“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Lily took hold of Nolan’s arm, keeping him from walking into Stammerin’ Eddie’s. “The last time I was in town they chased me up a tree.”

“Two teenagers chased you up a tree. These are adults.” Nolan peered in the diner’s window. “Wait, no, I see what you mean. Five-year-old June Martin can be scary.”

“Are you making fun of me?” Lily hit Nolan’s arm playfully.

He pretended to shield himself. “Only a little.”

“This is Lucky Valley, so it’s possible those brown ringlets transform into snakes and she turns people into stone.” Lily tried to keep walking.

“Oh, please, we haven’t had a Medusa in town for decades.” He blocked her from fleeing. “If you want a business here, you need to make friends with the locals. Luckily, there—”

“No, don’t talk about luck.”

“Luckily,” he repeated, “there have been no more fires started on the lawn. Maybe they were just pranks and whoever did it grew bored when they didn’t get a bigger reaction out of you.”

“What if I bring my bad luck in there with me and make things worse?” Lily tried to keep walking, but he looped his arm into hers and swung her toward the glass door. If she tried to leave now, it would be obvious as there were people looking at her. Under her breath, she muttered, “I kind of don’t like you right now.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I like you very much.” Nolan pushed open the door and stepped close to her back to force her inside.

“Nolan,” the woman behind the counter greeted. Her auburn hair was pulled back, and she wore black, rectangular, plastic glasses. The red polo shirt with the business logo held a nametag that read “Sal” in bold letters. Her eyes went to Lily, clearly seeing she had two customers, but she didn’t acknowledge the second. “Pick a booth, I’ll be right back.”

The front counter barstools were full of customers drinking coffee. A few of them eyed her as she walked past. She tried to smile, but that only seemed to make it worse, as their expressions became suspicious. The rectangular seating area, beyond the food prep station and stools, was long and skinny. Black-and-white tiles checkered the floor, and shiny silver lined the ceiling. Behind the counter, old-fashioned soda fountains, a soft serve machine, blenders, and the largest coffee maker she’d ever seen spread along the back wall. A serving window glowed red with heat lamps.

The low murmur of noise from patrons died down until stopping altogether. Red booths lined both sides of the diner, creating a walkway through the middle. Tin signs of 1950s food logos graced the walls. Of course, the only open table was near the back, so they were forced down the aisle lined with watchful eyes.

“Been awhile since we’ve seen you here for supper, Nolan,” said a bearded man, one amongst a table of many. The five men looked like a plainclothes Santa convention with varying depths of graying beards. Only there was nothing jolly about their expressions. They looked at her like she’d ruined Christmas.

“Gentlemen,” Nolan greeted the men. “How’ve you been?”

Grunts and small, disapproving moans answered him.

“Fish haven’t been biting,” the first bearded man muttered with a side-eye glance at Lily.

“I had three flat tires,” Santa number three added.

“Mm-hmm,” Santa four agreed. “He did. Three different times.”

“My niece set her kitchen of fire,” number five said. “I have to build her all new cabinets.”

Lily automatically looked at Santa number two, to see what his complaint would be. He merely lifted a bandaged hand that appeared to be missing a forefinger.

Lily had the insane urge to apologize, even as she knew none of it had been her doing. Before she could speak, Nolan ended the conversation. “Good seeing you, gentleman, we’ll let you get back to your meal.”

She tried to hurry to the empty table and managed to pass two more booths before June Martin’s father tucked her under his arm in a protective gesture. A redhead ducked behind a menu as if the laminated trifold could protect her. Conversely, the dark-haired man she was with didn’t stop staring.

“Maybe we should order to go,” Lily said softly to Nolan.

“Maybe she should take it and move out of town,” someone whispered a little too loudly.

Lily’s gaze darted to a middle-aged woman in a paisley dress.

Nolan pretended not to hear the rude comment. “I know you want to get back to work on the help wanted ads, but you need to eat. This new business is not going to get off the ground if you don’t take care of yourself.”

He spoke loud enough for everyone to hear him but looked at her as if they had a private conversation. He led her to the empty booth, and she slid onto the red cushioned seat.

“Nolan—”

He cut her off by handing her one of the menus stored against the wall behind the salt and pepper shakers. “Eat first, business plan later.”

She leaned forward and whispered, “What are you talking about?”

He looked at his menu. “Wait for it.”

Sal appeared at the table with an order pad. “Haven’t seen you here in a while. We were about to send a search and rescue team out to save…” She glanced at Lily, and it was clear she amended what she’d been about to say. “Out to your house.”

