Shanna Swendson - Don't Hex with Texas

Just in case, you’ll need to go in there without me and buy one so the company can investigate. I can’t go in there again.”

“Hey, there’s a test for our magical person. We herd the whole town through the pharmacy and see who goes into convulsions.”

“That actually could work. Maybe you should buy a couple of candles and we could set a trap.”

“It’s also a good sign that Lester isn’t our rogue wizard. He seems to be selling prescription meds under the counter, but he couldn’t be magical and survive spending all day around those candles.”

“Unless maybe the constant exposure to those candles is what makes him so irritable. What’s next on your agenda?”

“The grocery store. Mom swears people were dancing out in front, but nobody else seems to recall it happening. Idris did do that while Mom was in New York, so I thought it sounded like one of his spells. If it happened.”

We walked around the square to the grocery store. He stepped off the sidewalk into one of the empty parking spaces in front, then shook his head and rejoined me on the sidewalk. “If there was any residual magic there, it’s faded by now. But if it did happen, perhaps someone who works in the store could be our culprit. They’d have access to the square, which seems to be the focus of magical activity. That in and of itself is proof this person doesn’t know what he’s doing. The square is the weakest magical point in the area. They’d be much better off in that park along the creek.”

Frankly, I couldn’t imagine anyone at the grocery store resembling a mischievous rogue wizard. They were all nice, small-town folks who knew their customers by name and greeted everyone like a long-lost relative. I had to introduce Owen at least half a dozen times, and I knew they’d all know his name the next time he came into the store. We bought a couple of nonperishable items to explain our visit, then left.

“That was a bust,” I said with a sigh. “I guess all that’s left is the Dairy Queen. We can get dinner while we’re there. We’ll have to be careful what we talk about, because a conversation there is as good as dictating it to the town newspaper, but we can overhear a lot. It’s also one of about three restaurants in town, so it’s our best shot for a dinner out.”

“Just point me in the right direction.”

I’m not sure I would ever have imagined Owen Palmer fitting in at the Cobb Dairy Queen. He was so shiny and handsome, like a movie star, and even if you didn’t know he was a powerful wizard, you couldn’t help but sense that there was something special about him. But amazingly enough, he blended in almost as well as I did. The women all noticed him, of course, but no one seemed to regard him as an outsider. I supposed he was a small-town boy himself, even if he was from another part of the country.

Steve and his gang showed up not long after we’d ordered and found a table, and I couldn’t help but enjoy the look he gave when he saw Owen with me. Having a man with matinee-idol looks sitting across from me was quite a personal coup. I hoped Steve would accept his defeat and move on, but he came over to our table after he placed his order.

“So, Katie, who’s your friend?” he asked, hooking his thumbs through his belt loops and adopting a challenging stance.

“This is Owen, who’s visiting me from New York, and Owen, this is Steve. We went to high school together.”

They called our number from the front counter, and Owen got up to go get our food. “I guess I’ll leave you two alone on your hot date,” Steve said. If he’d been an air quotes kind of person, he’d have put air quotes around the words “hot date.” Then he moseyed off. I could have sworn he was giving his behind a deliberate sway for my benefit as he walked away.

“Ex-boyfriend?” Owen asked as he returned to the table with two steak finger baskets.

“Hah! Back in school, I’m not sure he knew I existed, other than as the younger sister of my brothers.

I’m merely one of the few single women in this age range left in town, and the few others aren’t impressed with his type, either, so he’s getting a little desperate.”

As we ate, we assessed the other patrons for their magical potential under our breath, not entirely seriously. “Silver-haired lady at three o’clock—your three o’clock,” I muttered. “I know she’s got a heck of an herb garden. She’s probably brewing potions.”

“How about the junior vampire scouts on your right? If they could do magic, you know they would.”

I turned my head ever so slightly to see the group of teens dressed all in black with white makeup and black lipstick—boys and girls alike. “Nah,” I whispered. “If they’re dancing in robes at the courthouse, they’re doing it at midnight, not broad daylight, and they’d be doing it in a group.

Nonconformity is no fun unless everyone else is doing it.”

He grinned, and I felt for the first time since he’d shown up that he really was my Owen, the guy who’d become one of my closest, most trusted friends even while I had a huge crush on him. I’d always been at ease with him, in spite of the shivers he sent up my spine with every touch. That’s what had been different about him when he walked into our store today, I realized. He’d been closed off from me.

“You know, I really did leave because I thought it was best for both of us,” I said. “I didn’t want to put you in that kind of situation again.”

“I know. I got a lecture or three about it.”

“So you understand?”

He paused for a long moment, his eyes searching mine as if trying to find the exact words to say.

Finally he said, “I can see why you felt you had to do it.”

That hadn’t quite answered my question. He was still sidestepping the issue, and I still couldn’t tell what he really felt about me. But maybe I wanted too much, too soon. He was barely off the airplane.

“Thank you for coming,” I said, trying to pour all my sincerity and all my feelings into my words.

He turned an almost purple shade of red and shrugged. “Any time you need me, I’ll be there, you know that. No matter what.”

His intensity was enough to take my breath away. “I do,” I managed to whisper. Then, as much as I wanted to stay in that moment, I couldn’t help but be distracted. “Don’t look now, but one of our prime suspects just walked in.”

“I’d like to talk to him,” Owen murmured. “See if you can get him over here.”

I waited until Gene finished at the counter, then called out as he passed, “Hey, Gene! What’s up?”

He looked around as if trying to figure out who was calling to him before he focused on me. Then he looked suspicious. “Why?” he asked, a defiant, challenging tone in his voice. I made a mental note to ask Teddy if their friendship had actually broken up or if they’d just drifted apart over time. He hadn’t seemed too hostile with us the other day in the store, but the glare he gave me now made me wonder if he had issues with the Chandlers, with Teddy, or maybe even with me.

“Just saying hi,” I said with a shrug. “Oh, this is my friend Owen from New York. Owen, Gene and I were in high school together.”

Owen stood and stuck out a hand as if to shake it, but Gene ignored him. “I was way ahead of you in school,” he mumbled.

“Yeah, he and my brother Teddy were big-shot seniors when I was a lowly freshman. But we were all in marching band together.”

“Yeah. Well, see you,” he said with a grunt and wandered off.

“He seems nice,” Owen said, his lips quirking like he was trying to keep from smiling.

“Very charming guy. I think Teddy hung out with him mostly because he was the only other kid in the school who could understand what he was talking about. So, are you ready to head out, or do you want ice cream?”