I just laughed and headed to the kitchen, where Aunt Ruby and Shelley were wrist deep in pie crust dough.
"The trick is to keep the butter cold," Aunt Ruby said.
"Definitely," I agreed, walking over to kiss her cheek and give Shelley a hug.
"Why?" my sister asked.
"Pie crust is flakier if the butter is cold. That's why Tess makes better pies than I do. My hands are too warm, and hers are always cold," Aunt Ruby said.
A warm glow swept through me. I'd worked hard for years to perfect my pie crust. It was nice when people noticed. "Here's a secret: On hot days, I put a metal bowl filled with ice on the counter for five minutes before I roll out the dough. It makes the surface nice and cool. But I'll never make a chocolate cream pie that is even close to Aunt Ruby's," I said honestly. "I cannot get the consistency right."
"Practice makes perfect," Aunt Ruby said, but I noticed the modestly pleased smile quirking at the edge of her lips. "Get the butter, Shelley?"
Shelley waved a hand at the refrigerator. The fridge door opened by itself, and the box of butter sticks floated across the room to her. Then the fridge door slammed.
"Gently, please," Aunt Ruby admonished.
I just blinked. I'd seen Shelley use her newly manifested magical powers before, in a big way during a kidnapping crisis, but I wasn't used to it yet. Somehow, it seemed even more shocking in ordinary circumstances like this than it had when she'd helped move hundreds of pounds of stone to get to Aunt Ruby after the bank blew up the month before.
"Sorry," Shelley said, ducking her head and grinning up at me. "I forget sometimes."
"How's your new magic helping you out with chores?" I pulled out a bag of apples and started peeling. "What do you think, Aunt Ruby? Two apple pies and two pumpkin? I have a pecan and a lemon meringue in the fridge."
"Depends on how many people are coming over," she said, always practical.
"The five of us, Molly, Lucky, the Fox twins, Mellie, Lauren, Andy, Phin, Charithra, and maybe Carlos. So, fifteen? Carlos won't eat much, but he loves pie."
Yes, vampires could eat food, and my neighbor's favorite was pecan pie. Who would have guessed?
"IwishI could figure out how to use magic to do chores," Shelley said glumly. "Aunt Ruby got me that movie,Fantasia,but I couldn't do any of that stuff."
"That movie creeped me out when I was a kid," I said, shuddering.
"I meant it as a cautionary tale," my aunt said, raising her eyebrows. "About the things that can go wrong if you use magic carelessly. This is my first time raising a child witch, so I thought we could figure things out as we go."
Shelley grinned. "I'm going to be agoodwitch, like my mom. She would be so proud of me."
I smiled at her, happy that enough had time had gone by that she could talk about her mom with a smile instead of tears.
"I'm sure your momisvery proud of you," I said. "She's probably watching over you right now and shaking her head at the flour you have all over your nose."
Shelley crossed her eyes, trying to look at her nose. "No, I don't!"
"You do now!" I flicked flour at her and then took off running out the back door.
She chased me around the pool twice before I let her catch me, and we both cheerfully accepted the scolding Aunt Ruby gave us when we went back inside.
I was anexceptionalbig sister.
Then we all pitched in and made quick work of the pies.
"We were going to do pizza, but Jack wants to grill steaks, burgers, and whatnot," I said. "So, we need some sides."
From the living room, a "Woot!" sounded. Aunt Ruby shook her head, but for a change didn't say anything about eating healthy.
Shelley bounced up and down. "Can we have french fries? I love french fries!"
"I like them, too. There are a couple of bags in the freezer. Maybe gowalkover and get them, since the freezer is pretty full, and we don't need a magic-induced avalanche of frozen foods."
