Chapter 18

Winston

My mother always rattled me. I never knew how she was going to act. Sometimes she doted on me, and other times she acted like I was an idiot who needed all the guidance possible. Add in a girlfriend, and the mix just got odder.

I dreaded introducing Willow to my mother. Even letting her hear my mother talk to me was humiliating since she always made me sound stupid. We weren"t in a good spot right now, and things had been tense.

Trying to ignore that, I settled into the comfort I had found in running the café. Willow helped in the kitchen, and we managed to get everything I needed for the evening and morning ready to go. With the time, I even managed to prep several things for the week. Maybe I could take the chance and sleep in.

"When do the new kids start?" Willow asked, looking at Charlotte working the register.

"Today, actually. One is coming in for a couple of hours to watch closing and going to work all of tomorrow evening. Another is starting in the morning with Lyzzie. I haven't nailed down the third's schedule yet. Charlotte and Lyzzie are both excellent at their jobs, and I've given them a raise for training the new folks."

"That's amazing! I'm happy to hear it. I'm glad you've gotten help. Hopefully, some of them can bake too."

"Two of them have at least some experience. Lyzzie also can do more than I knew, so we're going to start working on rotation when she's in here with me in the kitchen, and two others are out there. My aunt also let me in on that secret. You pre-make it and freeze it. Then they just throw it in the oven and follow directions. Or prep for the week where it's much easier to toss things together."

"Genius." Willow said, laughing.

I nodded. "I need to do it for me, too. I know there will be days I won't be able to manage or want to go somewhere. Days when things are busier than I expected and we'll need more food. It's a good idea."

Willow was about to ask something else, and I realized I was staring at her lips. I was just thinking of all the things I could do, when my phone rang. Damn it.

Feeling awkward, I looked at the screen and saw it was my mother. I held it up for Willow to see and put my finger to my lips.

A blush crept up her cheeks. That had me wishing I really did not have to talk to my mother right then. The thoughts alone in my head were not ones I'd ever want my mother to know about. It felt extra awkward answering the phone, as I tried to shove those memories out of my mind.

I answered the call, putting it on speakerphone.

"Hello? Mom?"

"Winston? I've looked over what you have sent me. That spell cannot be published. You can tell the witch it'll be a council command, but if she goes against it, we'll revoke it."

I looked at Willow, and her eyes were huge. I waved my hand at her to get her attention. She just shook her head no.

"Why can't she publish it? It doesn't have anything to do with conjuring love."

"Do we know that for sure? It needs to be done, several times, to see the results of it. Even then, I'm not sure it's a service or spell we'd want to advertise. It could cause some major backlash in the world of dating apps."

"Dating Apps?"

"Love is a business. And many people are happy thinking they are with their soulmate. If they could know for certain? If you've been married for ten years and find out your spouse isn't? Disasters waiting to happen."

Willow looked thoughtful at that, but still angry. She waved her hand in the air. I shook my head.

"Ignoring the arguments I have about that, what about the second one?"

"We are examining it now. It is going to take longer than I expected."

"Is it for invisibility?"

"We aren't sure yet. We're checking the archives. I'll get back in touch when we know something. You convince that witch of yours that if she knows what is good for her that she doesn't need to publish either of them."

"I don't know that I can. What happens if I don't?"

"If it's a council sanction to hide these spells, we'll revoke her ability to practice in a public manner. Which would make teaching magic extremely difficult for her, and the college probably wouldn't want to continue being associated with her."

"That seems a bit extreme."

"Hundreds of years have been spent carefully avoiding disasters. Even with the best efforts of the council, things happen. We can't afford to risk it."

"I understand that, but neither of these—,"

She cut me off. "Convince her, if you know what's good for both of you."

And she hung up. Great. I stared at the phone in my hand, afraid to meet Willow's eyes. I finally looked up.

Willow's eyes were huge. Her hands were twisting together, and she looked as if she might scream at any second. Or blow a top like they did in cartoons.

"Willow, I'm sorry. My mother is very used to getting her way."

