It felt weird, trying to avoid a cat’s eyes, but I felt her watching me all the same.

Who? Maria?

I cleared my throat. “No. It was Jo, that investigator guy.”

Jade stood up on her legs, her back arching as she hissed. What part of ‘stay away from him’ did you not understand?

I whirled around to face her. “Come on, Jade. He’s not all that bad.”

Says the mouse before the cat gobbles it up.

Snorting, I shook my head. “Why do you think he’s so bad?”

He just is! I can’t believe you went on a date with him!

“It was not a date, Jade. I took him to lunch to try to clear my name, but…”

I trailed off. When did my opinion of Jo change? He’d made it clear that he still suspected me, but I wondered how much he really meant it now. I knew my attempts to clear my name were pathetic at best, but he’d paid for my lunch. He’d given me his number.

But what?

With an irritable shrug, I walked to the back room to get some more bath bombs. Jade followed me, jumping up onto the worktable while I rummaged around.

He’s bad news, Sage.

I glared up at Jade, my jaw tight.

“I’m twenty-six years old. I think I can figure out the wrong type of people for myself, thanks.”

Jade turned her back to me, then leapt lightly down onto the floor. I debated arguing with her, asking her why she had such a grudge against Jo, but the bell rang just at that moment.

After a surprising amount of afternoon customers, I closed up shop at five. I’d even had a few witch customers requesting items from the apothecary.

A light wind sprang up around me as Jade and I left the shop and walked towards home. I pulled my coat more tightly against the cold. The chill in the air had been increasing the last few days, making me glad that Grandma’s house was so close to the shop.

My heart began to thud as I walked up the porch steps to the front door. A large, rectangular package rested on the welcome mat, even though I hadn’t ordered anything recently. I stopped in my tracks, unwilling to go near it. Jade, who must have been feeling intrepid, approached the box and sniffed.

“Can you…smell anything on it?”

Jade didn’t answer as she walked side to side in front of the package, trying to sniff every angle of it.

It smells old but seems otherwise okay. It’s got a post label, so someone mailed it to you.

I gave her a mystified look. “Old?”

It’s hard to describe how my cat brain interprets smells. It just smells old to me.

My mind jumped to images of denture cream, potpourri, and other things associated with old people. I knelt and tore open a corner of the box, unwilling to take it inside until I knew what it was.

As I tugged it out of the packaging, I gasped. It was a spell book!

Everyday Household Spells: Cleaning, Cooking, Gardening, and More!

A note was taped to the front of it. Opening it, I read a few simple sentences in elegant scrawl.

Sage,

I asked a neighbor boy to take this into town and mail it to you. I thought you might find it useful.

Love, Faith

A smile spread slowly across my face as I ran my fingers down the worn leather cover.

“I think the word you meant to use was ‘musty,’” I teased Jade, refusing to tell her that I’d interpreted “old” to mean “elderly.”

We went inside and I prepared a simple meal of spaghetti for the both of us. Jade wolfed it down, as usual.

“Jade, are you eating during the day?”

I get by.

I frowned. “I’m going to start leaving out a bowl of tuna on the porch every morning, or other stuff if you prefer. Maybe even crackers and cheese. You don’t have to starve until dinnertime.”

After a few moments of hesitation, Jade rubbed up against my ankles, making me laugh. I reached down and gave her head a tentative little pat.

I ate more slowly, poring over the book. I’d never considered myself particularly domestic, but a lot of the spells looked useful. My favorite was a spell for coating against dust so that I wouldn’t have to dust as long as the spell held.

When I finished, I picked up the book and closed it, hugging it to my chest.

“Thanks for the book, Faith.”

Chapter Seventeen

Over the next week, I worked with the book of basic spells and even tried a few from of the household spells book. I’d put the dustproof spell on all the furniture and it worked, much to my delight.

“Now I just need to find a spell to make my laundry wash and dry itself, and I’ll be all set.”

A laugh echoed through my head from the living room, where Jade lounged on the couch. Good luck with that.

I sighed. “What’s the point of being a witch if I can’t get magic to do everything for me?”

Jade slunk into the laundry room where I was sorting lights from darks. Magic has limitations, you know.

I gave her a wry look. “I noticed. But why put limits on laundry?”

I don’t know about that, but limitations are good. A lot of TV shows about magic portray witches and wizards producing things from thin air, but that doesn’t happen. It defies the laws of physics. When you use magic to create something, you have to start with raw materials.

The corners of my mouth pulled down into a thoughtful frown as I considered her words.