Interrupted Magic by Karla Brandenburg (best reads of all time .TXT) 📕

I pursed my lips. “Lisa’s going to be pissed. I haven’t told her anything.”

“She got the ‘on the street’ version yesterday. I’m surprised she didn’t hunt you down last night.”

“She might have tried and backed off when she saw I wasn’t alone.”

“You’ve got a point. Should we expect any customers today?”

I pursed my lips. “Which takes us back to the offer on the shop. I told Yvonne we wouldn’t leave until the end of September, even though she hinted tomorrow might not be too soon.”

Cassandra laughed again. “Let’s wait for the offer. Then we can decide.”

I waved at the clothes racks. “What about your inventory?”

She shrugged. “Not like I’m selling anything anyway. People know how to find me if they want something, and who knows? I could look into opening an internet store, too.”

My phone rang. I checked the display and grinned. “There’s Lisa now.” I answered the call.

“Why didn’t you tell me what was going on when I was there the other day? And Dylan’s freaking out on Kyle’s behalf.”

“I didn’t say anything because I’d only just met him. I wasn’t sure what to say,” I said.

“Dylan’s dumbstruck that you actually cheated on Kyle.”

I gasped. “You’re kidding, right? Is it cheating when we’ve broken up? I mean, you were there. You saw that Kyle had moved out.” I set a hand on my hip. “What about when Kyle cheated on me? Where was the moral outrage then?”

She sniffled. “Can we have lunch?”

“That depends,” I said. “Are you going to break up with me?”

She laughed. “No, but I don’t know what to do. Kyle’s really upset, and Dylan’s loyalties lie with him.”

Speaking of Kyle, he shoved the front door of the shop open and nearly dislodged the overhanging bell.

“I gotta go,” I said. “I’ll see you at lunch time.”

Kyle glared at me, his expression thunderous.

“I’ll just step into the backroom,” Cassandra said. “Yell if he tries to kill you.”

He waited until she’d disappeared before exploding. “I thought you were joking, that you were trying to do me a favor by sacrificing your reputation to save mine. How long has this been going on?”

“Does it matter?”

He rolled his eyes. “What about this business with Daria?”

I considered what Ian had said. I couldn’t enlist someone else to help me in case there were unintended consequences. Did I have enough magic left to perform the spell? “I said I’d see it through, and I intend to honor that.”

“What’s the point? This spell, or whatever it is, isn’t real anyway.”

I struggled to maintain my composure. “I have the ingredients we need. It’s a simple matter of drinking the mixture and letting things return to the way they should be.”

“And take the chance you might poison me? Do you want me dead? Is that what this is about?”

I gasped. “Why would I want that?”

“If you want me out of the way, you don’t have to kill me.”

I huffed. “You are out of the way. Do I need to remind you that you canceled the wedding? That you moved your things out of my house? We’ve hardly spoken to each other over the past four months. Why all the drama? Why on earth would you think I’d poison you?”

Tears welled in his eyes. “This isn’t what I wanted.”

“Well, you have a funny way of showing that.”

Kyle bowed his head. “Are you trying to get even with me? For what happened with Narcy?”

“How is it getting even when we’ve already broken up?” I asked.

He set his hands on Cassandra’s sewing table and bowed his head. “This has been one hell of a year.” He glanced out the window. “Does this new guy know about your hobbies?”

I bristled, refusing to rise to the bait, and crossed my arms.

“Forget I said anything.” He shook his head. “I don’t need your help. I’m working on my own solution. If that doesn’t pan out, I’ll look you up.”

“You do that,” I replied.

He stormed out and Cassandra sidled to the front of the store. “You okay?”

I nodded.

“Can I be honest with you?”

Again, I nodded. Cassandra always had been.

“Keeping the shop open subjects us to more abuse from everyone in town. Assuming the offer Yvonne told you about materializes, I say we abandon ship as soon as they sign the deal.”

“Will you be okay?” I asked.

She scoffed. “I’m always okay. If I’m not...” She paused with a sideways grin.

“If you’re not?”

She showed me her phone. “Lucas offered to, quote, marry me and rescue me from all of this nonsense. Unquote.”

I hugged Cassandra. “Congratulations!”

She backed away laughing and shaking a finger. “No, no, no. I told him he doesn’t get to propose over the phone. Not that I need to be rescued. I want a romantic, candlelight dinner and a proclamation of love, not some lame attempt to save me.”

“You go, girl.”

“And I’m not going to ditch you, like Lisa did.”

I laughed. “Technically, Dylan ditched me, not Lisa.”

“Right. Wait to see what she has to say at lunch and get back to me, ’kay?”

My best friend wouldn’t turn her back on me, would she?

She might. Hadn’t I learned that lesson repeatedly?

Chapter 22

When I arrived at the hamburger stand on the corner, Lisa was waiting at one of the patio tables. She stiffened and offered a half-smile when I waved to her. I placed my order at the take-out window and approached her table.

“Okay if I sit here?” I asked.

Her laugh was forced. “Of course, it’s okay. I did invite you to lunch, didn’t I?”

“Just checking.”

She bowed her head over her cup of Coke. “Why didn’t you tell me about this new guy when we were together the other day?” she asked.

“I already told you. I’d only just met him. There wasn’t anything to tell.” Which wasn’t precisely true, but I hadn’t yet come to terms with what had happened between me and Ian. I was still dizzy with the speed at which we’d come together.

She pressed her lips together. “You sure got cozy in a hurry.”

“It happens that way sometimes.”

The kid at