Chapter Twenty-Eight #2
Unwillingly, a smile curved on my mouth. I couldn’t help it. This wasn’t us; we traded barbs, exchanged slights, annoyed each other to no end. Sure, we had moments of vulnerability, but it was never like this. We weren’t … blatant about it.
‘Well, either way, I don’t want to make anything awkward,’ I offered, raising one shoulder. ‘And I just wanted you to know, I understand where you were coming from now. A place of worry, not hate.’
Orion nodded, eagerly. ‘I never hated you. I’m sorry for how I spoke to you that night, and for not giving you a chance to explain. I should’ve put my own feelings aside to help.’
I rolled my eyes and teasingly folded my arms over my chest. ‘Your apology is only making it harder for me to apologize in return for thinking of creative ways to murder you for the last year.’
The corner of his mouth ticked upwards. ‘What did you settle on?’
‘Death by organized disorder,’ I said, with a grin. ‘I’d slowly ruin different parts of your life in small ways. Like slashing your tires, shrinking your jacket, you know, until you went crazy trying to work out what was happening.’
Orion snorted and pushed a hand through his hair. ‘Diabolical.’ His gaze burned me, like he was lighting a fire over my skin. I looked away, breaking the moment.
‘Anyway,’ I blustered, thinking of a distraction from the simmering tension. ‘Silas came to see me this morning and invited me to the cinema tomorrow. So, I’ll need to miss my shift after school here.’
Orion waited a beat, eyebrows furrowing, before he finally said, ‘OK.’ He dropped his gaze away from mine. ‘Anyway, now that we’re done emoting. I wanted to show you something.’
Orion turned, and I was grateful for the moment to gather myself, like I was a pack of loose marbles.
I followed him to a corner in the kitchen that had a wooden table, which I’d dubbed my recipe corner.
It had a corkboard I’d set up to map out new recipe ideas and was filled with scattered sparkly pens.
The new object was sitting right at the centre of the table: a purple box with a slit in the middle, and a bag of sweets.
‘What’s this?’ I asked.
‘Those are candies from the Maple Mart,’ Orion explained. ‘I thought you could keep them in your recipe-station drawer.’
‘How did you know I liked these?’ I asked, pointing to the buzzing bee toffees.
‘Raven told me you used to a keep stash to eat before an exam for a little boost of energy.’ Orion shrugged, like it wasn’t incredibly nice of him to remember a tidbit about me that I hadn’t even shared with him. ‘I picked some up today, along with the box.’
‘Yes, the elusive purple box. What is it?’ I asked, my tone sounding high-pitched to my own ears.
Orion’s face split open with a smile as he reached down and lifted its lid.
Inside were cards: a huge stack of them.
‘I’ve been working on this for the last two weeks.
These are requests, for you. From customers all across Maple Falls.
Each one has an ailment, or a wish that a customer has.
I was hoping you would choose one of them to bake. ’
Dear Treasure Trove Bakers,
Your flaming fruit tarts changed my whole morning routine!
They are the best dessert I’ve had in a long time.
If you need inspiration for a new bake, I’m an old-timer of a dragon, and those long flying rides take it out of me.
Ruin my sleep too, because I’m left too energized.
If you could make something to soothe those terrible nights, I’d be ever so grateful.
Without a beat, Orion handed me another card.
Dear Treasure Trove Bakers,
Hi! My name is Louise, but you can call me Lou-Lou. I’m seven years old. And I like treasure. I can breathe fire pretty well, and your flaming fruit tarts made my chest ache go away. Could you make me something that will lead me to treasure? Jewels please!! OK, bye.
My throat felt tight with the urge to cry, and I eyed the stack of cards in there like it was never ending.
‘Are they all this nice?’ I whispered, disbelievingly.
Orion nodded, and that smile on his face was softer now. ‘Yeah, they’re all compliments, Reverie. Soon, your big head won’t fit through that door. I thought you might like to have some physical evidence of how much your bakes have helped people.’
I laughed. It sounded watery to my ears, but Orion didn’t comment on it. Instead, he twisted my heart even further.
‘You’ve mastered your spellcasting,’ he said, and there was a look of pride gracing his face that made my stomach flip. ‘This week, we’ll practise the recitation of the soulmate spell, then all you have to do, come Saturday, is cast it. And then you will have broken the curse.’
I couldn’t respond; I didn’t know how to put my gratitude into words. What came out instead was, ‘I should get started on this. I already have a recipe knocking around in my head, and I just need to find the right enchantment for it.’
Immediately, Orion pulled out the stool for me to sit on. I let him tuck my chair in, but before I could actually tackle any of the spells, he caught my stained fingers in his.
‘May I?’ he asked, while his thumb was pressed against the centre of my palm.
My heart hammered in my throat relentlessly. ‘Sure?’
He murmured something, and I felt warmth creep up my skin. The orange stain on my fingers melted away with a whisper of his magic.
I looked away from my fingers to feel him watching me, our breath unintentionally in sync.
‘Thank you,’ I said, feeling a little dizzy.
His smile was soft. ‘Anytime, Reverie.’