Page 42 of Seven Secret Spellcasters
“I don’t know. I’ve sent a query to Lilith about the doll and Gloria’s attachment, as well as asking about the doll’s prior owner. No response yet.” Grans stood and put her coffee cup in the sink. “She’s probably still traveling. It was a blessing for her to come all this way for your ceremony.”
“Should I send her a thank-you?” Mia had stopped getting flowers, or at least she thought she had. She’d reach out to the florist later today to make sure.
“That would be nice and she’s already attached through the kitchen witch circle. I’ll send you her address. Don’t do it through email. That’s too impersonal. Buy a lovely card.” She kissed Mia on the cheek. “Thank you for taking on your destiny. Call me when your guidebook and assignments arrive. We’ll walk through the first one together. Now, I need to get home and finish packing up the house. I’m hoping to get it on the market before the end of the year.”
“I’ll get Trent to take your bags down.” Mia stood and followed her.
Grans pulled on her jacket. “He’s already packed them into my car, dear. Besides, I think there’s someone downstairs who wants to talk to you.”
Mia groaned. She’d forgotten about her coffee “date” with Jeani. But she needed to make sure everything was going well with the party tear-down process anyway. Abigail was home with Thomas and had taken the weekend off since they didn’t have anything going on. Christina’s Magic Springs engagement party was on Wednesday night. Then Friday they’d all head to Boise for the second party. Finally, Grans’s engagement party was scheduled for Sunday. Then Thanksgiving would be here.
Mia knew her Lodge calendar was a complete madhouse starting next week. It was a good day to relax and actually take some time for herself, and maybe get some time to talk with Trent before the holidays blew up both their schedules.
She walked downstairs and said goodbye to her grandmother. The party supply van was parked near the entrance, and she saw Trent walking Muffy to Grans’s car. She waved at him and then went to find Jeani.
The decorator was in the gym, clipboard in hand. She smiled as she saw Mia approaching. “You’re in time to do a walk-through with me. I think I’ve got everything packed up and stored, but sometimes the guys get over productive and take a few things not on their list. So the gym’s clear and clean.” She used her pen and made a checkmark on the page. Mia saw she’d made one for the academy withMia’s Morselslisted on the top. “I already have the number of tables and chairs you own on my checklist, so we can go verify that your storage is still full right now.”
Mia followed her to the small storage area. “Thanks for everything you’ve done this week. It was magical here both nights.”
“I thought it worked out great.” Jeani finished counting the tables and chairs. “My numbers match what we started with, so that’s a good sign. We had to do some cleanup from the back, where the coven had their meeting, but I’ll charge them for the damage.”
Mia followed her outside to the backyard. It looked like it had on Thursday before the decorating for the party. “You did a great job.”
“Thanks. It’s all part of the service.”
Mia groaned. They were both being so polite and not even mentioning the elephant in the room. Mia reached for Jeani’s arm as she turned to go back inside. “Hey, can we sit a moment?”
Jeani froze, then nodded. “Of course. Look, I wanted to apologize for last night. I’d had one too many of the coven’s witches’ brew cocktails. Those things are powerful. Let me be clear. I am not in love with Trent. I might have seen a future for us once, but he never did. He was always waiting for you.”
“I appreciate you saying that, but Jeani, I want to make sure we have a friendship. I work too closely with you and your sister for this to be a problem between us. And besides, I like talking to you.” Mia waited, hoping Jeani would agree.
Instead, she pressed her lips together. “Mia, I like you, but right now, being around you makes me crazy. I can deal with a work relationship, but I’m not sure I can be friends. At least not yet. I’m so embarrassed by my actions last night. I need time to fix what’s wrong up here. Or maybe stop drinking. I’ve been told I get sloppy and emotional, and not in a fun, Cameron Diaz way, like inThe Holiday. I’m more of a Carrie, keying-your-car type.”
Mia laughed and nodded. “I hope you can see your way to a friendship because I get you. Are you decorating for Christina’s party on Wednesday?”
“Of course. I’ll see you at the Lodge.” She stood and held a hand out to pull Mia up off the bench. “Now, let’s finish this up so I can get busy on the plans for that.”
After Jeani and the delivery guys had left, Mia was locking up the gym when she ran into Finn. “What’s on your schedule today?”
“My cousin is picking me up, and we’re going driving. He wants to show me the area.” Finn had on jeans and a sweatshirt. She carried a heavier coat. Her phone beeped, and she glanced at it. “He’s here. I’ll probably be back late, so don’t freak out if you hear me coming in.”
Mia had just finished locking up the gym doors when she realized she was missing an opportunity to actually meet the elusive cousin. She hurried out to the front door, in time to see a black Hummer pulling out of the drive.
Trent and Cerby were walking across the parking lot, so she waited for them. Trent kissed her.
“Good morning. Who did Finn drive off with?” He didn’t move toward the front door, and Cerby sat near his feet.
“Her cousin. I missed the chance to meet him.” She stepped back inside, but Trent didn’t move. “Are you leaving?”
“Yeah, Cerby says Buddy needs to stretch his wings, so we’re heading back to my place. Can I take you to dinner tonight?”
“‘Cerby says’?” Mia looked down at the Maltese, who looked smug. “Dinner tonight would be great. We probably need to talk anyway.”
“That doesn’t sound good.” He leaned over and kissed her. “I’ll pick you up at seven. I’ll have Christina and Levi come over and babysit the kids.”
She was almost upstairs when she heard the security alarm alerting her that someone was in the parking lot. She went back down the stairs and opened the door. Mark was there, a pile of notebooks and a rolled-up flipchart in his arms.
“Are you alone?” He glanced around the foyer and saw Mr. Darcy sitting on the stairs. She must not have closed the apartment door all the way.
