Sneak Peek Vi’s Story
SNEAK PEEK
Vi’s Story
The weather for the fall festival is annoyingly perfect, if you ask me.
The breeze is cool, but the sun is warm, making it the perfect balance.
Blissful fall weather that everyone in Heartwood Hollow and the surrounding areas is more than happy to take part in.
As I walk down the cobblestone main street of Heartwood Hollow, I smile and wave at different townspeople, all of them familiar to me.
I’ve just delivered a batch of apple cider donuts to Poppy’s stand, and now I’m making my way to Rosie’s to give her her own box.
After that, I have one more delivery to make before I can hole up in the bakery.
I took the morning shift at my booth, but now that Jasmine is here, I need to bake more to restock the shelves for tomorrow.
“Oh, this setup is so cute!” a woman says as I near Rosie’s booth.
Rosie and Jack’s booth, actually, because for this year’s fall festival, she and Jack have decided to make one big booth so they can hang out all day.
They’re so sweet, it makes my teeth hurt, which is funny, considering my entire job is sugar.
The display is incredibly adorable and leans into their shockingly successful recent marketing campaign: the gaming boyfriend and the reader girlfriend as the perfect pair.
The table is stacked with books on one side, starting with romantic comedies and contemporary on one end, then moving to paranormal and fantasy. At the center, there is a mix of Jack’s gaming and card game items before becoming fully Gaming Den products. The perfect balance, if you ask me.
“Look at this, babe!” the woman says, tugging her boyfriend’s arm and tipping her chin toward their table. “Just like us!” He looks at the woman with a soft smile before moving to pick up a video game and turning it over to read the back.
“We have a deal today, buy one book and one game and get five dollars off,” Jack adds, resting a hand on Rosie’s hip. She looks up at him, beaming, the glittering strands of their kiss bond sparkling along their skin, glowing brighter where they touch.
It makes me sick. Not because I’m not overjoyed for my oldest sister.
But because it brings up shitty memories. Ones I’ve buried deep.
“You two are so cute,” the woman says, and Rosie smiles at her.
“A truly magical match,” she says. I roll my eyes, and Jack lets out a snort and shakes his head when she looks over at him. Before she argues with him, as they always seem to do, she catches my eye, her customer service appearance dropping quickly as she bolts toward me.
“Tell me those are what I think they are,” Rosie says, reaching for the bags in my hand. I give her the larger one, while keeping the other one.
“A dozen apple cider donuts. I’ll have more tomorrow too,” I say.
“And they’re still warm,” she whispers.
“Of course they are,” I say. They’re magic, I don’t say out loud. “I brought the first batches to you and Poppy.” Her eyes go watery with gratitude.
Rosie has always been our emotional sister, the one who looks out for us, but she’s completely floored when anyone does anything for her. It’s been much more since she found her true love.
My phone beeps in my pocket, and I know it’s a confirmation from my next… customer.
“I gotta go, though,” I say with a smile. “Jazz is waiting on me to bring her more.” It’s a lie, but thankfully, Rosie’s skill is in love, not lies.
“Of course!” she says. We both turn when there’s a crash on the other side of the street, a confetti bomb exploding, and I roll my eyes when I see the whispers of a familiar ghost turn behind a building, and a telltale laugh fills the air.
Phillip, Jack’s ghostly grandfather, has taken to haunting Heartwood Hollow, causing chaos by pranking people all over.
It’s entertaining rather than dangerous, so Jack and Rosie haven’t forced him to stop.
I have threatened to send him back to the afterlife if he doesn’t stop stealing treats from the bakery.
Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure we both know it’s a bit of an empty threat.
“I’ve got it,” Jack says, pressing a kiss to my sister’s temple. “Thanks, Vi.” I nod, then wave to my sister as I make my way toward the bakery.
Five minutes later, I’m holding a bag in the alleyway behind my place, staring at Marguerite, a friend of my cousin’s who lives a few towns over.
“Just one should do the trick,” I say, handing off the bag of cookies to Marguerite.
“Just one?”
“Yes. Trust me.”
“What will it… do?” she whispers, and I roll my eyes.
This is the problem with this side of my… uh, business.
People come to me asking for a solution to a problem. Payback. Revenge. Karma. But as soon as they can have it, they start to chicken out.
“It won’t kill him, if that’s what you’re asking,” I say.
“Yeah, but…” She looks side to side. “What will it do?”
What started out as helping a friend get back at her asshole ex by giving him cookies that would temporarily make his hairline recede quicker has now escalated into an underground business for women trying to get back at people who have wronged them.
I work through word of mouth, using the threat of delivering a memory-erasing brownie if anyone talks, though the people I work with are thoroughly vetted with my magic.
Marguerite’s ex cheated on her when she was pregnant with their third child, and despite their divorce being finalized a year ago, he’s still giving her a hard time, the asshole.
“His luck is about to turn,” I say, tipping my chin to the bag in her hand.
“Everything and anything is about to go wrong for him and only him. He’ll spill his coffee.
He’ll be stuck in traffic before an important meeting.
He’ll get food poisoning before a date. It’ll only last two weeks, but I think that should be enough, if you time it well.
” She smiles. I know we’ve timed it well because on my consultation, she told me her ex was on probation at work and they had their final child support hearing in a few days.
I can say with confidence that she’ll win that hearing, whether or not she gets that cookie to him, from what I’ve heard of the man.
But the magic will find its target, and he’ll get his just desserts like he deserves.
Unlike my sunshiny sister, I don’t believe in true love.
But I do believe in revenge.