo remembers me?” she whispered as the bell over the door chimed.
“O’course I remember you, chile. Who could forget a soul like yours?” Mama Jo exclaimed as she parted the beads that hung across the doorway leading to the shop’s back room.
Mama Jo was the kindest soul a person could meet in their lifetime and was a surrogate mom to everyone who walked into her store. Herdeep brown eyes shone with years of wisdom in the craft and life itself. Her beautiful umber skin had permanent crinkles at the corners of her eyes and creases around her mouth from the radiant smile that was a constant fixture upon her lips. She was sunshine incarnate, especially today.
A bright yellow scarf that matched her dress was wrapped around her brow, keeping her gorgeous salt and pepper curls out of her face. A delicate chime accompanied every step she took as the crystals worn around her neck clanked against each other.
“Mama Jo!” I cried happily, quickly closing the distance between us and wrapping her in my arms.
“Hi, baby. How’s my beautiful girl? Not getting into any trouble, are ya?”
“Not yet,” Jaelyn scoffed amusedly from behind me, searching through the various crystals on display.
