by Martha Carr
“Sure does.” This is still fifty-fifty…
He took a deep breath and shrugged. “I took the opening in New Zealand. Bought my tickets last night.”
She nodded and gave him a huge grin, not once looking away from those blue eyes. Now she knew for sure that she wouldn’t be seeing them again for a long, long time. “Good. I’m so glad you took it.”
“You are?”
“Absolutely. How could I be upset about you fulfilling your dreams? I mean, you’ve been wanting to get into that program a long time. And you did.” She reached out to touch his shoulder, though now it felt forced.
“I did.” Jeremy chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t believe I did. But I’m going.” He squinted at her. “You sure you don’t wanna come with me?”
“Jeremy…we talked about this.”
He closed his eyes. “Yeah, I know.”
“I can’t leave. Meadowlark Tavern is one of the biggest opportunities I have to get started. I paid my dues with school. Now I get to focus on learning everything a BA in Culinary Arts couldn’t get me.” Emily dipped her head and squeezed his shoulder to make him look at her again. “We knew this was coming.”
“I know, Em. I know. It’s just different now. It’s happening.”
“Yep. When do you leave?”
“End of July.”
She stepped closer and slid her hand off his shoulder and down his arm. “We still have the summer.”
Jeremy’s brows flickered together. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I need to be…focused when I get to the Institute. And that’s gonna take me a little time anyway. You know. Now that we’re…”
“Callin’ it quits?” It’s like I’m helping him break up with me.
Gently taking her hand off his shoulder, he lowered it and held it in both of his. “You’re going to blow that entire kitchen away, Em. And when you have your restaurant, I want an invitation to the grand opening.”
She laughed. “Deal.”
“Okay. Good. You, uh…you still have a few things at my place.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Emily shook her head and squeezed his hands. “Really. Those were gifts. Everything I left in your kitchen is for you. Take them with you.”
Jeremy looked embarrassed, blinking and peering behind her into the shady trees. “Thanks,” he said. With a tug on her hand, he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her for probably the last time. He was trembling.
“All that training in New Zealand is really gonna add to what you’re doing,” she said, hugging him tight. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll poach you as my Sous Chef.”
He chuckled in her ear, then they pulled apart. Neither of them grabbed the other’s hand again; he wiped his on his robe. “I don’t think I’d be able to turn that down.” They stared at each other.
If he kisses me goodbye right now, this would be the ultimate mixed-messages bag.
Jeremy cleared his throat. “Hey, can I—”
“There she is.”
Emily glanced at her dad coming toward them down the walkway, his button-down shirt with repeated guitar print fluttering loosely around him in the small, hot breeze. “Great timing, Dad.”
Jeremy shot her a questioning frown.
She shrugged. “That was sarcasm.”
The rest of her family followed behind her father. Her mom wore a flowing dress, and she’d pulled her straight, dark hair into a high bun. All three of her daughters—Laura, Nickie, and Emily herself—had the same dark hair, yet only Emily had dark, wild curls that grew three sizes in the Texas humidity.
Laura walked a step behind their mom’s left and was about as formal as she ever got in a cotton maroon skirt and Mary Janes. Behind her, Emily noticed Nickie’s straight dark hair spilled across her bare shoulders, a paisley shawl wrapped around them. She wore two layered skirts and, knowing her, she could have arranged them like that for fun. Nickie’s boyfriend, Chuck, walked beside her, holding her hand and beaming like Nickie was the Queen of England. Nope. Just Austin’s new Queen of Blues.
“Both of you,” Emily’s mom said, glancing between Emily and Jeremy with a huge smile. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” They’d said it at the same time, and when Emily glanced up at him, he blushed.
“Good to see you guys,” Jeremy told her family. “I should probably hunt down my parents though.” He held Emily’s gaze a few seconds. “Bye, Em.”
“Bye.”
He hurried off through the milling graduates and their own families, and Emily smiled at her parents. Greg Hadstrom and Nancy Milton together in the same place. Not always the best combo.
And mom does not look happy.
3
“Way to go, college grad,” Chuck said and nudged Emily’s shoulder with a fist.
Nickie laughed when her younger sister rolled her eyes. “Hey, for real,” she said, “I’m proud of you.”
“We are so proud of you.” Their mother Nancy wrapped Emily in a huge hug and squeezed. Emily looked at her and widened her eyes in the way all of them did when their mom went just a little too heavy on the love.
“Where’s your cap?” Laura asked.
Nancy pulled away from her daughter and looked her up and down.
Emily shrugged. “I threw it.”
Nickie smirked. “I think I heard you pull a Braveheart in there too.”
Chuck let go of her hand to throw both arms over his head, his hands tensed like claws, and called, “Freedom!” Nickie smacked his arm with the back of her hand and heard her dad chuckling. Her boyfriend faked a flinch and leaned toward Emily. “Way to be different.”
“You’re supposed to get it back,” Laura cut in.
“Why?” Emily frowned. “I’m never gonna wear it again. And that tassel is the dumbest thing ever invented.”
“It’s symbolic.”
“It’s ridiculous.
Laura sighed. “You should try to find it. You might want it to look back on.”
