Chapter Two

  I dusted my hands off, setting the potion bottle to one side. “Hey, guys. All finished?”

  “Yeah, Mom.” Finn smiled, but it wasn’t his usual big sunny grin. I knew he wasn’t looking forward to Andre leaving town, either, even if it was just for a few weeks. Since Andre had moved to Haven Hollow, the two of them had become very close.

  “Finn, can you lock the door and flip the sign to closed, please?” I double checked that the hotplate was turned off and then unplugged it. I was still a bit paranoid about things in my life going wrong, but it seemed that the aura of bad luck I’d been put under over the summer was well and truly gone. I hadn’t had so much as a stubbed toe in the last couple of months. And thank God for that.

  “Sure,” Finn called back as he bounced over to the door. He was always either full of energy after a lesson, or absolutely drained, with no in between. At least he hadn’t had a fainting spell recently. Those had been really scary. Beyond scary actually. Andre still couldn’t say what had caused such an extreme response in the first place, but luckily, Finn had been doing a better job of conserving his energy.

  Ouire bounded past me, chasing after Finn, running on the corners of his cover, more like a dog than a book. Even the red ribbon bookmark flapped behind him, like a wagging tail. The second Finn stepped away from the door, Ouire leapt into his arms like an over eager pet. It was sweet. I knew they were going to miss each other, but at least Finn and Ouire could visit in dreams.

  “How’s he doing?” I asked quietly when Andre reached the counter, a smile on his incredibly handsome face.

  Sometimes I still struggled to believe that such an amazing man was fated to me. Tall and built like a swimmer, Andre tended towards dark sweaters and slacks, even when he was going for casual. This particular charcoal gray sweater made his shoulders appear even wider. His eyes were a perfect pale blue, with just a few lines at their corners, while his dark hair had just started to thread with gray. I had to curl my hands into loose fists to keep from reaching for him. I always wanted to touch him—the feeling was almost like a driving force and sometimes I had to forcibly keep my fingers clasped behind my back. Now was no different—the desire to trace my fingers over the sharp angle of his jaw, his cheekbones, the straight line of his nose—well, it was almost suffocating.

  He must have felt at least a little bit of the same pull, because he brushed the tips of his fingers over the back of my hand, his touch as soft as a butterfly’s wings. I watched with a little smile as he took a deep breath and pulled his hand back, clasping both behind his back, mimicking me. Truly, this soulmate business could sometimes be a bit tedious when you were constantly fighting the need to touch one another. While I might have wanted to give into the need, I also didn’t want to make Finn uncomfortable with too many public displays of affection. I was and always would be a mother first.

  “He’s doing brilliantly, really.” Andre tipped his face towards the door to where Finn and Ouire were having a cuddle, which then turned into a wrestle as the book tickled my son and he belched out a laugh in response. “Finn really is a natural. He’s going to be an incredible Magician one day.”

  Warmth kindled in my chest. I’d always known Finn was special, but it was nice to have other people recognize it, as well. And not just ‘other people’ but this particular person.

  Laughing, Finn spun around with the book in his arms. “Oh, Andre, did you want to see my science fair project?”

  “Of course, I do.” Andre grinned and shot me a wink before he moved towards the table where Finn had set up his experiment.

  He’d insisted on doing the entire thing on his own, from research to getting the materials, and setting the experiment up. I’d tried to take that as an example of his burgeoning independence and not just him wanting his mom to butt out. Regardless, I was proud of the work he’d put into the experiment, and I knew Finn was proud of it too.

  He set Ouire down so that he could show off the two plastic bottles that he’d carefully assembled together, walking Andre through the steps, and showing him how the whole thing worked.

  “And then that creates a whirlpool,” Finn crowed happily as the water in the bottles spun itself into a water spout like a captive hurricane. “Isn’t it cool?”

  “Very cool,” Andre said with real enthusiasm as he crouched down to get a better look at the process.

