Page 58 of Two’s A Charm

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE SISTERHOOD

Bonnie

If you’d asked Bonnie a few weeks earlier if there was any probability of her sitting down for dinner with Bobby, Effie and Effie’s boyfriend , she would have laughed in your face.

It was all too preposterous and absurd. She and Effie had been navigating a rift more turbulent than the San Andreas Fault.

And the prospect of either of them being partnered up certainly hadn’t been in any of the tarot readings or horoscopes that had come her way – and living in Yellowbrick Grove, there had been many.

And yet, here they were, gathered around the kitchen dining table, where no more than one person at a time had sat since Mom had died.

Bonnie had topped the table with a pink floral tablecloth that Sabine had borrowed from Mom years before, and had found while clearing out her attic.

The table setting was perfectly mismatched, with glass and ceramic crockery in all sorts of whimsical combinations, and the aroma of home-made pizza and carrot cake and eucalyptus candles warmed the air.

Over by the butcherblock counter, Bobby tossed an immense salad loaded with sliced pears and feta cheese, and Theo was industriously slicing a pizza.

‘So, when do you start, Theo?’ asked Bonnie, nibbling a hummus-dipped carrot. ‘Or should I say, Professor.’

‘Not quite professor. I’ll be an adjunct, starting next week,’ he said, helping himself to a slice of pepperoni. ‘I’ve been knee-deep in lesson plans since they sent me the offer letter. Not to mention cramming every night so that I can get these last few classes for my master’s wrapped up.’

‘It must be a bit of a change of pace after the city,’ said Bobby, popping a square of feta into his mouth.

‘Which is precisely what I like about it.’ Theo leaned over to give Effie a kiss on the forehead. ‘Besides, I have a formidable librarian on speed dial. If anyone asks me a too-hard question, she’ll be straight off to the catalogue in search of an answer.’

‘I can hardly say no to the man who single-handedly created an endowment for the Friends of the Library group,’ said Effie with a tone imbued with...was that warmth?

Wow, Theo was a miracle worker.

‘And how’s the apartment going, Bobby?’ asked Theo, wiping down the pizza cutter.

‘Almost there. Hannah’s going through the tenant applications right now. Once we have someone in there, the rent will be enough to cover the overheads at the bar.’

Bonnie flushed. Who could have known that the answer to her money woes had been so simple all along?

‘And no one will mind that it’s possibly haunted?’ pressed Theo.

At that, Agatha meowed, sparking a grin from both Effie and Theo.

‘Are you kidding?’ Bobby chuckled. ‘They’ll pay a premium for it. Especially if we add some ghostly sound effects and—’

‘We absolutely will not,’ said Bonnie. ‘We’re doing it legit, or not at all. Besides, ghost hunters don’t actually want to see a ghost. The whole appeal is the will they, won’t they . It’s like romance readers with a slow-burn book.’

‘See,’ said Effie. ‘One session at the romance book club, and Bonnie is steeped in tropes.’

‘Like friends to lovers?’ teased Bobby, stooping to give Agatha a gentle pat on the head. ‘I like that one.’

The fluffy black cat headbutted him gently, demanding more attention. As witches were wont to do, thought Bonnie with a wicked grin.

Never far from their mom, the tiny kittens tottered around beneath the table, mewling plaintively and batting at feet with their tiny paws.

Bonnie and Effie had discussed what to do with the kittens once they were big enough to leave their mom – perhaps set them up as library cats or bar cats or yoga studio cats – but every proposal felt wrong.

A mom and her kids deserved to be together for as long as possible.

And if Bonnie and Effie could help make that happen, well, they would.

There was plenty of room in the old Queen Anne, after all, even if the boys eventually decided to move in.

Cat trees and cat beds and cat toys bristled all over, like a forest of fluffy feathered trees, and everywhere you went, huge eyes blinked up at you.

The house felt alive again, the way it had when Mom was here, sitting at the table making up nonsense answers to the crossword because her version was more poetic, or hunched over her desk, beading earrings to swap with Sabine, or humming golden oldies as she sat on the stairs folding the laundry and musing on the lonely existence of mismatched socks.

Theo uncorked a wine bottle, setting it down on the table as he reached for the glasses. One of the kittens chose just that moment to lunge up onto one of the dining chairs and then across the table with a caterwauling scream.

The wine bottle momentarily considered remaining upright, then decided that horizontal was the way to go. It teetered, wobbled, then angled itself towards the table, its contents sloshing from its open neck.

Bonnie didn’t even think – she just reacted. Her wrists sparkled with magic.

So did Effie’s.

Green and purple threads poured from the sisters’ wrists as they simultaneously reacted to the toppling bottle, unthinkingly trying to right it in the way that seemed completely natural to them.

The bottle wobbled, then came to rest upright.

If Effie had been the high-fiving type, Bonnie would have raised her hand in invitation. Instead she just winked.

‘Nice job, sis,’ whispered Effie. ‘You didn’t even smash the bottle or set the wine on fire.’

‘I’ve been practising,’ said Bonnie. And she had been.

Not because she wanted to impress her sister, but because she wanted to know how to properly manage this part of her that was going to be with her for life.

This part that made her a Chalmers sister, and which she might one day pass down to a Chalmers girl of her own.

And to do that, she had to work at it, not just do what came easily to her.

Although she might be getting ahead of herself there. Maybe she’d try out the aunt thing first. Better to mess up Effie’s kids than one of her own, after all. Besides, Effie just inherently knew what she was doing.

‘Wow,’ said Bobby, shaking his head. ‘This whole magic thing is going to take some getting used to.’

