CHAPTER 2

C HAPTER 2

T he lighting in the restaurant was muted, making the candle in the iron moose holder on the table sparkle even more. Mia loved eating at new places and trying to figure out what the owner was thinking when they made décor decisions. Working in the catering department rather than running a full-menu restaurant day in and day out was more her style. By focusing on catering, she could change the menu she offered to fit a client's needs or her whims. But sometimes, she wondered what it would be like to know exactly what she was going to be cooking each day.

"I'd offer you a penny for your thoughts, but from the look on your face, it would probably be much more expensive. What's got you dreaming again?" Trent sipped the wine they'd ordered that had been produced at a new vineyard just down the road. "A bad day with Frank?"

"Are there any good days with Frank?" Mia picked up her glass and took a sip of the rosé. The sweetness was surprising, especially considering the hot desert climate where the grapes grew. "That's tasty."

Trent nodded his agreement but didn't speak. He knew that sometimes she just needed a little more time to format her thoughts.

She looked up at him, wanting him to say something. Anything. If she said it twice in one day, the chance she'd quit sooner than she'd planned would be more likely to occur. She knew herself. Finally, she gave in. "I don't think it's fair to Frank for me to be at the Lodge, knowing I've got one foot out the door already."

"Frank gets what he paid for. You're the best catering director in Southern Idaho. Probably in all of Idaho, if not the Pacific Northwest. He's getting your expertise for a steal. Don't let his negativity drive you out of a job you need to support your business. You have things under control. Mom's getting a kick out of working again, and she loves planning parties." He smiled at their waitress as she dropped off their dinners. "You do what you need to do. Stop worrying about other people."

She cut into the steak and checked its doneness before taking a bite. She rarely ate beef, but this was a special occasion. It was their dating first anniversary. "Easier said than done, I'm afraid. There's a reason our clan is called ‘kitchen witches.' Historically, we're all about peace and harmony."

"You need to take better care of yourself rather than focusing on the needs of others. That's all I'm saying." He bit into his steak. "This place is wicked good. I'm glad we could get reservations."

"Thank you for dinner. I appreciate you making time for us. I know you're busy with the store." Majors had been undergoing a major remodel for the last few months with most of the work being done at night when the store was closed. Trent's father, Thomas Majors, was working with the architect company that had designed the changes. Trent was all excited about the new services they were going to be able to provide. Trent's dad, not so much.

Change for change's sake didn't quite fit Thomas's personal motto. He was more of a traditionalist with the "if it's not broke, don't fix it" axiom. It didn't matter; Thomas wasn't making the final decisions. Trent was in charge.

Trent chuckled as he wiped his mouth with his napkin. "Dad's all upset about the deli case. He doesn't think anyone would even want to purchase sandwiches or frozen dinners without being part of your delivery system."

"As long as they have money to buy the food, I don't care if they want to meet me in person before they buy. I'm glad you're going to have a spot for my products. A sale is a sale." Mia played with her lobster mac and cheese, using her fork to move the pieces around her plate. "I haven't tried to make this for delivery yet. I'm tempted, but I worried about how the lobster will freeze."

"That's the problem with fresh ingredients. It's an ‘it's not you, it's me' situation. Sometimes serving things made to order is the right recipe." Trent reached over and scooped up a bite with his fork. "This is excellent."

Mia took a bite, then another before Trent's fork could return. She didn't mind sharing, but this was awesome. "Did your mother tell you she landed the coven's queen contest account? That's going to fill the business' coffers for quite a few months. And if the delivery business stays busy, I might not need to work at the Lodge for much longer."

"Then Mom will have to go back down to cake decorator. Dad will be happy." Trent shook his head. "I don't know about their relationship. It feels like one person has to lose for the other to win."

"I hope we're not that way." Mia thought about what she'd said. She hadn't thought about what it took for a couple to work for a long time. With Isaac, he had to be first and the one in charge. He had to be the power side of the equation. He would have hated watching Mia grow her business. He'd discouraged her from starting a catering company for the entire time they'd been together. He liked being her boss. And now that the company was semi-successful, he would have been talking about the best way for her to sell out and exit the business. Something she didn't have to or even want to do. She wanted to keep growing her business. And remodel the entire Academy building. And so much more. Mia knew she'd probably never want to close the business, but she could slow it down if she needed to limit her hours for maybe a baby or two. She hadn't really thought about couple dynamics since she'd started dating Trent. That had to be a good sign.

