Frosting Disaster

by Zoe Arden

  I cocked my head to the side and gave her a quizzical look. She indicated that I should look behind me. I turned and saw Lottie sitting at one of the tables staring into her coffee.

  "She came in just a few minutes before you," Lucy told me.

  "Maybe it's a sign," I said.

  "A sign about what?" she asked.

  "That I should talk to her. I'll tell you why later," I said and walked over to Lottie's table. She looked up when I approached.

  "Ava, hi." She was holding onto her mug like it was a life support vessel instead of a mug.

  "Can I sit down?" I asked.

  "I'm afraid I'm not very good company right now." I realized that her hands were shaking.

  "Everything okay?"

  She bit her bottom lip. I sat down and leaned in, deciding to take a chance. "Does it have anything to do with Renee Tellinger?"

  Her eyes widened. "How did you know?"

  "I saw the two of you outside Sweets n' Treats."

  Her skin went pale.

  "I..." She cast her eyes down, unable to look me in the face. Whatever suspicions I'd had about her faded; they were replaced with sympathy. Lottie looked miserable.

  "Hey, what is it? You can tell me. Renee is bad news. If she's making you do something you don't want to do..."

  Lottie shook her head. Her brow crinkled. "She has my picture."

  My heart froze. "Your picture?"

  "A picture of me performing magic when I thought no one was around. I-I was meeting with her to beg her to give it back."

  "What did she say?"

  "She laughed at me." Her voice cracked. "She said she'd only give it back if I could get her something better, like a wand. I told her no way."

  I reached across the table and took her hand. "Renee did the same thing to me." Her head shot up. "She snapped my picture a week or so ago. I've been trying to get it back ever since but I haven't had any luck."

  "Are you serious?" She looked almost as relieved as she sounded. I knew how she felt. It helped to know you weren't alone.

  My phone buzzed suddenly. Trixie was calling. "Just a sec," I told Lottie, squeezing her hand and put the phone to my ear.

  "Hello?"

  "Ava, have you seen my wand?"

  "Your wand? No, why? Don't you have it?"

  "I did... I guess I just... I must've misplaced it. It's just that I've looked everywhere for it."

  "The last time I saw it, it was in your apron pocket," I told her.

  "That's what I thought. I went outside to take out some trash and realized later it was missing."

  "Did you check the alley? Maybe it fell out when you were taking out the trash."

  "Yes, of course, but it wasn't there. At least I didn't see it."

  "Did you ask Eleanor?"

  She hesitated. "I'm not feeling well enough to deal with your Aunt Eleanor just now. She'll only get mad."

  "What about my dad?"

  She sighed. "All right. I'll ask him."

  "I'll be back in a few minutes. Just try to think of anywhere else it might have fallen out."

  "I'll try but I'm afraid it's gone for good."

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  CHAPTER

  TWENTY-SIX

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  I hurried to the bakery, almost forgetting Trixie's Brass Monkey. When I got back to Mystic, I could tell by the look on Eleanor's face that Trixie had told her the wand was missing. Her eyes seethed irritation. She was standing with her hands on her hips, looking very much like a mother who was chastising her child for breaking an expensive family heirloom.

  "How could you be so careless?" Eleanor said.

  My father was standing nearby. "It must be here somewhere. It wouldn't have gotten up and walked away." He paused and looked at Trixie for a moment. "Would it?"

  I set Trixie's drink aside and linked elbows with her. "I'll help her find it," I said, spinning her toward the back room in an effort to get her out of there. Her face was an alarming shade of pink that looked a little too unnatural on her, like someone had powdered her all over with blush.

  "I bet it's out by the dumpsters. I'll help her look," I yelled back over my shoulders as we pushed through the door.

  Trixie looked at me gratefully.

  "Thank you."

  "It's okay. I bet we find it. Now, show me exactly what you did when you came back here. Let's reenact the whole event."

