Page 3 of Hexes and Hiccups
“Consider it done.”
2
Daisy
Willowbrook, still plunged into the height of tourist season, was abuzz with townspeople and outsiders passing through as Daisy and Tessa made their way back to Fields’ Herbals.The weather was exceptionally warm with a decent breeze, so they walked from Gray Manor back towards Main Street. Business for the shop remained bustling, and though Daisy felt like she was being pulled in two different directions sometimes, her business and the rest of her life, she wouldn’t want it to be any other way. Besides, as she glanced over at Tessa to her right, who remained eerily quiet, Daisy believed the business to be a blessing, a much-needed reprieve from the strife at hand.
“How is Steve doing?” Daisy asked, desperate to see the despair taken off her friend’s angular face.
Tessa blinked a few times, shaking her head as though she was pulled out of a reverie. “He’s in Sarasota,” she replied. “When we spoke last night, he seemed to be on the brink of something good with the company.”
Daisy watched her, waiting for Tessa to regain some of her spunk.
They continued walking, and eventually, the silence seemed to pick at the wall Tessa was holding up around her heart. “Though,” she drawled, “before he left, Steve planted new daffodils in the garden.”
“Those are your favorite.”
Tessa beamed. “They are.”
The next words hesitated on the tip of Daisy’s tongue. She wanted to talk more about the situation they found themselves in, the mission they had taken from the Council. As Coven Inquisitors, it was their duty to act as the eyes and ears of the Elders, something they were both more than excited to do earlier in the week. But, as the questions and concerns arose from the note found within Riven’s petrified hands, Daisy could not shake the feeling that lingered in the back of her mind. There was something else going on with the case, something they had yet to uncover.
“I know what you’re thinking.”
Daisy glanced at Tessa. “Well, if you’re a telepath, I –”
“You don’t have to go through this alongside me,” Tessa interjected, her voice growing somber despite the joke Daisy tried to make. “I know, considering everything, that the Council doesn’t trust me. If you can’t, I-I can understand that, too.”
“Tess,” Daisy murmured, pausing in the middle of Main Street’s sidewalk. She held onto her friend’s hands, pulling her away from the oncoming row of tourists. “There isn’t anyone else in Willowbrook that I’d want to do this with. Do you think I would’ve taken up the position as a Coven Inquisitor if you weren’t given one too?”
“Why? The note said –”
“Everything we’ve done for Willowbrook happened because of the two of us,” she said in a firm voice. “Not just me, and not just you. The only way we managed to succeed was because of working together, not apart. You see that, don’t you?”
Tessa shrugged.
“All I needed to hear was that the note wasn’t true.” Daisy smiled. “That was enough for me.”
“How?”
“Itrustyou, Tess. Sometimes, things can be as simple as that.”
Tessa took in a deep breath and let her eyes close. She remained like that for a moment or two before her eyes popped back open, a smile slowly tugging across her face. She squeezed Daisy’s hands, the fear slowly disappearing from all around her.
“If you say so,” she said.
Daisy tucked her arm around hers, beginning to lead her back towards Fields’ Herbals.“I’m sure we’ll be quite busy today,” she mused.
“Looks to be a lot of people out today,” Tessa said as she looked across the street. “I mean,lotsof people.”
Daisy followed her gaze. Almost directly across from the shop was a salon, the most popular one in town. Many people went there, Daisy and Tessa included. While there was normally a steady trickle of people flowing in and out of the salon’s doors, that wasn’t what was happening then. A group was beginning to grow in front of the squared windows, their murmurs growing so loud that they could hear them from across the street. More people flocked there with every passing minute, causing Daisy’s curiosity to increase.
“Maybe Lora’s running another sale,” Tessa mused.
Daisy huffed. “Without telling us? We supply her with ointments every few days. If we’re not the first on the list –”
Tessa was already tugging her, trying to get across the street. “You don’t have to tell me twice.”
They waited for a few cars to pass, then Daisy and Tessa jogged across the street, joining the group of people outside of the popular salon. The lights were on inside, and a few peoplewere passing by the window as they worked. The more peculiar thing was how none of the onlookers were trying to get inside. They merely crowded around the front window, pointing at it and continuing their murmurs. Daisy, who was shorter than most people, stood high on her toes, desperate to get a look at what their attention was focused on. Though she never wanted to consider herself a gossip, the herd mentality grabbed ahold of her just as much as the next person.
