Bonnie nodded, but didn’t comment. Both the limes and the salt were part of Oswald’s enchantment recipe, along with gilded flakes and water charged with the essence of an eclipse-studded sun. Oswald had brought the sun water himself, thankfully, which meant slightly fewer questions. Although Bonnie was curious about why it had arrived in the form of a hundred bottles of Perrier.
‘Bobby, can you give this a taste for me? Oswald and I are working on a collab and we need a test subject.’
Grinning flirtatiously, mostly to cover the fact that she was worried the recipe might cause Bobby’s hair to fall out or his skin to turn green, Bonnie slid the fizzing drink across the bar and gestured for Bobby to take a sip.
Bobby nodded appreciatively as he regarded the drink, which was high drama in a glass. ‘Are we doing flaming drinks now?’
‘You know me. I’m all about theatre.’ Bonnie waggled her fingers. Were her nails starting to chip already from all of this spellcasting? She’d just painted them!
Bobby took a sip, then smacked his lips thoughtfully. ‘Citrusy. I think you have a winner there. I could see Gerald picking that over a shandy.’
‘Good, good,’ said Oswald, his rings flashing as he rubbed his hands together.
Bonnie, who was surreptitiously charming a quartered lime, nodded. ‘That’s what we love to hear. I’m still finessing the other drinks we’re looking at introducing, but I’ll get your expertise on those when they’re ready. Oh, look at the time!’
The three of them turned to look at the clock on the wall. It was 11:11 precisely, something Bobby always pointed out with a reminder to ‘make a wish’. Since they’d been kids, he’d set his clocks to twenty-four-hour time so he could see repeated numbers all the way through to 23:23. He wasn’t a numerology person in the same way that Bowow was, but a fascination with number patterns had to count, right?
Bobby squinted, then shrugged. ‘Sorry, didn’t realize I was running late.’
Then he rubbed his forehead. ‘What was I doing again? I’m having a complete brain-fart over here.’
‘You were putting away the deliveries,’ said Bonnie, frowning as the lime hissed like a deflating balloon. Unfortunately, magic was a bit like chemistry. Get your method a touch wrong and you ended up inventing the atomic bomb.
‘Right, right!’ Bobby grabbed his dolly and trundled off to the storeroom. Well, sort of.
‘It’s the second door,’ Bonnie reminded him, as he almost dropped off the goods in the bathroom. Weird. The bar was strategically dim, but notthatdim, and Bobby knew where he was going. Had Bobby missed his morning coffee?
‘He didn’t comment on the clock,’ Bonnie pointed out toOswald, when Bobby was safely in the storeroom, unloading napkins and straws from his dolly. ‘Healwayscomments on a clock at 11:11.’
‘And that was our numerology spell, yes?’ said Oswald, leaning across the bar to peer at the heavily thumbed recipe book, which was opened to a drink-splattered page headedBy the Numbers.
Nodding, Bonnie spun the book around and tapped the title.
Oswald fiddled with his ring. ‘So, how long until we can officially move ahead with our partnership?’
Bonnie swallowed. There were dozens of recipes in the book, and she’d barely even mastered one. She’d tried a few of the others, and had comethis closeto burning off her eyebrows with one that targeted herbalism, while another that focused on lucid dreaming had scorched the counter. Not to mention the one aimed at tarot readers. When she’d tried that, an entire murder of crows had descended upon the wisteria overhanging the patio.
‘A week, maybe?’ she said. ‘I want to make sure the magic is consistent.’
‘Yes, don’t want to be turning people into frogs or what have you. Still, better to move a tad fast than too slow, no? Especially with those start-up costs to recoup. And the loan you took out on the Cadillac.’
The sharp scent of lime filled the air as Bonnie’s knife pierced the fruit’s thick skin. How did Oswald know about the loan?
‘I keep an ear to the ground,’ Oswald said diffidently.
‘I tried the Small Business Association,’ groused Bonnie, ‘but they rejected me. They said my business plan wasn’t thorough enough. Apparently, the numbers were aspirational. But I did everything I was supposed to! I did a short course through the college and everything.’
All right, so her passing grade was mostly due to the factthat she’d shamelessly flirted with the teacher. But shehadattended. She’d even taken notes!
‘It’s this changing world of ours,’ said Uncle Oswald, gesturing out at the square. ‘People can’t see past their screens. That’s how you know we’re doing the right thing. We’ll succeed together, just as long as we don’t lose momentum.’
Uncle Oswald tapped one of the branded coasters he’d brought over that morning. For every coaster one of Bonnie’s customers brought over to his shop, he’d offer a discount on their purchase, and a kickback for Bonnie. Given the ambitious markup on Oswald’s products, the kickbacks could be pretty solid.
And let’s face it, Bonnie desperately needed the extra source of income right now. Her credit cards were so full that she crossed her fingers every time she tapped her phone to make a payment. Thankfully, she could easily survive on the baked goods Bobby brought over each day. As long as she remembered to take her iron tablet.
‘I’ll work fast,’ Bonnie promised. ‘I’ll have them perfected before you know it.’
Uncle Oswald nodded. ‘Let’s aim for this week. Oh, and drop off the handkerchief when it’s ready. Although given that I’ve now ruined two of them sitting in this exact spot, I might need to rethink my attire around you.’
