Page 152 of The Blue Moon Café & 24-Hour Occult Emporium

Talula squeezed her hand. “Yes. Just him. Your mom is at the store right now, so it’ll be just the two of you.”

“But is this okay? We won’t ‘monkey paw’ time or something?” Dahlia’s voice was tight with want.

Talula shook her head. “We—the other Talula and I—found every possible scenario in every possible timeline, factoring in every choice we could make. This is the day you can see your dad and everything will be fine.”

Dahlia shook her head, still not quite believing.

Talula pointed at the cookies. “He just has to eat these forget-me-now cookies. He won’t remember that he saw you.”

Dahlia visibly wilted. Talula was ready for that. “But he won’t forget the feelings that come from seeing you. He just won’t know why he’s feeling them or why he’s thinking of you so much.”

Dahlia kept staring, running a thumb over the back of Talula’s hand over and over again.

Wondering if she’d messed up, Talula looked down at her feet. “We don’t have to do this. If it’s too much—”

Dahlia grabbed Talula’s shoulders. “Look me in the eye and tell me I get to see my dad again and everything will be okay.”

“You have one hundred and twenty-eight minutes from when you open the door. Then you have to go.” Talula bit her lip. “I’m so sorry; it was the most time we could find without causing a ripple effect—”

“Two hours? I get two hours with him?” Dahlia’s voice cracked. “I would give anything for two minutes.”

Talula pulled Dahlia into a hug. “I know.”

“You know what my dad always said?” Talula felt Dahlia take a shaky breath. “ ‘Never delay joy, not when you can help it.’ ” She looked back up at Talula, her eyes shining with tears, her dimples at their most dazzling. “I don’t want to delay this. Not for another minute.”

“Okay, my love.” Talula wiped a tear from Dahlia’s cheek. “You go ahead. I have a little time-space continuum errand to run.”

“No.” Dahlia shook her head fiercely. “You’re coming with me. This is my only chance to introduce my dad to the love of my life.”

Talula would never feel so honored in her very long, extraordinary life. “Let’s go find this joy.”

“Can I tell him everything? Because of the cookies?”

“Anything and everything.”

Dahlia snatched up Talula’s hand and ran to open her front door. “Dad!”

“Dahlia?” A deep voice rang out from the living room. Quick as lightning, a man with Dahlia’s eyes and dimples appeared. He laughed with delight. “Baby girl! What are you doing here?”

Dahlia threw herself at her dad, who caught her with an oomph.

“I missed you, I missed you so much.” Dahlia wept.

“Oh, honey.” Confounded and concerned, Dr. Jones rocked his daughter back and forth. “I missed you, too.”

“Dad,” Dahlia sniffed. She didn’t waste any time. “I’m from the future. This is my girlfriend; she’s a sorceress. Talula, show him.”

Talula, almost paralyzed with meet-the-parents nerves, tried to think of something sufficiently magical to do. So she conjured an entire roast chicken from…somewhere.

She caught the bird in her arms. It was piping hot. Talula dropped it on the floor with a floomp. Totally panicked, Talula called her air affinity to lift the bird off the floor. It spun in the air, like a bizarre ensorcelled rotisserie. Dahlia guffawed at the shocked look on her father’s face.

“Wow.” Dr. Jones’s mouth fell open. “Okay. I mean…wow.”

Her hands and forearms a little schmaltzy, Talula stuck out her arm for a handshake. “Um. Nice to meet you, Dr. Jones.”

“You’re the young lady from the coffee shop.” Like an absolute gentleman, Dr. Jones went ahead and shook Talula’s chickeny hand.

“Yes, sir.”