Chapter 13 #2
“Spending it with my family,” she said, glaring at the other woman. She hadn’t forgotten that Summer had tried to love potion her husband, but she’d been a little too preoccupied to deal with her.
Hunter had said he’d run into Summer in town a couple of times, but in both instances, he’d barely engaged and left as soon as possible. The second time, he said she’d looked crushed, and he decided that she’d realized her potion hadn’t worked.
“How’s that sexy husband of yours?” Summer asked, trying to make the question sound playful, but Faith heard the envious undertone.
“Taken,” Faith said.
“Well of course he is,” she said with a nervous laugh. Then she got up and left.
“Good riddance,” Faith muttered.
An hour later, the theater was packed and Hunter appeared, looking as handsome as ever. “Hey, you made it,” Faith said. “You smell really good, too.”
He grinned. “A fresh shower is all it takes to impress you. That bodes well for me.”
She chuckled. “You’re just in time. The curtain is about to go up.”
Hunter took his seat, grabbed Faith’s hand, and then turned his attention to the stage as the lights went down.
The production started off delightfully. Zoey was an excellent Cady, delivering her lines with a vulnerability and charm.
And then Autumn came out. Autumn Thompson had snagged the role of Regina George.
When she’d heard, Faith had wondered how the quiet girl was going to do with the role, but as it turned out, she never got the chance to find out.
The moment Autumn opened her mouth to talk to Zoey’s character, one of the sound booms fell from above, barely missing Zoey by just a few inches.
“Zoey!” Hunter was on his feet, already sprinting toward the stage.
Meanwhile, more equipment fell from above, and Faith briefly wondered if they were having an earthquake. Only nothing was shaking, and the only one who seemed to be in danger was Zoey.
Faith sprinted after her husband, her arms raised, her magical senses desperately searching for a water source so that she could help.
But she was just too far from the river.
Her magic sparked and then fizzled out. Her magic was utterly useless as she stared at the scene, terrified of what was to come next.
But then one of the parents rose from the audience and sent their air magic out toward the stage, deflecting the debris falling from above.
The dark-haired woman sent it off to the side of the stage where there were no actors and did her best to make sure none of the lights or curtain hardware hit anyone else.
But then, despite the witch’s best efforts, the pile of debris started to move all on its own as if Zoey were a magnet and it couldn’t physically stay away from her. Faith jumped, trying to put herself between Zoey and the objects, but she tripped and fell short.
“No!” Faith cried at exactly the same time that Autumn tackled Zoey and ripped the charm bracelet off her arm. She threw it at the debris, causing the chaos to suddenly stop.
There was silence in the theater as everyone tried to process what had just happened.
But then the bracelet started to glow, and the debris rose, circling as if it were ruled by the bracelet.
Summer Thomas got to her feet, ran over, and sent a bolt of magic at the bracelet. Her white light surrounded it, enclosing it in a bubble, causing the debris to once again go dormant.
“Someone get me a bucket of saltwater!” Summer cried. “Now!”
That wasn’t exactly something most places kept on hand, but this was Keating Hollow. One of the parents jumped up and said, “I’ve got a jug in the car. I’ll be right back.”
“Hurry,” Summer ordered and then turned to look at her daughter, Autumn. “What did you do?”
“I’m sorry,” Autumn sobbed, tears running down her face. “I didn’t want her to get hurt. I just… I thought a little bad luck would keep her from getting the lead again. I’m so sorry, Zoey. I never wanted this.”
Zoey stared at the other girl in complete horror. “You did this? You cursed my charm bracelet?”
“Spelled. Not cursed,” Autumn insisted.
“No, you cursed that girl, Autumn,” Summer said. “Don’t you understand? You could have killed her and her mother.” Summer turned to Faith. “I’m sorry for my daughter.” She looked down. “And myself. I never should have used that potion in that cheesecake. I just… I have no excuse.”
Faith said nothing. She knew the societal rule was to forgive someone when they apologized, but she didn’t care.
“You are not forgiven,” she told Summer.
“I’m sure in time, if Autumn really is sorry, we’ll find a way to forgive her.
But the way I see it, all that happened here is that a young girl learned to deal with her disappointments by copying the way her mother handled them.
Slipping a love potion into any cake is bad enough, but trying to cast a love spell on a married man is beyond the pale.
We don’t forgive you. You’ll just have to live with that. ”
The other parent returned with the saltwater and poured it into a bucket.
Summer looked pained at Faith’s words but just nodded as she used her magic to guide the charm bracelet into the bucket.
There was a loud sizzle, followed by yellow flames erupting from the container.
When they died out, the stench of magic that had been in the air was gone, and a weight seemed to lift off Faith’s shoulders.
It was as if she’d been walking around with a doom cloud pressing down on her, and she hadn’t even realized it.
Hunter ran over to Zoey and engulfed her in a giant hug. Faith turned to the audience. “I’m sorry, folks. I think the show’s over for the night.”
When Hunter and Zoey pulled apart, Zoey ran into Faith’s arms and buried her head in Faith’s chest. “Thank you, Faith. Thank you.”
“You never need to thank me for protecting you, baby girl. Got it? That’s just what a mom does for her kids.”
Zoey looked up at her, tears clumping her eyelashes. “I couldn’t have asked for a better second mom.”
“And I couldn’t have asked for a better first daughter.” She kissed the top of her stepdaughter’s head, grabbed her husband’s hand, and then the three of them walked out, leaving Summer and Autumn to deal with whatever repercussions were headed their way.