Scent of Magic (12 page)

Francesca's hands shook like a leaf as she stuck the key in the ignition and started the station wagon. Juliette climbed into the passenger side. She twisted to look over her shoulder at Starley and Rue in the back seat.

"Okay, from the top," Francesca said, glancing into the rearview mirror. "Tell me everything."

Starley took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "I just wanted Beau to like me enough to ask me to the dance."

"She was worried he was going to ask Beatrice, so we figured a little magic might help," Rue said.

"I don't understand what went wrong," Starley said staring down at her hands in her lap. "Andrew ate some of the cookies, and they didn't do anything bad to him."

"Yeah, except turn him into an even bigger dork than he already was," Rue whispered.

"Where did you get the recipe?" Juliette asked.

"From the spell book at The Perfumery. Rue and I snuck up there one night after you two went to bed," Starley said.

"Do you remember the name of the recipe? Or what ingredients you used?" Francesca asked.

Starley opened her clutch and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. She handed it over the seat to Juliette. "Here's the recipe."

Juliette opened the glove box and leaned forward in the seat so she could read the recipe using the light from the compartment since the dome light never had worked. "This is such a simple spell. There's nothing remotely dangerous about any of the ingredients. In fact, I'm shocked that it worked at all. Usually, it's not the cookies; it's the incantation that's said while baking them. Since your paper doesn't say anything about the words you're supposed to recite, I guess you never actually made
magic
cookies."

"The cookies worked on Andrew. He thought they were the best things he'd ever eaten," Rue said. "And he finally asked me to the dance after he ate them."

"Did it ever occur to you, Rue, that maybe he asked you because he
likes
you and wanted you to go with him?" Francesca said.

"It took him long enough," Rue mumbled.

"Beau has to be allergic to something in the recipe," Juliette said.

"Whatever it was, it caused a pretty serious reaction," Starley pointed out.

Rue started giggling, and Starley peered sideways at her like she'd taken leave of her senses.

"What are you laughing about?" Starley asked.

"This is so crazy it's funny," Rue said shaking her head.

Francesca's eyebrows disappeared behind her bangs. "There is absolutely nothing funny about any of this. I can't punish
you
, Rue, you're not my responsibility. But, Starley, you are in so much trouble. Just as soon as I think up a proper punishment, you're going to regret your first -- and last -- experiment with magic."

"That's okay, because apparently, I suck at magic, anyway," Starley said quietly.

"The first spell cast is almost always a failure. If not downright disastrous," Juliette said. "Remind me to tell you about my first attempt at casting a spell sometime."

Francesca tried hard not to, but she couldn't help but smile when she remembered Juliette's colossal screw-up. That poor cat of theirs never forgave her.

"Cinnamon hated you after that," Francesca said smiling.

"She was only bald for a little while," Juliette said.

"A little while? Try more like a year," Francesca said.

"Hello? My life is over, and you two are talking about a
cat
?" Starley said.

"Your life isn't over, but the social part of it will be severely limited for … for a very long time," Francesca said.

Francesca parked the station wagon, and the four of them hurried inside. Sandy Davidson sat in the emergency room waiting area.

"How is he?" Starley asked.

Sandy shook her head. "We don't much, except that he had an allergic reaction to something and apparently went into anaphylactic shock."

"What caused it?" Francesca asked.

"Something he ate, I assume," Sandy said, her eyes darted to Starley. "The doctors will probably want to talk to you."

Starley's breath caught in her chest. "Me? Why would they need to talk to me?"

Rue elbowed her and whispered, "Stop acting so guilty."

"You!" a male voice boomed.

"Oh great, daddy dearest," Rue said.

"What kind of sorcery have you witches performed on my son?" Pastor Byrd said, his face was the color of a tomato and a vein throbbed in his forehead.

Juliette stepped in front of Starley and held her hand up to keep him from pouncing. "Hold on here, I resent your accusations. Starley had nothing to do with the condition your son is in, and I would appreciate it very much if you'd back up and think about what you're saying."

