'It really is funny that you should have a black cat.'
Roxy, who had been emulating Miranda, cracked an eye open and rolled it toward Davide. 'Why is it funny she has a black cat?'
Miranda continued a soft hum of indistinguishable words, swaying slightly from side to side as her voice rose and fell fluidly in the evening air. I raised my voice a little so I could be heard over the Call to the Goddess. 'Because she's a witch, idiot. I wouldn't think most witches would want a black cat, but you have to admit Davide fits the role of familiar perfectly.'
The hum became a bit more pronounced, although Miranda kept her eyes firmly closed.
Roxy sent a worried little glance to her, then leaned close to me and whispered, 'I don't think they like the word 'witch' anymore, Joy.
I whispered back to her, 'Why? What's wrong with 'witch'?'
She sat up straight again and closed her eyes. 'Not PC,' she hissed out of the side of her mouth. 'Besides, Wiccans are more in touch with nature. Can't you feel the power in her Summoning?'
I looked at the Circle of Knowledge Miranda had laid out around the two of us, and felt a little shiver of excitement ripple down my back. I may be a skeptic, but I wasn't a boob. There was something in the air, an electric charge that had the fine hairs on my arms waving around. I reminded myself that it wasn't everyone Miranda practiced her magic for, and tried to look grateful.
'It's a bit nerve-wracking, this,' I muttered a few minutes later to Roxy in a soft voice so as not to disturb Miranda as she was Communing with the Goddess. I fished out a piece of ice from my drink and popped it in my mouth. 'Not that I think it'll work with me, but still, it is a bit nervy just sitting here waiting for a spirit on high to flash me the curriculum vitae of the love of my life.'
'It's time you got a little proactive with your love life,' Roxy muttered back at me. 'I may still be a virgin, but at least I'm trying to find Mr. Wonderful. You don't even go on any dates. How do you expect to find the heavenly bliss of the man nature created just for you if you won't even look for him?'
'Well,' I said around the crunching of ice, 'there
'That's not heavenly bliss, Joyful.' Roxy smiled, taking the sting out of her comment with the use of my childhood nickname. 'That's purgatory.'
'You have a point,' I conceded, grimacing at the sight of Davide as he turned his attention to his rectal area. I fervently hoped it wasn't a comment on the success of Miranda's foreseeing. 'Although it's not like I haven't tried or anything, God knows I have, but you've experienced the single scene out there—it's blood tests and background checks and references and 'Please pee in this cup before we go on a date' screenings, all clinical and stripped bare of any romance.'
'True,' Roxy nodded.
'Whatever happened to good old fashioned falling in love at first sight? That's all I ask for, a little romance and candlelight and staring meaningfully into each other's eyes, knowing you've met your perfect mate the second you see him.'
'Too many creeps out there these days,' Roxy replied. 'Love at first sight has been replaced by a comprehensive credit check.'
Miranda's soft hum took on a decidedly strident tone. I listened for a moment to the murmured words, but could make nothing of them.
'Shhh.' I pinched Roxy. 'You're going to blow your chances with the Goddess if you keep flapping your lips when you're supposed to be concentrating.'
'You're the one who's supposed to be concentrating.' Roxy pinched me back. 'I already know what qualities I want in my perfect man. I bet you haven't thought about what you want in a man at all.'
'Both of you are supposed to be concentrating,' Miranda intoned between hums.
Roxy and I looked guiltily at one another.
'It really is sweet of you to spend your evening on this, since you had to close your shop for the ritual cleansing and all,' Roxy smiled.
I nodded.
'You're a true friend, Miranda,' Roxy went on. 'I hope you know I wouldn't have asked you to go to all this work if it hadn't been an emergency, but what with that date last night with Mr. Octopus Hands, well, a girl just has to do something when she hits the 250th date mark with nary a boyfriend in sight to show for her trouble. And, of course, Joy needs all the help she can get.'
'Hey!' I glared at Roxy. She just grinned back at me.
'In fact, I've been worried about her for some time. She's got a dead-end job, an ex-boyfriend who could bore an ice cube, and no interests outside the library. If we don't take matters into our own hands, she'll end up single and chaste the rest of her life, living in a small pink house with thirty-seven cats all named Kevin, with no one to talk to but her successful, happy, catless friends.'
'You're delusional,' I said with great dignity. 'And for the record, you have the same dead-end job I have.'
'So if you don't see her soul mate in the immediate future,' Roxy continued, ignoring my interruption, 'I for one would appreciate it if you would lie and say you did. She's desperate, if you know what I mean.'
And lonely. I was willing to admit that. Very lonely. I swirled the ice in my glass around and reflected on my loneliness. 'I'm not desperate, Rox, I'm just… available.'
'Well, there's always Germany if we can't find nice American men.'
Miranda opened her eyes to shoot a questioning look at Roxy.
'Germany,' I reminded her. 'Roxy and I are part of the team going to the Frankfurt Book Festival. I have to admit, I wouldn't mind one of those dishy blond German men. You think some of them might be wearing lederhosen? Hubba hubba!'
Miranda opened her mouth to say something, thought better of it, and shook her head. She continued the soft chanting, a prayer, according to the cheat sheet Roxy had given me earlier, to the Goddess for strength and enlightenment.
I flicked ice chips at Davide for a few minutes until Miranda opened her eyes and pinned me back with a look that could strip the stripes off a tiger. 'Now is the time for both of you to focus your attention on envisioning your ideal man. You must open yourself to the image engraved on your heart and your soul. Focus on that image, allowing it to fill your awareness, narrowing your thoughts until they are made up only of him.'
'Oooh, goody, fantasy time!' I rubbed my hands together and thought of the ideal man made up of the better parts of Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, and Oded Fehr, all rolled into one luscious, droolworthy package.
'Dibs I go first!' Roxy said quickly. I made mean eyes at her. When Miranda sighed and nodded, Roxy sat up as tall as a person who barely tops five feet could, closed her eyes, and started ticking items off her fingers. 'OK, here's my order: someone not too tall, that is important point number one. Lord knows I've been on enough dates with tall men. Do you know how disconcerting it is to find yourself staring a man straight in the nipples? I'd like someone of medium height, please. And just to make things easier on you, I won't be picky about hair color or eye color, or even how handsome the man is, as long as he has really nice hands, knows how to cook, and wants lots and lots of children.'
Miranda smiled as she got to her feet and began sprinkling rose petals around the Circle, still chanting, pausing to make gestures of protection to the four compass points.
'And he's got to have a good sense of humor. I'm afraid that is a must-have; I'll have to return any prospects who turn out to be humorless. Life is simply too short to be stuck with a guy who can't be silly once in a while.'
'I understand. Joy?'
I glared at my friend. 'Geez, Rox, leave something for the rest of us to work with, will you?'
She smirked at me. Miranda cocked an eyebrow in such a manner that I immediately cleared my mind and tried to picture the perfect man.
'Um, well, tall, dark, and handsome goes without saying. Roxy was right about one thing, a sense of humor is good, I'd prefer a man who likes to laugh.'
Roxy rolled her eyes.
'And… um… well… I'd… um… like someone who's nice to animals.'
'Bo-ring!'
