Page 31 of Hexes and Hiccups
“You know I have fun with you, right? No matter what it is we’re doing.”
Tessa grinned. “Oh, I know.” She raised her voice. “Ethancan’t fill the hole of a best friend, can he?”
From within the car, he let out a hearty laugh. “I wouldn’t dare.”
Daisy reached for her best friend and pressed a short kiss to her cheek. The cars honked even more now, a few of them gaining the confidence to slip by and keep zooming down Main Street. Daisy gathered herself quickly and slipped inside the cool car, shutting the door and giving Tessa a big wave from the window. Ethan quickly sped up, doing his best to ignore the onslaught of horns coming from behind him.
“Not the best getaway driver, are you?” Daisy teased as she settled into the seat, her senses overjoyed with Ethan’s lumber scenting cologne.
He sighed. “Unfortunately,” he joked, “I’m a bit out of practice. Been a few years since my last bank robbery. I hope you don’t look at me any different.”
Daisy laughed, relief flooding through her system. “You wouldn’t believe how glad I am to be here with you.”
After saying the words aloud, Daisy felt embarrassed, a burning sensation beginning to climb up her neck. She reached for her face, covering herself from his growing smile. She supposed she might never be used to his charisma or handsome smile, that she would always be at the mercy of his kind voice. In fact, she was far more embarrassed about the fact that therewere so many things she wanted to say and do with Ethan, but wasn’t confident enough to pull them off. As far as she was concerned, Ethan was still the young man she believed to be way out of her league. The man who was too well off to even consider looking at her in a way that wasn’t just for friendship.
But then, much to her surprise and relief, Ethan reached over and grasped onto her hand, intertwining his warm fingers around her own. He squeezed – once, twice, and then a third time – till his intent was as obvious as he could make it to be.
“No glader than I already am,” he whispered. “Is it the investigation?”
Daisy sighed, her eyes focusing on his hand. “More questions remain than answers,” she replied. “Or, whenever it seems we’re faced with an answer, it just becomes another question.” Daisy shrugged disheartedly. “I’ll take whatever break I can get.”
Ethan grinned. “Well, it just so happens thatIhave the best break already planned.”
They continued on driving through Willowbrook, till Ethan pulled up through a pizza joint’s drive-through, picking up his already placed order. The car filled with a wonderful smell as Daisy rested the warm boxes over her lap. There was a classic pizza with shreds of fresh basil thrown over top, the earthy and cheesy smell bringing a grumble to Daisy’s stomach. Another box was full of homemade breadsticks, just dripping with a garlic butter sauce. And there was Daisy’s favorite, stowed away in a plastic container.
“You didn’t!” Daisy squealed as she pulled the box out of the paper bag. “Cannoli!”
Flaky and fried pastry was filled with a sweet mascarpone cream, speckled with mini chocolate chips and vanilla bean. Ever since she was a girl, her mother would make them fresh every Sunday, giving Daisy the sweetest of treats every night before bed. They were quite the affair to make, and Daisycouldn’t remember the last time she allowed herself to indulge in one. Once again, her stomach grumbled, her hunger growing by the second. She slipped the box back into the bag and grinned as she looked over at Ethan.
“You’re just a sweetheart, aren’t you?”
It was, finally, Ethan’s turn to blush. He smirked sheepishly, now keeping both hands tight on the steering wheel as they neared the drive in theater. “I try,” he finally replied, his voice cracking.
Daisy leaned back in her seat as he purchased the tickets and drove through the lot. Not many cars were already there, giving them the pick of wherever they’d like to go. The screen was wide and tall, the opening credits to Swing Timealready flashing across it. Daisy tuned into the station as Ethan parked, her smile broad and eager. Within a few minutes, the opening music filled the car, bringing a comforting sense of nostalgia to Daisy’s heart. Whatever stress that had plagued her earlier that day regarding the Book of Gossip and the rumors plaguing the town quickly evaporated.
All that mattered was her and Ethan, the night only beginning. They made little plates of pizza and bread, munching away as the movie began to play in front of them. Fred Astaire’s goofball character, who’d much rather gamble and play craps than remember his own wedding, danced to his heart’s content with the beautiful and illustrious Ginger Rogers. Ringlets of blonde hair rested below her ears, her dark dress flying about as she was twirled around effortlessly. Daisy tapped to the rhythm of the music as the movie went on, her eyes wide as she watched their dance scenes.
“They never fail to enrapture me,” Daisy said as the movie neared its halfway point. “No matter how many times I’ve watched it, I always feel like it’s the first time, you know?”
Ethan nodded as he leaned back, one arm tucked over her shoulders. “It’s magical.”
She scooted closer, her head almost resting against him entirely. “Thank you for this,” she whispered. “I know it’s just dinner and a movie, but with everything going on, it’s more than you might imagine.”
“Everyone deserves a break,” he said. “Even if you’re a Coven Inquisitor.”
Daisy chuckled and then let out a heavy sigh. “I’m not sure if I’ll ever get used to that title.”
“How is the investigation going, by the way? Last we talked,” he paused, one brow raised, “all I could come up with was that Riven might have a lot of enemies. Though I know that that probably wasn’t much help.”
“It helped more than you might think,” Daisy quickly reassured him. “It’s just that there hasn’t been a single clue leading us any closer to the culprit. We find another rumor, another shred from the Book of Gossip, and that’s about it. Not even my tracking potion seemed to work right.”
Ethan was quiet as he thought for a moment. “Maybe we’re just looking at it too hard.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” he began, “at the end of the day, someone’s spreading rumors around town. Gossiping. Causing trouble just to cause trouble, you know?” Ethan shrugged. “Maybe it’s just a troublemaker looking to stir the pot a bit.”
Daisy pouted, the idea not sitting well with her. “For some reason, that feels far worse to me than a well-thought-out plan. Why is that?”