  She grabbed a nearly empty garbage bag from one of the trashcans as if it were full, held it with one hand, opened the alley door with her other, and walked into the alley. She tossed the bag over the side of the dumpster and looked at me.

  "Is that it?" I asked.

  "Yes. One minute I had my wand, the next I didn't. I never even heard it drop."

  I scratched my head. "You didn't walk around to the other side of the trashcan or down to the end of the alley or anything?"

  "No." She snapped her fingers. "There is one thing. I dropped the trash bag when I was throwing it in. I don't know how, it was such a silly thing to do." She bent down and pretended to pick up the fallen trash bag. She threw the imaginary one into the bin.

  "Hmm... it could have fallen out when you bent over. But then it should be right here, in plain view."

  I walked over to where she was standing and searched the ground. The area around the dumpster was quite messy. There were cupcake wrappers and paper coffee cups and all sorts of things. The windstorm the other day had blown everything around and we hadn't had a chance to clean it up yet. I Trixie handed me a pair of plastic gloves she had in her pocket and I began moving the trash around, throwing it into the bin as I worked. Trixie went back inside the bakery, returned with some gloves for herself, and began doing the same.

  "It shouldn't be so difficult to find your wand if it was here," I said. "Was there anyone else in the alley? Maybe someone found it and—"

  I pushed aside an empty egg carton and my breath caught in my chest. "Oh, no."

  "What? Did you find it? It's not broken, is it? I suppose I can have it repaired. I hardly ever use the thing, just when I'm sick or haven't slept much."

  "No, I didn't find it." My voice was low. Trixie's face fell.

  "Oh." She took a deep breath. "What is it then?"

  I reached out with tentative fingers and groaned as I picked up the four leaf clover pendant and the broken chain that lay nearby. I held it up for Trixie to see. "It's Renee Tellinger's necklace."

  Trixie's bottom lip twitched. "It could just be a coincidence."

  I looked at her. "There are no coincidences with Renee. She must have been sneaking around out here and found your wand. She's probably got it back at Damon's right now."

  "What should I do?"

  "I'll handle it," I told her. "Once I tell Damon she's got your wand, there's no way even he can deny that she's gone too far. He'll help me get it back."

  Trixie pursed her lips but said nothing. I could tell she was blaming herself for this mess but the truth was it could have happened to anyone. When I'd first come to the island, how many times had I stuck my wand into an apron pocket or left it lying around where I shouldn't have?

  I hurried to Damon's place. It seemed like it took forever to get to Mistmoor Point but I was improving my speed spells every time I made the trip. It only took about an hour this time, maybe a tad longer. In that time, my anger only grew. By the time I rang his doorbell, I was a ball of fury.

  Luckily for Renee, she wasn't alone when I showed up.

  "Ava," Damon said, surprised to see me. I pushed past him and went right up to Renee, who seemed to shrink back.

  "Where is it?" I demanded.

  Damon came up beside me. "Hey!" he shouted. "You can't just bust in here like that."

  "Your mom stole Trixie's wand," I said.

  He blinked uncertainly. "My mom's not a thief," he said, turning to her.

  "Of course, I'm not," Renee said
but her face was red. "I don't know anything about your aunt's wand. I've never seen it before in my life."

  "Liar," I snapped.

  "Watch what you say about my mom," Damon snapped back.

  "Where are your friends?" I asked Renee, ignoring him. "Are they hiding, or are they out snooping around trying to steal more stuff?"

  "They went to the beach," Renee said haughtily. "Not that it's any of your business."

  "Which room is yours?" I headed down the hallway that led to two bedrooms, saw Damon's stuff in one, and assumed the other must be the guest room Renee was using. I was pretty sure from the way the living room looked her friends were all taking turns on the couch, the others camping out on the floor.

  "Ava, stop," Damon yelled, grabbing hold of my shoulder. "You can't just start going through my things. or my mother's. I want you to leave. Now."

  "I'll leave after I find the wand."

  Renee's voice rang shrilly through the air. "Trixie's wand is not here, I tell you."

