Chapter 13 #3
I’d prepared a dozen careful lies while sneaking around the bakery.
Now, standing before those earnest brown eyes, I found I couldn’t utter a single one.
I lowered my gaze, unable to bear the kindness and understanding in her expression while the page concealed beneath my pocket seemed heavier than the recipe book itself.
After a moment’s silence, she continued. “If the bakery moves while we’re still connected, you’ll have to travel with us. I’m not sure what would happen with the bond if I move with the bakery and you stay here.”
I frowned. “But what option do we have? We’ve been searching for a solution all week, yet still don’t know how to undo the spell.”
A small noise from near the hearth in the adjoining room caught our attention.
We both entered the parlor where Grandmother was easing herself into her rocking chair, her eyes shadowed from a night of poor sleep but her hands already reaching for her knitting.
Her thin shoulders drooped and she sighed.
Cecelia stared at her. “Grandmother! You know the cure, don’t you?” But her scolding sounded half-hearted.
The tiny woman seemed to shrink still smaller. “Yes,” she said quietly. “I know how to break the connection.”
She beckoned Cecelia and whispered some instructions. Cecelia disappeared into the back rooms while I still stood, staring in shock at the woman who’d known all along how to untangle this snarl we’d found ourselves in.
Grandmother met my eyes and offered an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I know I could have spared you some discomfort, but if I broke the spell too soon, I was afraid you and Cecelia would never have the chance to truly get to know each other before this bakery moved.”
Emotions swirled through me, but to my surprise I wasn’t feeling anger or resentment.
The unexpected bond that had initially been an enormous inconvenience had gradually morphed into an opportunity to build a friendship like I hadn’t experienced in years.
Now that our relationship seemed to be deepening, I couldn’t regret our time of forced closeness.
But then another thought occurred to me. “Did you rig the original recipe to lead me to Cecelia instead of whatever I actually was seeking?” I asked.
Grandmother shook her head vehemently. “No, the spell was true. I just allowed it to do its work rather than interfering. But now it’s time for you and Cecelia to make your own decisions without the influence of magic.”
Cecelia returned to the kitchen holding a small wooden box. “Is this it, Grandmother?”
Grandmother nodded, taking the box from her.
“I made these long ago, when I was a new baker and made frequent mistakes with magic. One time I was supposed to bake a muffin that would help a restless child sleep. I somehow made a mistake in mixing the magic and the child fell into an unending sleep. The parents were frantic, of course, and I was horrified at what I’d done.
I scoured the recipe book for help and found this recipe for peppermints that could undo enchantments.
The mother tucked it into her sleeping son’s mouth and he instantly woke.
Incidentally, no one from that village asked for a sleeping cure the rest of the month.
” She smiled slightly. “As time went on, I made fewer mistakes. And when you were young, I watched over you whenever you used magic, so these haven’t been needed in years. ”
Cecelia frowned thoughtfully. “I don’t recall seeing that recipe in the book.”
Grandmother shrugged. “The book is magic. It adapts to what is needed. The recipes we use regularly are permanent, but when something is no longer needed, it may disappear.”
Carefully Grandmother drew a white candy, striped with faded pink, out of the box.
Cecelia took it from her and offered it to me.
I hesitantly lifted it to my lips and was surprised to see that Cecelia looked equally torn.
Could it be that she too regretted losing the closeness, the inconvenient intimacy that had upended our lives?
Our gazes met as I put the mint on my tongue.
The pungent flavor, undimmed by years, flooded my mouth for a moment, as though it was simply a normal candy.
But then I became aware of a stretching sensation, like the candy was tugging something from within me.
Cecelia gave a small gasp and took a step towards me, as though she felt it too.
And then, with a pop that I wasn’t sure was audible or just felt, the pulling stopped, like a string had snapped. Instinctively, I reached for the quiet presence that had become as familiar as breathing. There was nothing there. I felt a flood of sadness at the realization.
Cecelia could no longer feel my emotions. Even so, she looked at me intently. “Are you alright, Gabe?”
I forced a smile. “A little discombobulated, but yes, I should be just fine.” Physically, anyway.
I didn’t realize I’d been staring at Cecelia too long, noticing the way the sunlight highlighted her soft brown hair before I blinked and hastily averted my gaze.
Apparently even without the bond, I couldn’t help being drawn to her, a connection I yearned to explore further…
if my wandering curse would allow me to stay long enough to do so.