Page 65 of Potions and Proposals
A couple of school kids brushed past her as they left Stoker’s, and Lucy noticed a pumpkin pie in the window. Benedict’s favourite. Maybe she could get some as a small way of saying thank you for last night.
Faye waved through the window from behind the counter. Lucy took it as a sign and went inside, happy to see her old school friend. Faye rarely worked out front, or during the day for that matter.
“Hey – sorry I haven’t texted you. I wanted to congratulate you on your binding.” Faye beamed, taking Lucy’s hands. Lucy noted that she was wearing long sleeves, and that she pulled back quickly.
“No worries at all. You really don’t have to be sorry,” Lucy said quickly, not wanting Faye to feel like she’d noticed anything. “The situation between me and Benedict is rather complicated.”
“When Ian told me, I didn’t believe it. I remember when you flooded his locker!”
Faye had cut her hair short, cropped just below her ear. It suited her, and it was a sign that things were going better. The last time they’d hung out, she’d used her hair to cover the bruises.
The memory made Lucy’s hands sizzle, and she removed them from the wooden counter just in case.“I forgot about that,” she admitted. She couldn’t even remember why she’d wanted to flood it.
“In fairness, he did light your hockey stick on fire.” There it was.
“I wouldn’t have minded so much if the coach hadn’t given me detention.” Lucy had hated hockey and was terrible at it, but Foxford Prep had a mandatory sports policy for the first three years. Supposedly, it helped the students manage their stress so nobody accidentally used their element and destroyed the school.
“We were so close back then.” Faye’s smile faded. Lucy wished they hadn’t drifted apart. She blamed Ian for isolating her. Faye and Ian had married right after school, and he wasn’t the kind of man she wanted for her friend. Or anybody.
“We’re still close. You can stop by the house or the library whenever you like,” she said cheerfully.
“If I could ever get the time. Now, what can I get for you?” Faye asked, returning to the cheery version of herself she put on for customers.
“Pumpkin pie,” Lucy ordered.
“You hate pumpkin!” Faye exclaimed, reaching into the front window to wrap up the freshly prepared pie.
“It’s not for me,” she admitted. Hopefully Benedict wouldn’t think she was being presumptive, just turning up with a pie, but she reminded herself that Gwendoline had given her a mission. She couldn’t believe she was looking for excuses to see him.
“I suspected as much.” Faye boxed it up with a gold ribbon.
Lucy didn’t know what to say. “I saw Luisa and Harriet for the Autumn Equinox. They asked what you were up to, and I said you might join us next time.”
Faye stilled. “A pity I missed them, but maybe next time.”
It was always next time, and Lucy knew better than to ask why. Working out front in the shop meant Faye was gaining confidence. Lucy didn’t want her friend to hide again to escape the questions those who loved her wanted to ask.
“How is Ian?” she asked quietly, afraid of being shut down. “Rosie mentioned he’s working in the Clover pub now?”
Ian had had more jobs than most in Foxford. He couldn’t keep one to save his life, and if he hadn’t been of magical descent, he would’ve been kicked out of the town long ago. Not that the coven hadn’t tried, but when it became clear that he would take Faye with him, they’d all silently agreed that it was best to endure him for her sake.
Avoiding Lucy’s gaze, Faye went to the till. “He’s the same. Works long hours, which keeps him away from home, and then he’s usually asleep during the day, but he loves it,” she said.
Lucy tried to conceal her relief. Ian being away from home was great news. “I’m glad things are better.”
“They are, at least for now. I don’t know what Ian would’ve done if Benedict hadn’t got him that job. I only got to thank him the other day,” Faye said gratefully.
“Benedict found him the job?” Lucy struggled to hide her surprise. Benedict had voted for Ian to be banished from the town. She didn’t know why he’d go out of his way to help Ian after being so vocal about his banishment. In fact, it’d been one of the few things they’d agreed upon.
“After the last incident, no one would hire him. I don’t know what Ian would’ve done if he hadn’t put in a good word for him,” Faye said, hope dancing in her eyes.
Lucy wished she cared more for herself than the man who’d hurt her for years. It had started a few months after Faye’s wedding; shouts and breaking glass had been heard late at night from their cottage on the edge of town. Lucinda had tried to intervene by telling her mum about the bruises she’d seen, though Faye had brushed it off as nothing. As High Priestess, and a concerned mum, Wilhelmina had tried to counsel Faye, but it hadn’t made a difference. Since then, the job at the bakery had at least given her some independence– a job Wilhelmina had convinced Ian to let Faye accept.
“We all would’ve done anything to keep you in town,” Lucy said, grateful to Benedict for helping when no one else could.
“At least I got to pay him back in a small way,” Faye said, making an iced tea. Lucy hadn’t ordered one, but Faye knew it was her favourite.
“Pay him back?” Lucy frowned.
