“Looks like we have an extra,” she finally managed.
“Faithinvited him,” Ana informed her.
“Well, Lu certainly wasn’t going to,” Faith said.
Not looking up at Celeste, much like myself, Ana never really did pay much attention to the mother figure. She picked at the skin around her nails.
“The more, the merrier,” Gertie spoke up, settling herself in a chair at the tiny table and kicking her legs out. The ideal view to watch the chaos that was about to take place in the kitchen any moment now, if the ingredients lined up had anything to say about it.
Celeste nodded sensibly, as if she would never consider otherwise. “We already set up for tonight. You two will have to share.”
“Not a problem, Celeste,” I said blandly. Not that it looked like she was searching for my reaction.
Her eyes were much more focused on Ryan.
He cast a glance over the pile of apples set up in the center of the butcher block.
“I think my son might be on his way if he doesn’t get caught up in schoolwork again,” Celeste said. “He was never really interested in the craft like the rest of us ladies, but don’t worry, dear. You won’t be the only male in the house by the end of tonight.”
“I wasn’t really worried,” Ryan said with a smile, eyes immediately greeting her politely.
Was it just me, or was there a twang of a nervous church-boy accent I heard?
He cleared his throat. “Happy to be here.”
I looked behind me toward where Gertie continued to watch the exchange, her eyebrows raised, as if she was curious what I could possibly have to say. I had nothing. I’d just expected her to have more.
I’d brought a boy. I brought an outsider boy, who had no idea that magic was a possibility that existed out of the realm of storybooks, into her home and into the coven of women who found some semblance of love and safety inside of each meeting together.
Not that one of those women hadn’t invited him herself.
Maybe it was only me who was nervous about him being here. It was a ticking time bomb for him to do or say something stupid. Everyone else acted as if he had always been here. No stranger to crafting kitchen magic as a very male nonpractitioner who had once teased me about the stereotypes that now made me roll my eyes.
I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. I forced the bubbling nerves to subside alongside the seemingly nonexistent judgment around me. Down the line from Faith to Ana to Essie, they were staring at Celeste intently. It made no sense compared to how much they had all been ready to tease me the other night after the tiniest bit of gossip Faith brought with her.
Celeste was already talking about something, fanning her hands over the arrangement of things—from the apple peelers to the wooden spoons. “All right then. I think we are ready.”
“I’ve been ready and starving,” joked Ana, already reaching for her first apple and sharp knife.
“Let’s begin.”
Handing Ryan the knife, I set to peeling, passing him the apple when it was done to chop.
“We do the apples first so that the fruit and sugars have time to break down. Apples, after all, are very important, especially this time of year.” Celeste spoke, going over each piece of the whole. “Apples are often associated with the spiritual realm. They are wonderful offerings to send to your ancestors or other spirits we choose to work with, as you might’ve noticed from our altar. Protection is another correspondence of the apple, making it a great form for protection workings, as we come together, in this case, to share in this holiday when the realm between physical and spiritual gets thinner at this time of year.”
I continued to work, Ryan and I finding a steady rhythm of peeling and cutting into perfectly square shapes before he dumped them one clump at a time into the glass bowl. Ana hummed to herself from the other end of the counter.
“Apples are also a symbol of love. Cut an apple in half, and you can share with another to ensure happiness. A simple form of love—or more so if the core forms the shape of a heart in some cases.” Celeste cut open an apple and displayed the inside, more of a fine circle around the seeds than any other shape.
Next to me, Ana snorted as she chopped her apple open in one fine motion. Looking inside, she turned her apple heart to show from her chest with a chuckle and handed over the other half to Faith to put in her pie.
Faith handed hers over to Anna.
Holding the peeled apple in hand, I sliced it. Inside were a few lines, slightly inverted at the crest, sort of like a heart. When I lifted my gaze, Ryan had already extended his other half to me.
I took the delicate piece of apple from him and traded back mine with a hesitant smile of my own. He lifted the piece of apple up, as if a toast between us.
After a second, I mimicked the motion.