"We're definitely not that way. I don't know if Mom mentioned it or not, but they almost divorced when I was in middle school. Mom was working at Majors, and Dad was hunting a lot. She reeled him in, and they set some rules as a couple. They have never taken each other for granted since."

A woman paused at the table. Mia looked up into Tatiana Evans's smiling face. "Oh, my, isn't this a coincidence."

"Hi, Mrs. Evans. Nice to see you again." Mia wiped her mouth with her napkin.

"We came down from the mountain for dinner. You can only eat at the Lodge so many times, right?" Tatiana smiled and held her hand out to Trent. "Please call me Tatiana. Mrs. Evans makes me sound like my mother-in-law. And this is Jack. I know who this handsome guy is, Trent Majors. I just saw your mother, but how's that handsome father of yours, Thomas?"

"He's fine. Nice to see you again, Tatiana. Jack." Trent stood and shook the man's hand.

Jack still hadn't said one word, nodding at Trent instead.

"I was so happy to hear that Thomas had agreed to judge the queen contest this year. With Majors as a sponsor, we desperately needed someone from the family, although I'm sure the girls were hoping for you or Levi. Someone closer to their age." Tatiana smiled like a satisfied cheetah who'd just bagged her prey.

"Your dad's judging the queen contest?" Mia sat back in her chair. She didn't know why the news had taken her by surprise, but it had.

Trent met her gaze. "This is news to me too."

Tatiana giggled and covered her mouth. "Oops. I hope I didn't spill the beans. I'm sure I'll see you both soon. This harvest festival is the crown jewel of Magic Spring's fall season. I just hope that Crissy does well in the contest. I've been waiting for my chance to be on the council for years."

The couple walked away, and Mia tried to process the information.

"Mia, I really didn't know that Dad had told them yes. Both Levi and I told the coven representative that we were too busy, but I guess Dad said yes. Is it a problem?"

Mia pursed her lips together. "Frank's going to think your dad being a judge is why Mia's Morsels was chosen. That we had an in when the contract was awarded."

"You did have an in, but that was Mom and the fact that she knows so many people on the board. Not Dad being a judge." Trent sipped his wine. "I hate it when a perfectly good date night turns into a business discussion."

Mia reached for his hand. "Don't think that way. We can deal with this when we get back into Magic Springs. Right now, it's just you and me at this table. And we're having a great dinner."

A few minutes later, a different man approached the table. He was dressed in chef whites. "How was your meal?"

"Perfect," Trent said while Mia looked up at the chef.

She gasped, then stood and hugged the man. "Brad? Is that you?"

"Well, I hope so, but maybe you just give hugs to all the chefs who feed you well. However, the lobster mac and cheese is hug-worthy." The chef, now known as Brad, squeezed her back, then let go. He reached over and shook Trent's hand. "Before you decide to hit me, let me introduce myself. Brad Heinrich. I knew Mia in Boise. We had both taken the same cooking class. No one expected me to do anything with the information, but Mia, she was voted most likely to succeed that year."

Mia sat back down. "Now, Brad's being modest. He got a scholarship for the Boise State culinary arts degree. The full ride. The award worked out well for him."

A crash sounded from the kitchen. "I better go. They work better with me in the kitchen leading the troops. I play the best music. Thanks for coming tonight. I'll make my way up to Magic Springs tomorrow, and we can catch up. I'm off on Wednesdays."

Another crash made him hurry away. Mia watched as he disappeared back into the kitchen.

Trent cut another bite off his steak. "So, Brad, huh."

"Don't even start. He was just a friend. Well, we went out to pizza one night without the group, but there was never anything romantic between us. He was a total food geek, which is what we had in common in the first place. Getting both of us in the same room is horrible. We can name all the ingredients in a soup by taste." Mia grinned at the memory.

"Sounds like a fun time." He grinned as Mia threw a napkin at him. "No worries. You do you, boo. I'm just glad I'm at the table. And that we're not talking about my dad anymore."

