22. Fix It Together

Chapter 22

Fix It Together

H ugo paced back and forth in the living room. The soles of his shoes echoed against the hardwood with every step. Max lay on the Victorian couch, unfazed by Hugo’s impatient pacing. He pulled out his phone to check the time. It had been a few hours since he called Carol Raskin—a few hours since he called in the biggest favor of his life. He knew full well the Raskins would deliver. He wasn’t sure of how long it would take them.

He pinched his ring finger, expecting to find the familiar black onyx ring, but only found it barren. His habit was so ingrained into his soul it was second nature. He turned toward the bookshelf. He focused on the black box sitting amongst the other items. He thought about touching the ring once more. No. Focus.

He entered the hallway and pulled back the curtain on the door to peer outside. Nothing. His waiting continued.

Galahad floated in front of the basement door. It waited for the door to open. Hugo wanted it to open too. Any time now, that door would open, and Hugo would give her the great news.

Galahad tapped the door. Nothing. It tapped a few more times. Still nothing .

“It’ll be okay, buddy,” Hugo said.

Galahad glanced toward Hugo for a moment before turning back to the door. Hugo headed over to Galahad and petted it on the head.

“She needs some alone time. It’ll be okay.” Hugo hoped those words were true.

The sound of a delivery truck rumbling down the street could be heard through the door.

“They’re here,” Hugo said as he rushed to pull back the curtain.

A white box truck came to a stop in front of Alice’s house. He reached for the doorknob, but stopped. He glanced back to Galahad.

“Gally, come here, boy,” Hugo said. Max jumped off the couch and pranced toward Hugo. “Not you, Max. Stay back. Gally, I need you to go upstairs.”

Galahad kept its focus on the basement door.

“Gally, I need you to go upstairs for a moment,” Hugo said as he scurried over to Galahad. He touched the end of the broomstick handle and guided it to focus on himself, instead of the door. “I need you to go upstairs. Please. Just for a moment.”

There was a knock at the front door. Max barked at the intruder. Galahad rushed past Hugo and knocked against the front door.

“No, no, no, no! Upstairs. Go upstairs!” Hugo shouted.

He tried to force the broomstick away from the door. Max’s bark echoed throughout the entryway. Her nose pressed up against the door, and she waited for her moment to pounce.

“Max, back away. Get back.”

There was another knock at the door.

“Get back!” Hugo commanded.

They didn’t listen. He tried to brush them aside.

Another knock at the door. Hugo opened it slightly and squeezed his head through the gap, careful to not let anyone see into Alice’s house.

“Can I help you?” Hugo asked.

A deliveryman stood on the porch examining his digital delivery pad. “I have a shipment here for a Dodds. Hugo Dodds. ”

“That’s me,” Hugo answered.

He squeezed his way through the gap to not reveal too much. Max tried to stick her head through the opening, but Hugo pushed it back. The end of Galahad’s broomstick poked out from behind the door, but Hugo was quick to shut it behind him.

“Dogs. Her bark is louder than her bite, and she’d kiss you to death before attacking.”

“Sign here, please.” The deliveryman handed over the digital pad.

Hugo drew his name with his index finger and handed it back.

“Where do you want them?”

“Right here is fine. I’ll take them in,” Hugo replied.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. Right here will be fine.” He pointed to the porch.

“Suit yourself. That’s a lot of grapes. What are you doing with this much, anyway?”

Hugo paused, trying to think of any answer other than making magical wine. “Fruit salad,” Hugo replied. “We make a lot of fruit salad. Grapes are our favorite.”

“To each their own,” the deliveryman said as he trudged down the porch steps. “It’ll take me a moment to unload all of this. You sure you don’t want me to take it in for you?”

“No, I can get it.”

The lights flickered in the wine cellar. The room was darker than usual as the lights from the wall sconces were dimmed. Alice sat hunched over on a stool in front of her workstation. Her head hung low. She flipped through the pages of her spell book.

She reviewed each and every spell she made that day. She read each line multiple times. How could I have messed up? I never mess up . She was far too distracted from her encounter that day. She slammed the book shut.

