Gwen checked the angle of the hat on Nora’s head. Then, with a quick swirl of her fingers, a sparkling emerald halo popped into existence and settled on top of Nora’s waterfall braid. The hat absorbed the spell, and when Nora experimentally shook her head side to side, it remained firmly in place.
“Why didn’t I think of that?” I grumbled.
Gwenlyn patted me on the back and grinned. “Don’t worry, Ken. We know you’re not the brightest of lights.”
“Don’t make me punch you again,” I warned.
Nora stood up, hugged us both, and pranced out of the bathroom. “Careful, ladies,” she called over her shoulder. “I did your makeup, remember?”
Gwenlyn and I blinked, sporting matching eyeshadow, as she danced off.
“How could I forget when she practically tied me to a chair?” Gwenlyn said.
I chuckled, sweeping bobby pins under Nora’s vanity with my foot. “Welcome to my life. That’s what happens when you gain a sister.”
Gwenlyn followed me out onto the mezzanine. “That reminds me. Alana called me during the ceremony. Apparently, Karma tried to bake the cake for Nora’s surprise party, and it all went terribly wrong.”
“Blew up the kitchen?”
“Something like that.” Gwenlyn smirked. “Anyway, we have to pick up a cake on the way there. Personally, I think Karma did it on purpose. She’s still upset that none of the others were invited to Nora’s ceremony.”
“We couldn’t get extra tickets!”
“A pitiful excuse,” Gwenlyn replied in a poor imitation of Karma’s voice.
I rolled my eyes. At the top of the stairs, I paused and looked down at the foyer, where Nora was busy adjusting my father’s bowtie. I smiled as he beamed at his youngest daughter, talking a mile a minute about how proud he was of her accomplishments. All of us had heard the speech multiple times over the past few days, but I never tired of my father’s happy babbling. He tugged Nora into a hug, jostling her hat.
Alana emerged from the dining room, fiddling with a pesky earring. “Owen, honey. You’re strangling her.”
“Oh,” Dad said, releasing Nora. “Sorry, baby.”
Gwenlyn nudged me with her elbow as we watched the familial exchange unfold. “You ever going to get used to this?”
“Probably not.”
It had been a little over two years since the McGrath and Summers families had merged into one. I had moved to Yew Hollow, where Gwenlyn and I shared a small house in the Summerses’ cul-de-sac. Most days, living there was so natural and effortless that I often forgot that I hadn’t always been a part of Yew Hollow. My days of unemployment and apartment-hopping were long over, and with the curse lifted, I no longer carried a string of bad luck with me wherever I went.
Yew Hollow had recovered too. The locals had begun to trickle back in the day after Adrienne’s capture, taking up their daily routines as if they had never left in the first place. The town gradually regained its cozy, bustling attitude. Winter was short that year. When the sun finally broke free of the clouds, it seemed determined to shine as much as possible. The snow flurries were over by the end of January, and a few weeks later, little green buds had already begun to pop out of the ground to recolor the town. Summer was in full swing now, and I had never seen a place more lively and vibrant than Yew Hollow.
Reconnecting with Alana was the gift of a lifetime. It was awkward at first, navigating the territory of an estranged mother, but it shortly became obvious that many of my personality traits were handed down from her. She was outspoken and boisterous with a sense of humor so dry that it rivaled Gwenlyn’s. According to the rest of the Summers clan, whose memories of Alana had finally been returned to them, Alana had always been a ray of sunshine within the group. She was immeasurably optimistic, which helped to offset my long-harbored layer of cynicism. She made the best of our situation, often reminding me of how lucky we were to have escaped Adrienne’s curse at all. I was finally getting used to having her around. The bigger adjustment was watching her interact with my father.
When the curse broke and the ward was lifted, my father had stumbled into Yew Hollow wide-eyed and completely confused. Without Adrienne around, he too regained the memories that he had lost, including the complicated tale of his early thirties that led him to Yew Hollow and the Summers coven. When he and Alana finally reunited, everything seemed to fall into place. It was strange for me, watching the two of them crash together like freight trains when they first saw each other. My parents had an entire history that I didn’t know about, but the thirty-year gap between then and now didn’t put a damper on their reunion. It was as though they picked up right where they had left off, an immediate and comfortable couple.