‘I truly can’t believe you had no idea,’ said Bonnie. ‘Especially with the bar thing. I mean, you practically lived there. And you’ve been our neighbour for two decades!’

‘I mean, I always thought you were magic,’ said Bobby. ‘Just not literally.’

‘How about you?’ asked Bobbie, rounding on Theo. ‘Were you Mister Oblivious as well?’

Theo raised an eyebrow. ‘I might have had an inkling.’

‘When did you first suspect?’ pressed Effie.

‘That very first day at the bar,’ admitted Theo. He rubbed his forehead. ‘Although I can’t quite remember why.’

Bonnie felt a pang. Of all the memories for Theo to give up, he’d given up the one where he’d met Effie.

‘I remember,’ said Effie, squeezing his hand. ‘It’s because I used my magic to pick up the flower basket of yours I knocked to the ground.’

‘That sounds about right,’ said Theo, smiling gently. ‘Apparently you made such a strong impression that my memory just can’t handle it.’

‘Well, I appreciate your not saying anything,’ said Effie, smiling up at Theo. ‘Yellowbrick Grove might be full of people who want to believe, but I don’t think the town’s quite ready for the truth about the Chalmers sisters just yet.’

Theo chuckled. ‘Deal. Although my silence comes at a price. And that price is using just your magic to top up my glass of wine. The biggest slice of pizza goes to whoever does it first.’

Now there was a challenge.

Meeting each other’s gazes, Bonnie and Effie grinned.

They focused their energies, their magic shimmering in the air as they considered the laws of physics that needed to be overcome.

Their twin streams of magic poured from their wrists, twining together then shooting out to lift the bottle, pouring a perfect measure into each of the glasses on the table in turn.

Not a drop spilled.

All right, so the two of them had their differences, and always would.

But they also had something that bound them together for ever – in this life and whatever came after.

And not just their magic. Their sisterhood.

The bond that connected them in times good and bad and everywhere in between.

The fact that their lives had been shared since day one, and always would be.

The doorbell rang, setting Agatha yowling, along with the kittens.

‘That’ll be Tessa and Alana,’ said Bonnie. ‘And probably Kirsty and Hannah, if they all came together. Door’s open!’ she shouted.

‘The more the merrier.’ Theo got up to pull a second pizza from the oven.

Effie looked like she vehemently wanted to disagree. But she adjusted her glasses and took a measured sip of wine. ‘Just so long as things don’t get too rowdy. We do have neighbours, after all.’

‘That’s as close as Effie comes to saying “let’s party”,’ said Tessa, setting down an enormous plate of chocolate-coated macaroons on the counter.

‘Oh god, it’s going to be eighth grade all over again,’ teased Alana. ‘Remember the Great Gummy-Worm Sleepover Incident?’

‘Got any of that Memory Lane left over?’ whispered Effie to Bonnie.

‘Only for very special occasions,’ said Bonnie. ‘All right, who’s up for Celebrity Heads?’

Everyone groaned. Bonnie was famed for her ability to stump crowds using D-grade celebrities from the 00s.

‘We also have Twister. And the perennial favourite: darts.’

‘Not darts,’ said Effie. ‘I don’t trust any of you not to put holes in the wall.’

‘Oh go on, Effie,’ said Kirsty, who had famously busted through the panelling in the upstairs hallway wall years back in an effort to string up Halloween decorations. ‘Would we do something like that?’

Everyone burst out laughing. Even Effie managed a small smile, although Bonnie could see that she was adding up the potential repair costs in her head.

‘First we eat, then we Twister,’ said Tessa.

‘I think that might be the wrong order,’ said Alana, grimacing. ‘Isn’t Twister better on an empty stomach?’

‘I thought you were a yoga instructor,’ pointed out Bobby.

Alana sighed. ‘Well, those are fighting words. Pizza me up, Theo.’

Crammed into the cosy kitchen, surrounded by cats and friends and laugher, Bonnie had never felt happier.

Life felt whole again: all the greens and purples and everything in between.

‘A shooting star!’ cried Kirsty, who’d been by the window keeping an eye out for the meteor shower that the student newspaper had been heavily reporting on (Cassandra was back in fine journalistic form, and had been collaborating closely with the astronomy department).

Grabbing pizza slices and wine glasses, the group hurried out to the front porch, watching as the sky sparkled with the lights of clustering stars, and taking turns peeking through the telescope that Effie had borrowed from the library.

Kirsty gave the telescope a curious look, as though trying to pull up a long-forgotten memory, then shook her head.

‘Nerds,’ she said, disparagingly.

‘I wish Mom were here to see this,’ whispered Effie, squeezing Bonnie’s hand.

‘You know,’ said Bonnie, as a particularly bright meteor streaked across the sky, spinning a gold-hued trail behind it, ‘I think she is.’

Their wrists glowing, the two sisters leaned against the doorframe of the home that had housed so much love over the years, watching the sky put on a display for the ages – and cheering along with their friends as the meteors stitched streams of light behind the clouds.

Neither sister would ever replace Mom, and nor should they.

But Mom lived on through them in every action they took and every bit of good they put into the world.

Not to mention the brownies that Bonnie had baked this afternoon using Mom’s famous recipe. Well, a slightly illicit twist on Mom’s recipe. But Officer Brigsley didn’t need to know about that.

Bonnie ducked back inside to grab the platter, then passed them around, smiling at the chocolatey grins her friends threw her way.

On went the memories, new and old, and those in between.

She and Effie were stewards of them – and would do them proud.

Because that was the magic of being one of the Chalmers girls.