Trouble's Brewing (Stirring Up Trouble Trilogy 2)

I gave him an evil glare. “What do you want them to do? Double date? My mother out with some stranger, and my father and Sheree there too? I don’t think so.”

“Right,” Milo said. “I guess it is a bad idea.”

“Possibly the worst idea in the history of the world.”

“You ask for my help and then you insult me?”

I shrugged. “That’s what friends are for.”

“What are your ideas then?”

“I don’t have any. I guess the obvious. Internet dating.”

“Your mother would kill you.”

“I don’t have a choice. I have to try it.”

“How are you going to pay for it?”

I smiled. “I’ve already got that covered. I’ll transfer some money from my mother’s credit card into the InternetPay account. I use it a lot for potion ingredients. She’ll never notice that I’m using it for something else.”

“Do those dating sites take InternetPay?”

“One of them does so I guess we’re stuck with that one.”

“All right,” he said. “When do we start?”

“After dinner? If that’s okay with you.”

Milo grinned. “I’m your partner in crime for anything that doesn’t involve magic. I can’t afford to get into trouble with the Council. I’m not a brilliant prodigy. They’d take my powers and never look back.”

“First, thank you. And second, you are brilliant.”

“How are you going to get your mother to go on a date with someone?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I’m thinking I’ll either trick her or use guilt to make her go.”

“You can come live with me.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“When your mother kicks you out.”

“Ha. Ha. Now help me decide which picture to use for her profile.” I grabbed my laptop and showed him my top four. “I don’t want her to look too pretty. This one is one of those soft light pictures, and I think it will attract the creeps. Mom needs a decent guy.”

“I thought we were going for distraction here. Are you aiming for a serious relationship?”

“Not really, but a creep is a creep. Even if it’s only for a couple of dates.”

“I guess,” Milo said. He examined the pictures carefully. “I like this one with her hair up.” Milo pointed to the photo of my mother holding a paintbrush.

Dave had taken that one during a shoot last summer. Now that I knew he had a thing for my mother, the shot made more sense. And Mom was smiling at the man behind the camera as if she had feelings for him too. I shook away the thought. “We’ll use that one then. I’m tired of stressing about it.” Maybe Dave would be my backup plan.

Unless I could get Finn interested in somebody. I mentally kicked myself. He was ninety-five. And there wasn’t anybody in town who would be better suited for him than my mother. Unless I could find a nice elderly witch who’d made herself young again. Or talk someone into transforming their body. Hmm. That would have to be Plan C. I didn’t want to cause anybody pain and suffering. Then I remembered Milo’s remark about the Council. I didn’t want them taking away my powers either.

“After we eat, we’ll work on the test.”

“Test?”

“We have to answer one hundred questions so they can find somebody compatible with Mom.”

“Zoe,” Milo said, exasperation sneaking into his voice. “We can’t answer those questions for your mother. Unless it’s about her favorite color and what car she drives.”

“Not exactly. They’re more complicated, but I think between us we can do it.”

“You think you know your mother well enough but only if you have my help? That’s nuts.”

It was. I didn’t bother to answer. So it wouldn’t be my mother’s best match. At least she’d have a date.

“Dr. Finnegan will be here any minute,” I told Milo.

“My parents are going to gush all over him. I probably won’t get a word in.”

I suspected he was right. “You have days and days to get to know him. Your parents can’t interfere all the time.”

“You’d be surprised,” he said.

“They have to give my mom equal time, Milo. Otherwise, it would be rude. Your parents would never be rude.”

As we neared the kitchen, I heard my mother talking.

“I know you donate to the food banks and homeless shelters, but I decided to send some money to The Hospital this year. After all, with Zoe’s recent mishaps, it isn’t outside the realm of possibility—”

“What hospital?” I asked when we stepped into the crowded kitchen.

“What what?” Mom said.

“We were talking about various charities,” Marjorie said. “Milo, do you want a snack while we’re waiting on Dr. Finnegan?”

“Yes, please.”

Confused about what we’d overheard, I wanted to ask more questions. Milo handed me a piece of bread covered with honey butter.

“Oh, yum,” I said, taking a bite.

