Chapter 3

ChapterThree

Jesse heard voices, but they sounded muffled as if coming from another room. Her eyes focused on the road ahead, and she barely noted the passing countryside or trees. They all seemed to blur together. Within those blurs, creatures appeared to emerge, strange beings with gnarled bodies and terrifying faces.

Mal drove the car, gripping the steering wheel like he battled with the vehicle for dominance. Sweat lined his brow. His were some of the muttered words she couldn’t quite make out.

“I like your hands,” she told him, not considering she shouldn’t say what was on her mind. “They’re worker’s hands. Not all soft like I imagined a lawyer with a mullet ponytail might be.”

He glanced at her with a worried expression. “Thanks. I like your hands too.”

Jesse heard a splash and turned to find a lobster in a small tray next to her aunt in the backseat. A garden gnome holding a sign that read, “Listen to me,” was seat belted in.

She had only discovered she had an Aunt Polly around the same time she’d learned there was a will. She had been one of Marigold’s friends when they were young, as well as a distant cousin.

“I see things,” Jesse said to Polly, trying to explain.

“I know, pumpkin doodle,” Polly answered, placing a tiny hat on the lobster’s head. “They mean you no harm. We’re just speeding up your latent magic. Giving it a good goose on the backside.”

A knock sounded on her window, and she turned to find a man staring at her. She frowned, confused. When had the car stopped?

She turned to ask Mal, but he was gone. Her movements felt wooden, like after a night of one too many glasses of wine.

The knock sounded again. The man smiled expectantly. Jesse hit the button to roll down the window. They were by gas pumps. She didn’t remember turning off the interstate.

The man instantly launched into a rush of words. “My son told me last night that he doesn’t want to attend college. We have been saving since he was a baby, working hellish hours so he doesn’t have to get a loan. He’s only thirteen. I think he’s just confused, but my wife wants to go on a cruise now—”

Jesse didn’t answer as she reversed the direction of the window to block him out. He kept talking, the jumbled words coming faster as his lips followed the closing gap of the window.

A young woman appeared next to the man, holding a cellphone. She tried to weave around the college dad as if to show Jesse its screen. A minivan pulled up to the pumps, and a couple exited the vehicle. The woman reached for the gas pump as her husband started to head inside the station. Suddenly, they both turned and stopped what they were doing as they came toward the line forming outside of Jesse’s window.

“Do I let her spend the money on a cruise?” College Dad persisted, knocking on the glass.

“What do you think of this text?” Phone Girl yelled as she waved her cellphone. “Do you believe what he’s saying? Is he with Charlotte?”

“My son is carsick,” the husband from the minivan stated. “My wife wants to stop for the night, but I want to push on another five hours.”

“He wants to get home to his mistress,” Minivan Wife shouted.

“I don’t have a mistress,” Minivan Husband argued. “Tell her I don’t have a mistress.”

“Um, Polly?” Jesse asked, worried. The glass doors of the gas station opened, and more people came outside to head toward her. She gripped the edge of her seat, her fingers kneading the material in worry.

For some reason, she got the impression that, yes, the boyfriend was with Charlotte.

And thirteen was too young to make any life plan. If they kept the money, the kid would be a dermatologist. If they didn’t, he’d own a small business. Both were fine paths, but who the hell knew what they wanted to be at thirteen?

And Minivan Husband didn’t have a mistress, but the wife did.

“Back off!” Mal yelled, running past the gathering crowd. He carried two bags of groceries.

He slid into the driver’s seat and tossed the bags on Jesse’s lap. The engine revved as he quickly drove them out of there. A few of the people jogged after the car.

“Oh, good, snacks!” Polly exclaimed. “Pass those back. Herman needs his travel chips.”

Jesse handed the bags to the backseat.

“Lobsters like chips?” Mal asked Jesse.

“I…” She gave a small shrug and turned to look back at the station.

“What was that all about?” he asked.

“They just wanted to talk to me.” She turned her attention forward. “They thought I could give them advice or something. It’s weird. It’s like I have some kind of cosmic sign on my head that says, tell me your trauma, ask me your fate.”

“Penny for your thoughts,” Polly laughed.

“The potion?” Mal glanced into the rearview mirror as if to stare at Polly.

“Potion for your thoughts,” Polly amended. “I like that.”

“What potion?” Jesse felt as if her mind was clearing. “Why am I…? Where are we…? Wait. Polly, what did you do?”

“Cosmic realignment. Like rotating car tires,” Polly responded. “You are two years, five days, and a handful of hours past your due date. You’re throwing off the magical balance.”

“Why does no one from Lucky Valley ever make sense?” Jesse stared at Mal, waiting for an answer. Out of the two others in the car, he seemed to be the candidate for the sanest.

Instead, he changed the subject. “You look like you’re feeling better. What was that about at the restaurant with your boss?”

“I don’t even know. One minute I’m waiting on my table’s Rum Strawberry Surprise, and the next, he’s confessing his attraction and talking about giving me a raise if I give him a raise.” Jesse grimaced. She looked down and realized she still wore her half-apron. Feeling the pockets, she found her wallet and phone inside. She leaned forward in her seat to untie it. “I could have handled it, but Polly took offense on my behalf and called him out publicly. It sucks, too. I was good at that job, and the tips were decent.”

“He’s lucky I didn’t call his mama for a grounding,” Polly said.

Jesse had another sudden impression of Robert fearing his mother’s disapproval. It was something she couldn’t have known.

The car jerked and began making a banging noise.

“What the…?” Mal started to slow.

“Here, Jesse, hold this,” Polly said.

Jesse automatically reached back. Cool liquid covered her fingers. She felt the world begin to blur again.

“Keep driving,” Polly said. “That should hold us the rest of the trip.”

“Jesse?” Mal asked.

She blinked, unable to form words, as she looked at him.

“Damn it, Polly, what did you do?” Mal demanded.

“Just a potion for her thoughts. We need her powers charged and understood before we get there. Silly thing. She’s still trying to deny her magic.” Polly leaned over with a bag of potato chips. “Hungry?”

Mal frowned but snatched the bag. “Hand me those pretzel pieces too.”

“That a boy!” Polly exclaimed.

Jesse turned her attention back to the creatures forming outside the windows within the blurry landscape.