Nora finished high school in Windsor Falls, graduating at the top of her class despite the months of school she’d missed during her sophomore year. She was heading to Harvard in the fall but planned to spend her summer in Yew Hollow. Boston wasn’t far, and it comforted me to know that my little sister would be within range if I ever needed her. As far as the house in Windsor Falls was concerned, Dad had only continued to live there for Nora’s benefit. Now that she was done with school, he planned on selling the monstrous manor in order to move in with Alana in Yew Hollow. I wouldn’t miss the cold marble halls or vaulted ceilings in the least. With the whole family in Yew Hollow, we could finally begin to repair what Adrienne had taken apart.
“You guys!” Nora called up the stairs to me and Gwenlyn. She waved at us. “Get down here. If I have to pose for photos, then so do you!”
With identical chuckles, Gwenlyn and I joined Nora in the foyer. Then the five of us went outside, where the professional photographer that Dad had hired was setting up near the fountain in the middle of the driveway. As Nora, Alana, and Gwenlyn got into position for the first shot, Dad tugged me out of earshot of the group.
“What’s wrong?” I asked immediately.
“Nothing,” he replied. “I just wanted to tell you something. I know that this is Nora’s day and everything, but I wanted to let you know how incredibly proud I am of you.”
My bottom lip trembled. “For what?”
Dad took me by the shoulders. “For everything. I’ve seen how far you’ve come since Adrienne—Well, let’s just leave it at that. You were dealt a bad hand, kid, and I was never there for you the way I should’ve been. I admire you, Ken. No matter how much the world cut you down, you always pushed through. I’m happier now than I ever have been, and I have you to thank for that.”
I wiped a stray tear from the corner of my eye and laughed. “God, Dad. You’re such a sap.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He pulled me forward into a hug. As the only family member that was taller than me, he could rest his chin on top of my head.
“Dad! Ken!” Nora shouted.
“Coming,” Dad and I chorused.
The surprise aspect of Nora’s party was ruined when we made Dad stop his SUV at a bakery on our way to Yew Hollow. Gwenlyn ran in to find a replacement cake, but as she climbed out of the back seat, she turned to Nora and asked, “What flavor do you want?” Then she immediately smacked her forehead against her palm when she realized what she’d done. Dad, Alana, and I groaned in defeat simultaneously.
With the new cake perched across my lap as we resumed our journey, Gwenlyn and I swore Nora to secrecy. Morgan and Karma would hex us if they knew we’d spoiled the surprise. When we pulled into the long driveway of the Summers house, Nora put on her best acting face at the sight of the balloons—purple and white to honor Windsor Falls Preparatory School’s colors—and gasped appropriately when the witches poured out onto the porch and shouted various welcomes. Morgan and her sisters were the first to hug and congratulate Nora. While the rest of the Summerses lined up to do the same, Gwenlyn and I slipped past the commotion to continue setting up the food. In the kitchen, we argued about the layout of the buffet table, which soon devolved into throwing plastic utensils at each other from opposite sides of the room.
&nbs
p; Morgan was the first to break up our display of childish horseplay, right as Gwenlyn chucked the serving knife for the cake at me. It spiraled end over end before freezing in mid-air, hovering in a haze of blue witchcraft. Morgan plucked it from the air and brandished it at the two of us.
“Quit messing around!” she ordered. “And which one of you told Nora about all of this?”
Gwenlyn and I exchanged loaded glances. Busted.
“How did you know?” Gwenlyn asked her.
“Please,” Morgan replied. “I can spot Nora’s customer service smile from a mile away.” She smacked the serving knife into my hand and looked into my eyes. “Behave.”
I gave her a little mock salute, holding the utensil at eye level. As she left the room, Gwenlyn clicked her heels together and did the same.
“I liked it better when the two of you hated each other,” Morgan said before she turned her back on us.
We broke out into giggles but took Morgan’s advice, setting down our makeshift weapons to prepare the platters of food. Malia and Laurel had done most of the cooking, and with Karma no longer allowed in the kitchen, everything had come out perfect.
“So is Morgan still dropping hints about coven leadership to you?” I asked Gwenlyn as we stacked paper plates and folded napkins together.
“Yup,” she replied. “She’s being really subtle about it though. She keeps sending me on errands in her stead and stuff like that.”
I snorted. “Subtle. Sure. How do you feel about all that?”
She flapped the wrinkles out of a napkin. “Honestly? I have no idea. I’m still not ready to take over for her, but I do know one thing.”
“What’s that?”
Gwenlyn twisted her napkin into a whip and snapped it toward me. “I can’t wait to boss you around.”
