Page 11 of Witch Please

“Let me run to the bathroom, then you can take off.”

“No problem.”

After his sister returned to the counter, he waved and headed out. Outside, the day was bright and warm, edging toward eighty-five. People wore shorts and tank tops, soaking in the sun, and he spotted a few familiar faces, couples holding hands as they walked around the square. The old courthouse didn’t serve gubernatorial functions anymore; instead, it housed quaint shops full of original art, pottery, and hand-sewn quilts. There was also a local interest museum run by volunteers.

When he was a senior in high school, his family had moved here from Chicago, and he’d hated it at first. No clubs to sneak into; only one theater, and it wasn’t even a multiplex. A stupid bowling alley. No art museums, no Museum of Science and Industry. Fondly, he recalled running on a human-sized hamster wheel.I wasn’t even a little kid.And the Shedd Aquarium. There used to be a worker who spoke in a monotone while extolling the virtues of fish.This is a lake sturgeon. Do not touch the sturgeon.The guy had said “sturgeon” like forty times in his monologue and pronounced it with odd emphasis, cracking up everyone in Titus’s group.

When they first moved here, he couldn’t wait to get out of St. Claire. He’d started at Loyola; then his mom had gotten sick, and he’d come back to help. She’d always enjoyed baking, and it became something for them to do together. She hung on and fought while he went to culinary school nearby and got his degree in baking and pastry arts, and she helped him get started with Sugar Daddy’s. He had been so convinced that she’d pull through. Once she was gone, he could’ve sold the business, but he didn’t want to anymore. For him and Maya, St. Claire was home. Small-town life with reasonable access to city culture had grown on him.

His phone rang as he got in the car, odd enough that he checked the number. His friends would text, as voice calls were retro.Ugh. I should have known.Titus forced a smile, hoping the expression would infuse his voice with a semblance of warmth.

“Hi, Dad. How’s it going?”

“I have some great news!”

While he suspected their definitions of “great” weren’t at all the same, he still asked, “Oh yeah? What’s up?”

“I wanted you to be the first to know. Susan is pregnant!”

At forty-two, Susan was only ten years older than Titus. She had a couple of teenagers from a previous marriage, but he had no idea they were even thinking about…this. His silence went on too long.

“You there?” Dad prompted.

Finally, he said, “Congratulations,” because that was the polite response and he’d been raised to react that way, even when anger was about to blow out the back of his head.

Luckily, his dad was too drunk on delight to notice Titus’s lack of enthusiasm. “It’s such a surprise! We weren’t even trying. In fact, funny story, Susan went in because she thought maybe it was perimenopause and bam! The doctor tells us that we’re two months along. She’s due around Valentine’s Day, if you can believe it. Both Susan and I are hoping for a little girl. She’s already picked a name, Aubrey, and I guess it can go either way. That’s supposed to be popular these days. That gender-neutral thing. Or is it nonbinary? I’m too old to keep up with this stuff, but I’m trying.”

His dad was fifty-seven. Having a kid. Starting over.

Maybe Titus should be happy for him, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the right words. He held silent, listening. Seething. Didn’t matter since the old man kept talking.

“Anyway, you and Mayahaveto come for the holidays this year. Lucy and Jared want to see their older brother and sister.”

Bullshit.Susan’s kids didn’t consider Titus and Maya family. In fact, he’d caught Jared hitting on Maya the last time everyone got together.God, this sucks. She’ll be heartbroken.Maya would certainly take the whole “I hope it’s a girl” as a sign that she was being replaced.I have to tell her before Dad calls.

“Uh-huh,” he said, the most evasive response possible. “Look, I was about to get in my car. We’ll talk more later, okay? My best to Susan and the family.” Those words stuck in his throat, tasted like ash on the way out.

Without waiting for a reply, he tapped the screen to end the call and sprinted back to the bakery. When he burst through the front door, Maya was already picking up her phone.That asshole.Unlike his, her smile was real at first when she heard Dad’s voice, but as she listened, the smile faded, and soon there were silent tears standing in her eyes.

Titus closed his briefly; then he signaled for her to hang up with a curt gesture. But she listened to whatever crap Dad was spouting for another five minutes. Finally she said in a too-soft voice, “Okay, but it’s time to lock up, and I have to get to the bank before it closes.”

As she rounded the counter, Titus flipped the sign to closed and turned the bolt. Maya was full-on crying when she got to him, and he wrapped his arms around her, wishing he could punch his dad in the face. Not filial, definitely not polite. But the bastard deserved it. He patted her back the way he did Doris’s, but Maya didn’t seem to mind.

“Sorry. I should’ve gotten here faster.”

“That’s why you ran in like your shoes were on fire? Trying to break the news first.”

“Yeah.”

She let out a shuddering sigh and stepped back to wipe a hand across her face. “You’re a good brother. I’m glad I did you that favor.”

“What favor?”

“Never mind. I think…I don’t feel like going out tonight after all. If you don’t already have plans, let’s make dinner together at home. It’s been a while, and it seems like…” She let out a shaky breath and bit her lip.

“What?” he prompted gently.

“You’re the only family I have left.”

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