Pumpkin Spice & Poltergeist (Maple Hollow #1)

I couldn’t believe she wouldn’t even trust me with fucking baked goods! This was the nail in the coffin of our relationship?

Was I really that much of a fuckup to her?

I’d debated leaving right then and there but couldn’t convince my feet to make those final steps out the door. Even now, I was thinking about buying a bus ticket out of here. I wasn’t meant to be in a town like this, or with a sibling who wouldn’t let me take off the training wheels.

Though I was angry and hurt by what Willow had said, in the deepest parts of me, a voice whispered, I probably deserve all of Willow’s anger and disappointment. I don’t deserve to be trusted. I’m not worthy of a relationship with her. I’m never going to be good enough.

I was done. I just wanted to run away . . . again.

Then a louder realization hit, resonating over the dark gloom. “But then I’d miss that date at the pumpkin patch with Jordyn.”

A shining silver thread was holding me here. After that kiss we’d shared, I would probably suffer another hundred days of disappointing Willow just to have another like that.

As if summoning her from my thoughts alone, I heard a creak on the boards and turned to see Jordyn walking toward me.

She paused when I spotted her, as if we were playing a silent game of red light, green light.

“I wasn’t following you!” she said, shifting her weight awkwardly. “In case you were wondering.”

“What are you doing out here?” I felt like a giant weight had been lifted off my chest at the sight of her.

I swore she was my own brand of magic, the way she could instantly ease my mind.

“I needed to get out of my apartment. Too . . . noisy. I needed to be alone with my thoughts for once.”

“I know the feeling.”

“I could go?” Jordyn asked, clearly misreading that statement. “If you want some peace?”

“No, stay! Please.” I patted the splintering wooden slats beside me.

Her gaze landed on my hand but then traveled to the murky water below. “Let’s go sit along the shore.” She beckoned with her silver-ringed fingers. “Swamp monsters are the least of your concerns here. We wouldn’t want one of the merfolk to pull you under into another dimension.”

I quickly yanked my feet up, hugging my knees to my chest. “I didn’t realize that was a possibility.”

I frowned down at the water and then my eyes darted to a rickety fishing boat tied up at the end of the dock.

“It’s safe to fish here?”

“Katie knows her way through the lake,” Jordyn said. “She only fishes during the day and knows how to separate the magical creatures from the . . . edible ones.”

I shuddered at that. I was never looking at fish the same again. I warily stood and wandered toward Jordyn, taking in everything from her chunky knit cardigan to her black star-print tights to the hasty ponytail pulling back half her hair.

When I was a single step away, I said, “Hi.”

Her red lips curved. “Hi.”

With only a moment of hesitation, I leaned forward and brushed a soft kiss on her lips. She hummed against my mouth, and when I pulled back, she was smiling at me in a way that made my heart clench. When she looked at me like that, she made me feel like I was something special, something just as magical as she was.

Jordyn took my hand and led me off the dock and onto the grassy knoll clouded with dancing fireflies. “So what are you doing in the haunted forest—after dark, no less?”

“Willow and I had a fight,” I said, and Jordyn’s hand squeezed mine tighter in acknowledgment. “It was my fault. I should’ve asked for her permission before I did anything with her café. I thought I was being helpful. I just . . .” I scrubbed my free hand down my face. “Here,” I said, taking off my jacket and throwing it down on the grass for us to sit on.

“Thanks,” she said then got settled on the ground. “I’m sorry about what happened with Willow. That sounds really tough.”

“I think it’s mostly because I planned it with Wyatt behind her back.”

“Ah.” Jordyn nodded her head sagely as she leaned back on her elbows. “He should’ve known better.”