  I turned to her with arched eyebrows. "I never said it was Trixie's wand."

  Damon got a strange look on his face, like he was having conflicting emotions. His eyes widened. "Mom... how did you know it was Trixie's wand she's looking for?"

  "Who else would be so ditzy as to lose something so precious? Eleanor knows better."

  I could tell Damon wanted to believe her but he wasn't quite buying it. He also wasn't ready to listen to me yet, though, either.

  "Don't open that," Renee snapped at me. She grabbed a tote bag from me and practically threw it across the room out of my reach. I moved to pick it up again.

  "Ava!" Damon shouted, blocking my path. "Get out or I'm calling Sheriff Maxwell." Lincoln Maxwell was the sheriff of Mistmoor Point.

  "Fine, call the sheriff," I said. "Maybe when I show him this—" I held up the broken necklace I'd found in the dumpster alley— "he'll arrest your mom for theft."

  Renee gasped. "My necklace!" Her hand moved automatically to her throat, where the necklace should have been. She looked at Damon, who looked suddenly confused. "I mean, it looks like my necklace but I don't think it is."

  Damon stepped closer, examining it. "It's yours," he said.

  "Well, there must be a thousand of those. It's not like it was one of a kind. Costume jewelry, that's all." She was biting her lip and looking nervous.

  Damon stared at her before turning back to me.

  "Where did you get this?"

  "Outside the bakery by the dumpsters. The same spot Trixie thinks she dropped her wand."

  Damon's eyes narrowed and I could tell that he was finally giving in to the truth. "Mother..."

  "What?"

  "Did you take Trixie's wand?"

  "I've never stolen anything in my life."

  He sighed. "I'm not saying you stole it but did you find it?"

  Renee hesitated, which was apparently enough for Damon. Instead of snapping at me again, he started snapping at her.

  "Mom, you can't take someone's wand. That's going way too far."

  She paused and I could see she was considering her next words. "Let's say I did take it. So what? If a witch is too foolish to hold onto her wand, then they shouldn't have it anyway, don't you think?"

  "No, I don't!" Damon yelled at his mother, whose eyes widened to saucers.

  "You don't know what you're saying," Renee said. "Ava and that other monster you’re so fond of have bewitched you."

  "Don't talk about Betsey like that," he snapped.

  "I'll talk about her any way I choose." She let out a huff of air. "At least she's only a fairy. This one here," she pointed at me, "is just evil. Pure evil. She hexed you the first time you met and you never even saw it but I did."

  "I've never hexed Damon," I shouted, furious. I was sick of his mom and her accusations.

  "Am I supposed to believe the word of a witch?" she asked.

  "Ava's a good person, Mom. I wish you could see that."

  Renee rounded on him. "It's true then, isn't it?"

  "What's true?" Damon asked, looking at me. I shrugged.

  "You're still dating her, aren't you? The fairy wasn't enough for you, was it? You needed a witch, too. Did you ever even stop seeing Ava or was it all a lie?"

  "You're being ridiculous," Damon shouted. "All this time I've been defending you even when you didn't deserve it. Now I look like a fool. Even worse, I feel like one." He was shaking his head. I felt bad for him and patted his back, trying to comfort him. "I should never have let you and your friends stay with me."

  "Ava will bring you nothing but trouble," his mom said, not even listening to him. Damon's face was red and pinched. I'd never seen him so angry.

  "So what if I was dating her?" Damon asked, fed up. "What do you really think would happen?"

  "One kiss from her is all it would take to destroy you. Your soul could never survive it."

  "One kiss, huh?" Damon yelled, and before I could stop him, he grabbed my hand and pulled me to him. His lips found mine, warm and soft. He kissed me hard and my heart hammered in my chest. I'd forgotten how nice his kisses could be... but this was wrong. He pulled away before I could and glared at his mother.

  "Does it look like I lost my soul?" he asked, glaring at her.

  "You're not the man I raised," his mother said.

