Aggie watched them silently. After Lock left, she pulled out a rag and started wiping down the spotless counter. "He showed his hands when he came in," the old witch commented casually.

Her niece sighed. "Yeah, I figured he wasn't pulling anything. I was just too embarrassed to admit I [i]am[/i] excited about this. Barrel and I have been playing circles with each other for [i]ages[/i], but i didn't want to be the one to ask him out first, you know?"

Aggie chuckled. "You have more tact than I ever did, then. Agnes and I used to... well, not quite [i]throw[/i] ourselves at Jack, but we never particularly bothered to hide our... [i]enthusiasm[/i]."

Agatha groaned. "Yeah, and you ate six tubs of mealworm ice cream between the two of you when he went and picked Sally instead of one of you. You've told me that story, already."

"A few dozen times, I know," came the cackled response. "Anyway, back to work, dearie. I think my sister might need some assistance cleaning the back room again."