Pumpkin Spice & Poltergeist (Maple Hollow #1)

“Sit,” Willow instructed, nodding at a stool by the bar.

“Right.” I dropped onto the stool across from her and twiddled my thumbs. “Thanks for letting me stay here with you,” I added, trying to break the ice. “I know we haven’t really caught up in a long time—which is totally my fault, by the way—but I really, really didn’t want to have to move back in with Mom and Dad.”

Willow let out a soft laugh and shook her head. “I don’t blame you.” She poured some hot water into a candy apple-colored teapot and slid it over to me along with a matching cup and saucer. “I’m glad you’re here. I could use the help around this time of year, so it works out for both of us.”

“Thanks.” I knew she was just saying it to make me feel less pathetic. “I promise I won’t mess this up.” I didn’t know if I said it more for her or me.

Willow leaned her elbows on the counter, and I took my sister in. She was four years older than me, and while we’d been close as kids, we’d grown apart after I’d moved away from home. I thanked my ADHD and my proclivity to forget everyone who wasn’t directly in front of my face. I always intended to call, but it got harder and harder over time. And when you were constantly fucking up and switching jobs, you really didn’t want to call your big sister and tell her about your latest failures. After my most recent bout of hyperfocus—this time on opening an online T-shirt store out of a studio apartment in Boston—had gone bust, I’d been left with two digits in my bank account and nowhere to go. That was when I’d called Willow.

I took a bite of the cinnamon roll. The delicious flavor of spicy cinnamon and nutmeg blended perfectly with the sweetness of the icing sugar that melted in my mouth. “This might be the best thing I’ve ever eaten,” I said, my chipmunk cheeks full as I took another giant bite.

“Wyatt,” Willow said, her face tingeing rose. “He’s our local baker. I get all of the cabinet food from him.”

I eyed my sister. “Marry him.”

She rolled her eyes at me as I waggled my eyebrows at her. It might have been years since we’d seen each other, but I still knew my sister.

Instead of replying, she reached across the bar and touched a strand of my white-blonde shag haircut. “I like the ‘do. Very eighties rockstar.”

“Thanks.” I smiled at her. “You, as always, look way too cute.”

My sister had golden-blonde hair, deep blue eyes, and freckles across the bridge of her nose. She had a warm countenance that I was sure made her the perfect cozy café owner, always ready with a cup of coffee and an easy smile.

“Well, you must be exhausted from the bus ride here,” she said, not taking the compliment. “I’ve got the guest room behind the kitchen all ready for you.” She waved behind her. “My apartment is just up the stairs. I’ll give you the tour later.”

I looked around her to the back door and the light coming from her staircase just off to the right.

“But, um, do me a favor? Don’t go exploring the town until tomorrow. There are some things I need to tell you about this place first.”

“I’m not going to get abducted by a vampire or something, am I?”

She guffawed, her eyes flying a little too wide. “We’ll just, uh, talk in the morning, okay?”

“Well, that’s not ominous,” I said, taking a sip of minty tea. “Why don’t you just tell me whatever you’re going to tell me now? I’m not going to be able to sleep with that sketchy warning of yours.”

“You’re perfectly safe here,” she assured me. “You’re with me. The locals will leave you alone.”

I frowned at her. “And why wouldn’t they leave me alone?”

“Okay, fine.” She threw up her hands in mock frustration. “You always do this.”

“You always taunt me!” I shot back.

Willow leaned back against the countertop. “If you were a tourist just passing through, I’d never admit this to you, but since you’ll be staying here for who knows how long, you should know the truth. There’s more to Maple Hollow than meets the eye.”

“You mean besides the way you’re all obsessed with Halloween and pretending to be witches and vampires and things?”

“Yeah,” she hedged.

I watched her worry her lip for a moment before she got on with it. Her persistent need to shield me from the evils in the world was an old habit. Something only an older sister could get away with.

“See, the thing is, this town . . . Maple Hollow . . . is . . . special,” she said. “They’re not pretending. Magic is real, and a lot of magical creatures live here.”

I swallowed a big gulp of tea that painfully stretched my esophagus all the way down. “I’m sorry. I think I just had a stroke. What did you just say?”

“They’re drawn to the haunted wood,” she said. “It pulls on all things paranormal.”

I started searching around the room for hidden cameras. Had my sister suddenly developed a penchant for practical jokes? “You’re saying this town is like the Hellmouth in Buffy?”