Page 47 of A Dash of Wolf

“Decision about what?” Mason asked.

Princess Muffin Top jumped down from the recliner and stuck her face inches from the goldfish bowl. The little orange fish was pressed against the far side of the glass, swimming in panicked circles. “That’s either a pet or a snack.” She extended one claw and tapped the glass. “Anyone got a coin? Heads I eat it, tails I name it.”

“She already has a name,” Mason growled. “Goldie.”

“Goldie?” Princess Muffin Top recoiled as though she’d been slapped. “That is the most hideous, uninspired, pedestrian, tragically unimaginative name I have ever heard. And I’ve heard you call Adeline ‘Ms. Beaumont’ with a straight face, so that’s saying something.”

“What’s wrong with Goldie?” Mason asked.

“What’s right with Goldie?” Princess Muffin Top shot back. She sighed dramatically and looked at the fish. “Fine. I’ll keep it as a pet. But no one can ever know. It would be humiliating for someone of my stature to be seen fraternizing with a goldfish.” She narrowed her eyes at the bowl. “And I’m not calling it Goldie. From now on, her name is Snack.” She paused. “Or Treat. I’ll decide by morning.”

Adeline burst out laughing. She laughed until tears rolled down her cheeks. She knew it wasn’t just about the goldfish...it was much more than that. It was the levity she felt knowing her grandmother had given her blessing—in true Grandmother Lavinia way—to Adeline dating Mason. It was about Mason seeing her for who she really was and not wanting to change her. Not wanting her to fit in a certain mold. It was about her...and her happiness. Something she hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

Princess Muffin Top settled onto the arm of the couch nearest the goldfish bowl and began grooming herself, one eye on the fish at all times. Adeline leaned into Mason’s side, and he put his arm around her. She wasn’t the black sheep anymore. She wasn’t the Beaumont who rebelled, or the girl who blamed her grandmother for all the bad in her life, or the baker whose magic went sour when her heart broke. She was Adeline Beaumont. The witch who baked with her heart...who protested and loved fiercely...and who threw mud when it mattered.

And that was enough. It had always been enough.

She just hadn’t believed it until now.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Mason asked, running his hands through her hair.

Smiling, she shook her head and tugged him down to her. “Nope. But you can give me a kiss.”

“Happy to.”

It took a few seconds for Adeline to comprehend what she was hearing…Princess Muffin Top singing.

“I’m a creep. I’m a weirdo!”

“Is that ‘Creep’ from Radiohead?” Mason asked against her lips.

“Just do your best to ignore her,” Adeline whispered.

“What the hell am I doing here?” Princess Muffin Top howled loudly.

21

“Perfection, Adeline,” Nannette said as she handed one to her husband, Charlie. “These Bad-Day Brownies are absolute perfection.”

“Thanks, Nannette.” She waited until Charlie moved down to the cash register before whispering to Nannette. “I guess things are going better?”

Nannette beamed. “They are. Oh, Adeline. It was so silly. I thought it was me, but he finally told me things at work were pretty stressful, but he didn’t want me to worry, so he tried not to talk about work, which meant we weren’t doing a lot of talking.” She laughed. “We made a pact to talk about things, no matter how bad or stressful from here on out.” She grinned. “For better or for worse.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

By nine o’clock, the bakery was in full swing. Word had apparently spread around town that Adeline’s magic had returned because every citizen in Moonlight Bay seemed to have shown up all at once. Now the line continuously stretched from the counter to the door, and the display case was emptying faster than she could fill it.

She hadn’t even had time to tell Emory all that had transpired yet. She’d left Mason’s house late last night—they’d had dinner, watched a movie, and then talked late into the night. But Emory knew something was up because she’d already sent Adeline a text saying they’d talk when things weren’t so busy.

“This is the best Cocoa-Courage Truffle you’ve ever made,” Penny Barlow said, pressing a hand to her chest. “I just asked my boss for a raise. In my head, of course. But still...it’s progress!”

“That’s the spirit,” Adeline said, boxing up a half-dozen for Penny to take home.

“Move it along, Penny,” Princess Muffin Top said from her bed near the register. “Some of us are trying to run a business here. Chop. Chop.”

It wasn’t long after that Herschel came in and bit into his Soother Scone. “That’s the ticket. I think the crick in my neck and the pain in my hip are gone.”

Adeline smiled as she watched him shuffle to the window and sit in his usual spot. This was why she baked. Not for the Beaumont name or the council’s approval or to prove something to her grandmother. No. She baked for Herschel. For Nancy. For Penny. For Nannette. For Mr. Harwick. For the frazzled vampire mothers, the nervous fairies, the stressed werewolves, and the many other citizens who came for a touch of magic from her pastries.