I thought about all Grandma had told me. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised at the Heir thing. I’d already been told about the strength of my magic, and I know about how the coven’s leaders are chosen. I guess it just never really occurred to me, I mean, it’s not like I wanted to be the leader, after all. After thinking about it, though, I guess I like the idea. It gives me a goal in life, anyway.

Mom saw me come back into the living room and sit down. I must have been very preoccupied, because I never saw her sit down next to me. She hugged me, and being suddenly grabbed surprised me.

“Emily, are you alright?” She asked.

"Just thinking, Mom."

"About Grandma's plans?" She asked, and I nodded.

I knew that she and Grandma had already talked about this, but I didn’t know how she felt about the whole idea.

“Grandma’s offering me a huge responsibility, and I think I’m okay with it. I know Grandma talked to you already, so, what do you think? I worry that Grandma seems to have passed you by, and it makes me feel a little guilty.”

“No, honey, you don’t understand. I like my life, and I have everything I want. I’m not an administrator or a Doctor. I’m a nurse, and happy that way. A nurse is the person who truly takes care of the patients, and I enjoy that interaction. Working with my patients allows me to add a little ‘help’ in their healing, sometimes a bit of a nudge to get them over the hump and that makes me feel good.

I definitely think you should do all you can to learn how to be a good leader. Sometimes it’s just learning how the paperwork needs to be done. Heaven knows, the world seems to run on documentation!

Sometimes, though, you need to deal with personal problems or other issues that come up. You need to work with your Grandmother to learn how she deals with coven issues. I think the best way for you to learn is to become her assistant, to see what she does and why she does it.”

“Mom, that doesn’t leave me any time to be me, to spend a little time with friends after school, or even just do my homework!”

“Nonsense.” Grandma said, as she came into the living room. “Unless there is an emergency, I only do coven business on Tuesday, and once in a while on a Saturday, when we have our luncheons. I think it’s a wonderful idea. I could use someone to act as my secretary and aide for coven business and it will help you get some real world experience in Coven Administration. I may even be able to get some college credit for it.”

I thought about it. Tuesdays were not a big deal for me, and giving up the occasional Saturday afternoon shouldn’t be a problem. “Okay, I can see this will be important to me, so I accept.”

“Very good, honey. You can start next Tuesday, all right?” I nodded my agreement, and shook Grandma's hand.

Mom hugged me, and I could tell she was very proud of me. I’ve always known my parents love me, and making my mom proud made me feel 20 ft. tall.

“Changing the subject, have you made any plans for tomorrow night?” Mom asked.

“Yeah...why?”

“Your father and I will be going out, and he wanted to invite you, too, but I told him you might have plans.”

“I’m sorry, Mom. Tim wants to take me out tomorrow, although I don’t really know what he’s planning. He’s been trying to come up with a date to top our last one, and he says it’ll be a surprise. I don’t care what we do-the idea that he would work to find someplace special for us is just.... flattering!”

“I think you might be right, sweetie, he just might be special.” She smiled. “We’ll see. In the meantime, I’m getting hungry. Would you like to help me make my world famous, award winning chili?”

“Award winning? What award?” I asked. “I thought it was just simple chili?”

“It is,” she said. “But I nabbed your Dad with it. He likes it spicy and thick, and I had made a batch for the guys at my father’s shop. Your dad worked there then as part of our school vocational program. They had their lunch, and when I came in to gather my Mom’s bowls, he decided to ‘complement the cook’. I was impressed with his manners, and he was very handsome, and when he asked me out on a date, I couldn’t resist. Eighteen years later, here we are! I’m still impressed with his manners, and he’s still very handsome and loves my chili.”

We went to the kitchen, and I got out some of Grandma’s canned tomatoes, a small can of tomato paste, some low-salt tomato soup, and some jalapeno peppers. I also grabbed a couple of our biggest onions and peeled the outside skin off, then cut them into sixths and separated the layers (Dad loves big onion pieces, and so do I!). I chopped the jalapeno’s, opened the cans and put them in Mom's big kettle, then added the onion and the canned tomatoes and set the stove to slightly less than a medium flame, then got a pan and started the meat. I added onion powder, a little garlic powder and some pepper to the meat mix. My own "special" contribution was a little A-1 sauce as I stirred the meat.

