Pumpkin Spice & Poltergeist (Maple Hollow #1)

“I know. I just . . .”

My frown deepened. Did my sister really think I couldn’t run to the supermarket and buy cloves for her? Was I really so pathetically bad at things that she didn’t trust me with this?

I nudged her with my elbow. “Wills, come on.”

“Okay,” she relented. She feigned a smile at her customer, who was watching our exchange as if we were on some early morning talk show.

“Go to the apothecary down the street and ask for ground cloves. Fresh. Tell them it’s for Witch’s Brew.”

“Apothecary?” I asked incredulously. “Should I bring a wicker basket and don a cloak?”

“Only if you want to be mocked mercilessly.” Willow snickered, waving the twenty-dollar bill at me. She tipped her head to the front door. “It’s five buildings down. Can’t miss it.”

I grabbed the twenty and tucked it into my pocket, then leaned toward Willow to whisper, “If I’m not back in ten minutes, give your boy toy my jacket to sniff so he can track me down.”

“I knew having you move in with me would be fun,” Willow said tightly, nostrils flaring as she shoved me toward the door.

5

JORDYN

“I’m here! What is it? What’s the emergency?” Iris rushed into the apothecary. The autumn breeze made her hair dance in long red waves as the door behind her slowly closed.

When I’d rapped on her door this morning and asked her to grab “the big book,” she’d bolted off to get it without another word. Now, she hefted her great-great-grandmother’s grimoire onto the countertop with a heavy thunk. A basket of vials clinked as she flipped open the black leather cover and looked up at me with curious green eyes. “What’s going on? I expected you to have lost a limb or something. What’s wrong?”

This was why Iris was my best friend. She always showed up for me, no questions asked.

I pointed at Lou, who was standing in front of the bundles of dried herbs on the long wooden table in the middle of the store. “That’s my problem!”

Iris’s brows pinched together. “You needed the heavy-duty magic to help sort the herbs?”

I glared at Lou. “She can’t see you, can she?”

“Nope,” Lou said with a shrug. She looked entirely too smug.

“Who are you talking to?” Iris demanded. “Have you partaken of the mushrooms again? Those are for customers, Jordyn.”

I leaned against the counter and rubbed my temples. Even my patented hangover elixir wasn’t working today. Not with Lou’s ghost looming like the smuggest apparition in the world.

“I summoned a spirit last night,” I admitted.

Ugh. Is this my punishment for breaking up with her? Karma is a bitch.

“What, nothing good on Netflix?” Iris taunted.

Summoning a spirit wasn’t entirely uncommon for witches. She and I used to do it all the time when we’d been bored teenagers.

“This one is sticking around.” I wrung my hands as I glanced at Lou, who was crouched by the front door, giving belly scratches to the shop cat, Ichabod.

Iris followed my line of sight. “Is the spirit here with us right now?”

I nodded. “Lou, why don’t you pick something up? Levitate something.” I waved to the vials beside her. “Come on, help me out here.”

“Lou!” Iris exclaimed. “You summoned the ghost of your ex-girlfriend?”

“Oh, she’s mad.” Lou chuckled. “Madder than even me.”

“I can’t think when the two of you are talking at the same time.” I pointed at Lou. “You, be quiet.” I turned back to Iris. “It was the one-year anniversary of our breakup and I was drunk and I never got to say goodbye to her and I just thought?—”