"I can tell. But what if I try to publish it?"

"She'll probably find a way to stop you. I have no idea what all the council is capable of. I should have paid more attention, but when your mom is in charge, you kind of try to avoid it."

Willow tapped the table in front of her, deep concentration showing on her face. I would wait and see what she decided. I wasn't sure how to persuade her either way on whether to publish or not.

"Wait… ‘that witch of yours'—what did she mean by that?"

My heart skipped a bit, and I realized what Mom had been talking about. I'd been worried about what my mom was saying about the spells, not what she had called Willow.

"Oh, um, well." I wasn't sure how to explain this one well.

"Did you tell her I was a witch?" Willow's voice had risen quite a bit.

"No, not exactly." I held a hand up, and then ran it through my hair instead. I shuffled my feet a bit, and still couldn't come up with the right words.

Willow stood up straight and put her hands on her hips. The anger transformed her face, and she looked like a fierce Goddess fixing to behead me. I shouldn"t have been turned on by that. That absolutely shouldn't have been what my brain was focusing on in this moment.

"Then, whatexactly?" Her voice had gone cold. Okay. Fire doused.

Realizing I was not getting out of this, I brushed my hand through my hair in worry, trying really hard not to grip the back of the chair like I was going to break it.

"I talked to her the other day about some of the ingredients in the spell." I started to explain.

Willow nodded. "You mentioned that. What does that have to do with it?"

"Well, when she asked who it was for, I said a professor at the college working on a witchcraft book about the history and some spells she had found." I looked away from Willow. "She assumed you were a witch."

"And you didn't correct her, is that it?" Willow's voice was dripping with anger.

"Well, no. I was trying to get information out of her, and it seemed that if that was the assumption she made… I mean, I wasn't ready to introduce you or anything, and it made it easier to deal with her…" And I should have shut up.

Willow's eyes flashed, and I swear I could feel the crackling in the air. If she had been capable of magic, I might be dead. As it stood, I really wanted that invisibility spell at this moment.

"You didn't want to deal with it? So what about when we really are together, and you have to tell your mother? Or are you just going to ask me to lie? Pretend that I'm a witch forever around her, so she doesn't have to convince you otherwise? What about her trying to control my career and what I publish?"

"Willow, it's not –" but she cut me off again.

"No. No, it is. It may not seem like that to you, but you literally lied to your mother, about something you told me did not matter to you—clearly it does. It may have just been an omission of facts, but it made it easier for you now. What will that mean later? Will I always be too hard to explain?"

She took off the apron and tossed it on the table. "I need out of here. I have things to do, anyway. Let me know what mommy dearest says. I'll see you in the morning."

"Willow, please, just let me talk to you."

I reached out, but stopped, knowing I shouldn't invade her space. Waiting to hold her, and apologize until she forgave me.

"Winston… I can't."

Before I could say anything else, Willow was out the door and gone.

I felt utterly defeated. And worse of all, she'd been right. I'd sworn that it hadn't mattered to me she wasn't a witch. That it would not bother me. But I hadn't corrected my mother, even in this small thing, because I hadn't wanted to deal with her. Or have her hold back information she'd have given a witch. I hadn't wanted to hear another lecture about only marrying a witch. I wanted her to care more about me than her need for me to carry on our line of witches. I'd known that in falling for Willow, I was doing exactly what my mother did not want. I hadn't been ready to tell her on that phone call. I hadn't wanted to face it. And so I'd taken the easy road.

Willow was right. It showed that I cared about the fact she wasn't a witch in some regard. And if I didn't tell the truth now, if I didn't stand up for her know, would I when it mattered?

I didn't know.

I didn't hear back from my mother that night. Not knowing what to even begin to say to her, I didn't try to call her. My brain wouldn't let go until I texted Willow, though. I just had to apologize again, and ask to see her. She didn't respond either.

She didn't stop by for coffee on her way to work the next morning, and that really made me feel like shit. I didn't think I could feel worse, but I was wrong.

