Chapter 38
Gwen
Faith and I flitted around the Halloween Festival, skirting through the crowds from stall to stall and brimming with autumnal merriment.
My belly sloshed with mulled wine and hot cider, funnel cakes and pumpkin-spice brownies.
The whole town square had been overtaken with twinkling lights, braziers of magical fire in every hue, and carnival stalls themed around the supernatural holiday.
Tourists and townspeople reveled together.
It was truly the most magical thing I’d ever seen in my entire life, and my whole body buzzed with the thrill of it.
Billy had given Faith and me a half-hour break from manning the ice cream stand, and we were determined to hit up every stall before we were due back for more scooping.
We wore pointy witch hats and black velvet dresses, and we’d painted our lips a dark burgundy, really vamping it up so we could use our magic with impunity throughout the night.
All of the new spells we’d learned were written off as festive holiday tricks. It was delightful.
We took our pumpkin-shaped giant pretzels to the rows of bench seating placed around the gazebo. I searched the area, trying to find a place to perch, when my eyes landed on familiar faces.
My hand released my pretzel, letting it drop, but Faith’s magic caught it before it crashed onto the leaves beneath our feet.
There, standing in the middle of the throng, were my mom and dad.
When Mom’s eyes landed on me, she instantly ran toward me, her black robes flowing behind her.
I let out a half laugh, half cry as I shot forward and wrapped her up in my arms. “You’re here.”
Dad came around my other side and held us both in a tight hug sandwich.
“We’re here,” Mom murmured into my hair. She finally released me, and I took in her witch hat, which looked so right on her that it was as if I’d seen her wear it a million times. “You look so beautiful,” she said, getting choked up again. “I’m sorry it took me so long to get here.”
“Honestly,” I said, wiping the dripping eyeliner from my cheeks, “I thought it would take years. Two months is not so bad.”
We both laughed in the same exact way.
“This place looks incredible,” Dad said, looking around one more time before hugging me again. “I missed you, bud. You’ve got to show us all your regular haunts. Get it? Haunts?”
“Oh, you’ll fit in here just fine,” I said with a giggle. “Half our marketing strategy this year was dad jokes, and look how that’s turned out.”
Billy said that the engagement from the social media platforms had already brought in several hundred more tourists than in past years. They weren’t ground-breaking numbers, but I had proven my worth.
“I never thought I’d see another Maple Hollow Halloween Festival.” Mom dabbed her eyes as someone called out her name from behind me.
The woman walked up to our mini-reunion, and Mom’s eyes widened. She was middle-aged with flowing blonde hair, and I knew from her blue eyes and the shape of her face and the tightness of her lips that she must be Astrid Cunningham’s mother.
I braced for the collision, ready to jump in and defend my mom, but the woman approached tentatively.
“Susie?” Mom asked, her eyebrows lifting in surprise.
“Hi, Harmony,” the woman greeted nervously. They both froze before Susie finally moved in and wrapped my mom up in a hug. “It’s really good to see you,” she said, her voice wobbling, and great, now I was crying again. “Welcome home. I’ve missed you.”
“I-I’ve missed you too,” Mom said, still sounding surprised.
When they released the hug, Susie turned to Dad. “You must be Harmony’s husband. I’m Susie Cunningham. It’s so lovely to finally meet you.”
Dad shook her hand and chuckled. “Is it?”
Susie grimaced and shifted on her feet. “I wasn’t the most understanding twenty-year-old,” she confessed.
“I’ll admit, I let my limited experience with humans cloud my judgment when it came to my best friend.
” She looked between Mom and Dad. “I’m sorry for that.
I missed out on years of threatening to turn you into a newt if you broke her heart. ”
“I think Harmony would’ve enjoyed that.” Dad guffawed. “Our daughter has the same penchant, actually.”
“I’m sorry too,” Mom cut in, taking a tentative step toward Susie.
Goddess, it was so adorable.
I saw them at every stage of their lives: two nervous kids asking to be friends on the playground, two awkward tweens getting ready for their first school dance, two teenagers listening to music while playing hooky from school . . .
I let out a heavy breath, as if I could feel the weight they’d each been carrying lift from their shoulders.
Faith elbowed me. “We need to get back to the ice cream stall.”
“Go, go,” Mom said, “We’ll catch up with you after your shift. We’re staying at Bats and Broomsticks tonight.”
“I should show you some of the new town renovations,” Susie said, ushering my parents through the crowd.
“You won’t believe what Luna’s done with the hairdressers.
You’ll love it.” She looked at Dad and added, “My son is dating a human, actually. She’s an art therapist for horses from Minnesota. You might know her.”
Dad politely nodded as if that truly related to him somehow.
Faith and I snickered, then headed back to the ice cream stand. I was practically levitating with excitement. Mom had made it to the Halloween Festival. She’d come back home.
We pushed through the crowd, laughing and a little tipsy, and I stumbled headfirst into the person in front of me.
“Oh, sorry. I—”
“Practicing some impromptu self-defense?” A familiar voice chuckled, and I whirled as my heart cracked wide open all over again.