"Or what? You'll turn me into a … a … something?" His arms flew wildly with each word out of his mouth.

Juliette's eyes narrowed to slits, and she poked her index finger into Pastor Byrd's chest. "Don't tempt me," she said.

"What did she do to Beau?" he asked.

Starley stepped around Juliette. "I didn't do anything to your son. We were dancing and all of a sudden he collapsed."

"One does not all of a sudden collapse without good reason," Pastor Byrd said. "Did you give him something to eat?"

"Just some homemade cookies," Starley said without meeting Pastor Byrd's eyes.

"What was in those cookies? What kind of trickery were you trying to pull?" he asked. "Were you trying to poison him?"

"No!" Starley cried.

"You old fool," Sandy Davidson said. She had been biting the inside of her cheek trying to keep from butting in, but Pastor Byrd was being completely unreasonable flinging accusations around like bird seed at a wedding. "Starley likes Beau. Why in heaven's name would she do anything to hurt him?"

"How should I know? I don't know how these witches think," Pastor Byrd said, glaring at each of them in turn. "As I asked before, what was in those cookies? Are there any more of them?"

Starley nodded. "Check his jacket pocket. I think there were a few left."

Pastor Byrd spun on his heels and stalked off toward the ICU.

All of the women breathed a collective sigh of relief. Sandy leaned close to Juliette and asked, "What
was
in those cookies?"

"The only ingredient in them that might have possibly affected him this way was peanut butter. Do you know, is he allergic to peanuts?" Juliette asked.

Sandy covered her mouth with her hand. "Terribly."

"Oh, God," Starley said burying her face in her hands. "I am such a moron."

"Starley, honey, I'm sure you didn't do this on purpose," Sandy said. "You didn't know he was allergic."

Tears streamed down Starley's cheeks. "My first real date and I totally blew it. I might as well join a freaking convent."

She turned and ran out of the hospital.

Starley kept busy so she wouldn't have to think about how her life had been ruined with her very first foray into the world of magic on her first date. Every time it crossed her mind, her eyes welled up with hot tears. She stayed hidden in her room because whenever she looked at either one of her sisters, their looks of disappointment made her feel a hundred times worse.

Juliette rapped on Starley's bedroom door, and Larry whined. "Starley, you can't hide in your room forever, you know."

"I know, I didn't figure you'd let me quit school," Starley said. She sat on her bed and hugged her knees to her chest.

"Can I come in?" Juliette asked.

"I guess," Starley said quietly.

Juliette twisted the knob and walked into the darkened room. "Your room is like a cave."

"And your point?" Starley grumbled.

"Starley, I know you don't believe me, but your life isn't over," Juliette said. She sat on the edge of Starley's bed and switched on the table lamp.

"It might as well be. Frank will never let me go on another date until I'm at least thirty," Starley said.

"That's not true. She'll settle for twenty, as long as she checks all of your pockets and is satisfied you're not leaving with any contraband," Juliette said.

"Contraband?" Starley's eyebrows pinched together.

"You know, cookies, eye of newt, bat wings," Juliette said with a grin.

"Sure, make jokes at my expense. I'm glad you find this so funny," Starley said. She flung back the covers and climbed from her bed.

"I had no idea you wanted to learn magic," Juliette said sympathetically. "You should have asked. I would have helped, you know."

Starley stared at Juliette. "Seriously? You would have helped me make a spell to get Beau to like me more than he likes Beatrice?"

Juliette stood and put her arm around Starley's shoulder. "Beau already likes you more than Beatrice. He didn't ask
her
to homecoming, did he?"

Starley sighed loudly. "Well no, but he didn't realize he liked her better until after he'd already committed himself to taking me. He was just too nice to back out."

"Are you really that insecure? Because if you are, I can whip up a little something to fix that, too," Juliette said. She turned to face Starley and tipped her chin. "Squirt, you might not be dating Beau after what happened, but that has nothing to do with you as a person and more to do with you as a Duchesne."

