Pumpkin Spice & Poltergeist (Maple Hollow #1)

I looked back at the shelf, then immediately turned away as if it had burned my retinas. “No, sorry! I got distracted by the flowers on the label. I’m a bit of a magpie for shiny objects. I see something pretty and I . . .”

My words died on my tongue when my eyes met hers. She was so calm, so still and serene, like a pond without a single ripple. The complete opposite of my jittery nerves. My heart tap-danced just at the sight of her.

I cleared my throat. “Cloves. Willow sent me over to fetch more cloves.” I fumbled in my pocket and extended out the now-crumpled twenty-dollar bill my sister had given me.

“I’ll grab it for you. Finely ground, I’m assuming?”

I nodded, and Jordyn took the money, her fingers skimming across mine and zapping me with an electric shock. Jordyn and I both jolted backward, and she cracked a half smile as I laughed.

“I swear I haven’t been shuffling my socks across the carpet,” I said. I was sure my face had turned an unseemly shade of crimson.

Could I be any more awkward? Probably. But I didn’t want to try and prove a point to myself.

Jordyn seemed entirely unfazed, which I was beginning to suspect was a normal trait for her. “Must be some static in the air,” she mused as she wandered toward the till and made some change. She shot a sharp look to her side again, scowling at the wall, and I inched backward, wondering if the place was haunted or something.

I toyed with the little pendants hanging from a branch by the register. One had a carving of a mouse in the center of a stained-glass triangle. “What is this for?”

“To ward off pests,” Jordyn said, not even looking at the trinkets.

“How does it work?”

Jordyn looked at me like the answer was obvious, like everyone knew how to use magical pendants. “You spin it around three times and then hang it in the window facing out to keep them out.”

I gave her a tight grin. “Right.” She was so gorgeous that I was forgetting how to use words.

“Do you want one?” she asked in a flat tone, which told me that she wanted me to go away.

“Oh, uh. . .” I fiddled with them. I supposed it wouldn’t hurt to ward off mice from the café. “Sure.” I plucked the one hanging from a purple satin ribbon and placed it on the countertop.

Jordyn grabbed a brown paper bundle from a shelf behind her and passed it to me. This time, our fingertips didn’t have a chance to touch since she practically dropped the bag into my waiting palms.

I hugged it to my chest. “Thanks.”

“It was nice to meet you, Harlow.” She flashed me a tight smile. “I hope you come again sometime.”

I was bad at reading these situations. Why was she talking to me like she had a knife to her back?

“It was nice meeting you too,” I said warily, though her full pink lips momentarily distracted me from her robotic movements. I should not be thinking about her lips when she was clearly annoyed by me. “Okay, bye!” I turned to flee.

Unfortunately, the cat, who I was certain had been across the room just a second ago, was directly under my feet, and I tripped to avoid stepping on him. As I threw my arms out, a hand caught me by the elbow, stalling my fall.

“Sorry. Sorry!” I exclaimed, whirling in Jordyn’s arms.

Surprise widened her eyes, but something else was there too. But before I could decrypt whatever emotions were whirling through her, Jordyn hastily released me and folded her arms tight around her torso.

“It was my fault,” she said, sounding almost dejected. “Or rather, Ichabod’s.”

“Sorry, Ichabod,” I offered. I bent down to give the cat a quick scratch, and he purred and arched into my hand.

At least he wasn’t giving me the ice queen treatment.

Careful not to trip over Ichabod a second time, I turned and left, stealing one last look through the window to see the gorgeous girl glaring at the wall again.

7

JORDYN

Ipaced the length of the shop, fuming. “First, you break an expensive bottle of elixir. Then you get her to nearly trample my cat!” I glared at Lou, wishing she were corporeal so I could strangle her. Harlow probably thought I was some weird townie who didn’t know how to hold a conversation. I didn’t want to think too hard about how true that was.