But there was comfort in that indifference as well. After the anticlimactic online announcement, Hazel Jeffords joined the coven as its first nonmagical member. She loved watching their spell work and always brought her famous baked goods to each meeting to energize the rest of the group. Leanne nearly hurt herself laughing when she saw the bumper sticker on Hazel’s car—HONORARY WITCH. Goliath got a new tag on his collar with his name engraved on the front as, Goliath, Honorary Familiar. And on the back, if found, return to Hazel Jeffords, honorary witch, along with her contact info. She didn’t just attend meetings at Danica and Clem’s place these days—no, she visited everybody else’s houses too.

On the way to the coven meeting, her phone rang. “This is Leanne.”

“Ms. Vanderpol-Montgomery?”

Shit, is that—

“This is Dan Rutherford. The mayor’s not taking my calls, and—”

Without an instant of hesitation, she cut the call at once and kept driving. These days, Rutherford was screaming “foul” to anyone who would listen, and he was trying to demand a recount on grounds of “witchcraft.” Little wonder the mayor was disavowing him, as Rutherford had turned into a vocal, screeching conspiracy theorist. To make the situation even funnier, when Leanne got to Margie’s house, she had a text from Mayor Anderson, asking her to play golf.

Leanne laughed as she deleted the message. Nice try, but you can’t make nice now. I’m still coming for you. Whistling cheerfully, she hopped out of the car and let herself in unnoticed. Like the rest of her coven sisters, Margie’s adorable two-bedroom house felt like home.

“Are you sure I can’t learn to do magic?” Hazel was asking Vanessa as Leanne wandered into the coven meeting, ten minutes late now. Tonight she didn’t have wine, and she had a little baby spit-up on her blazer.

“Sorry,” Margie said gently. “That’s not possible.”

Vanessa used that distraction to make a break for it, and she beelined for Leanne, hugging her tight. “You did it, babes.”

“We did,” she corrected.

“I have the best news. A gallery in Chicago contacted me about an exhibition, and I can even sell my pieces with accurate descriptions.” Since Vanessa enchanted her pieces as part of the artistic process, this was freaking huge.

Leanne screamed and hauled her bestie into a tight hug. “I am so happy for you! Just tell me when and where. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“So glad I didn’t give up on my dream. Who runs the world?” Vanessa did a happy little wiggle, proving how glad she was that they’d paved the way.

***

“This is not a playdate,” Trev said.

“It counts,” Dante argued.

Trev glanced at the girl lounging on his sofa, tall for her age and elegant in box braids. “Your kid could change my kid’s diapers.”