Morning Magic

by Meriam Wilhelm

  “On a good note, isn’t it awesome to see how our neighbors all pulled together to fix the city up? I even saw some of those snotty New Moon Beach City Council members with brooms in their hands Weren’t Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz so cute with their coffee and bagels?” I stopped for a moment realizing that neither sister had still said a thing; except to shoo Miss Cassandra away.

  Constance looked at Harmony and then sat back on the couch, leaving Harmony to lead the way.

  “Olivia, do you know how many people you could have hurt? How many people now have to find the money to fix their homes and shops all because of your one selfish spell?”

  “What I did may have ended up badly, but I did not do it out of selfishness,” I responded.

  “Yeah, Harmony, I think that Olivia was a little misguided and pretty heartbroken,” commiserated Constance, “but she is never selfish.”

  “Well, poor little Olivia, she has a broken heart; Frank Mathers has a broken arm, Mel Jackson has a broken roof and our city now has a broken budget,” Harmony said with fire pouring from her eyes. “You played with magic like it was your slave to order about. But guess what, that’s not how magic works.”

  “I know. Dad already talked to me about that,” I said quietly. “What do you want me to do about it Harmony? Do you want to burn me at the stake like they did with witches in the past? There’s not much that I can do except to say that I am sorry.”

  “Olivia, spell making can be inherently dangerous. That is why neither Harmony nor I ever do a spell without the other one present. Every spell has to be thought out in detail. Unfortunately, I think that you let your emotions get the better of you. You just can’t do that when it comes to magic,” said Constance. “The strength of your emotions super powered your spell, Olivia.”

  “And hey kitty cat, you are supposed to be around to help her. Where were you in all of this mess?” she asked, looking directly at Miss Cassandra. As if she had just been insulted, Miss Cassandra jumped down, turning her back on us all she walked away.

  “In answer to your question, Olivia, yes, I am very proud of how our community stepped up. I’m just sorry that things had to happen the way they did,” said Harmony. “This city really needs the money that the new hotel would bring in. I agree that the location they selected was not ideal for all of us and I was working on suggesting an alternate spot before this whole mess erupted.”

  “What do you mean, Harmony? Were they actually considering a different site?” I asked.

  “Jonathan had been pushing his dad hard to look at a few sites up in the hills. He was touting it as the best of both worlds. Guests would have the beautiful hills to meander in, cliff side bluffs to walk by and a cute little village to venture down in for shopping. It even surprised me that he was pushing his dad so hard to make the move,” Harmony ended.

  “Why didn’t you share any of this with me Harmony? Why did you keep this to yourself?” I cried.

  “Because his dad is a jerk and to tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure if he was even listening to Jonathan. It’s all about the almighty dollar with his dad. Now, I guess that his dad is threatening to fire Jonathan, take this job away from him and move any future hotel discussions away from New Moon Beach. I can’t tell you how sorry I will be if that happens.”

  “You mean because Jonathan will lose his job or because New Moon Beach will lose a hotel?” I asked.

  “Both,” was the answer given in unison by both of my sisters.

  My head was spinning. I had messed up so many things that I really didn’t know which way to turn. Moving into my kitchen I refreshed my sister’s mugs of coffee. What do I do now? I wondered. Moving back towards the living room, I overheard Constance ask Harmony, “Did I hear Olivia say that she had talked to dad?”

  Oh yeah; one more thing that I had to share with my sisters.

  Chapter 16

  Things had finally started to calm down in New Moon Beach. Power was back on and our streets were looking shiny and clean; no more palm fronds or sand where they didn’t belong. Life was actually getting back to normal.

  I had sent a box of Gino’s flip flop cookies to Jack, the security guard, along with a short get well note. I’m sure that he was still wondering who the heck Olivia Merriman was. I had also invited Mr. and Mrs. Jackson to join us for our September Couples Crafting Class, on the house of course. I told them that I felt bad about them losing half their roof and wanted to reach out; neighbor helping neighbor. I never let on that I was the cause of their roof disaster, how could I? I wanted to do more for the rest of the city members, but that would have to do for now.