I thought about taking a cup of coffee to her on campus, but even if I asked Charlotte, I worried it was too much of a ploy to get back into her favor. I knew this was much bigger than a cup of coffee could solve.

What would I say?

Then again, she'd blown up so quickly she hadn't really given me a chance to process. And now it looked like she was avoiding me.

And what if she submitted the book?

By afternoon, I was grouchy and hiding in the kitchen. When my phone rang, I expected it to be my mother, but it was my aunt.

I wasn't sure I was up to it, but I answered.

"Winston, my darling boy, what have you done now?"

Taken aback, I stopped what I was doing and paid attention to the phone call. "What?"

"I can feel your unhappiness from here child. Not only that, but your mother has texted me ranting about some love spell, and you and a witch?"

I sighed. Of course, mother would text her. They were sisters after all, but I forgot because they were like night and day. I had no worries my aunt would tell my mother anything I didn't want her to know, though.

I sat the phone down on the table, put it on speakerphone, and leaned my head into my hands, rubbing my temples.

"Yeah. The first spell we decoded was a kind of love spell. And mother assumed Willow was a witch when I called to ask her questions about ingredients. I danced around it and didn't correct her."

"And Willow found out."

My sigh answered for her.

"My dear boy, you should know better. You'll have to make up for this one." Her voice sounded so gentle and sweet. I decided I needed a cup of tea, and put the kettle on.

"Was it really so bad?" I could hear the pitiful whine in my voice.

"What has Willow been worried about?" my aunt prodded.

"Whether I'll commit to a relationship because she isn't a witch, and…. Shit." I knew it was bad, but I hadn't wanted to face it.

"Shit indeed."

"How do I fix this?"

"Show her you commit, kid. What is the spell?"

"It is supposed to show whether you are soulmates according to the little bit we pieced together. There weren't a lot of directions."

My aunt was silent for a few minutes. "What happened when you two performed the spell together?"

"How did you know we did?"

"I know Willow. Now answer."

Rubbing my temples was doing me no good, but thankfully the kettle whistled. I made some tea and dropped a few drops of my migraine elixir in there.

"Our hands glowed the same color, and I felt a spark of electricity."

"And?"

"And that was what the spell did."

"What happened after that?"

"I… how do you always know when I'm not saying everything?"

"Magic. Now, tell me."

"We slept together. Need more details?"

"Hmmmm."

I took a few sips of my tea. "It was wonderful. Electric. She's all I can think about."

After a pause, she asked, "Had you slept together before that?"

"No. We kissed. We had a conversation about us. But that was it."

"Did the spell do it?" She asked. I took a deep breath and committed to telling her everything.

"Well, we tried again with Willow's friend Piper. Me, and Piper to be exact. I was the same blue glow, but she was red. No aftereffects, no shock, and I didn't try to jump her bones immediately."

"You said you wanted to sleep with Willow before the spell and potion, correct?"

"Yes." I answered simply. She had to have a point.

"Then it wasn't the spell, darling. It may have intensified it, but it wouldn't have put you in bed together. Very few spells can do that, and most are more of a curse. It sounds like it just shows something inside of us that calls like to like. Willow glowed the same color as you, you two just realized what that meant. Simple."

"How do you know that?"

"I used to deep dive into the archives. It's beside the point. Fight your mother on this. And fight for Willow."

"I don't know if she'll forgive me."

"Then work to earn it kiddo. I like Willow, but if you hurt her any more, I might come take the café back. All right, I'm going for a swim. Good luck."

"That's it?"

"Yep. You can do this."

Click.

Work to earn it. Show I could commit. What could I do? If Mother wasn't going to tell me… maybe I could figure it out for myself? But I'd been trying to do that.

Only here, though… not in the archives. Maybe it was time to go home.

Charlotte and the new kid were working the counter, and she was teaching her how to make a drink. I nodded towards Charlotte and pulled her to the side.

"I'm going to talk to Lyzzie tonight, but if I had to leave for a few days, could you handle it here?"

"Absolutely. We did it for your aunt. And we can keep training these two."