  "And you're not the woman I've always looked up to." He was still holding my hand. He pulled me outside with him, leaving his mother alone with her own thoughts and Trixie's wand, which it seemed like I would never get back.

  * * *

  CHAPTER

  TWENTY-SEVEN

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  Damon let go of my hand once we'd reached the bottom of the stairs and gotten out of sight of his mother. He continued walking at a fast pace, hardly looking back to see if I was still with him. I couldn't shake the feeling of his lips on mine. I'd liked it and hated it at the same time. The part of me that had liked it, though, was the part of me stuck in the past—it was hard to squelch the feelings of a first flame. Until his return to the island, I'd hardly even thought about Damon. That was thanks to Colt.

  Colt. I sighed as I thought his name and pictured his face. He would be furious. He would be hurt. I loved him, and though we sometimes had our problems—like his jealousy, his inability to trust me to take care of myself, and a few other things that sprang to mind—I couldn't see spending my time with anyone but him. Even when Damon and I had dated, I'd known we were all wrong for each other. With Colt, everything felt right. It was so much easier with him than it had ever been with Damon. I couldn't lose that.

  "Damon, slow down," I said, tired of running after him. My voice was breathy but still strong enough to deal out the anger I was holding inside me.

  He slowed and turned to look behind him. His face was red as a cherry. I realized that the reason he'd been moving so fast wasn't just to get away from his mom—it was to get away from me. He was embarrassed.

  "What was that in there?" I demanded. My heart was hammering in my chest. Even though part of me had thought the kiss felt good, the larger part of me was angry beyond words. "You can never do that again! You should never have done it in the first place."

  "I know," he said, nodding.

  "I love Colt. He's my boyfriend. You and I were finished long ago. You saw to that, not me. It's too late for us."

  There. If that didn't clarify things for Damon, nothing would.

  "Ava..." he said, shrugging apologetically. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me." He looked miserable. His cheeks were red but the rest of his face was a pale white. It looked like someone had painted him with acrylics, smearing red all over his cheeks in some bizarre effort to make him look like a clown.

  "I should never have..." His voice trailed off. His head drooped toward the ground.

  I gulped and tried to clear my head. Was I overreacting? The kiss hadn't really felt roman
tic. It had been nothing more than a way to irritate his mother; an act of rebellion. I knew that. Slowly, the pounding in my heart began to subside and my head cleared.

  "You were upset," I said, deciding that was the easiest and least painful way to explain what had just happened.

  "If Betsey knew I'd kissed you... she's already jealous." He was shaking his head. His eyes were watery.

  "If Colt knew, I'd been in just as much trouble as you."

  "But it wasn't your fault. You didn't do anything, that was all me."

  I didn't contradict him; he was right. Knowing that he was right made me feel just a tiny bit better. Kissing Damon wasn't something I would ever have done on my own. My conscience would never allow me to do something like that to Colt. I cared about him far too much to hurt him like that. How would he react when I told him what had happened?

  "Maybe it's better if we just don't say anything," I said. "Either of us. I mean... I doubt your mom is gonna say anything to anyone. And it didn't mean anything, right?"

  "That's true." Damon let out a heavy breath. "Okay. Fine. We won't say anything and I swear never to touch you like that again."

  I was glad that was settled but it still left a whole heap of questions unanswered. Like where was the wand and how could I get it back? It was probably in the same spot she'd stored my picture as well as Lottie's. Part of me just wanted to get back to Sweetland Cove. I was sick of being here. I wanted to lie down with Snowy and hear Colt's warm, reassuring voice on the phone but I didn't want to return without the wand. What would Trixie say? I'd totally let her down. I'd told her I could handle it and then I'd only succeeded in messing things up even more.

  "I'll look for the wand next time my mom goes out," Damon said, reading my mind.

  "Thanks but who knows if it will even still be there by that time. I mean, will your mom even still be there when you get back?" After the fight they'd had, I wasn't sure Damon was likely to see his mom anytime soon.