  Things had also returned to normal between Gail and me. We had had a very long talk and had agreed that my days of spell making were over for a while. And she had shared with me that things between she and Larry were going well; maybe better than well. They had been having dinner together for the last couple of nights. Gail had a glow about her that I don’t think I had ever seen before and I must confess that I was a little jealous. Larry had told Gail how funny he thought it was that we had thought he and Harmony were having a “thing.”

  I wondered if she had confided in Larry that she was a witch, and if not - why had he drawn a witch in one of his bench designs? And how had he gotten past Constance’s ward at the City Council meeting? Stranger and stranger. I would have to ask him soon or maybe I’d ask Gail to find out.

  Our classes continued to be full as summer was coming to an end. Within a very short time, our shop had become well known around the city of New Moon Beach. And I was even surprised to see new customers from neighboring cities starting to pop in. I had spent a lot of late nights updating our website and my dad had actually been quite helpful perfecting some of our on-line ordering software. Who knew he had such talent?

  With the holidays on the horizon, I had begun ordering Christmas and Chanukah prints, red, green and blue felt squares and jingle bells galore. And Gail and I were busy creating future craft classes for children; something new that we were adding to our class offerings. The holidays and kids just seemed to go together and so inviting them into our craft classes seemed like the thing to do. I loved the holidays or at least I used to.

  I understood from Harmony that MaxDon was considering if and where they might put another hotel. Jonathan’s dad had taken over the project and deemed the past site far too problematic. Well, at least my spell had made them move their hotel off the Esplanade and both Constance’s and my shop were safe -for now anyway.

  Jonathan had not been seen around town for a couple of weeks and I figured that his dad must have sent him back to San Francisco. I felt badly for how this had all played out for him. Maybe he had been on my side and I just hadn’t given him an opportunity to talk it through with me. I missed him and knew that I had made a bad mistake when it came to him. Now I’d never know. Especially since my family had banned me from casting any spells that might give me some insights into Jonathan and his whereabouts.

  The last time I had met with my sisters, I shared with them my discussion with our father. While Harmony thought that it was awesome, I noticed that it was still hard for Constance to believe what I was telling her. She would have to forge her own relationship with dad and I would be here to help.

  For now, he and I were talking a little more and it was beginning to feel a lot more normal. I was actually starting to like talking to him and I felt certain that there was a lot that I could learn from my father. He had also convinced me that calling up a good spell would require a lot more training and he had volunteered for the job after assuring me that he planned to stick around for a while.

  Miss Cassandra had her nose in a snit for the week following the meeting with my sisters. No matter what I said, she remained quiet and to herself. It wasn’t until much later that she shared with me that I had hurt her feelings.

  “You allowed those sisters of yours to tell me to scat like a common cat. I am far from a common cat and I want you to tell them that. Until then,
I will not be speaking with you.”

  I apologized for hurting her feeling and told her that I would speak with my sisters, but her silence continued. Oh well, I was sure that she would get over it sooner or later. Pulling out her cat carrier I left it open, allowing her to make the decision of whether she wanted to go to work with me or not today. When the time came for me to leave, she was sitting silently in her carrier.

  “I am going to work with you under protest and only because I am getting some weird vibes that tell me you may need some help today. I am, if nothing else, a faithful familiar who watches out for her witch.”

  “Thank you,” I replied.

  And with that Miss Cassandra returned to her silent mode of communication. Oh, there’s one thing that I haven’t told you. Miss Cassandra and I can actually communicate with one another telepathically. So she really doesn’t even need to physically talk to me for me to know what’s going on in her mind. The fact that I just remembered to tell you that has now put her in an even worse mood. Too bad!

  I intended to open the shop a little early this morning as I was expecting a large delivery and didn’t want to miss it. However, just before opening my door I detoured to Gino’s Bakery.

