Page 24 of Witchful Thinking
“No, of course not. Um…can we talk for a second?”
“Sure.” Lucy fully faced Ursula. Her manicured fingers picked at the dangling charm from her designer bag. Ursula didn’t fidget unless she was super nervous about something. Lucy swallowed hard and straightened up. She silently pleaded that she wouldn’t have to wear a school-bus-yellow bridesmaid dress down the aisle. Even so, Lucy would sashay and strut her stuff if Ursula needed her to step up for her special day.
“Mrs. Walker brought up a few things,” Ursula said in a cautious tone. “You signed up for the cakewalk. You’re making a…uh…croquembouche?”
Lucy’s throat started tingling. “I guess so.”
Ursula stared at her as if trying to divine whether she was lying. Lucy had learned through her last few encounters that if she tried to deny the opportunity, she’d be rendered voiceless. If she made a neutral statement, she’d be able to respond. She was basically living out the real-life version of that Jim Carrey movie where he couldn’t say no. It was a hot mess, and she’d been under this spell for less than a week. She’d be lucky if she didn’t end up running down Main Street in her underwear, screaming, because of her inability to lie.
“A French cream-puff tower? That sounds difficult for a home baker like you.” Ursula winced.
Lucy narrowed her eyes. Why did she say “home baker” with the same disdain one said “amateur gold miner”? I know how to read a recipe.
“It’s not impossible,” Lucy said.
“Professional bakers have failed making this dessert. You’ve never made anything other than brownies and blondies,” Ursula said, her tone hardened.
“That’s true.” Lucy had never pushed herself to bake anything more complicated because she was scared to fail. The spell wouldn’t let her fail, right? Right?
“I’m running the cakewalk fundraiser,” Ursula said with a hint of boastfulness. “Mrs. Walker trusted me to organize all the bakers and donations. I’m responsible for making sure that we don’t have a single empty table. I’m going to crush this fundraiser. I have to crush it.”
Lucy watched Ursula. Her desire to impress the Walkers was stamped in gold on her forehead. Empathy for her cousin washed over her heart. This wedding had to go off without a problem, so Lucy needed to get this wish under control. She tried to assure Ursula that she wasn’t going to let her down, but she couldn’t work her mouth open. Instead, Lucy nodded and smiled. It seemed to work, since Ursula gave a relaxed smirk.
Callie returned from the counter. “So, bad news. All the copies are rented out. Good news is, once a copy is available, they’ll call us. We’re on the waiting list.”
“Which book are you looking for?” Ursula looked at Lucy, then Callie.
“It’s nothing, just a book about tea blends,” Lucy said quickly. She didn’t want to alarm Ursula with her wayward wish. She wouldn’t want anything to ruin the wedding or stress out her already high-strung cousin.
“How’s your spell going, cuz?” Callie asked Ursula. She gave Lucy one last glance, then looked over at her cousin.
Ursula’s face brightened. “Oh, yes. Everything’s going great. I picked out a new dress, we’re working on a new color scheme, and we have a cake tasting.”
“What’s the new theme?”
“Boho.” Ursula’s smile seemed slightly strained. “It’s the perfect time for a boho beach wedding.”
“You don’t like sand,” Callie said. “You legit called Grove Beach a massive litter box for people.”
“I was joking,” Ursula said, a little too brightly. “We’re having the ceremony on the boardwalk.”
Lucy leaned against the bookcase, getting mental whiplash from all the changes being made within a single week.
“We’re having the rehearsal dinner and drinks at Berkeley.”
Lucy looked closely at Ursula. She appeared dazed, as if she had just had too much sugar or rosé.
“This can’t be what you wished for,” Lucy said. Was this her or the spell?
Something furious and a bit desperate flashed in Ursula’s face, then vanished. She took a steady breath, then exhaled. Her features schooled into a posh mask, and then she said, “This is what I want. Everyone’s coming together to help make this wedding happen. It’s going to happen. Okay. Marcus has been great. He’s helped me with getting favors and the guest list reorganized. You don’t have to be rude to him.”
She ended her rant panting. A chill filled the store at her words. A nearby customer, noticing the vibe, moved away from them, to the other side of the store.
“This convo is getting awkward.” Callie focused on her phone.
Lucy blinked rapidly to control her rising annoyance. “Hold up. When was I rude to him?”
“Marcus said you ran away from him at the festival,” Ursula said.