Page 11 of Witchful Thinking

Sirena and Callie sat attentively, waiting for their cousin’s next step. Ursula reached into her purse, took out her planner zip folio, and unzipped it. A collective groan erupted from the sisters. Ursula was unfazed. Whenever she brought out her monster planner, trouble soon followed. Ursula snapped it open to a stickered calendar layout.

“Mrs. Walker suggested we move up the wedding.” She said it a little too sharply.

“Oh.” Lucy blinked rapidly. The wedding was scheduled for next February. “When are you getting married now?”

Ursula scanned the calendar, then tapped her finger to the page. “Now we’re getting married in August.”

“This August?” Callie squeaked.

Lucy thought what she was too polite to say. Is Ursula out of her French-pedicured mind? It was late May, practically June. Callie said nothing but gave everyone a pained smile. For the last five months, since Lincoln proposed to Ursula last Christmas, the vision of Valentine’s Day glamour, with a color scheme of ruby red and cream, was her goal. Now, with the sudden date change, there wasn’t enough time to plan a themed birthday party, let alone redo an entire wedding. No one said anything, and the ticking of the grandfather clock against the wall filled the silence. Lucy looked to Sirena, then Callie. Was there another urgent reason for the rush?

“Why?” Sirena finally said.

Ursula rolled her eyes. “We’re in love! People can’t wait to get married and start their lives together.”

“You don’t have a little Caraway on the way, do you?” Sirena asked, eyeing Ursula’s empty glass. Callie made a hopeful questioning sound.

“Not yet. That’s planned for next year,” Ursula said. “I’m getting married soon. I need to get on my grind and cut out alcohol now. Besides, our future babies will have their father’s name.”

“But summer? You hate hot weather,” Callie said.

“No, I don’t mind it.”

“You buy box fans in March because you worry about getting hot,” Lucy said.

“I like to be comfortable.”

“You refrigerate your bedsheets to stay cool,” Sirena said.

Ursula slammed the planner shut. “Fine. The Berkeley Hotel had a sudden cancellation since—”

“I knew it.” Sirena sipped her drink with a triumphant slurp.

“A wedding fell through, and they told us the day was available.” Ursula finished the sentence. “Lincoln said they offered us a steep discount. We’d be foolish to not take it. It’s not that bad. I just need a new dress, change the date, pick out a cake, and redo the entire color scheme. I got this! We’ve got this! Mrs. Walker says the hotel needs an answer by tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to say yes,” Sirena said tersely.

“Tell me how I should say no,” Ursula countered. The Walker family was one of the most upstanding and well-respected members of Freya Grove. They got everything they wanted by either sheer force or some type of magic.

“Don’t try to convince us. You’ll have to tell Auntie Niesha,” Callie reminded her.

Ursula frowned deeply. Niesha Caraway, Ursula’s mom and their eldest aunt, didn’t do well with surprises. She threatened to hex anyone who even said the words “surprise party” in her presence.

“How does Lincoln feel about the date change?” Lucy asked.

“He’s fine, as long as he shows up on time,” Ursula said, unbothered. “It’s going to be okay. Mrs. Walker suggested that we’d take it and save some money.”

“I didn’t know she was getting married,” Sirena said.

Lucy gave her a hard look. Sirena stared back without apology, slurping her drink to fill the tense silence. The middle sister did not, as Nana said, suffer fools gladly and didn’t hold back on pointing out obvious issues.

Ursula made an exasperated sound. “I want my future in-laws to like me. What’s wrong with that?”

Sirena made a doubtful face but kept her mouth shut. Lucy knew that sometimes people were determined not to like you no matter what you did.

She took Ursula’s hand and squeezed. “Nothing. We just want you to enjoy your day.”

“I’d like to break the tradition of Caraway women not being welcomed into new families,” she reflected with some bitterness. They nodded, too aware of her family history. Ursula’s parents divorced when she was young due to the meddling of her father’s family, who had tried to make Aunt Niesha more, in their eyes, respectable as a society wife. He remarried and then had a new family one town away. Aunt Niesha didn’t remarry, obviously soured on the whole marriage gamble. She’d been one of the cautionary tales that proved Caraway women weren’t always lucky in love. Their aunts, cousins, and other female relatives didn’t have the smoothest paths to their happily-ever-after or happy-for-now.

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