“You’re leaving?”
“I meant, close down for the day, but actually, I am.” Mom wagged her pointer finger at her. “You’ve got that witchy sense, huh? Unless someone told you.”
“Your employee. A few days ago. But …” Shanna shook her head. “I’m also—I’m your daughter.”
Mom stopped with her hands frozen above a few herbal pouches she’d been sorting out.
“I’m Shanna. Don’t you remember?”
Mom blinked. “I’m sorry, you must have mistaken me for someone else. I don’t have a daughter, and I don’t know any Shanna.”
“You’re Isabel O’Connell. Aren’t you?”
She scrunched her nose, letting her hands fall on the counter. “I hadn’t used that name in years. I go by Bella nowadays.”
“But once upon a time, you were Isabel.”
“Look, girl …”
“Shanna.” She made a few steps forward, lifting her chin to offer Mom a better view of her face. “Shanna. You named me. You brought me into this world. You were my mom. And then you left me.” The low, tear-announcing tone mixed in with the sudden resentfulness in her voice. “Why?”
“Honey, I realize you might have some issues, but I’m not the one to address them.”
Shanna wanted to snap back—how not, when she wasthe reasonfor them—when she realized what Mom meant. She didn’t believe her. She thought Shanna had picked some random person to pour out her grievances to.
The last sliver of hope died. Back when Mom had left, she must have resisted the pull of the curse for a longer time than Shanna had ever experienced with any of the people forgetting her. Unless Mom had some spell that delayed the curse, she would have remembered Shanna for at least a month—enough time to travel across New Zealand and send all the postcards. It had been an encouraging thought for Shanna, making a connection in the back of her mind that if Mom could resist the curse for so long, perhaps this time around, Simon would as well.
Staring into Mom’s clueless, slightly annoyed face was an awakening harsher than dipping herself into a bathtub full of ice. Of course, the curse got to Mom eventually. She was long gone.
And Shanna wasn’t going to achieve anything behaving like a lunatic. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I am a witch. My family has some problems, so I left.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. Were they the ones who told you about me?”
“Y-yes. I was hoping I could learn from you.”
“Well, that’s quite flattering, but like I said, I’m leaving in a few days. However, I didn’t get any offers for the shop. I suppose I am a bit of an odd duck in Queenstown.” She chuckled. “Should’ve rebranded to sell potions to enhance skiing abilities.” She looked at Shanna from the side, the storm-blue eyes shrewd and calculating. “Come here.” She led her over to a shelf. “Can you tell me which one does not belong?”
Shanna perused the bottles of herbs arranged alphabetically on the shelf. “The borage leaf. It represents air. The allspice, basil, and black pepper are all fire.”
Mom nodded approvingly. “And where would you place this crystal …” She walked over to another shelf. “In a six-pointed star grid, if you’re focusing on prosperity?”
“Trick question,” Shanna said. “For prosperity, the grid should be a five-pointed star.”
“Well done.”
“Gran taught me.” Shanna scanned Mom’s face at the mention, but there was no sign of recognition.
“I’ll tell you what.” Mom went back to the counter and leaned her elbows on it. “Lina says she’s not up to taking over the shop, and to be honest, I agree with her. She’s an eager young witch, but she’s not ready. But if you’re interested, I’ll give you a trial run. If need be, I can postpone my departure for a few days to sign the papers and whatnot.”
“The papers?”
“Come back here tomorrow morning. We’ll work together for a day so I can measure you up.” Mom grinned. “If my witchy senses deem you worthy, and you’re up for it, the shop is yours.”
***
Simon watched, strangely entertained, as Chris again T-posed for the TSA officer at their security check. “I told them it was the piercings,” she said once they were both through and headed onward to pick up their luggage. “It’s always the piercings.”
“You enjoy messing with them, don’t you?”