Quick as a flash, I incinerated the napkin in her hand. She dropped it with a yelp and it fell to the floor, smoking. I grinned. “We’ll see who’s bossing who around.”
Someone cleared their throat, bringing a premature end to mine and Gwenlyn’s second round before it could escalate. Alana leaned against the door of the kitchen, observing our behavior with a mischievous smirk.
“Already causing trouble, are we?” she asked.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Gwenlyn replied innocently.
Alana shook her head, smiling. “Gwenlyn, do you mind if Kennedy and I have a word alone?”
“Sure.”
They switched places, Alana taking up the helm to continue folding the napkins that Gwenlyn had left behind. For a few minutes, we worked in silence. Even after two years, it was sometimes hard to start a conversation with my mother. We were still getting to know each other.
When I bent over to find the stash of disposable champagne flutes in the bags of party supplies that were piled on the floor, my hair fell forward over my eyes. Instinctively, Alana reached forward to push it out of my line of vision.
“So your father put the house up for sale,” she finally said.
I straightened up and began to attach the bases of the champagne flutes to their stems. “Thank goodness. I can’t wait to see it go.”
“You— you’re happy about this?”
I glanced over at her confused expression. “Of course. That place has nothing but bad memories. The only thing I ever liked about it was the pool.”
“I thought you might be a little upset about losing your childhood home,” Alana admitted.
I set down the plastic glasses and turned to her. “Mom, that house was never home.”
Her eyes went wide. “You called me Mom.”
The word had popped out naturally, despite the fact that I’d only called Alana by her first name since we had officially met. Now, it seemed silly that I hadn’t automatically gotten into the habit of referring to her as my mother.
“Yeah, I did,” I said. “Is that okay?”
She beamed at me, her eyes shining with happy tears. “Of course it’s okay.”
I leaned down to give her a hug just as someone knocked on the door frame to the kitchen. Nora poked her head in, playfully covering her eyes to avoid seeing her “surprise” cake.
“I hate to break up such an adorable bonding moment,” she said, “but the coven is getting hungry, and Karma’s already breaking out the booze. I really don’t want to see what kind of damage she can do on an empty stomach.”
I laughed and released Alana. “Come on then. Let’s get this food out there.”
Together, we transported the platters from the kitchen to the dining room, where everyone loaded up their plates. The coven broke into subgroups of sisters, aunts, and cousins, all mingling together as they ate. Morgan chatted with Yvette and Yvonne, while Laurel confiscated Karma’s wine glass. The kids snuck tastes of icing from the cake. Across the room, Alana pilfered a cherry tomato from Dad’s salad plate. I smiled as he playfully pretended to take offense.
Nora leaned up against my shoulder, a piece of sourdough bread wedged sideways in her mouth. She handed me her drink so that she had a free hand to swipe the bread through the sauce on her plate.
“It’s nice, isn’t it?” she said, watching Dad and Alana from across the room.
“Beyond,” I replied. I nudged her side. “So what’s it like being a free woman, huh?”
She blew the tassel of her graduation cap out of the way of her mouth. Gwenlyn’s spell had yet to relinquish its hold. “It feels amazing for now, but I think as soon as the college homework load hits, I’m going to be singing a different tune.”
“Appreciate it now, kid,” I told her. “Before you know it, four more years will have gone by and we’ll be doing this again to celebrate your graduation from Harvard.”
Nora munched away at her dinner, unconcerned. “Whatever. I’ll be valedictorian then too.”
Her unwavering confidence made me grin. I looped an arm around her shoulders, careful to not jostle her plate, and pulled her toward me. The corner of her hat poked me in the neck. She’d grown an inch or so over the past two years, and for once, I’d been around long enough to actually notice the difference.
As Nora settled against me, I stole a crouton from her plate and looked around the room. Satisfaction and warmth blossomed like a rose in my soul. I’d grown used to the comfortable commotion of the Summers coven. For the first time, everything was as it should have been. Alana and Dad were happy. Adrienne was gone. Nora and I were together.
And I finally had a family.
Many thanks to everyone who read my story!
Writing is the best way I know to express myself, and I’m so glad that you all have rewarded me with the opportunity to share my imagination with you. As an author, I learn and evolve from the input of others, so if you have a spare moment and you enjoyed the story, please leave a short, spoiler-free review of the book. As readers, your personal opinions are often the best references for a writer. Your commentary allows me to further provide you all with fun, engaging material.
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Again, thank you all for diving into mine and Morgan’s world. May we meet again!
All the best,
Alexandria Clarke
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