When I got back to the shop, it was late, nearly ten p.m. I had spent the whole drive back wondering if I were doing the right thing, making this potion.

I did want to get rid of the mice, but if I dabbled in magic, would it be the start of something I didn't want to get involved with? Even though I'd told Amy that I wouldn't be making any more potions, part of me thought if this one turned out to be as easy as Celeste suggested, maybe it wouldn't be wrong to use a little magic in my baking.

For a moment, I allowed myself to imagine people all over the city coming here for their morning pastries. My business did all right, but what if I could make enough money to pay for the improvements I wanted, faster?

What if I were able to afford employees or even open more than one shop? If I had that kind of help and was financially more secure, I could take vacations without worrying about the customers I could be losing.

These kinds of thoughts didn't do anything except make me feel worse about how long my dreams were taking to come true. I needed to stop imagining and focus on the present and what I did have.

I looked at the recipe again and scowled. I didn't remember it having so many ingredients before I went to see Amethyst, but it was possible I hadn't looked closely.

With a shrug, I pulled out an orange mixing bowl. Even though it was late, nearly ten p.m., I decided it wouldn't take long to mix the potion. It would be nice to wake up in the morning without worrying that the mice had gotten into my sugar.

The potion was almost finished. I looked at the last paragraph of instructions and hesitated.

"Mix well. Transfer to a clear glass bowl and set on a windowsill under the moonlight. Cover and do not touch for at least eight hours."

Well, I guess I wouldn't be able to lure the mice away from my storeroom while I slept, but I'd come this far, so it seemed silly not to finish.

#

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of someone moving around in the kitchen downstairs and the aroma of fresh coffee and bacon wafting up to my nose.

I might have been concerned if it weren't common for Amethyst to come over a day or so after I went to her house. It was like seeing me reminded her that she had yet to use her housekeeping magic on my place.

As I put my bathrobe on over the size three-X men's t-shirt I always slept in, I wondered if she'd moved my collection of Spec Rock tea cups or rearranged the mini dragon figurines I'd collected at various geeky conventions I went to without telling any other family members.

Amethyst did that because she didn't like it when humans pretended to understand Fairies and other creatures that were part of the paranormal world.

More than that, she hated that I bought what she considered items of specist oppression. I tended to put those things in the closet if I knew she would be visiting.

I should have known she'd come by this morning. She wouldn't be able to resist making sure I'd done the spell right.

"Good morning, sunshine," she sang out as I entered the kitchen. "Hungry?"

"Good morning to you." I poured some coffee into a Grace of Fantasy mug. Apparently, Amethyst didn't realize it was the name of a webcomic about a group of elves who ran an advertising agency in Hell. She'd have hated that.

"You know I have a Keurig machine, right?" I said as I sat on a stool at the table and pointed at the coffeemaker in question. She'd used the restaurant style machine on the counter.

Amethyst shrugged. "I like having a full pot of coffee nearby rather than making one cup at a time. How do you want your eggs?"

"Sunny side up."

As she cooked the eggs, I glanced around the kitchen, noticing the small things she'd done to straighten up my space.

Suddenly, I realized she'd put away the bowl with the potion. I stood up.

"Amy, what did you do with the bowl that was sitting on the windowsill?"

Without turning away from her cooking, she said, "Oh, I put it in the fridge. You know, the cream could go bad if you leave stuff like that out."

I closed my eyes and shook my head. "That wasn't cream. It was the lure potion."

Now she turned and stared at me. "Truly? Hmm. You must have done something wrong. I've made that potion before. It shouldn't be that color."

"I do know how to follow a recipe," I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

She shrugged. "Well, something went wrong." She wiped her hands on a towel. "Let's eat."