Part 25 (1/2)
It might at least buy him enough human time to work on less expensive goodwill projects. True, he wouldn't get daylight hours to work with until he earned the first twelve, but good deeds were possible at night. He could figure that one out.
Anica tried to stare him down, but as he'd discovered, he was an expert at staring contests. The whole time he looked at her he tried to send a message from his mind to hers. If mental telepathy worked it should work from a cat to a witch. Of course, she wasn't technically a witch without her magic.
Even so, something must have penetrated her brain, because she sighed and backed away. ”I suppose it's your decision, isn't it?”
No s.h.i.+t, Sherlock.
She threw both hands up. ”All right. I tried to talk some sense into you, but I can see you're determined to do it your way.”
Maybe not being able to talk had saved them both. He could easily imagine the brouhaha if he'd been able to get in his licks. Instead, silent resistance had worked. He'd have to remember that technique for later, because he had a feeling this wouldn't be the only time they had this kind of argument. Anica wouldn't give up being bossy overnight, and maybe not ever.
He was fascinated to discover he didn't care. If he was very lucky, he'd get to ride herd on her bossiness for the rest of their lives. Now, there was a concept.
”I want to meet him.” Lily sat across from Anica at Wicked Brew, her face alight with excitement. ”This is sounding like a serious relations.h.i.+p, and I want to check him out, see if he's good enough for you.”
”But you have work, and I have no idea when he'll change.” Anica had called Lily midmorning to catch her up on Jasper's progress and to report the large cash donation. Lily had rushed down to the coffee shop to discuss it in person.
”If he threw down ten thousand smackeroos, he could be sitting in your apartment, sipping coffee right this minute. For that matter, he could walk through the door of the shop!”
Anica shook her head. ”Before I left, I made sure he had my cell number and asked him to call if something happens, like he did last night. I don't need to have him walk in here and scare the living daylights out of me.”
Lily munched on a chocolate cake doughnut, her idea of breakfast. ”For that kind of money, I'm surprised he didn't immediately zap back to naked manhood.” She dampened her finger and speared some crumbs.
”He might have wished that would happen, but obviously it didn't. I hope he got some extra hours, though. It would suck if for some reason that donation didn't count toward anything.”
Lily licked her finger. ”Why not call Dorcas and ask her? For all you know there's some chart that tells how many points various good deeds are worth.”
Anica doubted it, but calling Dorcas was a good idea. ”Thanks. I'll do that right now.”
Lily seemed pleased that Anica took her suggestion. ”I'll get Sally to give us each a refill.” She picked up both cups and carried them back to the counter.
As Anica made the call to Dorcas, she tried not to notice the way the shop looked. The windows needed cleaning and dust had collected in the corners. She should stay late tonight and work on the place, except that she didn't want to spend any more time here than absolutely necessary. Lily was right-Jasper could transform at any minute, and she wanted to be available to help him with his good-deed list. Then she smiled. Maybe helping her clean the shop would count.
Dorcas answered on the third ring. ”Hi, Anica. I was wondering if I'd hear from you.”
”I'll bet you used magic to find out it was me calling.”
”I used to use magic. Now I use caller ID. Far more reliable. How's Jasper doing?”
Anica filled her in on the latest developments. ”Wow. That's a lot of money.”
”I tried to talk him out of it, but he was determined.” Anica could still see that gleam in Jasper's golden eyes as he'd defied her. ”Will it give him more time?”
”It should. I'd be surprised if it didn't. Now that Jasper knows what he's supposed to do, let me ask Ambrose to research the acts-of-kindness angle again. Maybe we can find out more detail.”
”Lily thought there might be a chart of good deeds and their respective point value.” She halfway expected Dorcas to laugh at that.
”For all I know, there is. That spell is so old that it's tough finding related research materials. But Ambrose will love digging around the magical archives online. He's such a nerd at heart.”
”That would be great.” Anica thought again of all the time they were putting in. ”Will you send me a bill for that?”
”Of course not. But I might send you some cards for our matchmaking service, Hot Prospects. We'd be willing to travel up there if anybody in the Chicago area wanted to hire us.”
Anica lowered her voice. ”My sister needs your services, but I doubt she thinks so.”
”Troubles?”
”Just a guy she's stuck on who isn't interested.”
”We could do a scrying, see if he's the one for her. We have a sale going on right now, buy one scrying session, get one for free.”
”Then I'll buy two, one for me and Jasper, and I'll save the other one for a while. Maybe she'll give up on this guy, so I don't want to waste a session. How do I pay you?”
”We take all major credit cards.”
That struck Anica as funny, but she managed to keep from laughing. ”I'll call you back with the numbers. Thanks, Dorcas. Bye.”
”What numbers?” Lily sat down and slid Anica's latte over to her.
”Credit card numbers. I bought a scrying session to see what comes up about me and Jasper.”
”Huh. Could be interesting. What did she say about the good-deed criteria?”
”She'll have Ambrose research it and get back to me. I guess info on this spell is tough to come by.”
”I tell you, sis, when you screw up, you do it royally.” Anica would have loved to argue with Lily about that, but she didn't have a leg to stand on. She had screwed up royally. But she wasn't furious with herself anymore. If she hadn't put the spell on Jasper, they both would have stayed exactly as they were. Instead they were growing and changing. She could feel it. She wasn't sure if they'd grow apart or together, but at least they were growing.
”So, can I meet Jasper when he changes this time?”
Anica could tell Lily wasn't about to let this go. ”What about work?”
”Let me worry about that. Just promise me that when he changes, which surely has to be before nine thirty this time, you'll call me.”
Anica resisted the idea. ”He could be in a bad mood, especially if he doesn't get as much time as he'd hoped for that big donation.”
”I don't care. Come on, sis, you can't keep him to yourself forever.”
No, but she wanted to.
”Anica, you don't think I'll try to steal him, do you?”
”Uh, no. Of course not.” Anica took a big swig of her coffee and scalded her tongue. ”Ouch. Hot, hot.” She waved her hand in front of her mouth.
”You do! You think I'm going to try and steal him! That's so unfair. When have I ever stolen one of your boyfriends?”
”Back in eleventh grade.”