Page 45 of Extra Witchy

Clem grabbed a sandwich with the crusts cut off—Margie’s handiwork, as her kid refused to eat them for some reason. “So you’re running for city council. How’s that going?”

“I’ll talk about that when it’s my turn. First off, how’s everyone else doing?”

Danica frowned at her. “Like you can get off the hook for—”

“We didn’t talk about my wedding when you dragged me off Trev’s dick for a witch hunter emergency, and we’re not getting into it now.”

“Can we talk about how Trevor moved in before the wedding and you lied about it to get out of pitching in?” Clem nudged her.

Leanne tried to control the blush. “I didn’t want to deal with everything, okay? I’m sorry. Back to the main point—it’s my third time. Making a huge thing of it doesn’t even make sense. EvenIthink it’s bizarre to keep trying.” Not that shewastrying to make the marriage work in a traditional sense.

Not this time.

Vanessa eyed her sharply, but she kept her mouth closed. And that was why Vanessa was her best friend in the coven. Witch knew when to keep certain details quiet. Margie was equally discreet, but that was more of a personal brand because she genuinely disliked gossip. If “nice” needed an illustration the dictionary, they could use Margie’s photo, and that was part of how she ended up getting so screwed over by her ex.

“You’ll end up like that one actress,” Clem predicted.

“The one with seven exes?” Leanne asked.

“That’s her.”

She shook her head, trying not to get salty over what felt like Clem pronouncing a curse. “This is my last go-round. You wouldn’t understand them, but I had my reasons.”

“Why are you just assuming we won’t?” Clem demanded.

Kerry and Priya had been lost in each other’s eyes for the whole exchange, but Priya, like Danica, tended to live in the rose-wreathed “please don’t fight” cottage. So she spoke up. “Let’s take a breath and give Leanne some space on this topic.”

“Agreed,” said Kerry.

But Leanne had noticed Kerry would concur if Priya said clouds in the sky had purple polka dots. These two were adorable, still delightfully deep in the honeymoon period. But unbiased toward each other? Definitely not.

“That’s good advice,” Danica put in, right on cue.

There was no benefit to being shy. “Moving on. I didn’t want to start by putting my request first, but if nobody else has anything, I’ll make my case. I’d like for Clem to use the same spell she dropped on the hunter’s guild. This time for my benefit.” Quickly, she showed them the reels Trev had made.

They were short and cute, with catchy slogans like, “If you want someone great for city council, you want my wife,” and then Trev would make an “oh no” face, like he’d just realized the implication of the endorsement, then the cheesy wink. People would most likely eat it up, if Leanne could gauge such things.

And I can.

There were a few more, none of them long, but memorable and clever, full of quirky humor and unexpectedly adroit filters and transitions. His grasp of the necessary touch must be instinctual because she didn’t think he had formal training. When the witches watched all the reels, Danica stared at her in amazement.

“I had no idea he could do this,” she said. “Titus never mentioned it.”

Leanne nodded briskly. “Then you see it too. Right now I can’t pay him, but down the line, I’m thinking of asking him to be my social media manager.”

“Wow,” Ethel said. “Do you think he’d evaluate my TikTok channel? Based on the market appeal of a cussing parrot, I should have more followers by now, but I can’t get a handle on the algorithm.”

“I can ask him,” Leanne offered.

“Chris is trying to do an Instagram for the robots he builds,” Margie said then.

Leanne grinned. “Let me guess. You want me to see if Trev will look at it.”

This was so unexpected, but also such a good feeling. Others could discern what she saw in him, that raw promise and artless appeal. Kerry even asked if Trev would assess the company website, and a few more asks came up.

Then Clem said, “It’s no problem at all. Send me the reels, and I’ll make sure you—and Trev—are an internet phenom by morning.”

Ethel gave an endearingly evil grin. “Dan Rutherford won’t know what hit him.”

---