The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic

Florence suggests they try a ritual in which each twin gives half of themselves via a totem. Her hope is their two halves will function as a whole person and satisfy the life debt. Florence attempts the spell, but it doesn’t work. Sadie begins to panic, and the garden begins to burn. She realizes that it has not been a malevolent spirit, but her own magic and emotions destroying the garden. She decides to stop letting her fear control her. Florence lights a cigarette, and Sadie notices it’s the same kind she saw the white-suited spirit holding. Sadie attempts to hurt Florence by telling her mother there may have been a reason she shouldn’t have had children.

The interlude is a recipe for Gigi’s chocolate pecan pie, a signature recipe that is referenced several times throughout the novel.

Gigi’s letter to Sadie begins appearing in odd places around the house. She rereads it and realizes Gigi didn’t mean that Sadie needed to sacrifice her life, but that she needed to sacrifice her magic. She decides there are a few things she needs to go before she gives it up. She bakes a pecan pie with coltsfoot (which causes justice) to give to Bethany and Jake in the hope that he’ll realize her pregnancy is a lie.