  I watched them quietly, a small smile on my lips. It made me so very happy to know that my son loved Andre as much as I did—that Andre, a man who had never had children of his own, was such a natural with my son. Furthermore, Andre never overstepped his boundaries—he was first and foremost a friend to Finn and then he was a teacher. But he never played the part of parent and I appreciated that. I was sure Finn did too.

  Finn raked his pale hair back off his forehead with one hand, still beaming. “You should see my friend Sophie’s experiment. It’s so cool. She’s doing this whole presentation on plant hybridization, where she managed to graft part of an orange branch onto an apple tree. She’s waiting to see if the tree will grow apples and oranges.” Finn shook his head, amazed. “She’s so smart.”

  She was. I’d met her a couple times, when Finn dragged some kids home for homework sessions. From what I could gather, Sophie was a quiet girl with glasses, kind and laughed at every one of Finn’s jokes (which was, no doubt, part of the reason he liked to have her around). She was also very clever and fully human. Sometimes, with all the curses, and the faerie civil wars, and the rampaging demons, it was easy to lose track of just how much normal humans were capable of. And it was nice.

  “Mr. Lannister, he’s our science teacher—well, he doesn’t like it.”

  “He doesn’t like what?” Andre asked Finn who was now frowning.

  Finn’s face darkened. “He doesn’t like Sophie’s experiment. He keeps telling her that her experiment is flawed and won’t work, even though she has lots of papers that prove you can graft an orange tree branch to an apple tree. She’s been working on it really hard. I think partly just to prove him wrong.”

  “I’m sure she will prove him wrong,” Andre assured him. “She sounds brilliant.”

  “Speaking of experiments,” I said, beckoning them both back over to the counter. “I made a little something fun for you, Andre.”

  Finn bent down to look at the little yellow bottle from a couple different angles, his brows wrinkling together. “It’s sparkly. I’ve never seen a sparkly one before.”

  I made a little hum and waggled my eyebrows as I tugged the stopper out of the bottle. “And now, for your viewing pleasure,” I started, putting on a deep voice as I attempted to sound like the quintessential salesman, “I present to you... Gypsy Gold!”

  Andre looked at me with a laugh and there was true warmth in his eyes. I wasn’t the stage magician that Andre was, certainly, but I tried to put on a little flourish as I tugged the closest thing on the counter, the stapler in this case, closer to me.

  Finn giggled, and Andre smiled, so I thought I’d done pretty well.

  Slowly, carefully, I dripped the potion onto the stapler, and the sparkling liquid flowed over the red plastic, instantly turning the stapler into glittering gold.

  “Whoa, cool!” Finn leaned forward until his nose almost touched it. Even Andre looked surprised.

  I had to admit, the potion worked perfectly. The gold color had spread across both plastic and metal, until it looked like the whole stapler was now shimmering gold. The spell couldn’t make real gold, of course, and there was a particular shine to it that made it clear that it was Fool’s Gold and not twenty-four carats, but it was fun and showy, and it usually made people laugh.

  “Gypsy Gold, eh?” Andre asked.

  I nodded as I flicked my fingers towards the stapler. “It only works for an hour or so before the magic fades and the object goes back to whatever it was. I thought you might like to take a vial of it with you for your shows. I figured the kids might like it.”

  The smile that stretched across Andre’s face was slow and sweet as he examined the stapler, watching the light reflect off its shiny surface. “They absolutely will. This is incredible, Poppy.” Then he looked up at me once more and as soon as our eyes connected, I swallowed hard. “Really, you’re amazing.”

  “Right?” Finn wrapped his arms around me. “She’s the coolest.”

  A flush burned up into my face, turning my cheeks bright red. Maybe it was silly, but having my teenage son think I was cool was kind of great. And Andre’s appreciative eyes weren’t so bad, either. In fact, they were making a hot blush creep up my neck and I suddenly felt much hotter than I had a second ago.

