Page 19 of Impractical Magic
“What can we do?” Nine had said with a sigh. “Thirteen wants to be his own man. Truth be told, I understand where he’s coming from. Me, I wish I’d been named Herman.”
“Oh, Dad, you do not,” scoffed Ten. “What nonsense.”
Nate may have rejected his birth name, but he carried on the tradition of managing the family hardware store. And thanks to him, Williams Hardware remained an essential locale, both for all the witches who needed supplies and for all the Oak Haven husbands who simply needed an excuse to get out of the house.
A joyful shout emitted from the rocking chairs when Scarlett approached.
“Look who it is, Granddad!” said Eleven happily.
Nine pulled on his glasses to peer at the grown-up woman in front of him. “That’s not our Scarlett, is it?”
“It can’t be,” said Ten slyly. “She was a tiny thing just yesterday.”
Scarlett smiled. “It’s me!”
The Earls hugged her and kissed her on the cheek and quizzed her on life outside Oak Haven, with many hints—both subtle and not-so—that it was well past time for her to return home and stay put. For a moment, Scarlett began to wonder if the Earls would ever let her leave . . . but their coffee cups soon emptied, and suddenly Nine declared, “Honey, go ask Nate for a refill, would you? Save me the trip.”
“Of course, sir,” she said. “I wouldn’t want someone as frail as you exerting yourself.”
“You watch yourself, miss,” he said with a grin.
“I’m just teasing. You don’t look a day over one hundred and five and you know it.”
“Exactly why I always say every man should marry a witch.”
***
The interior of Williams Hardware was a maze of shelves and cubbies, all packed with every gadget and gizmo that Oak Haven’s DIY’ers might desire. A paint mixer and a key copier sat behind the counter, next to a sign featuring a magic wand in a red circle with a slash, and the words “NO SPELLS.” Another sign with an arrow declared that lumber and gardening supplies were available out back. But what Scarlett didn’t see, as she scanned the shelves, were the magical items required by her mother.
Oh no, she thought. Has Williams gone normie too?
“Hey there,” said a voice behind her.
It was Nate. He’d cleaned up beautifully since she saw him last, and he wore a burgundy flannel shirt that complemented his dark brown eyes just perfectly and somehow made Scarlett want to throw up or cry or both.
“Can I help you with something?”
“Um.” It took Scarlett a moment to remember what she was doing in Williams Hardware in the first place. “Oh! The Earls want more coffee.”
“Aw, for crying out loud . . .” Nate sighed. “I keep telling them: ‘Guys! This is not a diner. When I open a diner, you’ll be the first to know.’”
“Also . . .” Scarlett gestured vaguely with her mother’s shopping list. “Mama sent me for a few things. But, um, I don’t see—”
“I moved all the magic supplies to the back room.”
“Really? You treat magic like the adult section of a video store?”
“Had I ever been in a video store, I might get that reference. Basically I didn’t want to risk selling some kind of powerful potion to a tourist. Easier to just keep it all out of their eyeline.”
“Do tourists ever ask you about that NO SPELLS sign?”
He shrugged. “I tell them it refers to fainting spells.”
“Really,” Scarlett said with a laugh. “Do they buy that?”
“Do you think I care? Listen, I’m going to go refill the Earls.” He moved toward the counter, where an archaic coffee maker sat beside the key-copying machine. “You can head on back; grab whatever you need.”
Behind a door marked PRIVATE sat the second mission of Williams Hardware, beyond keeping husbands occupied: magical supplies. Scarlett grabbed one of the shopping baskets by the door and set about satisfying her mother’s demands.
