Page 65 of Enchanted to Meet You

“Yeah.” Esther set her homework aside and rose from the Friends and Family Chair to cross the shop to admire her friend. “Totally. Dude, you might evenwin. Ms. Gold, how did you do that?”

“Me? I didn’t do a thing.” Jessica leaned down to fluff up the gown’s light, airy skirt. “It’s all Gabriella.”

Gabby, clearly delighted, laughed and twirled in the mirror. The skirt of the gown ballooned out, shimmering in a rainbow of colors, all the palest tones of pinks and lavenders, like a spring sunset. The kid laughed, and twirled some more.

Derrick couldn’t help grinning at Jessica’s pleased expression. It was heartwarming to watch her perform her very specific kind of magic, and even more heartwarming to see the joy she got from doing it. It gavehimjoy to see her doing it.

Goddess help him. He looked down at Pye, who was sitting by his feet, daintily licking a paw. He had it bad.

“But Ms. Gold,” Gabriella said, stopping midtwirl, a look of anguish crossing her face. “I can never afford this.”

Jessica nodded. “I know. It’s a good thing you don’t have any extracurriculars, because you’re going to be working here every weekend for the rest of the year to pay me back.”

The girl squealed and threw her arms around Jessica’s waist. She was too short to reach her neck. “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“You’re welcome.” Jessica, noticing Derrick’s gaze on her, smiled at him over the top of Gabby’s head, then patted the girl on the back and said, “Now go take it off so I can adjust the hem.It’s way too long. And don’t worry, I’ll have it done by tomorrow night.”

As Gabby floated on a cloud of happiness back into the dressing room, Jessica crooked her finger at Esther. “Come here.”

The kid’s eyes grew twice their size behind the lenses of her glasses. “Oh, no, not me. I told you, I’m not into princesses. Or dresses.”

“I know. That’s not what I want to talk to you about.”

Reluctantly, Esther followed Jessica, who led her back into her office where the window was still stuck half-open, Derrick’s hammer and putty knife on the sill. Jessica sank down behind her desk, gesturing for the kid to sit in the chair opposite. Derrick leaned in the open doorway, curious to see how this was going to go. This wasn’t his show, after all. Jessica was the Chosen One.

Jessica opened with, “Chocolate?” and offered Esther candy from the open bag on her desk.

“Oh, cool,” the kid said, and grabbed a handful of mini chocolate bars. “Thanks.”

“So, Esther.” Jessica was unwrapping a Snickers bar of her own. “Remember the wolf?”

The kid nodded, chewing. “From last night? Yeah, how could I forget?” She glanced up at Derrick. “Did Animal Control catch it yet?”

“No,” he said. Like the Animal Control Department of West Harbor wouldn’t wet themselves laughing if someone called in to report a wolf sighting. “Not yet.”

“Oh.” The kid glanced a little nervously at the open window behind Jessica’s head. It was only late afternoon, but the autumn sun was already sinking. It would be dark in less than an hour. “So it’s still out there.”

“Yes,” Jessica said, leaning forward so that her elbows were on her desk. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Derrickhere thinks that the reason there are suddenly wolves in West Harbor—not to mention the king tides that keep flooding the school and stuff—is because a demonic rift is opening up beneath the town.”

The kid, instead of laughing or rolling her eyes, nodded. Apparently, this was no surprise to her.

“And in order to close it and save West Harbor,” Jessica went on, “we’re going to need you. Because according to an ancient prophecy, I’m the Chosen One, and you’re the Bringer of Light—which means only we can stop the evil.”

Esther looked from Jessica to Derrick and then back again. Then she took a bite of the mini chocolate bar she was holding, chewed for a moment, swallowed, and said, “Okay.”

Derrick wasn’t sure the kid understood.

“Esther,” he began. “What we’re saying is—”

“No, I get it.” The kid reached into the bag on Jessica’s desk for another candy bar. “There’s a big bad in town, and you need me to fight it.”

Derrick glanced uncomfortably at Jessica. “No, that’s not what we’re say—”

“Yeah, it is.” The girl shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. I knew this day was going to come. I’m a Scorpio. Spooky stuff is my jam.” Settling farther back into her chair—so comfortable that she might almost have put her sneakered feet up onto the desk if it had been her own and not Jessica’s—she continued. “So, what do you need me to do?”

Derrick exchanged glances with Jessica. She was smiling, her eyes warmly prideful and easily read.See? I told you this was the girl. Isn’t she amazing?

He couldn’t help feeling a little more cautious, however. He’d been through this before.