  The smells rolling out of the shop told me that she made monster cinnamon rolls this morning and there was no way that I was going to miss one of those. I call them monstrous because one of those gooey treats was actually big enough to feed two or three people. Oh, I didn’t say I was going to share mine with anyone. In fact, my cinnamon treat would soon be divided into three parts; one for now, one for my ten o’clock break and the final third for my lunch time dessert. They were just that good. And, of course, I always bought Gail her own cinnamon roll.

  Rolls in hand, I walked out of the shop and was immediately stopped by Gino’s daughter, Angelica.

  “Olivia, I’m not sure if I’m overstepping our friendship, but I had something I needed to tell you,” she said with a questioning look on her face.

  “Um, okay, what’s up Angelica?” I asked, anxious to get started on my cinnamon roll.

  “Well, you know that guy you were dating for a while? I think his name was Jonathan?”

  When I nodded yes in reply to her question she went on.

  “Well, I was closing up last night and I saw him at your shop front door. He looked like he wanted to talk to you, but you and Gail had already closed the shop.”

  “Uh Huh,” I said as my heart began to race.

  “I introduced myself to him, he is so cute by the way, and I told him I’d let you know that he stopped by. I hope that was okay,” she said.

  “Did he say anything else?” I asked.

  “Just that he had to leave town sometime tomorrow and he had wanted to say good bye. He told me to tell you goodbye and that he was sorry.”

  “Oh.” That was all that I could say. But my heart was saying so much more; Oh no. Oh, stop. Oh, ouch, Oh, why, Oh, wait. Even if we weren’t meant to be together and even if it never worked out, I could not let Jonathan leave town without talking to him. It was my turn to say I’m sorry and boy was I ever.

  With my rolls in hand, I raced back to the shop. Finding the doors already unlocked I called out to Gail.

  “Here, enjoy some cinnamon rolls,” I said, tossing the bag next to our coffee maker and shouting “He’s leaving town today and I need to find him.”

  I knew that I wasn’t making sense, but I continued on, “I need to find Jonathan before he leaves. Will you please watch the store for me? There’s a big order coming in. Maybe I shouldn’t leave until it gets here. I really need to go. He may have left town already.”

  Miraculously, Gail understood everything that I had said. I guess that I should have known that she would. “It’s okay, Olivia. Go. I’ll be here, you don’t need to worry.”

  “But where? I don’t know where to find him. I don’t know if they came up with a new site or where it is? Where am I going to find him IF he’s still even in town?” I asked frantically.

  Gail stopped what she was doing, walked over to me and touched my shoulder. “Olivia, He’s here. I just saw him,” she answered.

  “What, where?” I stuttered.

  “He was sitting down by the beach on the benches above the last lifeguard station. He was talking to Officer Parker when I saw him last.”

  “How long ago was that? Do you think that he’s still there?”

  “Why don’t you go and find out yourself,” she said with a big smile on her face.

  Seeing the cat carrier by the front door where I had forgotten it, Gail picked it up and brought it inside.

  “I swear that girl would lose her head if it wasn’t attached,” complained Miss Cassandra as Gail let her out.

  I didn’t get in my car. Instead, I power walked, something that witches are not very good at, but I did it anyway. I power walked all the way to the bench by the last lifeguard station. But he was gone.

  “Looking for that kid who’s working for the hotel?” Officer parker asked me.

  “Yes, yes, I was. Do you know where he went?” I asked frantically looking up and down the beach the whole time.

  “Said he was taking one last walk to the pier before pulling out of town. Man, I wonder who trashed that kid, he was in one down mood,” Parker continued as he looked at me with questioning eyes.

  “Me, I’m the one who trashed him or hurt him or whatever. I’m the reason that he is so down,” I said as a tear started down my cheek.

  “Officer Parker, could you do me a favor?” I asked.

  “Anything doll.”

  “Would you please drive me up to the pier? I’m afraid that I’ll miss him if I have to walk,” I said, looking at him with my most pleading eyes.