I was using a pound of ground chuck, a pound of ground turkey and a half pound of pre-cooked and drained sausage. Our butcher uses very low fat with his ground chuck, so we keep it as healthy as we can (well, as much as possible, anyway). Mom added some mushrooms and a few “secret ingredients” to the tomato/onion mix, and then raised the temperature of the burner she was using. As soon as I had finished cooking and draining the meat, we added that to the pan of veggies and mushrooms. I added some chili powder (although I know part of Mom’s secret ingredients is a pepper blend she makes herself. It has dried ground habanero and pequin peppers, along with some other things-she keeps threatening to add ghost peppers, but I’m not sure I could eat it then, although Dad and Grandma could) and stirred it all together, cooking it fairly slowly. Mom says it’s so
spicy, it cooks itself!

For desert, I just added some pomegranates to some cold home-made applesauce. It’s always been a big favorite of mine, although sometimes I chop up a pineapple as well. Yum!

She also made a large pan of cornbread with chopped Vidalia onions, and when we were ready, everyone except Dad had a glass of cold milk. Mom had a cold bottle of Corona, his favorite, for Dad. I’ve tried beer, but it just doesn’t taste good. Dad says it’s an “acquired” taste. Too me, if it tastes bad the first time, I’m not going for the second chance! Several of Gabe’s friends used to tell me that I didn’t know what I was missing, but seeing them the morning after a party, I'm pretty sure I know exactly what I’m missing.

I do have a mixed drink or two every so often-I even have my own drink. I call it an “offset screwdriver.” A shot of vodka, a shot of gin and some 5-Alive. It can surprise you if you’re not careful. I’ve had exactly one hangover, and if you’ve ever had one, I have to ask-Why in the world would you do that twice?

Dinner was delicious, although I thought it was too spicy and Dad and Grandma complained that it was a little too mild. I could see it in Mom’s eyes, she was going shopping for some ghost peppers. Next time we have chili, I’m going o McDonald’s. Save me, Golden Arches!

I think I melted my spoon eating that chili, and my mouth was still convinced it was carrying a low flame 2 hours later. Mom and I solved the problem with some Mixed Moose Tracks ice cream. Ahhhh! Moose Tracks, Chocolate Moose Tracks and Mint Moose Tracks, topped with some chocolate sauce, whipped cream and a cherry. It’s not an orgasm, but according to Mom, it's pretty close.

I slept pretty well, which was actually kind of a surprise. I was pretty sure the chili would give me a tummy ache, but the ice cream must have done its job. I woke up and dressed to tease Tim a little. A short denim skirt, pink T-shirt with the word “Dangerous” on the back, a pair of pom-pom ankle socks and my pink striped trainers made a nice statement, I thought.

Well, until I saw Debbie! A black lacy tee, grey denim mini-skirt, smoky hose and a pair of black slingbacks...the girl was on the prowl! She had a black choker around her neck, along with Grandma’s amulet (I always had mine on, but I wore it under my shirt), and she had some fairly large black hoops in her ears.

“You look very nice, Deb!” I told her as she seemed to ooze into my truck. She laughed, and I could see her blush.

“Larry and I are going out with some friends right after school, so I thought I’d try to look nice for him. I gotta say, Em, you don’t look too bad your self! Channeling a little bit of the cheerleader, are we?”

I blushed and smiled. “Tim thought I looked good in a short skirt, so I thought I’d rock his world a little.”

We both laughed, and then I decided to ask her a question,

“Debbie, did you know you and I were ‘linked’?”

“Em, I’ve known since that first magic class where we ‘met.’ When I shook your hand, I could feel it. Does it bother you?”

I smiled and took her hand. “Not at all. You are my BFF, and you always will be.”

“I dunno," She said, snootily (is that a word?). I have very demanding requirements for my friends, but I do have an application here...”

“Oh yeah? Here, I think have a pen somewhere. Oh, here it is.” A flame rose from my palm, which surprised Debbie, but she recovered quickly.

“Ooh, that is one NASTY burn, girl. You really should put something on that.”

We giggled. “I suppose we could put your butt there, I guess.” I said, then I looked at her and knew we had the same thought.

“HOTTIE!" we both yelled, and then I had to pull over while we laughed.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I guess you had to be there.

We finally made it to school, and there were a lot of wolf whistles and comments.

*I hate this, Debbie! I just want to...*

*No, Emily! Student Flambé will destroy the school day, and then someone’s gotta clean the greasy stains!*

She got me laughing, and soon we were inside the school. I was hoping to see Tim this morning, but no luck so far.

I did eventually catch his eye as we passed in the hall. I blushed and bit my lip as he quickly checked me out, but I could tell he liked what he saw. I heard one of his friends ask him if the "hottie" was his girlfriend. I felt pretty good, and I knew we were both looking forward to our date.

I'm just wondering what he has planned, but as long as it’s not a witch burning, I should be fine.

I just hope there’s food!