“It’s fine,” I said automatically.
“It’s really not. It’s just… I came here this summer hoping to sort of… get a break from her, you know? She was telling the truth. She’s been here maybe twice in her whole life. She’s never shown the slightest interest in coming out here and leaving the city. She always has a million events and galas and business functions to attend for the family. I thought I could just have a quiet summer—hang at the beach, earn some money, just… find some space, you know? But then suddenly, a week ago she shows up in my room with a suitcase, and announces she’s coming, too.”
“Just the one suitcase?” I asked, smirking.
It worked. Luca’s face broke into a real smile. “Well, no. More like a nine-piece set of matching luggage. But you get the idea.”
“Look, I get it. This isn’t the summer I had in mind either,” I told him.
He raised his eyebrows. “Really?”
“I thought I was going to spend my summer scooping ice cream and hanging with my friends in Portland. And now I’m here, permanently. My grandmother passed away. She sort of left me her house.”
“She left you her house? Aren’t you, like…”
“Sixteen? Yeah.”
“Whoa.”
“I know, right?”
Luca puffed his cheeks out, running a hand through his hair. “When my grandfather died, he left me a pocket watch and a coin collection.”
“Yeah, it was pretty intense, bequest-wise,” I admitted. I could have gotten into all the family drama it had caused, but I didn’t want to dump all my problems on him, either.
“So you just moved into it? By yourself?”
I laughed. “No, my mom and I moved in. And my aunts were already living there, so now we’re all there together. We’ve got a lot of history here—my family, I mean, the Vespers. And once we came back… well, let’s just say that Sedgwick Cove is one of those places that gets a hold on you and doesn’t let go.”
Luca nodded, not like he totally understood, but like he was trying to. “So now instead of scooping ice cream, you’re… casting spells?” he asked, pointing to the array of pre-bottled potions on the shelf behind me.
I smiled. “Not casting them. Just selling them,” I said. “Are you in the market?”
“Hmm. Got anything for overbearing mothers?” he asked.
I laughed. “Not in stock at the moment, but I’ll let you know if we get any in.”
He sighed theatrically. “Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you around. Will you be at the theater this week?”
I felt a little flutter in my chest, even as I told myself it was a completely normal question to ask someone. “Yeah, I’ll be there. We have just over a week to pull this together. Just listen for the sound of Zale having a mental breakdown, and I’ll probably be there.”
“Cool. I’ll see you around, then.”
“Yeah. See you,” I replied.
He smiled again and walked to the door. I forced myself to turn around and pretend to be busy at the counter, so that I wouldn’t just gawk at him as he walked down the street. I looked up at the wall behind the counter, and right into the gilt-framed mirror that hung there. A perfectly unremarkable face stared back: gray eyes behind tortoiseshell glasses, thin lips, narrow,freckled nose, and a messy bun piled on top, like a lopsided crown.
“Get real, Vesper,” I whispered.
14
When I arrived back at Lightkeep Cottage later that afternoon, it was to find the house empty, except for Persi. She hadn’t returned to Shadowkeep, and Rhi had stayed behind to close up. Persi was sitting on the front steps as I pulled up on my bike.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey, yourself,” she replied, the words muffled by the clove cigarette dangling from her lips.
“Rhi told me you were… dealing with something,” I began, as I approached the stairs to sit next to her, “and I was just wondering if?—”
