Page 29 of The Magic We Made

“Exactly what I was going to say.”

She grins at my sarcasm. “Okay. So yourraison d’êtreis finding lost things and cats showing up whenever you call them.”

“No, I told you, lost things find me. The cat thing, though... in retrospect, I don’t know if the cat thing counts as a superpower. It’s just something that happens a lot. I’m pretty lucky, I guess. Most people don’t get to do what they love for a living.”

Now both of those dark, slender eyebrows are raised questioningly. “Does your employment as a financial advisor allow you to do much finding of lost things?”

“Oh, sure. Investment opportunities. Houses. Pets. Even people. You’d be surprised.” I grin at her, pleased by the conversation. I haven’t lied to her—not once. Truthfulness is as important in my line of work as it is in hers.

But so is a well-placed lie.

“I’m sure I’d be surprised, too.” Suddenly, she’s rising to her feet. “Unfortunately, that’s all the time we have. My sister Angie is calling me.” She shows me her phone, which she’s dug out of the pocket of those form-fitting cutoffs. On the vibrating screen is a photo of a woman who looks a lot like Francesca, but with a mullet. “I have to answer this. And anyway, it’s stopped raining. You can go home now.”

I glance around. She’s right, it’s stopped pouring. There are still drips coming down from the roofline, but the clouds have begun to move away. There’s even a hint of pink sunlight showing in the west.

“Wow,” I say, my heart sinking. “So it has.”

This was it! My one chance to impress Francesca Giovanni with my wit and boyish charm, and it’s over already. She’s lifting the phone to her ear to answer it. “Hi, Angie. Can you hang on a minute?”

Then she lowers the phone and looks at me expectantly. “Do you mind?”

“Oh, sure.” I have to claw my way out of the sofa, I’ve sunk so far back into the cushions. But eventually I’m able to climb to my feet. “Don’t worry about it. I can show myself out.”

“Great.” She’s already whirling away, pacing as she chats with her sister. “No, Ange, I told you that I’m not going. I RSVP’d no to Dina last week....”

“Okay.” I wave at her from the front door. “So I guess I’ll see you around. Good luck with the cat.”

She waves back, but vaguely. She’s fully focused on her conversation. “Because I don’tdoengagement parties, Angie. You know that. Look what happened at mine, for Christ’s sake.”

I slip outside. The air feels cooler than it did before the storm. Cooler and fresher. Rainwater is dripping noisily from Francesca’s roof and the treetops around her house. The dark clouds have vanished, leaving a sky that’s turning pink and lavender from the setting sun. I can hear a mourning dove cooing somewhere above me.

“Oh, yeah?” Francesca is still on the phone. “Well, that’s not an incentive for me, Angie, because unlike you, I don’t attend events merely to network for more clients. How could I? I can’t tell if someone is suffering from financial stress just by looking at them, the way you can tell if someone needs a cut and color.”

I go down the porch steps. Francesca’s lawn has turned into a mess from the lack of grass, the dryness of the soil, and the soaking from all the rain. I feel my foot squelch down into the mud.

That’s when it occurs to me.

I’m starting to like it here in West Harbor. I like it here a lot.

Emma

The rain takes us all by surprise—even Haley.

“This is a sign,” she tells us as the ground grows muddy beneath our feet. “A sign he’s getting closer!”

I’m still not sure who “he” is and I can’t ask because it looks as if everyone else knows exactly what she’s talking about. That can only mean that I’ve missed something important, and if Haley finds out, I’ll be in trouble. Again.

“We need to form a defensive ring,” Haley insists. “We need to come together to ask Hecate for her love and protection!”

This is easier said than done since the second the raindrops started to hit, Haley ran for the shelter of her tent. It’s an expensive one from REI. The rest of us only have strips of plastic sheeting because that’s all Haley says we need. Hecate will defend us from the elements—and Gaia.

Only I haven’t noticed Hecate doing this lately. Oh, this is the first time it’s rained—at least this much and for so long.

But Meg found a deer tick in her hair the other day. It was already attached to her scalp. I had to pick it off with tweezers, and even then, I didn’t get the whole thing.

“I think its head is still in there,” I told Meg.

“She’ll be fine,” Haley said.