Trouble's Brewing (Stirring Up Trouble Trilogy 2)

“Right. I figured if you were going to find the cure for cancer, you could use all the help you could get.”

“They’re beautiful,” I said as I ran my finger over the caduceus. “Perfect.”

I lifted the chain from the box and undid the clasp. “Put it on me,” I said to Jake.

He moved around behind me, and I lifted my hair for him to place the necklace and reclasp it. The weight of the three charms felt right on my chest. My phone beeped again.

“It’s lovely, Jake,” Sheree said.

I turned to show him, and I threw my arms around him. I hugged him tight. I hugged him because I loved the gift, and I hugged him because any minute I could be torn from here to deal with my misbehavior.

We watched as Dad and Sheree exchanged gifts. Sheree was going to go nuts, so I braced myself.

When she pulled the football from the box, she squealed with excitement. “OhmyGod,” she said in a rush. “It’s autographed by Peyton Manning!”

My father basked in the excitement. “I thought you might like it.”

“My gift goes with it,” I said. “My gift is the display case for it.

Sheree epitomized the kid on Christmas morning as she grabbed for my present and tore it open. She set it on the coffee table, and then she picked up the football and clutched it to her chest.

When Dad started opening his present, I slipped my phone from my pocket and checked the texts. One from Milo, but the other was from my mother.

And there it was, I realized. The first sign of impending doom. Zoe, did you… did you do something?

Five minutes later as we helped clean up the wrapping paper, a second text came through. Zoe Miller! U R N so much trouble.

Why was she so angry? It had to be going well. I mean, I had adjusted the dose. I had learned from my mistake with Jasmine.

Two minutes after that, my dad received a text. He read it and gave me that disappointed parent look. “I’m afraid we’ll have to cut this short,” he said, standing up. “Annie needs Zoe home right away.”

He and Sheree shared a look, and she immediately got the message that I was in trouble for something.

Jake jumped to his feet. “Already? I thought you were staying late.” He leaned in close and said, “We were supposed to have some special Zoe and Jake time.”

“Sorry,” I said to him. “I really am. You have no idea how sorry.” I grabbed my purse.

“Don’t forget your presents,” Sheree said, rising and rushing to load my gifts from her, Dad, and Jake into a large gift bag.

“Call me later,” Jake said, after hugging me tight.

“We’ll be back in town before you know it,” Sheree said, handing me the gift bag. “Have a wonderful Christmas.”

“Let’s go, Zoe,” Dad said.

Sheree planted a big kiss on Dad’s lips. “I’ll be waiting up,” she said.

The glare Dad sent me would have terrified me had I not already been doomed.

I followed him to the car.

While I waited for Dad to get in, I read the latest text. From Finn. Zoe, I’m on my way back. I’ve talked to the Council. I’m very disappointed in you.

And one from Mom. U R Grounded 4ever.

As soon as Dad climbed in, he said, “Zoe, what did you do this time?”

“I gave Mom a pheromone potion so that some of the guys at the party would ask her out.”

“Zoe! She could have been hurt!”

“I think she’s okay. She has been texting.”

When we walked in the front door, we saw Mom sitting on the couch with Dave down on one knee on the floor beside her. He held a cotton ball in one hand and a bottle of first aid cream in the other.

Her makeup was smeared, and the skirt of her dress was torn and dirty. Her hair was too mussed for there not to have been some sort of scuffle.

Dave dabbed at her leg with the cotton ball as we rushed over to them.

“Annie!” Dad said. “Annie, what happened?”

Mom glanced at Dave. “Thank you so much for everything, Dave, but I’m okay now. You should get back to the party.”

Dave stood and offered my father his hand. “Good to see you again, John.”

Next to Dave, my dad looked kind of old.

I was dying to hear what happened, but none of us could talk freely with Dave around.

“Thank you, Dave,” Dad said. “We can take it from here.”

Dave glanced down at Mom as if he weren’t quite sure about leaving her just yet. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said, turning back to Dad. “They just… attacked her. Like she was covered in meat.”

Oh holy crud. My mother was attacked? “Mom! I’m so sorry.”

My mother speared me with a chilling glare. She didn’t say anything though. She couldn’t speak yet.

Dad clapped Dave on the back in one of those buddy-buddy moves and guided him toward the front door.

“Mom,” I said, my voice barely audible in the face of her simmering rage.

Dad shut the door behind Dave, and my mother popped up from the sofa like a jack-in-the-box. Then, she started yelling. “Zoe Miller! How could you! And you lied to me. The cat damage to the house wasn’t from any eye of newt potion. You did this to the cat! And then you did this to me!”

“Annie,” Dad said. “Annie, what happened?”

“Mom, I’m so sorry, but did it work?” I couldn’t tell by her appearance. I hadn’t expected her to be physically attacked.

“Oh, yes, Zoe. Every dog for miles found me.”

Just the dogs? “Weren’t any of them cute?”

Mom laughed. “I don’t kn

ow, Zoe. I guess that little Pomeranian would have been cuddly if it hadn’t been abusing my leg.”

My jaw dropped. She made it sound like—. “Mom! You mean they were literally dogs. Bark-bark sniff-sniff dogs?”

“Yes! They were furry four-legged animals. And they were after me like I was raw hamburger.”

Uh oh. She meant dogs. “Did they bite you?” I asked in horror.

“No. The black lab did tackle me, but he mostly licked my face while I screamed for help.”

My father began to laugh.

“John!” Mom shrieked, smacking my father on the arm. “It isn’t funny.”

“I know, Annie. I can’t help it. I got tickled by the image of you fighting off an amorous lab.”

“Mom! I would never send dogs after you. I was trying to brew a potion to attract men. I wanted you to meet people.” What had happened with my potion? There was only one possibility. Milo had given me the hair from Darlene’s father. Had he messed up and given me dog hair? I whipped out my phone and texted, Does Darlene have a dog?

“Yes. Martin suspected as much. He figured it out right away. As soon as I called him from the bathroom at the party. As I tried to clean the doggie spit off my face, two more dogs appeared outside the bathroom window. I started to panic, but Martin told me how to tone it down temporarily. I had Dave track down some vanilla extract and bring me the orange juice.”

“It really worked?”

“Yes. Thank goodness. I was pretty shaken up, so Dave drove me home.”

“I’m so sorry, Mom. I messed up.”

“Just be glad your mother wasn’t hurt.” Dad put his arm around Mom.

“I’m fine, John,” Mom said as she shrugged out of his embrace. “Martin should be here soon. You are in big trouble, Zoe. With me. With Martin, and with the Council. I cannot believe you lied to me.”

“The cats weren’t that aggressive with the weaker dose. I’m not sure why the dogs were worse.”

My phone beeped. Milo’s text read, Yes, why?

Crud. Apparently a question I should have asked days ago.

“I can’t believe you experimented on your mother and your pet, Zoe,” Dad said. “How many dogs showed up, Annie?”