In the end, they all returned to Queenstown together, if only to the airport. Simon and Chris had a flight to Auckland to catch, to get back to San Francisco as soon as possible. Shanna refused to go toThe Witchy Swarmwith them first, both because she didn’t want to delay them further, and because she wanted some time to steel herself before she met Mom.
“Hey,” Chris said as they were saying goodbye at the airport. “You be good.”
“You too, kid,” Shanna said.
Chris leaped into a hug, inciting a gasp from Shanna, then drew back. “You don’t intend to run after us once the plane is already leaving and cause a scene, right?”
Shanna threw a quick glance at Simon, giving him a wry smile. “No.”
“Good. Because that would be embarrassing.” Chris gave her a nod goodbye and headed for the gate.
Simon shifted on his feet and waved his arms awkwardly before he, too, squeezed her into a hug. He pressed her tightly to him, sinking his fingers into her hair.
“I’ll come back,” he said. “As soon as I’m done. And I’ll make sure I’m done within days. Will you wait for me here?”
She nodded. “The lakeside café we went to? The one with the crazy delicious desserts?”
“Sounds good. I’ll call you.”
She breathed in his scent once more. Amber and sunshine and hope. Perhaps it would be enough to fight against that sliver of doubt, whispering that the curse will always win.
For the first time since Simon was truly, properly back, they’d be separated by a real distance. Not fifteen feet, not a hundred, but an entire ocean. No spell could help—all that would connect them were a few flimsy technological devices.
“They’re calling your flight.”
He exhaled and gave her a quick kiss. “Don’t forget me,” he said with a wink.
She rubbed their noses. “I’ll try not to.”
They separated, and he walked backward, continuing to look at her until he almost tripped over the suitcase of a man rushing across his path. Shanna giggled and waved goodbye, then rubbed the wrist where her tattoo used to be. Even though it had been the right thing to do, it felt so strange, knowing Simon could leave. Letting him leave. Knowing that yank on the wrist will never come again.
But she had to let him go now, so instead, she committed every last bit of the scene to her memory. The sun streaming in from behind him, bringing out golden highlights in his hair. The chatter of a group of three girls close to them. All the promises kept in Simon’s smile.
If everyone else would forget, she wouldn’t.
Chapter 22
“Hey, baby. Come here.” Mom enveloped Shanna in a hug, squeezing her tight as if she wanted to take her life force with her. “Be good now, yes?”
“Are you leaving?”
“Only for a spell.” Mom smiled, but it was a strange smile. Not happy, like when she laughed at a joke or when Shanna showed her the first spell grid she’d drawn and Mom said she did a great job.
“But don’t you worry.” Mom held Shanna’s little chin. “I’ll be back so quickly, you won’t even know I was gone.”
***
Shanna clenched her knitted purse, straightened her spine, and, with a deep breath, pushed in the door ofThe Witchy Swarm. “Hi, I’m back—” She stopped when she realized the woman behind the counter wasn’t the salesclerk from the other day.
The years had added up into the smile lines around her eyes and mouth, but Isabel O’Connell was still easily recognizable from the pictures Shanna had seen of her, even the one of her waitressing time in Wellington. Her blond hair had shifted from golden more to silver, but it was still as lush and voluminous, surrounding her head like a soft cloud. And her eyes—a bit blue, a bit gray, just like Shanna’s.
Seeing her mom again wasn’t the biggest shock, however. It was the utter lack of memory. Despite knowing exactly how the curse worked, Shanna was certain that when they met again, something would stir in the deepest corners of her heart, or brain—something not even the curse could beat. But it didn’t. She stared at Mom, and she knew it was her, and her heart filled with happiness and longing and regret, but not a single long-gone memory.
“Oh, hello,” Mom said. “You’re not one of the regulars. Well, you’re just in time! I was about to close.” She gave her a polite smile—a seller to a customer, not a mother to a daughter.
Shanna swallowed a lump in her throat.What did you think, stupid?That Mom would magically remember her, and they’d fall into each other’s embrace? “I—I—”
“Just tell me what you need, dear. Unless you only want to peruse, in which case I won’t bother you.” Mom glanced at the watch on her wrist. “Well, for the next fifteen minutes. Then I have to close down.”
