Page 7 of The Magic of Discovery
The rest of the afternoon passed quickly with lots of gossip and chatter. New members to the community always brought everyone out of the comfort of their homes. It was nice though. I got to see a lot of people I hadn’t seen in a while. As I counted out the deposit after closing up shop, I couldn’t complain. Maybe these new guys would keep boosting my sales, and I could continue checking them out along with the rest of the town.
* * *
When Mavenand I got back to the cottage, the temperature was still pretty nice, which was perfect because I needed to do some fixing to that poor flowerbed that looked near death’s door. Mave scampered into the cottage through his little fox door, no doubt on the hunt for his dinner. After I walked my bike over to the garage, I took the clipboard off of the gardening shed for Frank and Arlo and checked off a few things that customers had requested.
All of our spring tree blooms were in their full glory right now, the fragrant aroma swirling through the air with each burst of wind. I made my way through the loose pea gravel pathways that separated our many gardens and flowerbeds. Stopping in front of the wilted flowers, I knelt down and brushed my hand over one of the drooping plants.
Gold and green wisps began sparking to life out of my fingertips until I looked like I was holding a sparkler in each hand. The twinkling tendrils gently caressed the stem from the ground, all the way to each leaf and each droopy petal. I closed my eyes, letting the connection I had with the earth search for the problem. The bed was well fertilized and watered, and I could sense the earthworms beneath my knees doing their part to keep the soil fresh. Pushing further into the connection, a sense of distress hit me.Maybe some kind of pest?I would have to talk to Gran about it later, see what she thought.
The gold swirls vanished, and I shoved both of my hands, palms down, into the dirt. I released a little bit of magic, the gentle brush of it sliding down my arms and into the soil, deep enough to get to the roots of the plants. I was aiming to give them just a little boost until I could figure out what exactly was going on. Using too much magic could kill these babies and give me one hell of a headache, and I was not game for either one of those outcomes. Satisfied when they started to perk up, I withdrew my hands and stood up, dusting my palms off on my jeans.
Walking back toward the cottage, a whiff of garlic and butter hit me, and my stomach gave a rumble. I pulled the screen door open, the hinges creaking with age, and slipped inside. Striding into the bathroom, I stepped up to the sink and set the water to warm. I mindlessly scrubbed my hands together, the apple cinnamon scent of the soap filling the air. Unbidden, my mind drifted back to those delicious mages above my shop. Their lease agreement was just a month to month deal, so who knew how long they’d be staying? And was I really lonely enough that I actually cared?
Once my hands were rinsed and dried, I found Gran rapping along with ASAP Rocky while she shook her little ass and stirred a pot of spaghetti sauce. I didn’t even try to stop my laughter when she belted out that she loved bad bitches and that was her fuckin’ problem.
“Welcome back, child. Dinner will be ready in a few. I trust that the renter arrived and everything was good to go?” she inquired as she took the boiling pot of pasta to the sink to strain.
“Yep. All four of them...” I mumbled, but I should’ve known Gran’s bat ears would hear the tail end of that reply.
“Did you sayfour?”
“Yeah, four guys showed up. I’ve got the signed lease agreement in my backpack for you. I showed them where everything was and that...” I was cut off as she dropped the whole pot of spaghetti in the sink, noodles bouncing up and sticking to her shirt and arms. She sprinted over to me and before I could step back from her craziness, she put her hands on my arms.
“When do I get to meet them? What are they like? Are they mages or humans? How old?” She machine gun questioned me at a rapid-fire pace that would make an auctioneer jealous.
I grabbed her hands and pulled them back down to her sides.
“Alright, alright, you thirsty bitch. Let’s set the table, and I’ll tell you all about them. How’s that?” I proposed, and she squealed and ran back over to the stove.
Well, this was going to be a really fun dinner.
* * *
Granand I enjoyed a delicious feast of salad, spaghetti, and sexual innuendos with a side of red wine. Just how we liked it. I filled her in on the four men, and she was already hungry to set her eyes on these new specimens. Her words, not mine.
I was pretty exhausted from the excitement of the day, so I quickly picked Gran’s brain about the flowerbeds. She seemed as puzzled as I was, but Gran was an extremely knowledgeable and powerful green witch. She was my mentor, and if anyone could figure out a plant problem, it was her.
Reassured we’d get to the bottom of this, I headed up to my bedroom, Maven keeping pace with me as I climbed the stairs. He always slept in bed, pressed against my side, and sleeping was his favorite thing to do. I pushed the door open, and he effortlessly jumped onto the mattress before curling into a ball on top of my boho-inspired multi-colored quilt, draping his tail across his eyes.Good night to you too, sir.
My room was full of bright colors - pinks, oranges, greens, blues. Wicker and dark wood accents were spread throughout. The master bedroom was pretty large, and I had a huge wall of windows that allowed the sun to shine in all day on the plants that dangled out of macrame plant pot holders. I dropped my backpack onto the bright pink loveseat in the corner of the room. Eyeing the pile of clothes on top of my inviting bed, I decided I better hang them up in the closet. Otherwise, they’d just get moved to the love seat for days and get wrinkled to hell.
My phone pinged in my back pocket as I opened up a dresser drawer to pull out a clean nightgown to wear to bed.Do not even judge me for that; nightgowns were created by a saint of a woman who liked to catch a breeze, and they’re comfy as fuck.
I held my phone up in front of my face and saw a text message alert from a number I didn’t recognize. Pressing my thumb on the little chat bubble icon, a smile started to grow as I read the message.
Hey, this is Kai. Would you be willing to give us a tour of the town tomorrow?
Hmm. Well, tomorrow was Sunday, so the shop was closed. Other than checking out that flowerbed problem with Gran, my schedule was pretty much wide open. I typed out a response, debating on sending it.Fuck it,I thought. Kai was a jokester and a serious flirt, so I pressed my thumb down on the send button.
Me: What’s in it for me?
I held my breath as the message went from delivered to seen, and the three little dots danced as Kai responded to my message. While I waited, I quickly stripped down and slipped my nightgown over my head. A moment later, his reply came through. Flopping down on my back, I picked my phone back up, laughter tumbling out of my chest as I read the first line.
Kai: Aside from the pleasure of being in my direct vicinity for a couple of hours, we’re thinking of doing a barbeque picnic down at the park for dinner. We’ll probably head down there around 3 to enjoy the weather and hang out. Would you like to join us? I’m an excellent griller, one of my many talents.
Me: That actually sounds really fun. I can meet you guys at the apartment at two. An hour will be plenty of time to show you around, and then we can walk down to the park. We can discuss those other talents in more detail tomorrow ;)
I was grinning so hard I thought my face was going to freeze like this.
