Chapter One
I turned up the music and danced past Teran as she handed me another spiked mocha. Ari sorted out cookie cutters on one counter, while Meagan measured out confectioner’s sugar on another. The kitchen smelled like a bakery, and we were all half-sloshed.
Taking another sip of the mocha, I closed my eyes and let out a satisfied sigh. The blend of hot cocoa, espresso, and double-espresso vodka tasted like the best thing in the world right now.
“Did you remember to set the timer?” Teran asked.
I glanced at the oven. “Yeah, I did. Four more minutes.”
The November Gale was an annual event in Moonshadow Bay held the weekend before Thanksgiving, and all proceeds went to the food bank. Ari, Teran, and I had recently joined not only the Crystal Cauldron—the coven that helped protect Moonshadow Bay—but the Witches Guild as well, for which we had been immediately pressed into service for the WG booth for the festival. We were slated to deliver fifteen dozen cookies on Saturday morning.
In fact, every witch in the Guild was expected to bring five dozen cookies of one sort or another for the sale. When Teran suggested we get together and hold a baking day, Ari and I jumped at the chance. Not only was my aunt a champion cook, but she was a brilliant baker. With her help, we knew our cookies would turn out right.
I had chosen to make chocolate and peanut-butter chip cookies, Ari was making sugar cookies, and Teran had decided to make gingerbread men. Since mine were drop cookies, I had extra time to help Ari and Teran decorate theirs. Meagan, Ari’s wife, wasn’t part of the Guild, but we had roped her in for good measure since she was a good baker.
I pulled the last batch out of the oven when the timer went off and set it on the rack to cool. “I am so glad that Tad gave everybody next week off.”
“What did he say about you taking today and tomorrow off as well?” Ari said.
“Conjure Ink is focusing on catching up with paperwork right now, so he was fine with it. Wren told me that Tad never agrees to take a case the week before Thanksgiving, or the last two weeks of the year. I have to say, Tad may be a decade younger than I am, but he’s the best boss I’ve ever had.”
“You were your own boss for years—” Meagan started to say, but I shook my head.
“Nope. I may have made the magazine what it was, but Ellison took all the credit and he took the reins on everything. I just ignored the things he wanted me to do that would have ruined the publication.” I thought about how far my life had come in a year. “Everything seems so long ago and far away, even though I only left him a year ago. Well, a year ago this month, since I was wrapping up the divorce.”
“By the way, has the asshole tried texting you again?” Teran asked. Her long hematite-colored hair was pulled back into a braid, and she was wearing a pair of jeans, a short-sleeved sweater, and a floral apron. Teran was sixty-eight going on timeless, and she was one of my favorite people in the world.
“No, but I woke up three days ago and saw that he’d called me in the middle of the night, four times. I blocked his number so I’m not sure what he wanted, but I wish he would forget about me and start harassing his parents instead.”
Ellison was my cheating ex-husband, who put the “A” in arrogant, and who had scammed me out of my half of the divorce settlement. But now, thanks to my magic and his stupidity, he was living with his family in Bellingham, and that was far too close for comfort. I wanted him to go back to Seattle and get lost in the sea of the literati he so loved.
“Did he leave a message?” Ari asked.
“Yeah, but it was garbled. I think he was drunk. I didn’t call back to ask what he wanted.” I began to remove the cookies from the sheet pan, carefully placing them on the island counter, where they awaited their turn to be frosted. Then, sliding onto one of the tall counter stools, I took the time to savor my spiked cocoa.
Aunt Teran handed me a piping bag. “No rest for the wicked. Get busy. Those gingerbread men are naked and it’s up to you to preserve the morality of this kitchen.”
I snorted and set down my mug. “All right, but don’t blame me if their clothes are all wrinkled.” I began to pipe out the outline of royal icing like Teran had shown us, trying to keep the lines even. “I’m beginning to regret joining the Guild. Do they do this every year?”
“What, you resent helping the hungry? I think they might, as well as the Summer Solstice Splash,” Ari said with a laugh.
“I mean… Oh, never mind.” I hadn’t meant it like that but we were all three sheets to the wind and I decided we were lucky to have made it this far without incident. I braced my elbows on the counter, trying to focus on making it through the last couple batches of piping.
We were almost done when my phone rang. I sat down the piping bag and pulled out my phone, frowning when I didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”
“So you finally answer me!” The angry, raw voice rang out over the phone and I groaned, mouthing “Ellison” to the others.
“It wasn’t intentional,” I said. “In fact, if I had known it was you, I would have sent you right to voice mail for this call. I’m going to hang up on you, Ellison. If you have something to say to me, send me a letter or an email. However, I probably won’t answer. Buh-bye.”
I signed off and immediately blocked that number too. I had no idea whose phone he was borrowing, but if they were friends of his, I didn’t need to know them.
“He needs to let go,” Teran said, glaring at the phone.
“He needs to take a flying leap off a bridge,” I grumbled. “Okay, back to finishing the decorating. The last batch will be ready soon.”
We finished making the cookies and headed into the living room, this time with some of the extra cookies we had made. I settled onto the sofa as it suddenly occurred to me that my Yule tree would be visible from both the dining room and the living room this year. Since I had the house renovated, I was still getting used to the differences. At least the nasty ghost who had taken up residence in my house was gone, and my house felt thoroughly cleansed and new.
“I think this year I’ll bring out the special ornaments my parents had,” I said, staring at the wall. “Last year was still too close to their deaths, but this year I’m going all out and I’m going all-out early.”
“I think we all need good cheer and shiny things,” Ari said. She finished off her mocha. “This has been fun. Next week is going to be insanely busy. I took today off to make cookies, and I’m taking Saturday off to go to the festival, but tomorrow, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday are going to be a real bitch. I’m packed with clients from eight in the morning through six each night, all of whom want holiday updos.”
Ari was a hair stylist and she was one of the best in town. She was also my best friend and one of the witchblood, like me. Only her magic ran to divination and the air element, and she was a natural-born empath.
She bit the head off one of the gingerbread men. “I had to stop answering the phone because too many women wanted me to take them on Wednesday next week, and even though I could make a fortune off them, I decided nope. From Wednesday through Black Friday, I’m closed.”
“I’m glad you set your boundaries. You let them take advantage of you,” Meagan said. “I wish you’d listen to me more.”