"Maybe we'll have to move again, and this will all fade into the past like a bad dream," Starley mumbled.

Juliette took a deep breath. "I'm working on damage control already. Francesca's practically worn a path by pacing up and down the hallway. She doesn't have the faith that I have, I guess."

Starley's eyes welled up for the hundredth time that day. "That's not funny."

"I wasn't trying to be funny," Juliette said. She hugged Starley and kissed her on the cheek. "This too shall pass."

"Do you think I should start packing?" Starley asked.

Juliette shook her head. "No. I told you, I'm going to fix this."

"What are you going to do?" Starley asked.

"If I told you, I'd have to kill you," Juliette said with a smile. She ruffled Starley's hair. "Now come out of the bat cave and get something to eat."

Juliette pulled the bedroom door open, and Francesca jumped back, startled.

"Were you eavesdropping on us?" Juliette asked.

"No, of course not. I was about to knock to see if Starley wanted something to eat," Francesca said.

Both women peered at Starley. "I am kind of hungry."

"You didn't have to hide in your room all day, Starley," Francesca said. "I'm not mad anymore."

"So, does that mean I'm not grounded for life?" Starley said as she squeezed past them to go to the kitchen.

"You were never grounded for life, Squirt," Francesca said. "Just until you're thirty. Twenty, if you swear on our ancestor's spell book that you will never dabble in the dark arts unsupervised again."

"Never?" Juliette piped up.

Francesca blew out a noisy breath. "Okay, never is an awfully long time. You can dabble, but only under the supervision of Juliette or me. When we think you're ready, you can fly solo."

Starley grabbed the broom from beside the fridge and straddled it. "I didn't know you were going to teach me to navigate one of these things."

Everyone laughed, and the mood in the Duchesne house lifted for the first time that day.

"We'll start with something no-fail," Juliette suggested. "No harm to others, and all that."

"I didn't mean to harm Beau," Starley interjected.

Juliette waved her off. "I know, you just wanted him to like you."

Rue called to try and talk Starley into going to the hospital and see how Beau was doing. Her argument wasn't very tactful, but she had a valid point.

"You put him there. You really ought to visit him," Rue pointed out.

I can't go see him, his dad will throw me out on my ear if I show up there," Starley said.

"Pastor Byrd will be at the church all day today," Rue said. "It's a perfect time."

"I don't have a way to the hospital," Starley said.

"Juliette will take you. Now, I've got to go. My mom's giving me the look. We're going to be late for church," Rue said and hung up the phone without saying goodbye.

When Starley walked into the kitchen, Francesca surprised her when she said, "Starley, I think you should visit Beau."

"Did Rue put you up to saying that?" Starley asked as she took a bottle of water from the refrigerator.

"Of course not," Francesca said.

"This morning would be a perfect time," Juliette suggested.

Starley pulled out a chair and sat at the table. "What am I supposed to say to him? Oh, hi, I'm sorry I tried to kill you?"

Juliette bit her bottom lip to stifle a laugh. "Come on, get ready. We'll leave in fifteen minutes."

Starley started to protest but realized she did want to see Beau, even if he didn't want to see her. She went into her bedroom and changed her clothes no less than three times.  Finally, she settled on her favorite jeans and a pink Prosperity sweatshirt. She couldn't decide if makeup would be overdoing things, so she brushed on mascara, a little blush, and some chocolate flavored lip gloss. She debated about pulling her hair into a ponytail but decided she looked ridiculous and let it down.

She patted Larry on the head. "Hold down the fort, Larry. If I'm not back in by dark, send out the search parties."

Francesca leaned against the door frame watching Starley. "Relax."

The three sisters piled into the station wagon and drove to County General Hospital. Francesca and Juliette discussed some different perfumes; Juliette took notes for the items she needed to order. She chewed on the end of the pen, claiming it made her think better.

"Starley, we can show you some basic magical scents, if you'd like," Francesca offered. "Suffice it to say, cooking doesn't seem to be your forte."

