Charms and Chocolate Chips: A Magical Bakery Mystery by Bailey Cates

Author:Bailey Cates
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3, epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2013-11-05T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Lucy came out of her trance and rushed toward her sister. They embraced for a long moment right in the middle of the bakery. Customers watched for a few seconds but soon lost interest. This was obviously a family thing.

When Lucy turned away, I saw her eyes were wet. I approached my mother more slowly but hugged her just as hard.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. “We only spoke last night, and you never mentioned coming to Savannah.”

Mama smiled ruefully. “It was a bit of a surprise to me, too.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Let’s just say I was instructed to get my tail down here. So I did.”

Lucy and I exchanged glances. “Instructed?” she asked.

Mama pressed her lips together. “By Mother.”

My fingers flew to my throat. “Nonna?”

Ben frowned in confusion. Mama raised her eyebrows and gave me a knowing look. Suddenly aware of all the people in the bakery, I took her arm and said in a low voice, “Let’s go back where we can talk.”

Lucy was right behind us, leaving Ben to fend for himself. His baffled gaze followed us through the kitchen and into the Honeybee office. Closing the door behind us, Lucy moved to perch on the edge of Mungo’s club chair and gestured at the swivel desk chair. Imagining how my mother would react to having a dog in the bakery, I was glad he’d stayed home.

She sat down, smoothing her skirt over her knees and crossing her ankles. “You might have mentioned your nonna’s visits.”

I gaped at her. “Are you kidding me? You wouldn’t talk about the simplest of spells, about anything having to do with magic for the last year. How could I tell you about Nonna . . . ? Hey, wait a minute. How did you find out?” I looked at Lucy. “Did you tell her?”

She shook her head and looked at the floor. “Mary Jane might not have spoken to you about anything magical, but she didn’t speak to me at all.”

My mother reddened. “I’m sorry about that, Luce.”

Lucy was quiet. She’d been deeply hurt and angered by her sister’s actions. Mama had cut Lucy off a long time ago when she’d turned her back on the Craft in an attempt to keep me safe.

“Did Nonna tell you?” I asked.

She shook her head. “When Mother came—while I was in the bathtub, of all places, she didn’t bother with news updates. You light a few candles, have a glass of wine, listen to a little Rachmaninoff, and the next thing you know your dead mother is filling the room with her flowery perfume and telling you to stop acting like an ass.”

“She didn’t say that,” I scoffed.

“Oh, I just bet she did,” Lucy said with an amused expression. “She was never one to pull punches.”

Mama nodded. “Told me to stop acting like an ass and to start being a good mother again. Let me tell you, there is nothing like a voice from the past to goose you into doing what’s right.”

“But we had already begun to make up,” I said.

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