“Can you clone him?” Nora asked Daisy.
“Back off.” Daisy made a mock-fighting stance, and the very idea of Daisy fighting Nora was enough to make her laugh.
Then she explained everything to Zach, who listened intently, though paused partway through the conversation to go upstairs and put on a shirt. By the end of the discussion, Nora could see why Daisy had been quick to say she had feelings for Zach. Who wouldn’t have feelings for Zach?
“Now all we have to do is get Aggie on board,” Daisy said.
That proved easy. Aggie was more than happy to celebrate Beltane by having a tarot and spell night at the store, and was even happy to donate her services for the evening, doing readings free of charge and offering certain spells.
By late afternoon, Daisy had started making a poster, while Nora went straight to the lawyer’s office that Zach had set her up with. “I need a divorce.”
The lawyer was a young woman with a quick wit, a lot of opinions, and a forearm covered in tattoos. Nora liked her instantly. The conversation was bracing. Really digging into the reality of separating hers and Ben’s lives was sad, but it was also clarifying, and now that she had a more concrete plan, she felt better.
She also knew her lawyer was the exact sort of person she’d love to have at the open house. “You wouldn’t happen to be interested in coming to an apothecary open house this week?”
She furrowed her brow. “An apothecary?”
“Yes. I work there. In addition to writing and painting. At the apothecary, we do spells. Tarot readings. There are tea blends and coffee, baked goods. Everything and anything that might be good for the soul.But also, I’m hoping that some women might come who could use some help.”
“I’ll see if I have time.”
She and Daisy spent the next couple of days talking to small-business owners and spreading the word about the open house.
The next thing was getting Soraya on board. They waited until Tuesday afternoon, and after she still didn’t respond to their texts, they ambushed her in person.
Soraya opened the door partway after they knocked, her hair back up in that ridiculous blond bun. “Can I help you?”
“Yes, you can.” Nora reached out and took Soraya’s hand. “Because we need you.”
“We really need you,” Daisy emphasized.
Soraya drew back. “Well, I’m done with all of this.”
“So are we.” Daisy took a step forward.
“You are?”
“Well. Not with the apothecary. But with ... the petty stuff. The vengeance stuff.”
“We’re expanding,” Nora said. “We want to help people. Women like us. It’s not enough to just get revenge on the men. We need to do something more. Better.”
“We’ve done enough.” Soraya moved to shut the door.
Nora stopped her. “No. We haven’t. We haven’t even come close to doing enough. We proved that we’re powerful. And you know, maybe that’s the thing men don’t want us to know. You got told to ignore your instincts. To not listen to your intuition, and to listen to a man instead. I spent my whole childhood being told that everything I did was too much. That I was too much work. That I was someone who had to be put up with. I carried that into my marriage. Daisy always feels like she has to do everything for everyone.”
“Thank you, Nora,” Daisy said.
“Well, it’s true. We’re amazing. We came together at the worst time in our lives, and look what we made happen. Maybe it backfired. Butwhat if we channeled that power into something good? You can hide it, Soraya, and pretend that you never discovered it. You can go right back to how you were before. But then what’s the point of any of it? Isn’t that part of your faith? That you’re not supposed to hide your light? Now that you found it, don’t cover it up again.”
“The boys are in their rooms. Probably on their phones.”
“Then we’ll be quiet,” Nora said.
Soraya moved to the side and let them come in.
“What happened the other night was ... devastating.” She crossed her arms. “And I just ... I’m scared.”
“Listen,” Nora said. “It backfired on me too. It backfired on Daisy. The man cut his finger off, and how is he going to work and support their kids? My whole relationship with Sam is a complete wreck. That’s what happens when you invest in revenge. It’s not enough. It’s not enough. We have to get justice. Not just for us, but for every woman in town who feels this way. Think about how different it would’ve been for you if instead of judging you, people had rallied around you. What if we can be that for other people?”
