Page 64 of Hallow Hill at Halloween: Part One

“I haven’t decided.” That made sense to me. If I could whip up anything that came to mind in super quick fashion, I’d probably wait till the last minute and see what my mood was. “Just as long as it’s not midnight-blue velvet. Like this.”

“I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing the same thing as you, Rita.”

“Same. Can I try it on?”

Esme removed the dress from the hanger. We both knew it would fit perfectly. It was part of Esme’s magic.

Standing on the dressmaker platform, I almost felt like I was living up to the name, Rita Hayworth. Gosh. It made me look curvy in all the right places. The velvet wasn’t at all heavy except for the pools of fabric that fell at my ankles. Just the right vee neck cut. Sleeves coming slightly over my hands. Perfection.

“I look like a million bucks if I did say so myself.”

“Of course. What do you expect?”

“To look great, but not this! Oh, hey. Since everything’s all good between us, I have a favor to ask,” I said.

She just stared as she cut a thread with her teeth. I hopped off the platform and pulled the jewelry box out of my tote.

When she got a look at the brooch, she said, “The diamond. Holy Samhain. Does the real one look better than that?”

“Nah. I can’t tell the diff.”

I pulled it out of the box, faced the mirror, and began positioning it on my left breast. It was so big, it could only be worn up high with the top next to my clavicle.

“What do you think about this?” I asked.

“It upstages the dress,” she said.

“Oh. Well…”

“That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t wear it, Rita. It was a gift from the town for your birthday. They will love seeing that you’re wearing it.”

I smiled. “If you insist.” I removed it and handed it to her. “Braden reinforced the pin with stainless steel. Says human ladies should always have a weapon.”

She laughed softly. “He said that?”

“He did.” Pause. “And I’d like to say that’s hilarious, but he might be right.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Charm the brooch against theft? Charm the pin with something extra like… I don’t know. I’m new to this. With something like perfect aim, or paralysis.”

Esme’s mouth fell open. “Rita. I didn’t realize you can be so vicious.”

“Too much?”

She shrugged and held out her palm.

Ten minutes later I left with my dress in a zippered bag and my brooch ready to protect me. From what I did not know. That’s the problem with intuition. Maybe it was best I didn’t have to guess. The magic world could be very unpredictable.

“If you want antitheft, standard insurance rates will apply.”

“Okay,” I said. “How much?”

“Ten thousand a year. For as long as you want the contract to remain in effect.”

“That is ridiculous.”

“Just business.”