“Hey, Sally. Yeah, I took a second job at the Goode Estate and they’ve been feeding me pretty well.” Nolan smiled at the waitress before turning back to his menu.

Sal looked at him like he’d just announced he was growing a second head.

“Don’t you have that memorized by now?” Another woman joined Sal. She was older but wore the same red uniform with the nametag “Edna” on her shirt. Her short black hair was curled around the top of her head but cropped short by the ears and neck.

“How are you doing, darlin’?” Nolan stood and gave the woman a hug. Lily arched a brow at the way his tone changed.

“Now, you stop that, Mr. Nolan Dawson. You know my Eddie is the jealous type.” Edna swatted his hand, but the smile never left her face.

Sal backed away, waited for a few seconds, and then went to check on her other tables. Lily was aware of the surrounding quiet as everyone tried not to stare at them.

“Who’s your friend?” Edna’s was the first genuinely kind smile she’d seen from the Lucky Valley townsfolk. As Nolan introduced her, Lily waited for that expression to change.

“I would like you to meet Lily Goode. She has some big plans for the Goode Estate.” Nolan slid back into his seat across from her.

“We have big plans,” Lily amended.

“She has me doing construction,” Nolan said.

“I heard somewhere you were looking for help? What kind of help? People always need jobs,” Edna said. “Maybe I can send them your way. Everyone comes in here eventually.”

Lily glanced at Nolan, who merely grinned. Since walking through the diner was the first time hiring people had been mentioned outside the house, it was pretty easy to figure out when Edna had heard the rumor.

“Lily’s going to open up a bed and breakfast—”

“We,” Lily inserted.

“—and try to bring tourism to the area. She has big plans,” Nolan said. “Can I get a coffee, chocolate milk shake, and a Big Eddie burger?”

“Sure thing, hon, you want fries?” Edna asked.

“Always,” he said.

“And for you?” Edna turned to Lily, not writing the order down.

“Coffee, vanilla shake, and the Stammerin’ Sandwich with fries.” Lily put the menu back by the wall.

“You don’t want that,” Edna said.

“Oh, ah…?” Lily looked at the menu but didn’t pick it back up.

“Trust me, Eddie bought a new hot pepper sauce and it will set your mouth on fire. Everyone is staying away from that sandwich.” Edna shook her head. “It will strip the paint off a car.” She gestured toward the Santa table, leaned forward, covered her mouth and said, “How do you think Stanley lost his finger?”

Lily paused, unsure if it was polite to laugh.

Edna waved her hand in the air. “That last one was a joke, dear. How about you let me make you something special?”

Nolan’s eyes widened, and he shook his head slightly in denial. But Edna was looking at her expectantly, and she was being so friendly, that Lily found herself saying, “That would be great, thank you, Edna.”

Edna nodded. “Be right back with the coffees.”

“Edna will spread the word,” Nolan said.

“I hope it’s a good word.” Lily tried to slide down in her seat a little to hide from the prying eyes.

“It will be. She likes you.” Nolan rested his arms on the table.

“How can you tell?” Lily kept low in her seat without trying to be obvious.

“She didn’t let you eat the tongue-melting sandwich.”

Sal returned with the coffee cups and a small bowl of creamers before leaving again. The waitress didn’t say a word.

Lily lifted the cup and sniffed. “I really hope this is better than last time.”

“Best coffee on the planet,” Nolan assured her.

“Apparently you don’t remember what the Goode-Crawford curse did to the coffee machine.” Lily dared a sip, bracing herself for something horrible, and was pleasantly surprised. She sat up straighter and took another sip of the hot liquid and nodded her head. “Oh, wow, that is a really good cup of coffee.”

“Maybe luck is turning around.” Nolan barely got the words out before a loud pop sounded behind the counter.

Almost everyone in the place jumped in their seats.

Lily lifted up in her seat to see Sal standing behind the counter, covered in the vanilla shake. The blender looked as if the top had exploded off of it, sending ice cream and milk flying. Liquid dripped down the walls and off the metal counter. The blender made a horrible grinding noise as if stuck.

Rrrr, rrrr, rrrr, rrrr…

It was the only sound in the silent diner.

“Oh, come on,” Lily grumbled under her breath. “I didn’t do that.”

Had she?

As if on cue, Sal and the patrons turned to look accusingly in her direction.

Sal flicked her hands, picked up the chocolate milk shake, and walked toward Lily and Nolan. She placed the chocolate in front of Nolan, saying, “I’m sorry. The milk shake blender stopped working. I’m not able to get you your vanilla shake.”

Sal dripped vanilla on the table. The waitress walked away, leaving everyone to stare at Lily as if she’d singlehandedly destroyed all ice cream production in the state.

