Page 2 of Her Wild Ride

“I can do it after the market.” I shake in a dash more love spice.

“You can’t wait, Bexley. He’s in the shop now. Once he’s finished, he’ll head for a shower and find no shampoo.”

“I’m sure he has enough to hold him over.” I seal the bag and slap on the sticker. “Is that everything?”

Hattie pinches her Winifred lips. “You’ll go now.”

“I’ll go after the market.” I don’t know what these three are up to.

“Otto will be in the shower and realize he has no shampoo.” Birdie stops fidgeting with her crooked wig. “Then he’ll grab a towel and be running around with wet, bare feet—”

Trixie gasps. “And you know he has all that slippery hardwood floor.”

“Very slippery,” Birdie says dryly, with a final yank of her wig.

“Next thing you know, he’ll be slipping and falling down the stairs.” Hattie hands me a twenty-dollar bill.

“They are old crooked stairs,” Trixie says.

“That curve and bend,” Birdie says.

“He’ll twist his ankle for sure,” Hattie says matter-of-factly. “Or break an arm.”

“A leg.” Birdie’s wig falls sideways. She’s a hot mess, just like the character she plays.

Trixie covers her mouth with a gasp. “Good lord, we don’t want him breaking his leg. Then he’d be on crutches or in a wheelchair.”

Hattie snatches her change. “And how would he do the Halloween Boo Fest with a bad leg.”

“In crutches or a wheelchair.”

“Fine!” I shout it so loudly that people passing rush by.

A thin smile lifts Hattie’s lips. “And make sure to deliver it directly to his upstairs bathroom.”

I eye them suspiciously, but it’s hard to take them seriously with their costumes. “You’re all acting weird.”

“Straight upstairs.” Hattie sticks the love position in a bag under her cape. “Do not stop to chitchat. If you forget it, then Otto will be in the shower—”

“And next thing we know, he’ll be slipping and falling.” I shake the bag of shampoo. “I got it.”

“Don’t worry, child.” Trixie disguises her voice like a witch. “We’ll help your sister sell the spices.”

“I wasn’t worried. Saffron is coming back.”

“You two ladies look bootiful.” Trixie lures a mother and daughter into the booth with her witchy ways.

I grab my purse and sling it over my shoulder.

I snatch the bag from Hattie. The boss witch holds it firm. “Straight to his upstairs bathroom.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I give a final wave. “Cheers, witches. Don’t drink and fly!”

Otto’s motorcycle repair shop is at the end of a side street that runs off the green. The gray-painted shop sits on the corner with four purple bay doors and a large neon purple sign reading“Otto’s Cycle Center.”

I try to hurry past the shop as instructed, but it’s hard when Otto’s daughter is my lifelong best friend, and all his sons know me.

“Hey, Bex!” Alyx half waves at me. He’s the youngest Creed sibling, but that doesn’t mean he’s not as built as the rest of his brothers. The Creed boys are all muscle, greased up with oil splats.

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