Time Spell (28 page)

“Oh yeah, that one. Ivy is amazing. See, she reached up…and then she…wait, what did you ask me?” Bewildered, Jack looked down at my tiny cousin.

Her voice remained steady. “Jack, why did you and Ivy go to Las Vegas?”

His brow furrowed, and I imagined angry thoughts of the letter were whisking through his mind.

“Because, we had to…huh…I’m sorry. Who are you again?” He turned in my direction and noticed me for the first time again tonight. “Ivy? What are you doing here?”

Holly looked over her shoulder at me. “Go ahead, Ivy. You can go. I’ll finish the rest and see you at your house.” She smiled warmly, but her eyes urged me to leave.

I hesitated in the doorway. Jack looked at me, unsure of why I was there and why I was leaving.

I whispered, “Bye, Jack.”

I closed the door behind me and heard Holly continue with her line of questions. Questions that one by one would erase each day and night Jack and I had spent together from his mind and his heart.

Holly appeared in my doorway carrying two large delivery bags. “Double chocolate cake and a double chocolate brownie with ice cream. Yum, right?”

“Is it over? Is it erased?” I was surrounded by tissues and I couldn’t stop fidgeting with my cell phone. I wanted to call him.

“Oh, sweetie, I didn’t want to do it either. You made the right decision. It was the best decision. But yeah, it’s over. Not a trace of the last few days in his memory bank.”

“So, what did he think happened the past few days?” I ripped into the brownie bag and dug in the bottom for a fork.

“Jack went on a boring solo fishing trip. Skipped work and everything.” She winked at me.

“Well, that works.”

I thought about Jack in our imaginary cabin. He probably sat on the front porch and drank a beer or two after cleaning his day’s catch, at least that’s what he would remember doing.

“You weren’t kidding, girl. He is the best piece of eye candy I’ve seen. And how sweet, he was going to wear a tie on your first date. So sweet.” She had opened both of the desserts.

“Ugh! Holly, not helping.” I moaned.

“You know what you need?” She smiled.

“Besides chocolate?”

“Chocolate always helps broken hearts.” She giggled. “No, you need to get back out there.
Time Spell
. Find a story you and Jack can work on together.”

My witchy tingle surged for a second. “I can’t get him involved, Holly. No.”

“No? I don’t mean take him with you. I mean go find a story. A really good one and then spend every second you can with him working on it.” She bit into the cake then scooped up some of the brownie. “If you two are meant to be together, it can happen again. You said he already had feelings for you, but he just didn’t want to cross a line with you at work. Right? Those feelings are still there. I didn’t touch anything in his memory before he got that letter. Don’t give up on him. This time, just don’t tell him who you are.”

I lowered my eyes. “Right, he can’t know. He can’t ever know.” I sighed. “You know he was fine knowing about the magic. He didn’t care that I was a witch.”

“Really?”

“I think the first time he saw the orb it freaked him out.” I laughed.

Holly giggled. “Mike would probably jump out the window if I showed him the orb.”

“But after that, he was ok with it. He didn’t care. I actually think he kind of liked it.” I reached for the brownie.

“Yeah, I bet he thought it was hot.” Holly winked. “You, some spells, defeating the world’s evil—that would probably turn any guy on.”

“Why can’t we be together now? I don’t understand.” The tears brimmed at the corners of my eyes. I wanted to the crying to stop, but I was facing utter disappointment and heartbreak. Tears were part of the deal.

“Timing is everything, girl.” Holly stated it between bites of chocolate.

“Yep, timing is everything.”

I hugged my cousin good-bye and doused her in one hundred thank yous. We had devoured both chocolate desserts and a bottle of wine. Holly listened to every amazing detail of the last few days with Jack. If he couldn’t remember us, at least I could. I locked the door behind her, extinguished all the lights, and stumbled back to my room. I collapsed on my bed, a sniffling mess. I was tired of crying and tired of extracting every second of the precious Jack moments from the past few days. I needed to turn off my brain and my heart from thinking about him.

I watched Cooper twirl three times in his bed then collapse into a ball of sleep. I hoped sleep would find me like that. I blew my nose again with a wadded up tissue and pulled the duvet over my head.

The next morning, I searched my bed for my phone in a zombie-like state. It was ringing somewhere in the mountain of covers near my head. My hand hit it, and I pulled it out from the cave of blankets and pillows. I swiped the screen and pressed the phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

What time was it? My head ached from too much ugly crying. I wiggled around uncomfortably and remembered I was still wearing my jeans from last night. Sunrays filtered through my curtains. I didn’t even close the blinds last night before I fell asleep. I covered my eyes with my free palm. I heard Cooper’s snores drifting from the floor.

“Ivy, it’s Ann.” Her voice was crisp and direct.

I sat straight up. “Hi, Ann.” I gripped the phone and held my breath.

“Jack asked me to call you and see if you’re available in an hour. He would like to go over a storyboard with you. There’s an offer for a screenplay. It’s urgent he meet with you as soon as possible.”

“Jack? Me? An hour?” Relief flooded my body, followed by instant panic.

The mention of the screenplay offer didn’t register yet. What if he did remember something? What if Holly’s
Eraser Spell
didn’t completely work? That was unlikely. My cousin was good at what she did. Holly’s words from last night rang in my ear, “Ivy, if you two are meant to be together, it can happen again. Don’t give up on him.” She was right. She was so right. He might not remember the last few days, but I did. Every touch, whisper, and kiss was permanently burned into my memory.

“That is what I said, Ivy. Should I tell him the meeting is scheduled, or do you need a different time?”

I could hear her tapping her pen on the desk, waiting for my response. She sounded tense and more impatient than usual. Jack had probably given her a stack of to-do items since he returned to the office from his fictitious fishing trip. I pictured him in his office surrounded by stacks of papers, a cup of coffee, and one of my manuscripts in his hand.

I smiled. “Yes, yes. Please tell Jack I’ll see him in an hour.”

I hung up and tossed the phone on the empty pillow next to me. My head suddenly throbbed a little less, and the sunlight seemed much less invasive than it did thirty seconds ago. I had an hour to put together my best I-have-kissed-you-but-you-don’t-remember-it outfit. I laughed. I could probably figure something out.

After all, I’m not just a regular girl.

I’m a witch.

A Page from Ivy Grace’s Spell Journal

ECLIPSE**Seals the seam.

ERASE**A girl’s best way to clean a room and make sure there’s no trace she was ever there.

EXTINGUISH**Quickest and easiest way to turn out the lights, anything electrical really.

FADE**The only way I know how to make myself invisible. Also, involves lots of shimmering, a plus I think.

GLAMOUR**By far, the best spell ever! Makeup, hair, clothes, all in perfect order.

ILLUMINATE**Comes in handy when a girl needs a floating flashlight.

LOCALITY**This one I borrow from my brother. With a little help of a personal object, we can usually find someone’s location on a map.

OPEN**There are those times when you need to get in a locked door or drawer.

RADIANCE**When it’s time to get back in the real world, this sheds the awesome shimmer from the FADE SPELL.

REMEDY**Cool way to repair things I’ve broken (accidentally, of course).

REVEAL**Definitely, the only security system I really trust. The orangey glow particles let me know when someone has stopped by.

TWINKLE**Love this one! Throws the night sky on my ceiling wherever I am.

UNFOLD**Opens the seam.

VOILA**I borrow this from Mama every once in a while. It’s great in a hostess pinch! Sets the table, lights candles, might even pour a glass of wine.