Starley folded her arms in front of her chest and gave Francesca the stink eye. "There wasn't anything wrong with my cookies. They were delicious, actually. It's not my fault that Beau is allergic to peanuts. Who'd have thought a quarter cup of creamy peanut butter would cause such a problem."

Juliette snorted. "Starley, honey, any amount of peanuts could be
deadly
to a person who is allergic to them."

"Sorry," Starley muttered under her breath. "Next time I'll make sure my baked goods come with a warning label."

"I thought we decided, no more cooking?" Francesca said.

Starley clamped her mouth shut and stared out the window. They were silent for the rest of the ride. When they parked in front of the hospital, everyone got out of the car, except for Starley.

Juliette knocked on the window and waved her hand. "Come on."

Inside the hospital, Francesca took Juliette by the arm and led her toward the waiting room.

Starley's forehead scrunched with confusion. "Aren't you coming with me?"

"No, we'll wait here. You don't need us to tag along," Francesca said.

"I don't even know what his room number is," Starley said.

Francesca pointed at the information desk. "Ask."

"Fine, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Throw me into the lion's den all by myself. That's okay," Starley said.

A few minutes later, Starley was on her way up to the third floor. She decided to take the stairs to kill as much time as she could. She stood in the hallway outside Beau's room, wondering what a panic attack felt like; because she was pretty sure she was having one. Either that or it was a heart attack.

Starley pulled her shoulders back and took a deep breath just before she pushed through the hospital door. Beau looked up to see her come in. She wasn't sure if it was panic or relief she saw cross over his face.

"Oh, hey, Starley," he said. His voice was hoarse, and he spoke barely above a whisper.

Starley's eyes filled, and she crossed the overly polished floor to his bed. "I'm so, sorry I almost killed you," she said. The words just flew right out of her mouth, and she couldn't take them back if she tried.

Beau's eyebrows squished together. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"The cookies. They had peanut butter in them. I swear, I didn't know," Starley said, she hugged herself and dropped her chin to her chest.

"Of course you didn't know. How could you have known?" Beau said. He pushed the button to raise his bed. "They were pretty amazing cookies, too. I couldn't even taste the peanut butter."

"You're just saying that to be nice," Starley said. She decided to sit rather than pace.

Beau laughed, a quiet, hoarse laugh. "That's me, Mr. Nice Guy."

"Your father hates me," Starley said.

"Don't worry about him, he's an asshole," Beau said.

Starley's eyes widened, and she fought the urge to laugh. "Tell him I'm sorry."

"Starley, I'm sure he doesn't blame you. Why should he? This wasn't your fault," Beau said. He reached for her hand and squeezed.

Starley's stomach churned. There were so many things she wanted to say. But, there wasn't anything she could say that wouldn't totally incriminate her. Swallowing guilt wasn't easy, and she felt really bad for doubting him. She had no one to blame but herself. She couldn't even pin the situation on Rue, even though Rue
had
planted the idea in her head.

What had she been thinking? Beau had lived in Prosperity his whole life. He knew everyone. Why should it bother her who he talks to? He'd invited her to homecoming, not Beatrice. Just because he'd been talking to Beatrice -- a lot -- didn't necessarily mean he was interested in her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you had a visitor," a girl's voice came from the doorway.

Starley wondered if thinking about Beatrice had caused her to magically appear. She'd heard about the power of manifestation. Starley stood and wiped her clammy hands down the front of her jeans. She smiled at Beatrice. At least she hoped it came across as a smile because it felt like a grimace.

"Hello, Beatrice," Starley said. "Come in, I probably should get going. My sisters are waiting for me."

"Well, if you're sure," Beatrice said. She patted her chest. "Thank you."

"Of course," Starley said. She smiled at Beau. "Glad you're feeling better, Beau."

"Yeah, see you later, Starley," Beau said.

Starley felt like all of the oxygen had been sucked out of her universe, and she practically ran from the room.