Fae lowered her book and her pinched look gave Tilly her answer. "To eat with your friends?"
"Yeah. Eloise and Ursula will be there. Probably Bess. And they're great."
"Your friends the entire town calls witches?" she clarified.
"Yes. But I promise not to serve you bat wings or hex you." She smiled at Fae's look of annoyance.
"I don't believe in magic so I'm not worried about that, weirdo."
"Then come over. They're my people. Ursula makes a great salad. And she grows all of it herself."
That made Fae's judgemental pinched look loosen and reconsider. As she was trying not to spend money, she was at the mercy of whatever food was at the inn or what she could pick up for cheap at the grocery store, and she wasn't exactly a whiz in the kitchen yet the premade salads were not to her liking.
"Fine," she finally said, as though she were doing Tilly a favor.
That evening she lead her slender, skeptical sister up the front porch steps of The Lost Souls House and after a slight tug-of-war with the moon glass door that wanted to close on her sister, she finally got Fae inside where her sister picked every detail apart with a silent but very critical eye.
Tilly watched her for a moment struck by the thought that she and her sister would probably never be close. They wouldn't curl up on a couch and talk about everything going on in their lives while eating popcorn and chocolate chip cookies. Twice today she'd almost blurted out that she and Theo kissed, but both times she played her sister's hypothetical reaction and was reminded of a lifetime of disappointing sister moments.
Even when she told Fae she left Brent, told her just a little about his affair and how much he'd hurt her, instead of the sisterly offer to bury his body somewhere no one would find it, she stiffly advised Tilly to move on and not to become a victim. It was less advice and more of a directive to not bring her troubles to Fae's perfect doorstep.
"It's very...hedgewitch," Fae said. But the way she said it was not a compliment. Tilly looked around and smiled at the cozy, whimsy that the house had taken on from Ursula's house dreams. It was like if a house took on the personality of a wild forest. And she loved it.
"Hello?" Tilly called. A cat meowed and Tilly reached down to run her hand over Georgia's fluffy back. "They must be outside."
The kitchen looked like they had made dinner already and she saw Ursula and Bess's dark heads and Eloise's auburn head through the large windows.
"Ohmygod!"
Tilly swung around ready for whatever danger she might find at her sister's exclamation. But she found Fae pressed against one of the walls staring in horror at Lady Macbeth who was eating on the island.
She let out a loud sigh of relief.
"Don't worry. That's Lady Macbeth."
"You named a rodent?" she asked with disgust.
"Well, she's a raccoon, not a rodent. And yes. She kind of adopted Eloise when she was drunk one night. It's actually a funny story," she started with a laugh but seeing her sister's look she shook her head ending the story there. "Never mind."
"This isn't normal.""Well, depends on your definition."Fae pointed a finger toward the object of their conversation who was looking between the two women. "It's eating with a spoon."
"Sheis eating with a spoon. And yeah. Bess taught her that." Lady dipped the spoon expertly into a bowl of what looked like marshmallow fluff and licked it staring at a horrified Fae. Tilly gestured behind her. "Come on."
Fae kept as much distance between her and a perfectly unbothered raccoon as she followed Tilly to the back garden.
The evening was a perfect sixty-five degrees, still not the typical eighty to ninety degrees they were used to this time of year. The lit cafe lights were strung above and they had the fire pit cover on, which was covered in a large pottery bowl, a small platter with ciabatta rolls stuffed with lobster salad and sliced peaches snuggled between fresh mozzarella and drizzled in honey and flaky sea salt.
"Hey there!" Eloise called. She was wearing a caramel felt hat and an army green jacket. Everyone was dressed for fall in the middle of July. Bess had an oversized flannel and her jeans and black boots. Ursula was in a floral dress with a long black cardigan and her black hair wild. "If you hadn't told us your guest was your sister, I would have guessed easily."
"Really?" Tilly asked. She'd never seen much similarity between them.
"We don't look anything alike," Fae said.
Tilly's thoughtful look pursed into a tight line. Fae was quick to point out their differences.
"Well, other than Tilly's fabulous hair, which you don't share, you have similar features," Bess said. And Tilly had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at Bess's bold look which was a smile, but it was a smile that dared this new guest to say anything unkind.
Because Bess was that way. She was upfront and honest. And she had Eloise and Jen as role models to bring out and hone that particular gift of character. Tilly knew what could happen if you didn't practice kindness with a bold spirit.
