Cornbread & Crossroads

let him go, she made him bend down so she could kiss his cheek. “And who’s this pretty lady you have with you here?”
He gestured for me to join him. “This is my girlfriend, Charli Goodwin.”
The gracious woman offered me a hug in greeting, her arms squeezing me harder than I would have anticipated. She released me and looked between the two of us. “Is she…you know.” The short woman wiggled her fingers in front of her face.
Mason chuckled. “Yes, she’s a witch, too.”
“Had to check before I broke the rules and revealed magic in front of a mortal.” With a flourish of the same fingers, the wooden spoon in the pot stood up straight and stirred all on its own. “There, now I won’t burn the sauce and we can have a proper talk. Did he tell you what he did for me?”
A blush rose in Mason’s cheeks. “We don’t have to give away everything, Wanda.”
She dismissed him with a wave of a kitchen towel. “Oh, you hush. How else is she going to know about your heroics if I don’t crow about it? See, this stretch of the neighborhood used to be a little rough around the edges, and a bunch of the businesses here were being extorted to pay a security fee.”
Mason frowned and crossed his arms. “It’s an old trick,” he explained. “Some scum of a witch acted like he was all concerned about the safety of the area. But he had a gang of disreputable beings who helped him terrorize and commit the crimes that made all of them pay him in the first place.”
“Your boyfriend used my place to set up a sting to catch the guy, acting like my nephew who I’d asked to help pay the extortion fees.” Wanda cracked her knuckles, and power crackled off of her in a wave. If such a strong witch as herself needed help, this criminal and his gang must have been pretty scary.
“It wasn’t my operation.” Mason brushed off the story like it wasn’t a big deal. “He took our bait because he wasn’t that smart, and as soon as he accepted the money, the detective I had convinced to help me allowed me to make the arrest. That case was the one that pushed me to move up in the ranks myself.”
Wanda couldn’t help herself. She grabbed his arm and pulled him into another crushing embrace. “I know you don’t live here anymore, but anything you ever need, all you need to do is ask.”
“Well, that’s why we came in today, Wanda. I’ve been showing Charli all the old haunts, and I wanted to take a picnic and eat it under the tree at the park,” Mason said.
A sudden sadness shadowed Wanda’s eyes. “I was real broken up with Marian’s passing. That woman may not have had any actual witch to her, but she was absolute magic with all the kids she worked with. I know how much she meant to you.”
Her words hit Mason right in the heart, and his jaw tensed while he controlled his emotions. “Marian was definitely special.”
A hush fell over the three of us until the bubbling of the sauce on the stove was the only noise. I squeezed my boyfriend’s hand and his thumb brushed against my skin.
Wanda watched the two of us with a knowing grin. “But I can’t lie, I think life can sometimes push us in the direction we’re meant to grow.” She winked and turned her attention back to her food. “Give me your order and I’ll bring it out to you myself.”
We waited at the counter close to the front door and watched customers come and go in companionable silence. Mason sat with his finger over his mouth, deep in his memories. I people-watched while we waited. Everyone seemed in a big hurry to get somewhere else, and I wondered if any of them ever took the time to appreciate where they were in the moment like I did right now.
Wanda brought us a basket full of more items than Mason had ordered. She waved us both off when we offered to pay. “Your money will never be good here. Say hello to Marian when you talk to her today. And you, Miss Charli. You’ve got a good man there. Don’t mess it up.”
We walked several blocks away to a small park with swings and a basketball court. Graffiti decorated most of the cement surrounding us with scenes depicting kids laughing and playing. A large oak tree sat in the middle of the small grassed area. Mason led me over to a bench sitting in the tree’s shade and pointed at the placard.
I read it carefully. “You bought this bench?”
Mason touched her name with tender care. “Yes, so that she can continue being a guardian angel and watching over the kids here in this park forever.” He invited me to sit down, and I accepted the honor with a heart full for the child he used to be and the man his mother-figure had helped him become.
The picnic Wanda provided for us would feed an entire family. Mason retrieved two meatball subs and a large paper bag with hot homemade fries, setting all of it down in between us.
“I’m gonna get so messy eating this sandwich,” I mentioned, staring at the drip of marinara barely hanging onto the bread.
Mason stuffed the sub into his mouth. “So?” he said while chewing. After he finished the bite, he wiped his mouth on a napkin and tossed a new one in my direction. “One thing Marian taught me is that a mess can always be cleaned up. No point in avoiding something because it’s inconvenient or might be hard. Because if you do, you might miss out on fun.”
Giving in, I opened my mouth as wide as possible and took a bite. The savory goodness of all the flavors combined together and I groaned my delight. “So good,” I admitted.
He nodded in agreement. “When Marian first