“Like what they need the woman for. The first ad was for a mother for a guy’s kid, and the second was for help with some sort of humanitarian aid or something.” She shoved a piece of hair behind her ear. “This one is vague.”
Maggie pressed her lips together. “It’s crazy.”
“It is. But since there aren’t any follow-ups; we don’t have any closure. I’m all for Jennifer poking her nose into this if it means we have answers.”
Maggie shrugged. “In that case, I hope she figures it out. I’m going to head over to the coffee shop. Thanks for having me on today.”
“Thank you.”
Grabbing her laptop case and purse, Maggie left the station. She had a short drive to the coffee shop. Situated in a remodeled rail car, the bright red building had black trim around the windows and flowers growing around the rusting wheels. In another couple of weeks, the plants would be big enough to hide them.
She parked in the dirt lot and made her way inside, grateful to find the place roomy enough to house four booths. She needed to set up a mobile office and figure out her life. She should not be homeless. She was a twenty-six-year-old career woman with a college education. Her thoughts led her right back to the ad for a wife.
Ordering an orange juice and a muffin from the teenager behind the register, she took her food over to a booth and sat down. It didn’t take long to find The Matchmaker site and then to find the ad again. It already had over a hundred views, which was three times as many as any other ad on the site. News spread fast in this town.
The blueberry muffin was the perfect mixture of sweet and punchy. She savored it as she scrolled through the rest of the offerings. Nothing for an apartment. She checked the next town over and then the city she’d flown into. There were houses, apartments over garages, and condos aplenty. But for some reason, she was drawn back to the ad for a wife.
Basically, the guy wanted a roommate. Cohabitating platonically said it all. So why not just advertise for a roommate? Why a wife?
She continued to work her way through the muffin as she pondered the mystery. There had to be a reason.
She clicked on the button to send a message and then sat there, staring at the cursor and wondering who was more insane: the man who’d placed the ad, or her for responding to it.
Not that she was applying for the position. She was just curious. And, if she happened to get an answer, she could pass the info on to Jennifer. Who knows, maybe this would be the start of a friendship that would last her whole life long.
I’d like to know more about the requirements.
She hit send before she could think twice. Setting her phone aside, she began pulling out the receipts, envelopes, and scraps of paper that had all her brilliant, spur-of-the-moment ideas on them. It was a miracle she hadn’t lost any. Her phone dinged just as she reached the bottom of the bag and a box of ancient Tic Tacs. Mints didn’t go bad, did they?
It’s low key. All you have to do is live with me for six weeks—rent free.
She stared at the screen before typing back,Like as husband and wife?
In name only,came the reply.
She tapped the side of the phone with her nail.Do you run a cult?
Only on the weekends.
She blinked and then burst out a guffaw. Maybe she shouldn’t laugh, because he could be serious, but she got the feeling he was sarcastic—which she found extremely attractive in a man. Settling deeper into the booth, she put all her attention on the text thread.
Good, because I run a coven and we’re pretty busy during the week.
Oh?
Yeah. Hexes are all the rage right now.
Supply and demand—I get it. I ran out of hexes myself just yesterday.
She snickered.I’ll send a couple your way.
I’d appreciate that.
Pausing, she took a long drink of juice. The three dots faded in and out, indicating the mystery man was typing. She should get his name, but it was more fun teasing a stranger than dealing with real life. She glanced at her pile of recipes and ideas, not sure where to start.
A new message popped up, and she procrastinated like a champ and picked up her phone.
So, besides being a magical supervisor, a certified spell caster, and having an understanding of basic economics, what else do you have going for you as an applicant for the wife of a part-time cult leader?
