Page 63 of Enchanted to Meet You

“Yes,” I said. “Gabby is great.”

“So I wanted to make sure to extend an invitation to you to come to the selection ceremony tomorrow night. It’s at the Yacht Club. I really think you’ll enjoy it. We’re trying to make it very special for the girls. It’s a shame they can’t all be princesses, but we just don’t have enough scholarship money to go around.”

“Sure,” I said, instead of what I wanted to, which was,You are so full of crap. “That’s understandable. I’ll try to make it.”

“Oh, that would be so great. It would mean so much to Gabby, I know. And will you be staying through the weekend, Derrick? It’s going to be very special this year. We’re going to have a ball in the village square to celebrate West Harbor’s Tricentennial.”

“That’s what I’ve heard.” Derrick had made no move to remove his arm. “I’m staying... and looking forward to it.”

Rosalie looked as delighted as if Derrick had said he was going to back a truckload of garbage onto her lawn and dump it there.

“How great!” Her smile wasn’t reaching her eyes now. “It’s going to besuchan important night for our town’s history. Not many towns can boast that they’ve been around as long as we have. That’s why it’s so important we celebrate it. Speaking of which—” Rosalie reached into her Gucci handbag and took out an envelope that she handed to me. “I happen to have two extratickets to the ball on Thursday. I noticed you hadn’t signed up yet, and I thought, well, there has to be some kind of mix-up, because I can’t imagine this event without Jessica Gold!”

I looked down at the envelope, which had my name written across it in fancy calligraphy. There hadn’t been a mix-up. I hadn’t purchased a ticket to the ball for myself—though I’d purchased them for all my employees and their significant others. They deserved to go, if they wanted to, after all the hard work they’d put in at the Fall into Fall sale, and the work they were going to do the next day, giving candy to trick-or-treaters outside the shop. I myself had been intending to do what I did every night during Halloween season in order to protect my mental health: go straight home after work, turn out all my lights, get in bed with Pye and some takeout, and watch the Food Network.

Or at least, that had been my plan before Derrick Winters had shown up.

“Gosh,” I said. “Thanks so much, Rosalie.”

“Oh, it’s my pleasure.” She beamed at me—but mostly, I couldn’t help noticing, at Derrick. “Well, Jess, I know you’re busy, so I won’t hold you up a second longer. I really only wanted to stop by to introduce myself to your new beau, and to let you know that Bill is doing everything he can to repair your car—and of course to make sure the two of you got those tickets, and invite you to our selection tomorrow night!”

“Thanks again. We’ll try to be there.” I hoped she hadn’t developed the ability to read minds in the years since high school.

She hadn’t—at least if her smile was any indication. “Great.” She shouldered her bag and waved at us. “Well, bye for now!”

And then she hurried off, as suddenly as she’d breezed in.

“What wasthat?” I turned to ask Derrick as soon as she was in her car and out of earshot.

“I don’t know.” He was looking after her, too, lost in thought. “I take it she’s not always that friendly?”

“No, I told you, she hates my guts. She’s the witch who destroyed my car, remember?”

“Yeah.” He looked after her for a moment longer, then shrugged and turned back to my window. “Maybe she’s changed. People do, you know.”

I stared at him. “In twenty-four hours?” I held up the envelope. “Why is she so anxious for me to go to her selection thingie? And for us to go to the ball? And why did she keep giving you the side-eye?”

“Well.” Grinning, he lifted the drill and gave the trigger a press.Zing!“I’ve been told Iampretty good with power tools.”

I didn’t smile back at him. “You do realizeshe’sprobably what’s causing the rift in West Harbor, right? Rosalie Hopkins looks beautiful, but her intentions aren’t. I’m willing to bet my shop that she knows what we’re doing, and the live entertainment at the pre-ball dinner is going to be the sacrificing of the virginal Harvest Princesses, just like Esther said.”

He stopped grinning. “I think you’ve had a bit too much of that tea.”

“Really? You don’t think I was chosen because I can tell when evil is walking around right under our noses?”

Derrick shook his head. “That’s not actually how—”

“I’m telling you,thatwas the evil, right there.” I pointed in the direction Rosalie had driven. “Forget stupid wolves. The evil is Rosalie Hopkins. She’s up to something and she wants us to go to the ball on Thursday night to keep us out of the way while she does it, which is why she gave us these.” I waved the envelope with the tickets. “So what are we going to do about it?”

He took the envelope from me, slid it into the back pocket ofhis jeans, then took my hand and pulled me close. Instantly, I felt soothed—but also a little turned on. “We’re going to carry on with our plan,” he said. The rumble of his voice inside his chest felt reassuring against me. “You’re going to train Esther, and I’m going to protect you both. I do think, however, that it would be a grave mistake to eat any of those muffins.”

I couldn’t help letting out a snort of laughter. “Agreed.”

Derrick

Witches most revere those who teach, and unselfishly give of their greater knowledge and wisdom to those who ask respectfully, in order to help make the Earth a better place for all.

Rule Number Six of the Nine Rules