Hewasn’t fine.
Daisy opened the pastry bag and plucked a croissant out of it, examining it for a moment. Then she looked around the kitchen, her gaze drifting to the ceiling. “Nothing stays the same. Nothing. I didn’t want my marriage to end, but it did. I tried to hang on, but I couldn’t. I’m in this house, and there’s a different man upstairs in my bed, and if you’d have asked me what I wanted six months ago, I would have told you I wanted my same life. My same marriage.” She took a bite of the croissant. “I don’t have it. I’m happier, Nora. I’m happier with all the change I wouldn’t have chosen, even though there were parts of it that hurt. That still hurt. I’ve seen you and Sam together over the years, and of course you were married for some of those years. I can feel things changing between the two of you. That relationship is changing, no matter how hard you try to keep it the same.”
Nora sighed and sat down at the table. “I can’t deal with this right now. Soraya’s life is in shambles, and even though she’s pulling away, we have to be there for her. We can’t let her lose all this ... progress she’s made.”
“Yourproblems matter.” Daisy took another bite of croissant.
“I know. But I’m tired of them. I would rather talk about Soraya. Or you. I would rather talk about anything else but my own issues because I’m just so desperately bored of being a dysfunctional wreck.”
She’d tried so hard to change that. She’d tried to get married and make all her problems go away. To wave a magic wand and become healed, secure, and normal, and it hadn’t worked.
“All right. What are we going to do? About all of this.”
“I don’t know,” said Daisy. “But at least we can talk to each other about it.”
Nora sighed. “That is true. The problem is, these things happen, and you end up feeling isolated. You feel like you’re the only person who’s going through something like this—”
“Successfully cursing your ex?”
“No. The divorce. Being left, being cheated on. We banded together. That was a lot better than being isolated and alone. But we’ve been thinking too small. Too angry. We got work at the apothecary, and we learned about magic. I would’ve said none of it was true. But it is. We made all that happen. It was karma meeting our intention. Some of that has backfired.” Nora thought about how hurt Sam was. “I know it did. On Soraya’s kids, on me. But I think that’s what came from using all our power for revenge. We have to do something else with this. Because there are other women out there who feel like they’re by themselves. Who have lost their friends, their kids, their husbands, who feel powerless. We know that we are not powerless. We’re powerful. Profoundly. Dangerously, even.”
Nora’s heart was beating faster. “The apothecary is the perfect space. For more women to get together. Women who need a community. That’s why we found each other, because we needed a community. It’s why Alexandra lost herself. Because she needed a community, but she didn’t have one. So what if we could stop even one woman from ending up like Alexandra? From losing everything just because your husband cast you aside. Revenge isn’t enough. That’s what we’ve been focusing on. Savingourselves and getting revenge. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t feel bad. I’m pretty happy with my revenge. I’m kind of glad he fell down a mountain.”
“Nora . . .”
“Well, I am. But I get that you aren’t loving this. Hell, I don’t like that the karma spell grabbed me and made me hurt too. I know Soraya is upset. I know her kids were in danger last night, and that scared her. But she isn’t going to lose her community over this. We’re not going to allow other women to feel isolated. Not the way that we did.”
“So, what exactly are you suggesting?”
“We use our power for good. We think bigger. Better.”
“Is this all so you can avoid self-reflection?”
Nora shook her head emphatically. “No. No. Maybe a little. But think about Soraya. How she didn’t have a place to stay. You and I and how we needed to do something to make money so that our husbands couldn’t take everything from us. We’re not the only ones in the same situation. And what helps? A network of women. So we need to make the network bigger.”
“I like that idea,” Daisy said.
“We should have an open house at the apothecary, if Aggie wants to. We can invite anyone who needs a community. Anyone who’s feeling lost. We know that we’re powerful together.”
“That’s true.”
“So let’s make it happen. But we need Soraya.”
“Maybe we give Soraya the day.” Daisy was as pragmatic as ever.
“Maybe. Although, the next thing I need is to find a lawyer.”
Nora heard footsteps on the stairs. “A lawyer?” Her jaw almost dropped when Zach came around the corner shirtless, and good God, so sexy. “I can help with that.”
“Zach, you don’t have to do everything,” Daisy said.
“Why not? I have resources. I might as well do something with them.”
Nora looked at Daisy, who was staring at Zach like he was the Second Coming. Fair enough. A man who wanted to help. What a novel concept.
Daisy smiled overly sweet at him. “We might be wanting to use your resources as our new idea gets off the ground.”
“What idea is that?” Zach walked over to the coffee maker and began to make a new pot.