  I slid the bottle towards Andre, and he picked it up with gentle hands. I loved his hands, strong with long fingers, and he moved them so deliberately. ‘Deft’, that was the word. Then I realized I was staring and the blush that had started up my neck suddenly came roaring across my cheeks.

  I wanted to smack myself. I felt like a teenager again with her first crush. Everything Andre did was somehow both familiar, and thrilling, and I was so worried about making a fool of myself.

  I cleared my throat. “Just make sure you don’t spill it, because that wouldn’t be good.”

  Andre laughed, the sound low and rumbling and delicious. “Gold trousers might be a bit hard to explain.”

  Finn folded his arms on the counter, and leaned forward, his mouth turned down at the corners just a little, like he was fighting not to sulk. “How long are you going for, again?” he asked as he looked at Andre.

  “Just three weeks.” Andre reached out to ruffle Finn’s hair. “I’ll be back before you know it, good lad.”

  Recently, Andre had started referring to Finn as ‘good lad’ or ‘my boy’ and Finn seemed to grin even more broadly every time he did. It was moments like these when I remembered that Finn hadn’t ever had the benefit of growing up with a dad. His biological father had quit the scene as soon as I’d found out I was pregnant and so I’d raised Finn alone. Coming to Haven Hollow had been wonderful for us both because suddenly Finn had many able and kind male figures in his life to look up to—Roy the sasquatch, Lorcan the vampire, and Marty—a man who had been my best friend, until recently.

  Thoughts of Marty always left a sadness within me, so I tried not to focus on them or him too much. Instead, I brought my attention back to my son, who was looking up at... at my boyfriend with the biggest grin.

  But then Finn heaved a huge sigh, the kind that only teenagers seem able to manage. And I understood exactly how he was feeling, because I was looking forward to Andre leaving about as much as Finn was.

  Though I did feel warm satisfaction curling through me when Andre slipped the potion I’d made for him into his pocket.

  “Come on, it’s late.” I reached under the counter to grab my purse from where I’d stashed it. “Why don’t we head up the street to the Half-Moon and grab some dinner before we drive home?”

  “And dessert?” Finn glanced up, his eyes shining.

  It was funny, sometimes. I could look into my son’s face and see the man I knew he was going to grow up to become. And other times, I could see the little boy he used to be, freckle-cheeked with a gapped tooth smile and a shock of white-blonde hair that stuck in every direction. And it was the little boy I saw right now—especially when he got this excited about the prospect of pie.

  “Of course,” I told him as we headed for the door. Andre slipped one arm around my shoulders and the other arm around Finn’s and we both leaned into him, as if the three of us had always been a family.

  Maybe something sweet would ease the bitterness of having to say goodbye, even if it was just for a few weeks.

  Chapter Three

  Luckily enough, the next few weeks were so busy that the time seemed to fly by.

  We had a sudden rush of tourists in town (mid to late October was one of the busiest times in Haven Hollow, along with Christmas) and the orders were flowing in. While we didn’t have the same kind of foliage tourism that the east coast got, Haven Hollow had its own fall weather frequenters who would ooh and aah at the showy orange and red of the changing trees. Closer to Halloween (maybe the week before), we’d see an even bigger burst of crowds, drawn in by Sweeter Haunts, our candy shop, and the haunted house attraction that technically operated all year. The supernaturals that ran the old colonial style attraction did tend to go all out in October, so it really was no wonder that tourism had increased substantially since the haunted house had opened its doors. I was going to have to see if Finn and Andre might want to make an evening of it. Well, as soon as Andre returned.

  I’d also gotten a huge order for wedding favors, candles anointed with Dreamtime Oil, enough for every guest, and I’d had to really scramble, because that potion needed the full moon to work properly, so I’d had to have everything ready to go in advance.

