Page 21 of Impractical Magic

“There you go.”

“Won’t someone please think of the Earls?”

When Nate grinned at her, Scarlett grinned back, and she suddenly realized that there were no bad feelings here, just complicated ones, and she didn’t want the moment to ever end.

But then they heard the ringing of the cruel little bell on the front door.

“You have a customer,” she said regretfully.

“Never stops,” he replied.

“I guess I better go. Mama’s waiting on all this gear. Do I pay you, or—”

“Nah, your mom’s got a tab. So, uh. I’ll see you. Around. I guess.”

“I’ll see you.”

She moved to leave but Nate’s voice stopped her. “Scar . . . You don’t have to punish yourself, you know.”

Scarlett turned back. “Punish myself, how?”

“San Francisco. Your whole Exile on Lombard Street thing. Living like some muggle instead of a witch? I mean, I get it, you felt responsible for your dad . . .”

“San Francisco’s not a punishment.”

“Working in some office? Sure sounds like self-inflicted punishment to me.”

“It’s great, I love my life there.”

“Really?”

“My job is very—” Scarlett stopped herself. She could lie to her sisters, to her mother, she could even to herself, but somehow she couldn’t bring herself to lie to him. “It’s . . . occasionally . . . interesting . . . And occasionally . . . not so much. But all jobs involve a certain amount of drudgery, don’t they?”

“I’m just saying, I’ve seen the so-called real world outside Oak Haven, and I know it’s no picnic.”

“Sure, but living in Oak Haven isn’t always such a— Hang on one second. What do you mean, you’ve seen the so-called real world?”

Nate blanched. He looked away, seemingly at a loss to respond. “Uh. No, I just—”

“I’m sorry, are you saying you have left Oak Haven?” The warm and fuzzy feeling in Scarlett’s chest turned cold and sharp. For years she’d been telling herself that Nate never visited her in San Francisco because the Forgetting Spell prevented him from leaving home. But apparently that wasn’t the case? “So . . . you’re saying you did take the risk.”

“Well . . .”

“Just not for me.”

“Scar, I—”

“Where’d you go, Nate? What were the fantastic sights you left Oak Haven to see? Grand Canyon? Disney World, maybe? Or did you get all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge and then not call?”

“It wasn’t remotely like that,” Nate protested. “You’re overreacting.”

“Am I? Because what I’m hearing is that you could have left Oak Haven. You just wouldn’t leave to visit me.”

“No, that’s not fair.”

“Whatever, Nate. I have to go.” She could feel tears pricking her eyes and there was no chance she’d let him see. “This room stinks to high heaven by the way—the least you could do is buy a fan.” She left him standing there without looking back.

Nate sighed. “Ah shit.”