Page 28 of A Witch in Notting Hill

“Rewind: A Manual for Counter Magic,” I said, holding my breath while I waited for his response and sensing the others doing the same.

“Aye, aRewindvolume,” he mused. “Let me see here, now,” he mumbled to himself, banging his keyboard one key at a time. “Would you look at that!”

“You have it?” Willow asked, stepping up to my side.

“Indeed I do, my dear. Right this way now.”

We followed him like moths to a flame, hot on his (very slow) heels as he wove through the stacks, clicking his tongue and humming a quiet tune. He ran his knobby knuckles over the spines, repeating the call number until he found exactly what we’d all been looking for.

“Here we are,” he said, pulling it gently from the shelf and presenting it like the grand prize it was. “Now, you can’t check it out, as I’m sure you know, but you can look at it as long as you’d like. And since you’re friends of Diane’s,” he whispered, leaning in, “I’ll look away if you take a photo.”

He returned to his desk as we thanked him profusely, assuring him we’d be out of his way long before closing time.

“I can’t believe we found it,” Willow said, turning it over in her hands. “Well, I shouldn’t saywefound it.Ididn’t do much of anything.Youguys found it.”

“Don’t be silly,” Minho said. “Lola didn’t do anything, either.”

“Does moral support count for nothing?” she argued.

“Not exactly an emotionally taxing journey, this,” I said, ignoring Lola’s middle finger when she flipped it in my face.

“Thank you,” Willow said. “Seriously. I know this might be Oliver’s job, but this kind of treatment, especially on a day off, was above and beyond. From all three of you. I’ll find a way to thank you properly.”

“Tickets to a premier wouldn’t hurt,” Lola said, and I was impossibly relieved when Willow laughed.

“I’m sure I can make that happen.” She might have been smiling, but the worry wasn’t gone from her eyes. It manifested in a glassy sheen and two identical, impossibly cute wrinkles between her brows.

“Well, go on,” Lola said. “Open it.”

“You can’t possibly be interested in this part,” Willow said. “You’ve all done more than enough. Please go back to your real lives before I feel even guiltier for taking so much of your time.”

“Are celebrities usually this humble?” Lola asked. “This feels very far from what I’ve read of Americans in general, let alone—”

“Must you always say exactly what you’re thinking?” I asked. “Seriously, is there anything stopping you from spewing your every thought directly into the universe?”

“Yeah, you,” she said, “complaining all the time.”

“Well, apparently I’m not doing it enough, since you’re still—”

“Children, please,” Minho said, taking his turn as peacekeeper. “Willow, we’ve come this far—”

“You’ve been to two stops—”

“—to not see this through. Do please open the book and let us know if it has what it needs for your gran.”

“I couldn’t bother you with all that. You don’t even believe in witchcraft, and—”

“Oliverdoesn’t believe in witchcraft,” Lola said. “Open the book, love. In case you’ve not noticed, we’re very clingy. And now we’re invested in your business, so we need to see how it plays out.”

“It might take a while . . .”

“We’ve nowhere to be except the pub,” Min said.

Willow looked at me with expectant eyes, undoubtedly awaiting my approval. It wasn’t about me, so it didn’t matter whether I believed in witchcraft. What mattered was that she got the answers she came here looking for, and that I did my job and helped a customer procure an old volume. Then she could be headed off to LA or New York or Toronto or wherever her next film would take her, and I’d head back to Coven & Codex like this never happened. A simple fact, a preferable solution, really, that shouldn’t have made my stomach turn.

“Go on,” I said, savoring the flicker in her eyes when she finally opened the book.

“Remind me again what kind of spell we’re looking for?” Lola asked.