Free Scent of Magic by Lori L. Clark

out spending money, Francesca had her hands full at The Perfumery. On a typical Saturday afternoon, all three of them would be available to help out. Francesca loved the feeling being busy gave her. It was like she hovered a few inches above the floor and floated -- very quickly -- around the shop.
    Several new customers came through the front doors, and that pleased Francesca a lot. Her face hurt from smiling all day. It was late afternoon before Starley and Juliette finally breezed into the store, their grins nearly as wide as Francesca's had been.
    A few minutes before closing time, the shop had finally grown quiet when a woman slowly pulled the shop door open and peered inside.
    "Is it too late? I can come back if ya'll are getting ready to close," she asked.
    Starley's eyebrows shot up, and she pulled her lips between her teeth. The woman resembled a mouse, right down to the beady eyes and whiskers.
    Francesca painted on a tired smile and took her by the hand. Immediately, she was taken aback by the unpleasant odor of rodents. She twitched her nose, and said, "Of course it's not too late. It's never too late until we've locked the doors and gone home for the day. Won't you come in and look around?"
    "My husband bought me a gift certificate for my birthday," the woman said with a nervous titter. "I don't know what he was thinking. I can't remember the last time I indulged myself with something as frivolous as perfume."
    Juliette offered her hand. "Welcome, I'm Juliette."
    The woman shook Juliette's hand and said, "I'm Mrs. Byrd. My husband is Pastor Byrd."
    Juliette didn't have to be gifted with the sense of touch to sense how nervous Mrs. Byrd was. If Juliette had her way, she'd whip up a batch of backbone in a bottle, but Francesca would discourage her from doing that.
    Francesca, as though reading her sister's mind, cleared her throat. "Mrs. Byrd, we have some lovely scents over here in this case." She pointed to the large display case at the back of the shop.
    Juliette knew there were a few self-confidence potions in that case and was pleased to see that she and Francesca had been on the same wavelength. Granted, Juliette had a little something stronger in mind, but it probably wouldn't be wise to turn meek, mousy Mrs. Byrd into a raging ax murderer. As much as she'd like to.
    Francesca opened the case and moved a few of the bottles around on the shelves until she found the one she wanted. She pulled out a small crystal decanter filled with blood red liquid. It was the most potent self-confidence scent she dared sell the woman.
    "Here you go, Mrs. Byrd. What do you think of this one?" Francesca spritzed the air and sniffed.
    Starley giggled as Mrs. Byrd wiggled her whiskers.
    "It's wonderful. It reminds me of something. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it smells divine," Mrs. Byrd said.
    Francesca rang up the sale and took Mrs. Byrd's gift certificate. "Pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Byrd. We hope to see you again."
    "Easy to see who wears the pants in that household," Juliette said. "You should have let me make something stronger for her."
    "I don't think that would have been a very good idea considering who her husband is. The last thing we need to do is raise Pastor Byrd's suspicions about what we do here," Francesca said. She walked to the door and flipped the closed sign around. "She just needs a little bit of confidence. We don't want her to file for divorce or kick the pastor to the curb."
    "I bet they don't keep any cats around their house," Starley mumbled.
    Francesca beamed at Starley and changed the subject. "Look at our baby sister. You look beautiful!"
    "I'll admit, it's a bit of an improvement," Starley said, hopping down from the counter. "But I wouldn't go so far as to say I look beautiful."
    "You're too modest. I bet Beau Byrd's eyes pop right out of his head as soon as he gets a look at the new and improved version of Starley Duchesne," Juliette said. "If he doesn't, he needs to go to the eye