Page 98 of The Blue Moon Café & 24-Hour Occult Emporium

“She wasn’t always a she-beast.” Talula smiled a little wistfully. “Well, she was always ferocious. The first time she kissed me, I thought I was being attacked.”

“Seems on-brand. Then you guys started dating?”

“We started…something.” Talula’s mind sifted through Kristen’s late-night texts, their make-out sessions in the woods, tumbling in through Kristen’s window when her parents were asleep. “I was pretty much her secret bisexual booty call. I was too stupid with hormones and loneliness to stand up for myself.”

“I’m sorry.” Dahlia’s warm eyes never left Talula’s face. “You deserve better than that.”

“I hate how she treated me then and how she’s treating me now. But looking back, I kind of get it.” Talula shrugged. “She has crazy conservative parents. She had to be pretty and perfect and prom queen, or they didn’t care about her. She knew deep down that she didn’t fit into their dream daughter fantasy. I think that fear of losing her family drove her to…act like she did. Maybe it still does.”

“First of all”—Dahlia held up a finger—“in the last thirty seconds, you said more kind things about your toxic ex who’s literally trying to chase you out of town, than you did about teenage Talula, who just wanted love and acceptance.”

Huh.

“Second”—Dahlia raised another finger—“you can have all the empathy in the world for people, and that’s beautiful. But there’s a line you have to draw between understanding and making excuses so you don’t have to face conflict. I don’t think you had it easy growing up in a small town with a single mom who’s a practicing pagan. You didn’t turn into a nightmare person.”

“Technically, she’s a casual Zoroastrian but heavily influenced by Wiccanism and various other occult belief systems.”

Dahlia gave her a look that asked, Do you think that disproves my point?

“But I had some friends in high school!” Talula argued.

“And where are they now?” Dahlia pushed.

“Most of them moved out of state for college.”

“You didn’t stay in touch?”

“For a while, I did.” When she came back home after college, she’d tried to sustain those friendships. But Talula, feeling so inadequate in sorcery, so behind in her Magical Destiny, never thought she’d earned the right to a social life.

Dahlia pressed on. “What about college friends? College romances?”

“I had them.” Talula swirled her wineglass, eyes transfixed by the ripple of crimson. “Great friends. And significant others.”

Talula internally grimaced at the short-lived romances she’d had in college. She never wanted to bring romantic partners home for spring breaks or Thanksgiving and risk her mother thinking she wasn’t serious about her Magical Destiny. Besides, her mom was known to serve mashed potatoes out of a literal cauldron, so. Yeah.

Talula tossed back her wine. “After I graduated, I came home and had to focus on the café.”

“Is that what you really wanted, though?”

Kanishka’s arrival saved Talula from having to answer. Their waitress unceremoniously dropped their plates on the table. A bit of curry splattered on the tablecloth.

“Voilà,” she said tonelessly. “Eat it.”

“Thanks! Tell your auntie it looks delicious,” Dahlia said sweetly.

Kanishka stormed off. She came back almost instantly with a whole bottle of wine.

“It’s on the house, ugh!” Kanishka stomped away again.

Talula managed an awkward smile. “Was that her apologizing?”

“That was her confessing her undying love and loyalty.” Dahlia lifted the bottle at Talula. “Want a top off? I’m driving, after all.”

“Depends. Are you going to ask me more intense personal life questions?” Talula tried to joke, but the words creaked a little.

“Not if you don’t want me to,” Dahlia said gently. “It’s just that…we’ve been hanging out more, and I realized how much I like getting to know you.”

In answer, a blushing Talula scooted her wineglass over to Dahlia, who added a few more splashes. Quietly, they dug into their food. The curry was creamy and richly spiced. Talula tore off a piece of cheese naan, dipped it in the curry, and took a bite. It was warm, melty perfection.