Alice focused on the spot where Hugo had placed a cup of tea. She buried her head into her hands. He had tried to help her, but she had turned him away. The one person who tried to help her, she turned away. She remembered the blank stares. The empty thoughts. She was far too distracted, and that encounter messed everything up.

She got up from the workstation and meandered toward the wooden platform. She lumbered up the steps to the top. A few discarded, empty boxes littered the area. She checked the vats. There was nothing of use inside. She screamed and kicked one of the boxes into the corner.

“Damn you, Sam!” she yelled.

She picked up the other box and threw it across the cellar. It landed with a thud and partially collapsed in on itself. She screamed again.

There was a knock at the wine cellar door.

“Go away!” Alice yelled. “I want to be alone.”

The door opened, and Hugo entered with a box of grapes. “Then I suppose you don’t want these?”

Alice stood there in shock at the box Hugo held in his hands. “Where did you get those?”

“I worked my magic and called in a few favors,” he replied as he set the grapes down on the floor. “There’s more where this came from. A lot more. I’ll need your help to bring them in.”

Alice rushed down the steps and examined the box. She couldn’t believe it. She looked up at Hugo with tears in her eyes. She wanted to say so many things. She tried, but words failed her. She could only conjure an almost inaudible, “Thank you.” She buried her head into Hugo’s chest.

He wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back and shoulders with his palm. “You’re welcome.”

“I… I don’t know what to say. No one has ever done something like this for me,” Alice said through tears. “Thank you.”

Hugo pulled back from Alice. He looked her right in the eyes. “Hey. You helped me. I helped you. This is how it works,” he said. “ We’ll fix it. Together. Okay? You can boss me around and tell me what to do.”

Alice nodded as she wiped away tears rolling down her face. “But I always boss you around.” They chuckled. “How much did you get?”

“Your entire front porch is covered in grapes. And some of the walkway. Most of the walkway.”

“Why didn’t you have them bring ‘em inside?”

“Gally wouldn’t listen and go upstairs. I had to… improvise.”

Alice gave Hugo a discerning look. “See, this is why I keep him upstairs.”

They left the wine cellar together and went upstairs to get their new bountiful harvest.

A week later, Alice hid in her bedroom, not wanting Hugo to hear the conversation. She sat on the edge of the bed and picked up her phone to call Esmerelda. She waited with bated breath after each dial tone. Each one more tortuous than the last.

A woman’s voice could be heard though the phone, “Go ahead.”

“Ez! It’s Alice. How was the delivery?”

“Kiddo, this is your best batch yet. I’ve had nothing but compliments… compliments from everyone.”

Alice breathed a sigh of relief over those words. “Fantastic news. You have no idea how worried I was.”

“No need to worry, kiddo. Your job is secured,” Ez replied. “I’m sorry I yelled at you before. Emotions were running high after that night. I shouldn’t have said those things. You did good. You did great .”

“See! I told you it would be fine,” Alice’s reflection yelled from the bathroom.

Alice covered the phone with her hands. “Thank you for that commentary.”

“You’re welcome,” her reflection responded.

“Who’s that?” Ez asked.

“It’s my reflection,” Alice answered. She paused while deciding to tell Ez the truth about the new batch. “We did a great job.”

“ We ?” Esmerelda asked. “You and your reflection?”

“No. Hugo and I. We did it as a team,” she replied.

“You made this with Hugo?”

“I couldn’t have done it without him,” Alice said. There was a pause that lingered far too long. “Ez? You still there?”

“I’m here. Maybe I underestimated him.”

Without missing a beat, Alice replied, “You have. He’s a really great guy. I love him, and he loves me. I had one of my panic attacks before I made that previous batch. He tried to help me, but I wouldn’t allow him to. I was distracted. Far too distracted. I should have stopped, but I didn’t.”

There was another pause. “Sounds like you found someone special. Good for you, kiddo.”

“We each found someone special,” Alice added.

“That you did. That you did. Don’t lose it, kiddo. Not like I did.”

“I won’t.”

“Take care of yourself. Talk to you later,” Ez said before hanging up.

“See!” Alice’s reflection said. “What did I tell you?”

“You were right.” Alice fell back and splayed across the bed. She exhaled a long breath she had been holding all day.

“I’m always right,” her reflection replied. “Always.”

“Debatable,” Alice said, staring off into the black canopy above.