Pumpkin Spice & Poltergeist (Maple Hollow #1)

“You were mad about Harlow and me, uh, kissing.” I honestly didn’t want to remind Lou about the teenage-level grinding Harlow and I had done in the middle of an open field.

And then I’d run off like a coward.

I needed to find Harlow and explain myself. Just not with the truth. Fuck!

“You said you didn’t think you were actually here for me to move on with Harlow?” I asked gently, trying to jog Lou’s memory. Did ghosts have memories?

“I told you it was about her death!” Iris insisted. “Ghosts don’t hang around to see their exes shack up with someone else. Sometimes it’s to say goodbye to a loved one, but usually it’s because they want vengeance for a violent end. And we know someone murdered her. That’s why she’s still here.”

“We need to solve this murder, then—and quick,” I said. “Before she hulks out again.”

“Well, we know it’s a local,” Iris said. “We’ve got our list of suspects from the square and Ramona’s info about this antihuman alliance . . .”

I turned to Lou. “But you don’t remember anything that happened that day?” I prompted. “Try and think. You said something about brunch.”

Lou squeezed her eyes shut. “It’s like a dream that I can’t quite remember, only a feeling.” She took a deep, silent breath, no real air filling her lungs. “We were eating at a café. I had the big veggie breakfast . . . halloumi, roasted tomatoes, poached eggs—” She opened her eyes. “And someone had a bagel with lox.”

“Who’s we?” I asked.

“Huh?”

“You said ‘we were eating at a café,’” I replied. “Do you remember who was sitting across from you?”

She closed her eyes again. “I remember the smell of fresh paint. Splatters across leather boots. Maple syrup . . . but that could’ve just been from the breakfast. Maybe they had pancakes?”

“Then who had the bagel?” Iris asked. “Was there more than one of them?”

Lou stomped her foot, and it collided against the floorboards instead of going through like it normally would have.

I groaned. “Please don’t kick a hole in my floor.”

“Your ability to physically manipulate the space is growing with your anger,” Iris said. “Try to control it.”

“I’m trying,” Lou gritted out.

“Is it possible . . .” I held up my hand to Lou. “Could you just go float downstairs for a second?”

She glowered at me, but her body floated downward until she disappeared.

I turned to Iris. “Do spirits normally not remember the day they died? Is it possible someone used magic to make her forget? She didn’t have anything in her system when she died. At least nothing that they test for.”

Iris frowned at me. “I don’t talk to that many spirits, Jordyn. I don’t normally canvas the ghosts that I do summon either.”

I blew out a frustrated sigh. “Well, I guess we’ve got to summon another one to ask.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Iris cocked her hip. “You want to risk summoning another spirit that may or may not hang around for who knows how long? Why don’t you ask the rest of the coven for help?”

I frantically waved at the spot where Lou had just disappeared. “Because then I’ll have to explain how I royally screwed up. The last thing I need is a lecture from my mother on top of all of this.”

Iris glowered at me for a moment before she threw her hands up in the air. “Fine. But I’m doing the summoning circle this time! You’ve proven you can’t be trusted to do it on your own for a while.”

I stared at the splintered dresser, reliving the look on both Lou’s and Harlow’s faces. I should have already informed our coven elders about what I’d done, but the disappointment and embarrassment would be too much for me to bear. Iris and I were supposed to be training to take over high-ranking positions in our circle, but instead we were hiding a ghost I’d summoned for selfish reasons.

Iris snapped her fingers in front of me. “Hey. Focus.”

“Sorry, I just . . .” The stone in my gut made it too difficult for me to describe what I was feeling.

Which must have been written on my face because instead of scolding me, Iris said, “Why don’t you go talk to Harlow. I’ll do the summoning. Your energy is off, and we don’t need bad intentions in the air. It could mess up my spell work.”