“What're you doing?” I asked as I entered the basement lab. My husband, Dr. Stan Michaels, removed the orange teardrop gem he’d been studying under some fancified scientific doo-dad. “Oooh. That’s pretty.”

“Jessica found it in her attic in a box of Halloween decorations,” he said. “Patrick sensed magic. He said it granted Jessica’s wish.”

“Chocolate?” I a…