Pumpkin Spice & Poltergeist (Maple Hollow #1)

“No, not quite.” She wrinkled her nose with a chuckle. “Someday, I’ll tell you all about the first time I realized that there were real mermaids.”

“If you told me now, I would feel less crappy about yesterday,” I probed.

“Soon, I promise. This place is so special to me that I sometimes lose sight of things.”

“It’s amazing, Willow. You should be so proud of all you’ve achieved here.”

“I am.” She scooted a little closer and moved the tray aside. “But I’m now more aware of the reason I never hired anyone to help me. I care a little too much about this place. But having you here and helping take up the slack has shown me that I need to let some things go.”

I bridged the distance between us and wrapped her up in a hug. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too. I’m going to try to be less of a hard-ass if you promise to give me a little more time to get used to this new arrangement. Let’s go a little easier on each other.”

“Deal.”

I loved that we could still do this. It was something about having a sister that I loved. No matter how much time had passed, we could still fight, still say the worst things to each other, then still hug it out and move on. I didn’t think any other relationship I had was as resilient as the one I had with Willow. I made the intention then to try harder to keep in touch with her when I inevitably moved on to my next adventure.

“By the way, your kitchen banishment has ended,” Willow said. “Customers have been asking if I’ve got you locked up in the cleaning closet, so they must like you. I think they’re getting sick of only seeing my face.”

I chuckled. “I still feel terrible, so I have a small peace offering, if you’re serious about letting go a little.”

“I didn’t think saying that was going to bite me in the ass already.”

“Stop. I’m serious.” I pushed at her shoulder playfully. “Jordyn and I are going to the pumpkin patch on Saturday evening, and I want to find you the perfect assortment for your fall decorations.”

Willow’s face pinched for a second. “Well, you know this town goes all out, so I usually get a couple of small pumpkins and gourds for the tables and then four big ones for the windows and . . . No, you know what?” She smiled at me. “Whatever you pick will be perfect.”

I raised my eyebrows at her. “Impressive.”

“I’m working on it.” She shrugged. “So you and Jordyn, huh? Have I earned my sisterly right to hear about your first date?”

“I don’t know. Are you going to spill your guts about you and wolf boy?”

She fussed with the collar of her robe. “There’s nothing to tell.”

“You’re the worst liar,” I teased, and she playfully elbowed me before pulling me back into a hug. “You can’t keep still, and your ears are rose red.”

She knew she was caught. “Don’t you dare blab my tells to the town. I need to have some secrets.”

I held up two fingers in my best impression of Scout’s honor, and she rolled her eyes. “I’m glad you’re here, Harly. I know I’m not the best at showing it. But I’m really, really glad you’re here.”

The sincerity bloomed on her cheeks, and I knew that the storm from my first day in Maple Hollow was finally over.

I hugged her so tightly that she groaned. “I’m really glad I’m here too, Wills.”

15

JORDYN

Rudy swiveled in his chair, steepling his fingers as he listened to Iris and me explain why we wanted the toxicology report from a death that had taken place over a year ago. His hollow eyes stared at us, his face expressionless. He had the lean, spindly body of a human man, although elongated and stretched out as if his body were made of taffy.

“Something about all of this just isn’t right,” I pleaded with Rudy. “You knew Lou since she was a baby. Does it really sound like her to get wasted and behind the wheel of a car in the middle of the day?”

Lou sat atop one of the six filing cabinets behind Rudy, swinging her legs through the metal drawers below her.

“I know grief does strange and surprising things to people.” Rudy eyed me with accusation.

Well. I assumed he eyed me. He didn’t, in fact, have eyeballs.