Page 77 of Witchful Thinking

“I messed up. I made the wrong weekly special.” Sirena winced. “I thought we had enough fish, but—nope. The fish stew is just stew. What about you, Lucy?”

She had her 10K race on Saturday, but she wasn’t feeling too confident about how well she would do on the day. Unable to think of anything else, she said the first thing on her mind.

“I slept with Alex,” she blurted out.

“Finally! Where did his tail go?” Sirena asked.

“So that’s where you were! I thought you were going to get ice,” Callie said.

“He didn’t have his tail that time.”

“You’ve done it more than once. Enjoy yourself. Get him out of your system.” Callie narrowed her eyes. “No. He’s probably fantastic. You’ll want to keep him for good.”

“You know you get a wish if you catch a merman,” Sirena said with a sly wink.

“Don’t remind me. Besides, Alex isn’t sticking around to get caught. I’m done with wishes for a while,” Lucy said.

“I could only imagine what he could do with his tail,” Sirena said.

Lucy collapsed on the table, thunking her forehead on the edge. “I’m so screwed.”

“Only if you ask him nicely,” Callie sang. Lucy raised her head, picked up her teaspoon, and threw it in Callie’s direction.

She dodged it. “Okay, let’s get serious. What’s the worst thing that could happen?” she asked.

Lucy looked up at the ceiling, going over the options. “He could leave again.”

“Or he could stay,” Callie said. “If you asked him to stay.”

“I don’t want to pressure him.”

“Maybe he’s waiting for you to ask him. How does that sound?”

Lucy frowned at the thought. Well, that was a plot twist. They’d agreed to be each other’s starfishes, but what happened when she wanted more? What if he wanted more? There was only one way to find out, but the feeling of failure felt like a heavy hand pressing on her back.

“It’s the wish,” Lucy moaned.

“You keep saying that, but I don’t know. Wishes only last for so long,” Callie said.

“I think Alex is realizing what he’s missed out on for all these years,” Sirena said. “You, the shy duckling, are now a fierce swan. He’s enchanted by your beauty. Enchant him back.”

“Speak on it,” Callie said, snapping her fingers in support. The front door opened, and Ursula’s voice called out, “Hey, y’all, hey.”

“We’re in here,” Sirena responded.

Ursula rushed into the kitchen, clutching her bag to her side. Her pearls were missing, and her hair, tucked beneath a crocheted hat, poked out like purple crinkle-cut fries from the oven. Her eyes appeared bright and wild.

“Why is your hair purple?” Callie asked.

Sirena gestured to her neck. “Where are your pearls?”

“There was an accident at the salon. I don’t want to talk about it,” Ursula said. “We have to cast another wish spell.”

“Good morning to you,” Lucy said. She studied the bags underneath Ursula’s eyes and her dazed appearance. “What’s going on?”

“Get the spell book.”

Uh-oh. Lucy’s ears burned as if an invisible person held a lit match by them. Even though her sixth sense was not nearly as strong as Auntie Niesha’s or Callie’s, she knew—she just knew—big things were going to happen very, very soon.

---