Chapter Six
‘Do you want apple fritters? For old times’ sake?’ Luke asked as they passed the apple fritter food truck in the farmers’ market area.
No, she didn’t. She’d already had three when she first got here.
If she ate more, she’d ruin her lunch. Not to mention eating apple fritters with Luke wouldn’t help her push all their shared memories to the outskirts of her mind.
‘Sure,’ she said because she was weak and Luke didn’t even need to use a spell to make her do whatever he suggested.
He smiled. ‘How many do you think you can eat? We can split a half dozen? With ice cream?’
Blair nodded, disappointed with her lack of self-control.
After getting their fritters, she guided them to a secluded bench behind the food trucks.
The farmers’ market was busy, and the last thing Blair wanted was to be the newest topic of gossip after being seen arguing with Luke Caldwell.
And she was ninety-three per cent sure they would argue.
After sitting, Luke placed the little cardboard container with six fritters in it between them.
Blair decided she’d made the right choice because now they could eat and hopefully not talk – but they were also right next to each other, and the proximity was making her dizzy.
‘Man, I’ve missed these.’ Luke pulled the hat off his head then speared one of the fritters with a fork and bit into it.
The fritters at the market weren’t doughnut style, but instead were apple slices cut into rings and dipped in batter before being deep-fried.
They were light as air and tasted like fall.
He took another bite and his eyes literally glazed over.
‘It tastes like coming home. You probably eat these all the time since you’re still in town.
’ He popped the rest of the fritter into his mouth, then wiped the ice cream off his lips with a napkin.
‘Not really,’ Blair said, even though she did eat them all the time. She didn’t know why she lied – probably because of his comment about her still being in town. What did he mean by that? It was like that first day he saw her. He’d said you’re exactly the same.
It was true that Luke’s life had changed a lot more than hers.
He’d left Moonbeam Hollow. He’d gone to the University of Waterloo for a degree in architecture, then earned his master’s at the University of Toronto.
He worked in a big firm on high-profile projects, and he’d travelled to amazing places.
And the whole time, Blair was here. She was supposed to do amazing things, too.
In fact, she was supposed to go to the same university as him, but for an engineering degree.
But life happened and she’d ended up with custody of her two sisters instead, so she fell into her backup plan – owning a café.
Blair was content with her life. Truly. Moonbeam Hollow was a wonderful place to live in, and yes, her sisters could be incredibly frustrating, but all the three of them had was each other.
Owning the café was far from engineering, but it was still fulfilling for Blair.
She loved using her potion magic every day to make customers happy and comfortable.
She loved being the cozy community hub for so many people in Moonbeam Hollow.
She stepped up and did her duty when her mother died, and her life ended up pretty good.
She never, or at least she very rarely, felt anything was missing.
But this was Luke. Yes, they’d once daydreamed about opening a café here in Moonbeam Hollow, but that had never been a serious dream for either of them.
For both of them, plan A had been to do bigger things.
He was going to be an architect, and she was going to be an engineer, and they were going to put their own stamp on the world.
He’d done that. He’d designed buildings and made a difference. Blair hadn’t. Plan B hadn’t been that bad for her, but it wasn’t plan A.
But Luke wasn’t designing buildings now; he was here. And Blair still didn’t really understand why. He wanted to talk – maybe it was time for her to find out. ‘Luke, why are you here?’
He frowned. ‘Getting some things for the bakery. I’m working with a designer, and she said antiques would add personality.’
Blair shook her head. ‘No, I mean, why are you building a bakery for your mother? What happened to being an architect?’
He shifted in his seat, looking uncomfortable with the question.
‘I’m still an architect. But I’m learning how to build now, too.
I’m working with a carpenter friend and hiring out subcontractors when I need them, but I’m doing most of it myself.
It’s been fun.’ He put his fork back into the container of fritters and melting ice cream.
‘So where’s your mother?’
He ran his hand through his hair, fluffing his glossy waves that had been flattened by his hat.
Blair wondered if he used hair products.
Probably not. He was likely effortlessly perfect.