Then Finn came through the front door, and I rushed over to help with the introductions.

His parents finally succumbed to their fatigue and went upstairs to bed. Mom rushed upstairs to be sure they had everything they needed. She had the guest bathroom stocked with fancy soaps, hand towels, and guest towels which matched the silver and green decor. I had hurried to make the bed, but I had probably done an okay job.

“Well,” I said to Finn and Milo. “I guess it’s just us kids.”

“Zoe,” Milo hissed in horror.

I laughed.

“It’s quite all right, young Milo,” Finn said. “Zoe and I know each other rather well. She’s entitled to some teasing. Besides, I’m well aware of my appearance.” Finn sipped his wine. “In a few weeks, I will be attending a chemistry symposium as my own great grandson. My life has gotten complicated.”

“You basically just turned back the clock,” Milo said. “Is this exactly what you looked like when you were nineteen? I mean when you were really nineteen. Um. The first time.”

“That’s a complicated question,” Finn said. “I look very much as I did when I was young.”

It hadn’t occurred to me before. But it hit me upside the head. I hadn’t read anything about his drop dead looks or about him being a ladies’ man. Shouldn’t someone have mentioned those things if he was Hottie Finn back then?

“Actually, no,” Finn said. “When I was younger, I had greasy, stringy hair and what they later called a ‘pizza face.’ Now I have access to good shampoo and anti-acne face wash. I was underweight because we didn’t have a lot of money for food, and I had poor posture and dentition. So I looked quite a bit different.”

“Wow,” I said. “Those little things really make all that much difference?”

“More than those little things, Zoe, is the fact that I have self-confidence now. I’ve lived a long time, and I’ve seen a lot. As a youth, I was shy and socially awkward. Now I don’t care what people think of me. I like myself.” He grimaced. “Other than the three years of stench of course.”

“Seriously?” Milo said. “I wouldn’t think confidence could make that much difference.”

“I’ve never had much time for social experimentation. However, I have no doubt that I can take any nerd from any high school. First I’d add self-confidence. Which is a difficult feat. Once the so-called nerd has self-confidence, I could drop him or her in any high school in the country and the nerd would gain popularity nine times out of ten.”

“It can’t be that easy, Finn,” I said.

“Well, certainly not. Imbuing someone with self-confidence could be a time-consuming process.”

“Even with the self-confidence,” Milo said, “it can’t be so easy.”

Finn nodded. “Well, yes. There would be a component of luck. If our hypothetical nerd had the misfortune to commit a social faux pas, say, shooting milk out her nose at lunch—”

I giggled at the image.

Finn smiled and continued. “If she were to suffer such a mishap on her first day, it would no doubt be difficult to overcome. However, short of that, I believe my theory holds.”

“Maybe,” Milo said. “But Zoe’s right. You look like a movie star. It would be easy to have confidence and to be popular looking like that.”

I rolled my eyes. “Milo, you aren’t exactly hard on the eyes either.”

“What does hard on the eyes mean?” he asked.

I winced. “I thought maybe it meant the opposite of easy on the eyes.”

“So I’m easy on the eyes?” Milo asked with a wicked grin.

Embarrassed, I looked over at Finn.

“Perhaps one of you will find time to test my theory.”

“Sure,” I said. “In my free time.”

Milo snorted. “Zoe, you don’t have any free time.”

“I guess that leaves you.”

He considered for a moment. “It’s not a bad idea. Maybe I could get some course credit. Unlike Zoe, I’m not tied up with my brilliant advances in potions.”

“No. Because you have charms.” I turned to Finn. “He made an amazing discovery with jumbo-sizing cans of food.”

“Yes, your mother told me,” Finn said. “She indicated that you haven’t notified the Council yet.”

“No,” Milo admitted.

“We should take care of that before you leave. I can help you file a preliminary report. I’m sure the Council will be appreciative of the inroads you’ve made. Very exciting to blend two charms.”

Milo beamed.

“I don’t think you will have time for the social experiment,” I said. “You have your own contributions to make to magic.”

“She’s right, you know,” Finn said. “You should continue to pursue these blended charms. You may have a future in research as well.”