A Slice of Christmas Magic

“They shouldn’t have been able to hurt you because none of the magic from my spices should make people do that,” she said.

“But the Drakes changed them. Can’t they make the magic do whatever they want?”

She shook her head firmly. “Not my magic. Not like this.”

I stared at her, waiting for more of an explanation.

“I’m careful. Even if they redirect the power, they shouldn’t be able to redirect my original intention,” she said.

I nodded slowly, not sure I completely understood. “But aren’t some people inclined to hurt other people? Maybe it was the person, not the magic.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Aunt Erma said, but I could tell she was still concerned.

“Have you heard anything more from Violet?” I asked.

She shook her head. “And today we’re not going to think about it.”

“We’re not?” I asked, my mouth full of chocolate-chip pancakes. I knew if my mother was here, she would remind me that she raised me better than to talk with my mouth full, but the pancakes were just so darn good. They were light and fluffy, and the chocolate chips were melted just right. Aunt Erma had even topped them with whipped cream and shaped them like animals as she used to do when I was a kid. I was eating the ear off a dog when I noticed Mitzy giving me a disapproving glare.

“How does she know I’m eating the dog pancake?” I wondered under my breath.

“Magic,” Aunt Erma said with a wink. “Now today, instead of focusing on the evil plot to take over our beloved town, we are going to decorate for Christmas.”

“Decorate? Even more than we already have?” I asked. I thought about all the tinsel we’d hung and the cardboard Santa cutouts in every corner of the shop downstairs.

“Yes, we’re just getting started,” she said, sitting down across from me with her own stack of pancakes and a cup of coffee. “We have paper snowflakes to make for the snowman-building competition. Last year I cut out three hundred tiny snowflakes and hung them all over the square. It was beautiful, if I do say so myself. I used this glittery paper that was thin, slippery, and a little hard to work with, but it was worth it.”

I tried not to cringe at the thought of cutting out paper snowflakes. It sounded like just the kind of project I would normally try to find an excuse to escape.

“Don’t you need me to run the pie shop? We’ve been pretty busy lately,” I said. I felt proud of my valid excuse to avoid this task.

“Don’t worry, your mother is coming, and we can all take turns serving people as they come in. The Morning Pie Crew is coming too. Flora has a project she thought we’d all enjoy as well. I think it has something to do with folding paper flowers out of book pages. I think to make garlands to hang around trees.” I tried to hold in a groan. “But anyway, they’ll be able to help while they’re here too.”

“Don’t they have their own shops to run?” I asked. Now I was desperate to get out of this. Mr. Barnes was a yoga teacher, so I knew he had some free time depending on his schedule, but Lena ran the hardware store, and Flora owned the bookstore. Didn’t people need to fix things and buy books this time of year?

“All their holiday employees are up to speed and can do without them for a few hours. Plus, today’s going to be quiet. Lots of people are getting ready for the snowman-building contest,” she said. “Which reminds me, we probably need to practice a few more times.”

Wow, this day just kept getting better and better.

***

It turned out my knitting injuries weren’t a good enough excuse to get out of snowflake making. Two hours later I could barely feel my fingers. Lena, Flora, Mr. Barnes, my mother, Aunt Erma, and I all crowded around two of the three tables at the front of the pie shop. Customers were wandering in here and there, and I always made sure I was the first one to leap out of my chair to serve them. In between Aunt Erma explained the importance of the paper snowflakes.

“We’ll use them as part of a protection spell in the town square,” she said.

“Isn’t there some magical way to cut them out?” I asked as I held up yet another disappointing snowflake. Aunt Erma kept assuring me that they were good.

“Every snowflake is supposed to be different, and yours sure are different,” Lena said.

“Thanks,” I said, glaring at her a little.

“You can’t magic away everything,” Aunt Erma said. “We aren’t in a children’s movie.”

“In order for them to have power, we have to cut them out by hand,” Flora explained.

I sighed and folded another piece of paper. A customer walked in and, of course, I was the first one behind the counter. I took my time serving them. So much so that they began drumming their fingers on the counter. The nerve! Hadn’t they ever heard of small-town charm? Where the service was slow, but the people were friendly, and your mailman was also the barber?