‘She works in a hotel in Toronto. Mom’s a trained pastry chef,’ he said.
‘She actually went to culinary school in France but gave it up to raise me. This is kind of my way of thanking her. When the bakery’s done, she’ll give her notice and move here. ’
Blair frowned. She had a feeling there was something Luke wasn’t telling her – something about why he was really here in Moonbeam Hollow.
This town wasn’t big, so she did remember Luke’s mother.
She was a single mom, and Blair remembered her working in the grocery store.
Actually, she’d worked in the grocery store bakery department.
Blair remembered her bringing cakes or cupcakes for any school celebration.
It was kind of sad that this trained pastry chef had to work in a grocery store, but Blair also remembered Luke’s mother being a little cold and reserved.
Blair had been pretty sure she hadn’t liked Blair much, especially after she started dating Luke.
‘That’s . . . I mean, that’s nice of you.
Building a bakery for your mom.’ She winced as soon as she said it.
Should she be complimenting Luke Caldwell?
But it was nice of him to build this bakery.
Blair didn’t remember Luke having a particularly close relationship with his mother, but there was a lot she didn’t know about him.
An almost bashful smile slipped onto his face from the praise as he speared another apple fritter to take a bite. Gosh, he wasn’t just handsome, Luke could also be downright adorable, too. She swallowed. ‘So, you’ll be leaving after she gets here? Go back to being a big-city architect?’
‘That’s the plan.’ Luke took a bite.
‘Oh, thank God,’ Blair said. At least he wasn’t going to be here permanently.
Luke narrowed his eyes. He looked like he wanted to make some crack at Blair but didn’t.
‘Are you going to ask me why I never left Moonbeam Hollow?’ Blair asked.
He tilted his head. ‘Blair, I know why you stayed. I was here when your mom passed. It must have been so hard for you to pick up the pieces and be there for your sisters alone.’
Alone. That was a loaded word. Because back then she’d had the option of not going through it alone. Luke had offered to stay. To defer his university acceptance for a year or longer to help her sort through the mess of her and her sisters’ lives turning upside down in the blink of an eye.
But Blair hadn’t wanted Luke to stay. She hadn’t wanted him to give up his dreams because she had to give up hers.
Not to mention Blair and her sisters were witches.
Blair couldn’t let Luke get close enough to help her and her sisters with their grief without him finding out their secret.
So, she told him to go. And when he didn’t want to, saying that he was allowed to make his own choices and he was making the choice to stay in Moonbeam Hollow, Blair told him that she wasn’t really that into him, and was planning to break up before they went away to school, anyway.
She told him that even if he stayed, she was going to focus only on her sisters, not him.
It was true, she had needed to focus on her sisters. But Blair would have loved to lean on Luke during the hardest period of her life. But she’d promised her parents she’d never let anyone find out their secret. And she truly wanted him to chase his dreams. So, she lied to him. And he left.
And there hadn’t been a day when Blair hadn’t wondered what would have happened if she’d been honest with Luke that day.
Blair looked down at the apple fritters, blinking.
This was a mistake. She had a lot going on right now.
The harvest festival was soon, and it was the busiest time of the year for Blair.
There were also clearly things happening in Moonbeam Hollow: the electrical issues in the bookstore, the blight in the farm, the roses dying in the florist, plus her smashed plant pots and faulty lock.
Blair had been pretty sure that Luke had tampered with her lock and smashed her pots, but now she didn’t know.
If it wasn’t Luke, then all these things happening could be a bad omen for a bigger issue.
Also, if Luke had been the one trying to sabotage her business, why was she sitting here eating apple fritters with him?
‘We’re not supposed to talk about the past,’ Blair said. ‘What happened to putting it behind us?’
That tiny smile came back on his face. He looked the most like her Luke with that little smile on one side. ‘It’s proving harder than I thought it would be. It’s quite a trip, seeing you again. Like going back in time.’
‘Is it a good trip or a bad?’
He huffed a small chuckle. ‘Both? You look the same.’ He paused. ‘Actually, you look the same, but better. It’s messing me up in a way I didn’t expect.’