Pumpkin Spice & Poltergeist (Maple Hollow #1)

Ugh. Goddess, let me whither into dust right now.

“Okay, bye,” Harlow said, and I could tell she was a little disappointed in my response.

She stooped to give Ichabod one more scratch before she turned to leave. But not before giving Iris a little wave as she went.

Ask her to stay! Ask her on a date! Grab her and kiss her! Something! But no words would come. I was terrified. Paralyzed to the spot.

Iris farewelled the werewolves with a baggy of new potions and then zeroed in on me, annoyance wrinkling her forehead the moment the customers had passed me.

“What are you doing?” she hissed, her green eyes boring into me.

“What do you mean, what am I doing?”

“She was right here!” Iris pointed to the spot where Harlow had just stood. “She was right in front of you, giving you the big heart eyes! The girl you’ve been pining over.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “I haven’t been pining.”

“Oh, really?” Iris guffawed. “Is that why you’re drinking a bottle of wine and watching rom-coms every night? Is that why you stand at the living room window and peek down the back alley to where the café dumpsters are, hoping to get a glimpse of her? Have your eyes just been extra watery the past few weeks? Cutting lots of onions? And we just so happen to be running low on tissues constantly?”

Exasperated, I threw my hands up. “Okay, well, what was I supposed to say?”

She scoffed. “Literally everything. Everything you feel in your heart.” She pointed at the door. “Go!”

“Go where?”

“Go to the café and tell her that you miss her,” Iris said. “Tell her all the things you’ve been drowning in wine the last few weeks. Tell her what’s going on in here.” She poked me in the sternum.

“Ouch.” I groaned. “Seriously, Iris.”

“You’re going to lose her, Jordyn. You’re going to miss your chance to make this right. You let things fall apart with Lou because you were scared, and let’s be honest. It was never right between you two. But this is so right! Don’t live the rest of your life with more regrets.”

Her words stung, and I knew by the set of her mouth and the tightness in her gaze that she felt a modicum of guilt for being so harsh.

But I also needed the verbal slap in the face. I’d thought I was giving Harlow some space to figure things out, but maybe I’d been avoiding her a little too. Maybe I’d dismissed her when she needed me to be the one to make the first move—without a ghost shoving us into a kiss.

I rolled my shoulders back and shook out my arms like I was about to enter a boxing ring. “Okay.” I couldn’t live with myself if I never told her how I truly felt.

“Okay? Yes!” Iris cheered, opening the door and windmilling her arm to usher me out. “Don’t come back without a girlfriend.”

My stomach twisted in knots as I stared down the row of buildings to the café. An unceremonious shove from Iris got my feet moving.

Goddess, help me.

33

HARLOW

Ihummed to myself as I stacked the fresh dishes under the food cabinet, ready for the next day. I tried to distract myself from that interaction in the apothecary but couldn’t. God, Jordyn had smelled exactly the same—witchy, earthy, sweet, and spicy. My stomach somersaulted just remembering it. Was it weird that I was smelling her? I’d wanted to tell her that I’d missed her, but then everything had been so awkward and I’d started worrying I’d waited too long.

Was she mad? Was she over me? Was this thing between us done before we gave it a fair chance?

A knock at the front door made me startle, and I let out a little muttered curse. I bet it was Willow checking on me. She was supposed to be getting a massage at Witching Hour Wellness, relaxing for the first time in ages, but I wouldn’t put it past her to come check on me anyway.

I unlocked the door and opened it, ready with a witty retort on the tip of my tongue. But when I opened the door, it wasn’t Willow waiting there.

Jordyn stood, arms wrapped around herself, shivering against the late-autumn wind. Her red cheeks were chapped, and steam whorled from her mouth, but her eyes pinned me with hopeful determination.

I opened my mouth to offer another awkward hello, but she was already moving. She grabbed me by the back of the neck and pulled me into a kiss.