"Wonderful. Okay, I'll text you details. Thanks."

"You are coming back though… right?"

Charlotte asked quietly, as I had started to leave. I turned back around.

"What?"

"It's just… Willow hasn't been here. You've seemed upset and distant all day. And I was wondering…"

Ah. She did really like Willow, and had known her much longer than me. Charlotte was also really intuitive.

"Yes, I'm coming back. This is for Willow, even though she doesn't know it yet. Keep the café safe for me, okay?"

She nodded, and I went back to my kitchen to make plans.

I flew home. In less than a day, I was back near the council, ready to confront my mother and get some answers.

My brother was waiting for me. I'd called him, waiting on my flight, so he could pick me up from the airport. That had meant I'd had to fill him in on everything that had happened.

His wife called me an idiot. Brad agreed.

I really couldn't argue.

He didn't hesitate for one second to be there to pick me up though, or to offer to come with me. This late in the evening, mother would be at home. I really wanted to go to the council offices and try to get into the vault for the archives. But I did not know what I was looking for or what exactly my plans were for finding it.

Brad let me take the lead. I left my duffel bag in his backseat, because I wasn't sure I wanted to crash here. With a deep breath, I clenched my hands and knocked on the front door. I could hear footsteps down the hall, and then the bolt being thrown.

Mother's face was shocked when she saw me standing there with Brad behind me. She was still dressed for work, nice dress pants, fancy top, pretty pearl jewelry. Her brown hair was elegantly piled on her head. Mother was always prepared. Unlike before, though, I was too.

She paused, studied me, and quickly "fixed her face" as she always called it. I'm sure the scowl I could feel on my face was not helping matters at all. I clenched my fists to my sides, at the anger I felt. It wasn't all directed at her. No, I wanted to hurt myself a bit too.

"We need to talk. Now." I left no room for argument.

"Whatever it is, is it really that important that you needed to come all the way out here for it? No warning? I mean, I'm happy to see you, but this is a surprise."

"Yes. Yes, it is. I did not want to do this over the phone."

"Could have just sent Brad."

Noticing the side stepping, I shook my head. "Are we going to have this conversation on the porch?"

There was no one to see us. Mother lived in a very nice house with a few acres. A rarity here, but then again, she was on the council and had money. There was even a greenhouse in the back for growing her own herbs. That said, she wouldn't want to take any chances at airing dirty family laundry for all to see.

"No, no. Come on."

She turned and marched down the hallway, spine ramrod straight as if she'd been called to battle and meant to fight. Her low heels clicked on the tile floor, a sound I remembered with aching clarity from childhood. The room she led me to was our formal living room. And yes, there was an informal one. This one was for important conversations and guests. It was beautifully decorated, dark green tones with wonderfully carved wood furniture. It was like stepping into a forest. I'd loved and hated this room as a kid. Too many dreaded lectures and punishments handed down in here for the aesthetics to fully make up for.

Mother sat in one of the chairs sitting across from the couch. Brad and I both took the couch, and I suddenly remembered many lessons learned as children as we sat exactly like this. My father had passed away when I was young, so Mother had been both roles. She'd excelled in the punishment arena, not so much in the loving, caring, one.

"Is this about the spell or the witch?" she asked, eyebrows raised.

"Both." I said, straight to the point.

"Does she still want to publish them? Really, she has no choice once the council makes a ruling, and we met today about the spells. Surely she'll forgive you and move on."

"You met today about them? You never even called me about the second one."

"No, no, I didn't."

"Mother, you have to tell me what you found." I was gripping my legs, trying to keep from raising my voice.

"No. Simply, I don't."

I growled in frustration. My brother sat a hand on my arm.

"Mother, part of the reason why I came here is to set the record straight. I've made some mistakes I need to fix. That said, I also came here to change your mind, and fight for Willow."

"Is that the witch?"

I growled, "No, actually she isn't a witch."

Mother's face finally changed, showing confusion. "What do you mean, not a witch?"

Brad put his hand up. "Quit the back and forth. Tell her all of it."

And so I did.