  Now you may not know this, but the Parking Enforcement Vehicle is actually a little one person go cart. And I am sure that there is a city ordinance or two precluding Officer Parker from driving his vehicle with a passenger on board. And if I know anything, I know that Officer Parker is a rule follower. What I didn’t know is that he is also a romantic.

  “Now, if you tell your sister about this I am going to deny it,” he said. “But I can’t get in the way of young love. Hop in. But stay low; maybe we’ll get away without you even being seen.”

  Tucking in around Officer Parker’s feet, we slid the tiny vehicle door closed and took off. Unfortunately, this thing barely moved with one person in it, let alone two. So once the pier was in sight I asked him to pull over. Giving Parker a big hug, I jumped out and ran the rest of the way to the pier.

  New Moon Beach has a horseshoe pier with shops from end to end; except at the point. That’s where all of the fisherman line up for hours to catch whatever’s biting that day. There are a few benches spread out, but most of them were still being used for sleeping by our local vagrants. Jonathan was nowhere in sight.

  Hungry Pelicans roam the walkway waiting for fisherman to throw them their left over fish guts or bait and the smell today was just plain yucky, just like my mood. I was starting to get a pain in my side as I raced from end of the horse shoe to the other and knew that I would have to sit down soon.

  Jonathan was nowhere to be seen. As one of our local bums roused himself and left his concrete bed for the morning, I took his place staring blankly out to sea. The smell that the previous guest left hovered about and was less than desirable, but I didn’t care. I covered my nose and closed my eyes.

  I must have missed him. Jonathan must have left the pier and headed back up north and I had blown my last opportunity to make things right. I put my head in my hands and closed my eyes again. I had made a mess of everything. Maybe I had been acting selfishly like Harmony said. I didn’t know anymore.

  Feeling a slight shove, I scooted over to the side sure that my morning guest had returned to secure his bench for another day. When the push came a second time, I turned my head ready to give the tenant a sharp word or two.

  “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey,” I responde
d as my heart began to race again.

  “What are you doing here?” Jonathan asked.

  “I could ask you the same thing,”

  “I came by your shop last night, but you were gone.”

  “I know. I came to the beach looking for you, but you were gone,” I replied.

  “Oh,” he said with a slight smile crossing his lips.

  “I made a mess of things, Olivia.”

  “No, I made a mess of things.”

  “What did you make a mess of?”

  Then we both started talking at once; each of needing to purge our souls.

  “Wait, me first,” Jonathan said and I sat back to listen. This is not something that I am not very good at, as several people have told me of late. So I tried very hard to just sit and listen.

  “I should have told you everything about the hotel as soon as I knew it,” he said.

  “I…”

  “Wait, you need to just listen, Olivia, I have to get this out,” he said before I could speak further.

  Nodding my head and making a sign like I was sealing my lips and locking them with a key, I sat, prepared to listen.

  “I had a bad feeling that dad wanted to put the hotel in a place that would jeopardize your shop. But I wasn’t sure. And truthfully, I really wanted this job and for my dad to put his trust in me. I wanted to show him that I could do a good job.”

  I nodded, keeping my lips sealed.

  “I thought that if it did mean you lost your shop - it would be okay because we were going to start our lives up in San Francisco anyway. But I was lying to both of us. I know how much you love your shop and how much it means to you. And I knew that this hotel might even screw with your sister, Constance and her shop and the Mayor too,” he said somewhat resigned.

  “It was just so important for me to prove myself to my dad. He has always seen me as his screwed up little boy. I wanted to prove to him that I was ready and that I could handle the job. But I blew that too,” he said, letting out a long slow breath.

  “My dad and I had an awful fight about the hotel. And after the storm, he told me that I had chosen the wrong spot for the hotel. The funny thing is that I never wanted it in that site to begin with and I did try to talk him out of putting it there. I guess he chose to not remember that fact,” he said, looking down at his clasped hands.