“That’s because you had natural blizzards, not spelled ones,” Chase says. He aims a pointed look at Julian, the only witch in the room.
“The coven must have really messed up this year’s spell,” I say, placing emphasis on the word coven, which Julian isn’t a part of.
“What spell?” He frowns, like this is the first he’s hearing of it.
“The Mid-Winter spell? The one they cast every year to make sure there’s snow on the ground for the celebration?”
“You mean that snow wasn’t natural?” Julian gapes at me.
“You don’t actually think this is natural?” Wes gestures at the window. “Look at it.”
“Not this. I mean before.” Julian rubs his temples. “I thought it was just a normal blizzard.”
“You really didn’t know?” I gape at him.
Julian shakes his head. “I used to get my info from Mini, but now…” He trails off, and my eyes narrow at the mention of Minerva Montgomery. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the witch with a capital B, but the thought of her still makes my blood boil. Julian notices my reaction and quickly changes the subject, “So you guys all knew this was a magical storm?”
We nod.
“Wes mentioned it,” Chase says.
“So did Zoe,” I add, referring to the Cleanly Den witch who works for Wes. “We should call her and find out what’s going on.”
“She’s not the one you should be asking,” Chase says with another pointed look at Julian.
“Why would Julian know anything about it? He didn’t even know it was a magical storm.”
“Maybe you should ask him.” Chase folds his arms in front of his chest.
“Juli?” I turn to him and wait for him to deny knowing anything, but he refuses to make eye contact. He’s also got that same look he always gets when one of his spells goes horribly wrong. “What did you do?”
“Nothing,” he mutters, but he’s obviously lying.
“Julian,” I warn, glaring at him, and that seems to do the trick.
“Look, I really didn’t mean for this to happen,” he cries, and then starts to explain. He talks a mile a minute, and when he’s done, we all stare at him in disbelief. Well, Wes and I do. Chase just shakes his head.
“So, let me get this straight,” I finally say. “You tried to use a spell to repel all the snow from Jewels Cafe so you wouldn’t have to shovel?”
Julian nods.
“But you accidentally attracted all the snow to Jewels Cafe instead?” Wes adds.
He nods again.
“And you think it’s because it was a magical snowstorm, instead of a natural one?”
Another nod. “Or maybe it was just my spell.” Julian runs his hand through his hair.
I sigh.
“And all this because you couldn’t keep your hands off Amber?” Chase finishes.
Julian’s cheeks flush, and the memory of exactly where he had his hands, or more specifically, his fingers, makes mine flush, too.
“If I’d known it was a magical storm, I never would have messed with it.” Julian has the decency to look sheepish.
“Too late for that.” Chase glares at him.
“But not too late to fix things,” Wes adds. “I’m going to call Zoe and see if she can reverse the spell.”
“Good idea.” I grin.
Wes takes out his phone and dials. But as I listen to his side of the conversation, my smile falters.
“Zoe can’t help, can she?” I ask when Wes finally hangs up.
“She can,” Wes says, and I feel a moment’s hope before he adds, “tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“I’m sorry, Ambear. Zoe doesn’t want to attempt messing with the Mid-Winter spell on her own, and the rest of the coven’s busy prepping for the coven’s Mid-Winter ceremony. She asked the coven leader, and they can send out some witches in the morning.”
“So they’re just going to leave us here?”
Wes shrugs. “We have food and water, and we’re definitely not going to freeze, so they’re not considering this an emergency.”
“But what about the party?” My heart sinks. “We need to clear the snow, or we’re going to have to cancel it.”
“I’m sorry, little bear.” Wes pulls me in for a tight hug. “I know you were looking forward to it.”
“Not just me,” I whisper against his chest. “You know how big a deal Mid-Winter’s Day is in Silver Springs. And there aren’t any other parties to go to.”
“There’s Club Vee,” Chase suggests.
“But that’s at night, and it’s not family friendly. Not like Jewels Cafe.”
“I know, sweetheart. But even if we weren’t snowed in, the thermostat’s still busted.”
“We could have made it work. Kept the doors and windows open, aired the place out.” I know there’s no point in saying any of it, since it’s too late now, but I can’t seem to help myself. The Mid-Winter Party was all our regular customers and I have talked about for weeks, and when they show up and see that it isn’t happening, they’re going to be crushed.
“I really screwed up, Bean.” Julian slumps into the nearest chair. “I’m sorry.”
“I know you are, Juli.” I sigh. “I’m not mad, I’m just…”
“Disappointed?” he asks with a lop-sided smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “That’s what Miss Devlin used to say, too.”
“She did, didn’t she?” I try to smile, but mine doesn’t quite reach my eyes either.
“Hey, what if we dug our way out?” Chase suddenly asks.
“What?” I pull away from Wes to gape at him.
“Here, look,” Chase says, holding up his phone. “Some people built a snow tunnel big enough to bike through.”
“Without magic?” I ask, staring at the article Chase pulled up.
“Human newspaper,” Chase tells me before switching to another tab. “And this man here dug a tunnel from his house to get to his car.”
“Which means we could too.” Wes takes the phone from Chase and examines the photo. “We could dig out to Main Street, and everyone could use the tunnel to get into the cafe.”
“And if we left the door open, it wouldn’t be so hot in here,” I add, breaking into a grin.
“There’s just one problem,” Julian says, his voice barely above a whisper.
“What’s that?” I ask.
“All the shovels are out there.” He points at the front door.
My shoulders slump. I glance at Chase, then Wes, waiting for them to tell me there’s another way, but they both shake their heads.
“I guess that’s it then?” I ask softly.
“Sorry, sweetheart.” Chase slips his phone back into his pocket.
Wes stays silent, but the way he squeezes my shoulder says it all.
“I’m so sorry, Bean,” Julian adds, grabbing my hand and pulling me onto his lap.
Unlike earlier, there’s nothing sexual about his touch. He plants a soft kiss on my forehead, and I lean into him.