As they drove back to Magic Springs, Trent turned on the music, and Mia found herself lost in memories of high school. Before she knew she would have to take on the family mantle of a kitchen witch. She'd known her mom wasn't keen on her learning the craft, but she'd thought maybe she'd change her mind. Her grandmother had known it would be Mia for years, though. That's why she'd started training Mia when she came for summer breaks. Her grimoire had grown each summer as she learned potions and spells.

As a side benefit, Grans let her cook and experiment. She made her own recipe book that first summer, starting with cookies and then expanding into savory dishes. If she wasn't under Grans's tutelage for witchcraft, she would be in the kitchen, cooking or baking something. Gran's herb garden was planted right next to the house, and as the plants grew, Mia learned more about ways to store the bounty for the winter. She must have read every cookbook in the library over those summers.

She felt the truck stop and looked up from her daydreaming. They were back at the old school.

Trent looked over at her. "You've been quiet. Everything okay, or am I about to be dumped for Chef Brad?"

She laughed and slid out of the truck cab. "You can't get rid of me that easily. I was thinking about high school, and then that rabbit trail led to the summers I spent here in Magic Springs with Grans. I need to find my old recipe book and see what I was making back then."

"That's why you and I mesh so well. I bring the food; you make it delicious." He walked her to the front door. "I need to go up and collect Cerby."

"Levi's up there with Christina. They made babysitting a date night." Mia unlocked the door to the old school and stepped into the foyer, turning on the downstairs light. A figure stood near the fireplace. Mia froze in place. "Who's there?"

But instead of answering, the figure just disappeared.

Trent stood next to her. "That's a new ghost, isn't it?"

Mia nodded. Either the wards the coven had placed on the old school were slipping, or this ghost had just taken a while to show up. Some of the library ghosts had hung around, even after they'd been shown the way out of this plane. "I think so. It looked like a woman. She reminded me of someone, but I can't place it."

"I can't say I knew her. But most of the ghosts here are from years ago, when the school was running, right?" He checked the door lock. "Do you want me to ask Mom what she knows?"

"That's okay." Mia headed upstairs. She didn't want to overreact to seeing a ghost. Especially since she already knew the school was haunted. She'd be freaking out all the time. "I don't go to work until noon tomorrow, so I'll see your mom before they start the delivery process."

He put his arm around her, and they walked up the three flights to her top-floor apartment. She went to open the door, but he stilled her hand from turning the key and turned her toward him. "Do you want me to stay for a while?"

She reached up and touched his face. She could see the weariness on him and knew his morning would start early tomorrow when the delivery trucks arrived. Running a small business was a lot of work. "I'd love for you to stay, but I think you need to go home and get some sleep. Isn't Cerby sleeping through the night, yet?"

Trent groaned and rubbed a hand through his short hair. His go-to move when he was frustrated. "No. And I've tried everything. I've even threatened to send him home with my mom after work. He went outside by himself when I finally fell asleep last night. And when I woke up, he was playing with a pile of newspapers he'd gathered from the subdivision. He's a pain."

"He opened your front door?" Mia tried to keep the grin off her face.

Trent pushed her hair off her shoulders. "I wish. He actually made a portal. I watched him as he did his trick in front of me. One of these days, he's going to make a portal to somewhere he can't get back from. Like Antarctica."

Mia reached up and gave Trent a kiss. "Maybe we should talk about moving in together sooner than next spring."

"We agreed we'd wait for Christina to move out with my brother. I know you don't want to hurry her leaving along. You're already doing the mother hen dance when her baby chicken is leaving the nest." He leaned on the doorway. He was beat.

"I know, but that conversation happened before Cerby arrived into our lives. Maybe having one more pair of hands to shoulder the weight might help." She rubbed his chest. "Besides, Christina's a big girl. Having you sleeping in my room isn't going to send her to a therapist."

He leaned in and kissed her. "You're assuming I'll move in here. I have a huge house out by the river. Anyway, we'll talk about this later. Are we still on for dinner on Friday?"