Nolan unwrapped his silverware from the napkin and cleaned the droplets. “Just smile and keep talking to me.”

“That’s easy for you to say. Your back is turned to everyone and they’re not staring at you.” Lily kept her eyes on the table.

“Easy to fix.” Nolan slid out of the booth, only to join her on her side. He pulled his milkshake in front of them and then rested his arm behind her. He leaned his face close to her ear. It was an intimate gesture and not missed by the others in the diner. So only she could hear, he said against her cheek, “We’ll give them something else to gossip about.”

“They’ll probably think I put a spell on you and hate me more.” She touched the thick stem of the milkshake glass and adjusted it needlessly on the table before resting her hand on her lap.

“Well, I am a catch,” Nolan teased. She punched his thigh under the table. “You want some of my shake? I’ll share.”

“Edna’s special pick for me will probably be a poison pellet sandwich.” Lily liked his nearness and drew comfort from it.

“Try not to think of it as against you. Remember that to them, you’re an outsider coming into a town full of secrets. This town is distrustful of others by nature. They have to be. They need time to see you’re not going to hurt them, or expose them, or curse them. They need to give you a chance.” He slipped his hand over hers and let it rest on her leg. “And you need to give them a chance. The way you think they’re looking at you, you’re looking at them just as suspiciously.”

Lily took a deep breath and nodded. “You’re right. This is not a normal situation. I’m a witch and they’re all… What are they, exactly?”

“There is an unspoken rule that we don’t expose each other’s secrets.” Nolan traced her fingers. “I will tell you there is a fairy, a bennu, a minotaur descendent, a werewolf, and an Erinyes.”

“Fairy is the redhead who keeps trying to pretend she’s not looking at us. She seems delicate and flighty. The minotaur is the young man she’s with. He has a bullish personality. And he’s going on my potential-suspects-for-vandalizing-the-house list. He’s got that angry look in his eyes.” She reached over and tapped his thigh. “Werewolf.” Then withdrew her hand. “I have no clue what a bennu or an Erinyes are.”

“Flighty and bullish? You don’t think your presumptions are a little bit stereotypical?”

“Am I wrong?” she met his gaze and was captured by it. He was close, and even if she didn’t consciously let herself think of it, her lips remembered the feel of his.

“No. You’re not wrong.” His didn’t look away, and she felt him leaning closer.

“Well, looks like there’s more than construction going on at the old Goode Estate,” Edna interrupted. Lily hadn’t even heard the woman approach. She slid a plate in front of Nolan, “One Big Eddie, and one grilled cheese.”

“Oh, thanks.” Lily looked at the plain sandwich. It wasn’t exactly what she would have ordered.

“I’ll be back with the rest.” Edna left.

“The rest?” Lily asked Nolan.

“Wait for it.” He turned his plate to reangle his food and grabbed his sandwich.

Edna came back with a burger, chili-and-cheese nachos, a bowl of chili, broccoli-and-cheese soup, chicken sandwich, and three kinds of pie. “There you are. Enjoy!”

“Uh…” Lily looked to Nolan for help. “Why does everyone keep trying to feed me? First Polly and now Edna. Do I look like I’m starving?”

“Edna always tries to overfeed everyone. If you let her pick, you’re going to get a lot of options.” He gestured at the chili. “You going to eat that?”

Lily chuckled and slid the bowl toward him. “Take it. Please help.”

She picked up a triangle of grilled cheese and dipped it in the broccoli soup. As she leaned over to take a bite, her phone rang. Chewing, she dropped the food, wiped her hands on a napkin and pulled the cheap phone out of her pocket to answer. She smiled at Nolan and made a show of flipping it open to answer the call. It really was the least expensive phone she could find. It made calls, it received calls, and texting by numerical keypad took hours. “Hey, Dante, what’s up?”

“Are you safe?” Her brother’s panic was palpable. “Where are you?”

“Uh, why? I’m at the diner downtown. What’s happening?”

“What is it?” Nolan asked. She held up her hand to silence him so she could hear her brother.

“There’s been another attack on the…” The sound of sirens drowned out Dante’s voice. She plugged her opposite ear and leaned closer to the window in an effort to hear him better. “I—”

A thud sounded, and then there were only sirens.

Her eyes widened and she tried to stand, but Nolan was blocking her way out of the booth. She tapped his arm frantically. “We have to go. Something’s wrong.”

He instantly stood, reached for his wallet, and threw cash on the table. “Let’s go.”

“Dante? I can’t hear you?” Lily followed Nolan as she tried to hear her brother. She didn’t care what the patrons thought of her hasty departure. “Dante? Dante!”