  The trouble with Andre grouping his shows together so he could be home in Haven Hollow more often and for longer stints, meant that he was really busy while he was away. We’d been trying to keep up with phone calls, even a couple video chats, but most of the time he’d either been working or sleeping. But finally, he was back in Portland and he only had two shows left, which meant he’d be home by the end of the week.

  It was a little embarrassing, having butterflies in my stomach at my age, but I was just so happy that he was coming home. I knew Finn was looking forward to it, too.

  Speaking of my teenager, he’d been a little grumpy for the past couple of weeks. Nothing hugely noticeable, but he was obviously in a mood. I couldn’t tell if it was stress about getting his science fair project presentation ready in time, or if he was just missing Andre, or maybe it was just typical teenage boy stuff. All I did know was that he didn’t want to talk about it. I’d asked him repeatedly if anything was going on, but I didn’t want to press him too hard, figuring he’d eventually come to me if there was something I could do to help.

  Now, it was finally the day of the science fair, and I’d closed the store early so I could be home when Finn got back from school. Whatever the outcome of his presentation, I wanted to celebrate by making him a special dinner. He’d put a lot of work into his project, and that deserved recognition, even if he hadn’t won a ribbon (though I hoped he had). It was a bit of a bummer, but the science experiments hadn’t been made available to parents and family, so I hadn’t been able to watch Finn reveal his. I just hoped he’d want to tell me all about it.

  That, combined with Andre coming home soon, would maybe help cheer him up a bit. Or at least, I hoped it would. I’d just slid the homemade pizza into the oven when the front door of the farmhouse opened and closed, and I heard the clatter of Finn dropping his backpack and kicking off his shoes.

  “Hey, Mom,” he caroled as he came down the hall. “What smells good?”

  “Dinner.” I grinned as he came through the door to the kitchen. “We’re having mac n cheese pizza.”

  Which really sounded disgusting and wasn’t exactly good in my mind, but it was Finn’s favorite. “Really? That’s awesome.” He threw himself down into a chair at the old, heavy duty wooden table that dominated the kitchen. “Can I help?”

  “It’s all taken care of already, but thank you.” So was the triple chocolate cake I’d baked earlier, but I’d keep hold of that surprise until later.

  Cleaning up a few dishes in the sink gave me the opportunity to look Finn over. He seemed happy, and a lot lighter in mood than he had over the past few days. More like his old self, that was for sure. Maybe it really had been the science fair that was stressing him out, or missing Andre.

  “So,” I said slowly, as I washed up. “How did the science fair go?”

  I didn’t want to make him feel bad if it hadn’t gone well, but Finn had put so much work into his project that I just couldn’t see that happening. He’d been practically meeting up with Sophie at the school library every other night.

  “Well.” Finn dragged out the word, grinning so wide, the freckles on his cheeks almost disappeared. “I got a runner up ribbon!”

  He tugged the yellow ribbon out of his pocket, waving it in the air like a pennant.

  “That’s great, buddy. Way to go!”

  He was in a good enough mood that I risked it, and rising to my tip toes (because Finn now dwarfed me) I dropped a kiss on his cheek. It wasn’t that Finn wasn’t affectionate, it was just that he was getting older, and hugs and kisses from his mom were becoming more and more ‘uncool’. Though, he still let me get away with it most of the time with minimal grumbling, but only if his friends weren’t around to witness it.

  Sure enough, he just smiled and accepted the hug before laying his ribbon on the table. “But do you want to know the coolest part?”

  “Of course.”

  “Sophie won first place!”

  Trust Finn to be more excited about his friend’s success than his own. Pride welled up inside me, golden and glowing. I’d made mistakes in my life, messed up in a lot of ways, and sometimes even hurt people without meaning to. But Finn was hands down the best thing in my life. My biggest and best accomplishment, and just when I thought I couldn’t love him more, he proved me wrong.

  “That’s amazing, good for her. She must have been so happy.”

  Something flickered across Finn’s face then, there and gone before I could fully understand what it was. Then his grin was back in full force.