Page 9 of Practically Magic

“Extensive?” My stomach rolls. “I’ll replace Zara’s notebook, and the fire wasn’t even that big—”

“The water damage, Katherine. From the sprinklers. I’m going to have to sit down with your parents tomorrow to discuss paying for damages.”

“Paying for damages?” My heart hammers in my chest. Despite the sweetness of the pumpkin latte, I think I might throw up.

“I was actually going to give your parents a call right now.”

“Don’t!” It comes out too urgent, too loud. “Um, my mom just got a new number. Can I give it to you?”

I glance over at Laney. Can I have him call her instead? She shakes her head, mouthing, “Don’t even think about it.” Who else, then?

Barking breaks through the lull of the café, and a dog comes barreling through the cozy space. Principal Aceste flinches, his drink spilling spectacularly all over the floor, as Zach steps out from behind the counter just in time. The pup jumps up and places his paws on Zach’s stomach, barking happily, and Zach actually smiles.

I’ve seen this dog before. He’s brown with a patch of black fur running along his back like a skunk, and he’s not wearing a collar.

“Ronald! There you are!” Zach rubs the dog on his head.

“Fred!” Laney runs over now too, and the dog turns to her and tries to lick her face. “Good to see you, buddy!”

“Fred? It’s Ronald,” Zach tells Laney.

“No, I call him Fred. He looks like a Fred,” Laney insists, and the two start arguing.

I bend over to help clean up the principal’s spilled drink. His phone has also fallen. My heart jumps into my throat.

“Whose dog is this?” Principal Aceste asks, his voice sharp.

“He’s a stray,” Zach says. “I’ve been trying to gain his trust for days. I left food out for him last night, but when I got too close, he ran off.”

“We did too, but we couldn’t get him into the shop,” Laney says, and starts cooing to the dog again. “Want a treat? Do you, boy?”

Zach pulls a dog bone out of his pocket. “Here you go, Ronald. It’s pumpkin!”

The dog sniffs the bone then grabs it and runs off. Of course Zach carries dog treats with him.

“It is a health violation to have dogs in here,” the principal is saying. I share a look with Laney, flashing his phone.

“Are you sure that’s true?” she asks, distracting the principal as I paw around in his phone. “Because I know Mayor Croft has reworked the town charter this Halloween season—”

Zach is glaring at me. He sidles closer, dropping his voice and his lips so they’re right by my ear. “What are you doing, Hadley?”

I scroll through his contacts to my mother’s number. Of course they’ve been texting about my sister, Harry, and how wonderful she is.

I go to change the number to Laney’s, but my fingers buzz and fumble across the screen. To my horror, a few numbers seem to magically change.

“Then I’ll talk to the mayor myself,” Principal Aceste is saying. As he stands, Zach and I wrestle for the phone.

“You dropped this,” Zach says, holding it out.

“Ah, thank you,” Principal Aceste says, glancing between the two of us. “Very kind of you.”

As he walks away, Zach yanks a hairnet over his curls. “You’d better be fixing this, Hadley.”

4

Mystic Hollow Community Page

New post from Anonymous: Stray dog seen wandering around Mystic Hollow. Brown. Looks like a retriever mix. Friendly, but easily spooked. Anyone know who the owner is?