Yesterday's Magic by Beverly Long Read Free Book Online Page B

two eggs, a thick slice of ham,
and two pieces of bread.
    “It’s nice to have someone to cook for
again,” Aunt Freida said. “Your Uncle Herbert loved a big
breakfast.”
    Aunt Freida had said her husband died around
the same time as the Sheriff's father. That meant she’d been alone
for about five years. “Have you ever thought about marrying again?”
Bella asked. She’d had this same conversation with her father on
several occasions. He always said that he couldn’t imagine finding
a woman who could compare to Bella’s mother.
    Aunt Freida tapped her fork on the table.
“Well, you being family and all, I guess I can talk to you about
this. I don’t really have anybody else I feel I can tell,” she
added, almost sounding embarrassed.
    The voice matched her cheeks, which had
turned pink. Bella’s curiosity ratcheted up a notch. “Tell what?”
Bella demanded.
    “There’s a man who has recently expressed
some interest.”
    Bella loved a story. She propped her elbow on
the table and cupped her chin in her open palm. “And how do you
feel about that?”
    Aunt Freida rolled her eyes. “I’ve known him
my whole life. Doesn’t it seem a little odd to you that suddenly
we’d be as awkward around one another as if we’d just met?”
    She was so not the right person to be asking.
She’d screwed up every relationship she’d ever had, always looking
for something that wasn’t there. “I have no idea,” Bella admitted.
“But I think you should stop worrying about it and go with it.”
    “ Go with it? Go with it,” her aunt
repeated, like she couldn’t quite get her mouth around the words.
“Go with what ?” she demanded as she waved her plump
arms.
    Bella stood up. She didn’t know what the what was. But it had to be something pretty special. Her
parents had had the what . It had been enough of a what that her father had given up all opportunities of
advancement in the Society when he’d married a mortal woman. Why?
Because of the what .
    She hadn’t had the what with Bradley.
“The what ,” Bella began, “is the thing that makes your heart
race when you hear his footsteps or your skin prickle when he
happens to brush your hand.” She started to walk around the small
table. Like always, it was easier to think when her legs were
moving. “It’s the thing that makes you want to cook him his
favorite dinner or hell, I don’t know. Maybe it’s the what that makes you feel like you want to tell the world about him but
you’re afraid to even say his name because if you do, it might make
it all go away. And you couldn’t bear that.”
    She took a breath. And sat down in the
nearest chair, right on top of three naked dolls. She lifted her
butt and scooted them off to the side.
    Her aunt had tears in her eyes. “Is that what
you had with your husband, Bella. Did you have the what ?”
    She didn’t even know if the what was
real. She could only hope. “Sure. It was the what , all
right.”
    ***
    If it was possible, Aunt Freida’s store was
even more crowded and lacking in organization than Aunt Freida’s
house. Bolts of fabric were piled on top of one another. Shovels
and rakes and other tools hung from hooks on the wall. More of the
same were propped up under them. Dishes and pots and pans were
stacked high in big wooden crates. Groceries—bags of flour, salt,
and sugar, as well as a whole wall of canned goods—took up at least
a third of the store. There was a table of nails, wire, and oddly
enough, women’s shoes.
    In the middle of all of it, was a big, cast
iron, pot-bellied stove. It had a flat top—there was a coffee pot
sitting on it. As Aunt Freida walked past the stove, she grabbed
the coffee pot. With her free hand, she lovingly patted the stove.
“Just got this beauty a few months ago. It’s going to make the
winter slightly more tolerable.”
    Since it could not have been more than forty
degrees inside the store, Bella hoped the beauty heated up
fast.
    Aunt Freida continued on