Page 51 of Seven Secret Spellcasters
“Eight a.m., I’ll be there.” Mia set the table while Trent walked Cleo out. Then she realized she hadn’t told Cleo she needed to look up the reports. She’d known. And she’d known Mia’s work schedule.
After Cleo had left and Trent had come upstairs after seeing her out and locking the front door, Mia dished up soup in two bowls. “There are sandwiches in the fridge if you want to get them out.”
As they were eating, Mia pulled out her planner again. Now she had an actual time to go to the coven headquarters. “Mark, well, Sarah thinks that if we find who requested the investigation, that might tell us who wanted Howard out of here.”
He took a bite of the sandwich, then set it down. “Wait, what?”
She told him about her conversation with Mark and then how Cleo knew she was visiting. She mentioned Gloria’s giggle about Cleo but didn’t mention his silence. “So Cleo’s not just a coven member, is she?”
He shrugged, picking his sandwich back up after Mia cleared his confusion. “Not my story to tell. But rumor has it, she was one of the original coven members. We’ve been here almost two hundred years now. You do the math.”
She decided to leave that puzzle alone. She had enough going on with a sick teenager who didn’t know she was a witch sleeping in her apartment. “I guess we’re going to have to tell Finn about all this.”
“I don’t know who you mean by ‘we’,” Trent said as he looked up at the security monitor. “Are you expecting someone?”
“No, but Finn was. That’s her cousin. I’ll go down and tell him she’s not feeling well. Hopefully he won’t want to check on her.”
“All he’ll see is a sleeping girl. Don’t worry so much.” Trent refilled his soup bowl. “Want me to go down with you?”
She shook her head. “I’ll be right back up.”
Hurrying down the stairs, she opened the door, then when no one got out of the car, she walked over and opened the passenger-side door. James Holder sat in the front seat, looking at his phone. “Get in. I’m late for a meeting.”
“James, what are you doing here? Are you Finn’s cousin?” she asked, confusion clouding her mind.
He looked up and saw her. “I think we’re busted. Where’s Finn? She’s going to be late for her shift.”
“She’s cooking for you at the Lodge,” Mia stated, understanding. “But she didn’t want us to know because she was afraid we’d fire her.”
“That’s what she told me. She’s a whiz in the kitchen. She only works shifts that don’t interfere with Mia’s Morsels work. But she’s good enough that I’ll deal with working around her other job.” He tucked his phone in his pocket. “Sorry, she asked me not to tell you.”
“One, we wouldn’t have fired her, and you should have known that.” She squatted down to be face-to-face with James. “And two, she’s sick today. What’s her next shift?”
“Tomorrow dinner.” James took his phone out again. “I need to find someone to cover her, then. I’ve got a date.”
“She’ll be back tomorrow, but I’m telling her that I know. She can work at McDonald’s from midnight to eight, I don’t care, as long as it doesn’t interfere with what we have going. I know Abigail can’t give her full-time hours yet.”
“I knew you were a good kid.” He finished a text message. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Tell Finn she still has tomorrow’s shift. I hope she feels better.”
“See you at the staff meeting on Monday. I’ve got an appointment at eight, so I’ll be running in hot. Pour me some coffee, will ya?”
Upstairs, Trent was still eating. Mia finished her soup and told him about James being Finn’s fictional cousin. “Well, he’s not related. She was just saying that so we wouldn’t know she’s cooking at the Lodge.”
“Secrets always get you in trouble.” Trent finished his lunch and leaned back. “Levi and Christina said they’d stay at the house to babysit if you want some company this afternoon. Maybe we could watch a movie while Sleeping Beauty gets better?”
Mia thought that sounded like a wonderful idea.
The next morning, Mia was up and ready for work early. She had to visit Cleo, then get to the Lodge by nine. She sliced the zucchini bread she’d made as soon as she’d gotten into the kitchen.
Finn came out of the bedroom. “What happened to me? I feel like I’ve slept for days.”
“It’s only Monday. Sit down and eat. We need to talk. Coffee?” Mia held up the pot. Finn nodded and slipped into a chair.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what happened. I was reading in one of those comfy chairs in the library. A cat was there and jumped on my lap. I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, it was lunchtime. I came over here, and you let me in, then nothing. Did I pass out?” Finn’s eyes widened. “I missed my shift—I mean, seeing my cousin.”
“I talked to James and told him you weren’t feeling well. He said you still have your shift tonight if you’re better.” Mia paused. “You didn’t have to hide the fact that you were working at the Lodge. It’s your life, and I know you want to save up money.”
“I should have told you, but I didn’t want to lose this job.” Finn sipped her coffee after she’d added milk and four tablespoons of sugar. “Is that what you wanted to tell me?”