"As long as I don't get a surprise catering gig at the Lodge, of course." Mia reached back down and turned the key. "Next weekend is out of the question. I think we'll have people here with the contest for a full week, if not longer. Oh, and I need to talk to you about a temporary walkway out in the backyard for the competition. I don't want to spend a lot since we'll be tearing it down later."

"A runway? You want me to build a runway?" He laughed as he followed her into the living room. He nodded to the occupants. "Hey, Levi, Christina."

Cerby barked and jumped off the couch. He ran to Trent, then levitated into his arms, reaching up to lick his face as Trent pulled him close.

"I can't take you anywhere without you using your magic. We've talked about this. No magic in front of mortals." Trent pointed a finger at the little Maltese.

"Wow, that's hurtful. Cerby loves his aunty Christina." Christina got up and rubbed Cerby's head as she walked into the kitchen. "There's leftover barbecue if you're hungry."

"We ate in Twin." Mia followed her into the kitchen. "How was the pup?"

"Cerby was great. That levitation act was the first batch of magic we'd seen all night. I was really worried about taking him outside, but he just played in the yard, did his business, and then came back in. I think he knows I'm human so he gives me a break." Christina grabbed something off the shelf near the television. "And he found this. I'm assuming it's one of your grandmother's?"

Mia took the small potion pouch from Christina. It felt different. Not like anything Grans would make. It felt like a glamour spell. One a witch would add to her makeup routine. Maybe it had fallen out of one of the mothers' pockets from the queen contest. "I'll ask, but I don't think so."

"Well, I didn't think he should be eating it." Christina rubbed Cerby's head. "He could choke on something like that."

"You're a good babysitter. And of course, he knows you're mortal. He's a hellhound. He can smell magic miles away," Trent said as he and Levi followed them into the kitchen. "If I'm going to play carpenter for you, I guess we need to get a schedule set up. Levi, I could use your help as well. What are you planning for the next few days?"

Mia pulled out her planner. "Anyone need a piece of paper or a pen?"

The other three held up their phones.

Trent grinned. "We live in the digital age. It's all in one place."

"Until you lose your phone. Then you'd be wishing you had a planner." Mia pointed to the calendar on the wall where she and Christina meal-planned around all their activities. "And a calendar. And a computer calendar."

"You double-booked yourself twice last week alone," Christina pointed out.

Mia shook her head. "That was because Frank added something to my work calendar without asking me first. It wasn't a problem with my system except for the fact that I allow him to make changes."

"Face it, Christina. Mia's old-school when it comes to planning. I bet she doesn't know what she's doing the day after Christmas this year." Levi opened the app on his phone. "I know I'm going to Hawaii."

Christina punched him. "You are not."

He held out the phone. "Seriously, I am. See. Seven days in a swim-up suite on the main island."

"Thanks for inviting me, you jerk." Christina made a face at him, then turned back to Mia. "So the competition is two weeks from Friday night, but they need time to practice on the ‘runway,' as Trent calls it. Which means, you need to start next week."

"Yeah, I see that." Trent was making notes on his phone as quickly as Mia was writing them down on her planner. "Make sure you send this schedule to Mom too. She likes to be included since she's technically the one in charge of this event."

Mia looked up from her notebook. "I'm overstepping, aren't I?"

Trent shook his head. "It's your business. And you're the one who has to eat the costs of the dais and runway. Just keep Mom in the loop so I don't get comments from her."

"I'll send her an email as soon as we finish our planning session." Mia made a note on a Post-it. "Okay, what nights will you be here? I want to try to be here to watch Cerby and make you dinner."

"There's more than just you, Mia." Levi put an arm around Christina. "We'll be here for you. Of course, I'll be Mr. Slavedriver's assistant, so Christina is going to have to pull the dog-sitting or dinner cards."

"Well, since I'll be here and not on some tropical vacation, I can do that." Christina looked at the kitchen calendar. "All my stuff for the next two weeks is up on that calendar. Just tell me if you need me for something. I've got a headache, and I'm heading to bed."

Mia watched as Christina departed the room. It wasn't quite stomping out, but it was close. She shook her head at Levi. "Leave her be. She'll be more rational tomorrow."

Levi grinned. "I'm not sure. I think she's going to be even madder when she finds out she's coming to Hawaii with me and I didn't ask her first. I've already made the reservations."