A giggle escaped Emily’s lips. “What, you want me to frame it like yours?”
“Do I want—” A dramatic laugh escaped their sister as she tossed her head back. “No. You can do whatever you want with it. I’m just trying to be helpful. And I didn’t frame mine!” Laura glanced at their parents, then folded her arms.
“It’s okay if you did,” Nickie added, trying to lessen the tension. “Nobody’s allowed in your room anyway.” Because of all the wards she put around it…
“Well, our baby’s all grown up now,” their dad said, stepping toward Emily to wrap his arm around her shoulder. “Now she’s got the rest of her life ahead of her.”
Emily huffed. “You gotta stop saying that, Dad.”
“Well, it’s true. And now that you’re starting off on this new chapter we officially call adulthood…”
Emily rolled her eyes, glancing away.
“…your mom and I have a little something special for you. For all you girls. Right, Nancy?”
Their mom pursed her lips and took a deep breath.
“Mom?” Nickie asked. “What’s wrong?”
“The Eyes of Texas” started playing beside the Tower.
“It’s just not appropriate to discuss right now,” Nancy replied, raising an eyebrow at her ex-husband.
Emily exchanged glances with her sisters. ‘Not appropriate to discuss right now’ was their mom’s not-so-subtle code phrase for ‘We need to have a conversation about magic.’ And because Chuck was a human and had no idea that Nickie and her family were witches, that conversation wasn’t going to happen with him around. Rules were rules.
“Let’s go somewhere and sit down together,” their mom said, forcing a smile. “Celebrate Emily’s achievement.”
“Hadstrom-family style,” their dad added, wiggling his eyebrows. “I guess the surprise can wait.”
“Don’t call it a surprise, Greg.”
He raised his hands in submission. “The final word has been spoken.”
“Yes,” Emily said with a curt nod.
Laura just shrugged, and Nancy grinned. “Perfect.”
“Then let’s head out.” Greg steered Emily down the sidewalk and bent to whisper something in her ear. She laughed and shook her head. Nancy and Laura followed them, Laura tossing her arm back toward the Tower as the first few fireworks shot into the air. Their mom just patted her on the back.
Chuck wrapped his arm around Nickie as they followed her family. “Laura’s really upset about that cap,” she said.
Her boyfriend bent his head toward her. “She’s an academic professional at the school Emily just graduated from. I get why she might be a little peeved about her sister not showing a little more respect.” He stared thoughtfully at nothing. “Then again, it’s Emily. Kinda seems silly to take anything she does too serious. Unless it has something to do with food.”
“Maybe.” Nickie watched her older sister walking beside their mom. “I have a feeling Laura’s got something else going on, though. The thing that makes her upset, and the thing she’s actually thinking about, don’t tend to be the same. My mom seems weirdly distracted, too.”
“Nothing dinner at the Mean Eyed Cat can’t fix, babe. I have to talk to them anyway. Figured you might wanna play there again soon.”
She grinned. “That’s a gig I will never turn down. You’re not gonna make the whole thing about business tonight, though, right?”
He scrunched up his face in mock insult. “Do I ever?”
“Not as a general rule, no. I just wanna make sure we let today be about Em. She’s worked hard for this.”
Chuck puffed out a huge breath. “I know. School and that restaurant job? Does she ever sleep?”
“She did once. While making breakfast. Burned a souffle.”
“Ouch. She raged after that, didn’t she?”
“A little bit. I think she needs a break.” Nickie rested her head against his shoulder. “I’m so down to play at the Cat again, though. Great vibe.”
“And it’s even better when you’re on that stage.” He pulled her close and pressed a loud, exaggerated kiss on the top of her head. “God, I love your shows. They’re magical. You know that, right?”
Nicki wrapped her arm around his waist and leaned into him. You have no idea.
4
The Mean Eyed Cat on West 5th Street was packed. “Man, I’m glad we got here when we did.” Greg Hadstrom slapped both hands down onto the picnic table out back and grinned at the server headed toward them.
The girl carried an entire dinner for six on one tray. “Okay. This is pretty easy, y’all. Brisket all around…” She set their plates down and left the last one for Laura. “And chicken.” The sides came down next, followed by the requisite packets of Wet Wipes. “Y’all need anything else?”
“Yeah.” Emily caught their server’s gaze and nodded. “Can you just tell the kitchen thanks for making everything last-minute for us?”
“I’ll do that.”
“Thank you so much.”
Passing the sides around was as easy now as it always was for the Hadstrom family; they all ordered mac ‘n cheese and coleslaw. Even Chuck.
“I still can’t believe you got chicken.” Emily leaned toward Laura and peered onto her sister’s plate. “Brisket is King here, and you’re… defiling the throne.”
Laura stared at her. “I like chicken.”
“Yeah, obviously.”
From the open door into the bar itself came the rising twang of a country-rock singer and the three-man band playing in front of the lit Staag Beer sign on the back wall. Nickie smiled and glanced at her boyfriend beside her. “That sound like Marlin Harris to you?”
Chuck chewed his mouthful and cocked his head. “Actually, yeah. I didn’t know those guys were back in town.”
