Page 54 of Witchful Thinking

Mr. Giddings scratched his chin. “Kid, all I heard was paint samples.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Welcome to the club.” Mr. Giddings gave a long sigh. “My advice, do whatever she says and let her do what she wants.” He pointed to the paper. “The handwriting. In my years, I’ve seen a lot of partners being sent to my store with a honey-do list.”

“Honey-do list?”

Mr. Giddings rolled his wrist as he spoke. “Honey, do this. Honey, do that. It’s a to-do list that spouses write out for things they want done around the home.”

“She’s not—I’m not—We’re not—”

Mr. Giddings held up a hand. “Don’t worry. I’m not grilling you about what you kids call it—relationship status. I’m just here to make sure your houses and homes look good and don’t fall on your heads. Phoebe knows about all the fancy designer terms and the latest so-called trends.”

Mr. Giddings called to the back, “Phoebe! You’ve got a customer.”

A statuesque woman with dark black skin and braided hair in a ponytail on her shoulder strolled out from one of the aisles. She wore a paint-splattered shirt underneath jean overalls and steel-toed boots. They shared the same wide eyes that took in everything.

“Yes, Mr. Giddings.”

He rolled his eyes lovingly. “You know you can call me Dad.”

“No, sir.” She shook her head with a smirk. “Not while we’re at work.”

“Alex needs help with his honey-do list.”

“Do you mind if I take a look?” Phoebe reached for the list, which Alex handed over to her for inspection. Her eyelids closed, and she took in a focusing breath; he could see her eyes moving rapidly underneath the lids. It appeared as if she went into a trance. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out. Then her eyes snapped open, and she smiled at him. “She has good taste. The living room will look great with that orange-gold color, the kitchen should be sky blue, and the bedroom is perfect for that lovely deep ocean blue. I know she’ll love the toile wallpaper for the hallway.”

Alex’s jaw dropped. He looked at Mr. Giddings, who beamed with parental pride, then focused back on Phoebe. “Are you psychic or something?”

Phoebe moved her head back and forth, as if debating about which word to pick. “‘Or something’ is the best way to describe it.”

Horatio came back from the wall, holding tubing in his hand. He stopped and narrowed his eyes at her.

“Phoebe.” He tipped his head in her direction.

“Dwyer,” she said to him, stiff. “Make sure to double-check your tube size. It might be too big.”

“My tube is just fine. It’s perfect. Thanks.” Horatio ground out the words between his teeth. He went to the cashier. Phoebe gave Alex a “he’s hopeless” look.

“I’ll get you a sample of those colors, and we’ll put in an order for the toile print.” Phoebe went to the paint-mixing area.

There was a confident gleam in her eyes. “Trust me, she’s going to love it.”

Alex rubbed the middle of his forehead as Phoebe went to work on his order. He didn’t want to think too hard about why he wanted her to love it. Maybe he wanted her to know that he could follow through on something that mattered.

***

Wishes might have been fishes, but Lucy had magically pulled in an entire merman. She kissed Alex. She. Kissed. Alex. And it was a freaking great kiss. Frustration burned in her chest. She resisted using magic on Alex in any way, but somehow through some twist of fate, she ended up being thrown in his path.

Lucy dabbed a few drops of orange-blossom oil behind her ears and neck. She did a little spin in the foyer and checked her reflection in the mirror by the front door. A little attraction oil wouldn’t hurt her on her lunch date with Theo. She thought about canceling the lunch, but she needed to think about life after Alex. Theo was stable. He worked at Meadowdale College and owned his own condo. He wasn’t going anywhere. He wasn’t going to come in and out like the tide. She owed it to herself to get to know him.

Then again, Theo wasn’t Alex. That kiss kept repeating in her head like a GIF on repeat. Just because she still felt Alex’s arms around her while she lay in bed at night didn’t mean that they’d stay together. He was leaving as soon as the house was sold. She needed to keep her lips and hands to herself until she figured out what she wanted from Alex. Her phone beeped.

She glanced over at the text:

Never trust a merman with paint samples. If you’re not too busy, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Lucy’s stomach flip-flopped. She couldn’t resist paint samples and a good color scheme. It wasn’t going to take long. She didn’t want to show up too early for lunch with Theo.

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