The Kitchen Witch by Wendy Wang

Author:Wendy Wang [Wang, Wendy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-11-28T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

The skies darkened as if on cue, and thunder cracked overhead, shaking the café. The lights flickered, and Jen paused to look at the ceiling.

The kitchen door swung open, and her aunt stood in the threshold. The worry lines of Evangeline’s brow deepened.

“That felt very close.”

“They were calling for afternoon thunderstorms on channel 5 this morning, so it's not really a surprise. When has the weather ever rattled you?”

Jen continued counting money, writing down totals on a sheet next to the register before she stuffed it into a bank bag. She zipped it up and turned to stare into her aunt's concerned face.

“Normally, it doesn't,” Evangeline said, “but my hair is standing up on end. This one feels bad.”

Jen surveyed the mostly empty restaurant. The after-lunch crowd cleared out mostly, and now only a few stragglers hung around for coffee and free Wi-Fi. They had at least another hour and a half, almost two hours before the dinner crowd would start to filter in.

“Hopefully, you will be gone before we know it.”

Evangeline shuddered. “I hope you're right but…” The bell over the door tingled, announcing a patron had entered. Jen looked up and saw Mark practically sprinting across the floor.

“You need to get everyone and yourself into an interior room, right now,” he said, racing toward the counter, and he half-shouted his urgent message.

“What?” Jen asked, looking to her aunt in alarm. “Why?” she said to Mark. She turned to the customers at the counter who’d turned to check out the commotion.

“There's a tornado warning in the area,” Mark said, a little breathless.

“No, that can't be.” Jen pulled her phone from her apron pocket and pulled up her weather app. A red banner at the top said tornado warning in effect. Take cover, it said. Stay indoors, and stay away from windows.

“Oh my god. He's right.” She showed her phone to her aunt.

Evangeline nodded. She gave Mark a suspicious look. “It's very convenient that you showed up right at the time of the alarm. We’ll discuss that later,” she said in a stern school marm voice.

“Of course,” Mark said, a confused look on his face.

Evangeline stepped out from behind the counter and clapped her hands together, then cleared her throat, a signal for the customers to pay attention.

“I don't mean to frighten y'all. But there's a tornado warning for this area. And we’re asking everyone to come with us into the storeroom for now to ride it out. Just as a precaution. I'm sure it will be fine. But rather safe than sorry,” Evangeline said with a calming smile.

An older couple took a few last sips of their coffee and pushed away from their table. A young man who had been coming in for weeks with his laptop for two hours in the afternoon closed his computer and stuffed it in his bag. He glanced at the window next to him rattling, the wind kicking up outside. The fear on his face, the recognition of Evangeline's words made him hasten his way to the counter.

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