“You know these guys?” her dad asked before chugging half his second pint of beer.
“Come on, Dad.” Emily pointed her fork across the table at the middle sister. “Nickie knows every musician in Austin.”
Nickie laughed. “That is so not true.”
“But they all know you.”
Chuck nudged his knee against Nickie’s and smiled sideways at her. “Maybe not quite yet. But they will.”
“Okay, guys.” Nickie rolled her eyes and caught her mom’s small, approving smile. “Don’t let my career go to your heads.”
“And why not?” Greg lifted his beer. “You and I are the only ones in the family getting paid to be on stage, front and center.”
She shrugged and widened her eyes. “I mean, not technically. Shelly works onstage.”
Beside her, Nancy gasped. “Nickie.”
Emily and Chuck both snorted and glanced at each other across the table.
“What?” Nickie tried not to laugh. “I stated a simple fact.”
Her mom pressed her lips together and shook her head, though the corner of her mouth twitched anyway. “It’s really not nice to gossip about your cousin.”
“It’s not gossip, Nancy.” The girls’ dad chuckled and leaned over the picnic table toward his ex-wife. “I bet you Shelly’s sets are just about as long. And Nickie doesn’t have to give private performances.” Nickie slapped her hand over her mouth and stared at Emily, who threw her head back and cackled.
Laura looked back and forth across the table between her younger sisters. “I can’t believe you guys are comparing a professional musician to a stripper.”
Nickie tipped her beer bottle toward her older sister. “Hey, we’re comparing on-stage careers.” She glanced at Chuck and nudged him with her elbow. “Maybe we should make a bigger tip jar…”
“No,” Emily added, “just take off your clothes.”
Their dad’s booming laughter drowned out the music and all the other boisterous conversations on the back patio just after 10 p.m. on a Saturday night.
Laura dropped her hands into her lap and rolled her eyes at Nancy. “Mom…”
“Laura, it is a little funny.”
“Oh, my God.”
“Okay, that’s enough.” Nancy glanced around the table with her signature ‘cut it out or suffer my wrath’ death stare. The laughter died down, and though everyone returned their attention to their food, there wasn’t a shortage of smirking or shared glances. “I think what your dad was trying to say is that Nickie’s the first Hadstrom woman to follow her passions for performing arts.”
“Mom, I play blues.”
Laura brought a forkful of chicken toward her mouth. “Is it still considered performing arts if she never went to college for it?”
Emily snorted. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“It’s an honest question. I could walk around all day calling myself an archaeologist—”
“You do…”
“But it doesn’t mean anything without my degree or my experience in the world.”
“Archaeology and music are two wildly different things,” Chuck said, forcing back a laugh. “Nickie doesn’t need a degree to be a talented musician.”
“I didn’t need one either,” Greg added before tipping up his pint glass again.
Nancy propped her elbow on the table and gestured toward her ex-husband. “Honestly, Greg, I’m surprised you’re so willing to share the spotlight.”
“No, I know she doesn’t need a degree.” Laura blinked and stared at the top of the picnic table. “We all know she’s amazing at what she does. I’m just asking about the qualifications for something to be considered a performing art.”
“I mean, she’s performing…” Emily peeped at Nickie, stuck out her tongue, and nodded sideways at their sister.
“Yes, I know that—”
“Whoa, okay.” Nickie lifted her hands in surrender.
Laura blinked again, blushing. Emily shoved more brisket into her mouth. Chuck rubbed his foot against Nickie’s under the table. “I
think what we should be talking about right now is the fact that our baby sister just graduated college. Right?”
Emily rolled her eyes. “Always the baby.”
“Yeah, well, that’s not ever gonna change,” Laura muttered. “Unless Mom and Dad decide for some reason to—” She looked up from her plate with wide eyes to see almost everyone at the table staring at her. Only Nancy turned away, sipping her wine and pretending to be interested in the overhead lights strung across the back patio.
“What?”
“No, please keep going.” Emily nodded and gestured at her sister. “I really wanna know what you were about to say.”
Greg only chuckled and got down to business eating his dinner.
“I wasn’t gonna say anything.” Laura shook her head and went back to her chicken.
“Well, I’ve said it before,” Nancy added, lifting her wineglass toward her youngest daughter, “and I’ll say it again. I am so incredibly proud of you, Emily.”
“We all are.” Nickie raised her beer, and Chuck followed suit. “Tonight’s totally about you.”
Greg lifted an almost-empty glass. “To the baby.”
The rest of them echoed the toast and clinked glasses all around. Even Laura joined in with her cup of ice water, smiling just a little.
No one argued when Greg offered to take care of Emily’s dinner and drinks. After they paid their tabs, Chuck wrapped his arm around Nickie’s shoulders and squeezed her against him. “I should get home.”
“Aw, come on, Chuck.” Emily grinned at him.
“Yeah. I know.” He dipped his head toward Nickie. “I have a meeting with Dave at eight in the morning.”
“That’s early.”
“Well, the early worm gets eaten, and all that.”
Nickie scrunched up her face. “What?”
“Oh, you’ve never heard that one before?” Before she could answer, he grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her.