“So, tell us about that fella I saw you with,” Lena said during a lull in the conversation.

All eyes turned to me. There was no getting out of this now.

“Oh, you mean Josh?” I asked, buying time, trying to figure out what I was going to tell them.

My mother’s eyebrows shot up. “Josh was here?” She had speculated many times that Josh had feelings for me, and I had repeatedly reassured her that she was imagining things. The smug look on her face grated on me.

“He just came to say hi. He’s working on a job nearby. I didn’t get much of a chance to talk to him,” I said.

We must have said his name too many times and summoned him because all of a sudden he walked through the door.

“Hi, Josh,” I said, trying to keep my tone calm, but it came out a little too high-pitched. The whole table’s eyes went from me to him and back to me again.

He froze for a second when he saw me at a table full of people. He quickly regained his composure.

“Hi, Susie. Hi, Mrs. Daniels,” he said, nodding towards my mom. “Hi, everyone else. I didn’t mean to interrupt. Maybe I can come back later.” He backed towards the door so quickly he almost tripped over his own feet.

“Nonsense,” Lena said pulling up another chair to our already crowded table. “There’s plenty of room here, and we could really use some help cutting these snowflakes. I think Erma wants to fill the entire town with them.”

Aunt Erma rolled her eyes. “Oh, quit being a drama queen, Lena. I’ll share some of these with you.”

“I run a hardware store. I can’t have people getting distracted by all these sparkly snowflakes,” she grumbled, but I saw her perk up a little.

Josh sat down on the corner of the chair, his hands folded tightly in his lap. He looked about as awkward as I felt. After five minutes though, he had Mr. Barnes showing him how to do the eagle pose and had Flora glowing when they discussed their favorite books, and he and Lena got into a heated discussion over which brand of drill was the best. That was how Josh was. He was quiet, but had a way of charming everyone around him easily. I had always admired that skill. I had a way of alienating or making people uncomfortable with my failed jokes. He hadn’t fully won over Aunt Erma yet though. She eyed him skeptically when he asked her about the best method for making pie crust. My mother was already in love with him, so he didn’t have to bother with anything more than a little small talk with her. Sometimes I wondered if my mother would rather have him as a child than me.

I was deep in thought about how I would explain this group date to Henry when I heard Josh say, “I’d love to come. Thank you so much for the invitation.”

“You’d love to come where?” I asked.

“He’s going to celebrate Christmas dinner with us,” Flora said.

“What?” I asked. It came out sounding a little more harsh than I intended. This was going to be my first Christmas with Henry, the last thing I needed was Josh hanging around being Josh-like or trying to find the perfect moment to proclaim his undying love to me. I had been looking forward to a day of organized chaos. Adding Josh to the mix completely messed up my plans.

Just then, Henry himself walked through the door. “Henry!” the room greeted him in chorus. I waved a crooked snowflake at him.

“You’re pretty good at that.” He pointed at my pile.

“Don’t patronize me.” I glared at him. He smiled innocently at me and I couldn’t help but smile back.

He noticed Josh and extended his hand. “I’m Henry.”

Josh stood up and shook it, introducing himself.

“Josh is my friend from back home who I told you about,” I said. I saw Henry’s eyes quickly size up Josh, and I could feel the gaze of the group as they studied every nuance of our reactions. I tried to keep a neutral expression, but all the muscles in my face were straining to react. React how, I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t want my face to reveal to the room what I was feeling before I had a chance to figure it out myself.

“I should really get going,” Josh said. “Thanks for letting me join in the fun.” He puffed up his chest a little as he said goodbye to Henry. I got up to follow him out because we still needed to talk, but a large group walked through the door clamoring for pie.

“Can you help, Susie?” Aunt Erma asked, likely sensing my hesitation about going after Josh. I sighed and turned back to the front counter to serve pie.

***

“We found the perfect patch of snow,” Aunt Erma announced when she and Mitzy got back from their afternoon walk. “We’ll have to go quick and double back a few times. I saw Nancy Harrington eyeing me as though she knew I’d found fresh snow.”

“Great.” I tried to sound enthusiastic. I was enjoying the warmth of the pie-shop kitchen and in no hurry to bury my hands in the snow and lose feeling in my feet.

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