I left him to sleep, elated when I saw Liam looking both ways before crossing the street. When I’d first moved to Paramour Bay, he’d figured out quickly that I preferred coffee over tea. He even used to sneak me coffee from the diner on a daily basis. Now that I had the coffee station inside the tea shop, he’d gotten into the habit of stopping in every morning before taking a drive through the residential areas of our small town to check on the older residents.
“Morning, beautiful,” Liam said after coming through the entrance with a charming smile on his handsome features. He’d gotten a haircut yesterday, but Cindy had left it long enough on top to where his natural waves could still be seen. “You know, I just had the oddest conversation with Eugene.”
Once again, the palm of my hand began to tingle as I lifted myself up on my tiptoes to greet him with a kiss. Given the time of year, I was ecstatic that I could wear my favorite pair of knee-high boots. The small heel didn’t get me close to Liam’s six foot height, but he leaned down to make reaching his lips a bit of an easier task.
“I saw the two of you talking across the street.” We walked side by side to the coffee station, while I was running theories through my mind as to what topics might have been covered in that brief conversation. “Is everything okay? Does this have something to do with Albert? I didn’t see him over there with Eugene.”
Liam began to pump the top of the carafe and pour himself a cup of black coffee. His brows were furrowed a bit, another hint that the coffee in my hand had nothing to do with the heat in my palm. Just when my attention landed on the cesaral spirit bell next to the cash register, Liam’s did as well. I was really happy that I could hear Leo’s light snores drifting from the display window.
“Out of curiosity, has the bell rung recently?”
I blinked, wishing I could do the same with my hearing. Liam really hadn’t just asked me that question, had he? If he had, that would mean…
“Please tell me that Eugene hasn’t seen a ghost lately,” I whispered, setting my own cup on the table. I was afraid I’d collapse the paper sides with my grip. Liam’s hand was quite a bit sturdier, so I grabbed ahold of his forearm in desperation. “Just say the no word, and we can have a normal day with me selling tea and you keeping the town safe from jaywalkers.”
Telling Liam about my family lineage had been the best decision I’d ever made, besides uprooting my life from New York City to Paramour Bay. He’d handled it as well as could be expected, and he’d been beyond supportive of my continued training that Leo and I still took time out of our day to complete.
“It could be nothing,” Liam hedged, rocking back on the heels of his work boots. He was wearing his brown leather bomber jacket now that the weather had finally changed to match the season. Today’s high was only going to be fifty-nine degrees, which was fine by me. I had an obsession with not only boots but also turtlenecks. “Eugene was walking past the station when I was exiting, and I noticed him chuckling underneath his breath. I asked why, and he said that he could have sworn he saw his brother crossing the street. When Eugene did a double take, no one was there. Then he went on and on about how turning senile during his old age was going to be a riot for the town’s gossip mill. Now, I’m chalking this up to exactly that, Raven. Right? Please tell me that Eugene seeing his brother has to do with old age and the loss of a few brain cells along the way.”
Liam sounded a lot like Leo in this moment, but he might take offense to the comparison. Not that he didn’t like Leo. Quite the contrary. Once Leo had gotten over me telling Liam the truth about my lineage, he’d come to accept my relationship with Liam. But Leo tended to be a bit dramatic over such things, and my sweet sheriff might take it as a slight that I thought he was doing the same.
Only neither one of them were wrong this time around.
Two ghost sightings in the last twelve hours or so?
That was definitely cause for concern if they were actual sightings.
Liam and Leo wanted so badly for me to tell them that the sighting of two separate ghosts were just a figment of two elderly people’s imagination. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so sure that was the case anymore.
I’m going to need to eat another edible, aren’t I?
Chapter Three
“Ted.”
I’d poked my head out the glass door of the tea shop not five seconds after Ted had walked past the shop window on his way to visit Mindy’s boutique shop. Long story short, my wax golem helper had fallen in love with a mannequin. Seriously, he came to visit her nearly every single day the store was open for patrons. The residents of the town just assumed Ted was extraordinarily unique in some fashion or another. They had no idea he was supernatural and found a natural affection for an inanimate object that was a wonderful listener and equally attractive…not that Ted had much to say.
“Ted, I need your help once you’ve said your good mornings,” I whispered, catching sight Cora Barnes walking toward us. She wasn’t my favorite fan, having what one might call a difficult relationship with my mother. I called it a very convoluted feud. Cora and her husband owned the malt shop that was located in between my tea shop and Mindy’s boutique. The last thing I wanted was to get into a long, drawn-out conversation with Mrs. Barnes about anything. “Could you come inside when you’re done, please?”
This is a bad idea. Have you considered that Eugene really is a few acorns shy of a full sapling? Speaking of acorns, this bell situation is keeping me from my preordained destiny—the annihilation of Skippy and his band of ninja squirrels.
I ducked back inside before glancing across the street. Liam had stayed with me a bit, talking over the two separate reports of townsfolk having seen the spirits of loved ones long since passed. There was still a chance that this could all be chalked up to coincidence or mass hysteria.
You remind me of a long-necked ostrich who likes to put his head in the sand while describing how wonderful the weather is at the moment. Ignoring an uncomfortable situation won’t make it go away. Trust me, I’ve tried it a lot during our spell casting lessons.
“I could accept that we might have a spirit invasion if someone younger than seventy declared they had experienced a ghost sighting,” I replied, compromising my position on the subject. “When you think about it, Wilma isn’t used to ingesting that much caffeine, especially right before bedtime. As for Eugene, he was crossing the intersection and could have easily been thinking about his brother. The image he’d caught in his peripheral vision might not have been anything more than a trick of the light or a shadow he thought was something else.”
In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s overcast. Your shadow theory is a few sunbeams shy of likely.
“Then maybe it was a cornstalk caught in the wind,” I suggested, finally catching sight of Ted slowly strolling past the display window. He was very methodical in everything he did, and that included walking. “I mean, there are cornstalks attached to every lamppost. It’s plausible that one might have blown away.”
Are you telling me that Eugene mistook a cornstalk for his dead breather? Maybe you need another cup of coffee. I’d offer you some of my edibles, but I’m rationing my supply until Beetle comes into work tomorrow morning. You never know what harebrained idea someone might come up with before I can resupply.
One, I just happened to know that Leo practically had an unlimited supply of vacuum-packed catnip edibles stuffed away in a bugout bag he kept on the shelf next to the shop’s rarely used rear entrance. Two, the mere mention of Beetle had me wondering about the wisdom of this entire scenario and imagining reasons we shouldn’t do the unthinkable.
You are absolutely not doing the unthinkable. That’s the reason it’s called the unthinkable. Try not to think about it. You march yourself right on over to that coffee station and pour yourself another cup and take a chill pill. After you’ve consumed copious amounts of your sanity saver, you’ll see the error of contemplating the unthinkable.
“You’re right.” The last time we’d i
nvolved my mother, she’d literally caused lightning to strike my cottage. “It’s best to utilize that option as our last resort. We’ll call that the failsafe option.”
For a brief moment, I wasn’t even sure that coffee could bring you back from the ledge. That was my failsafe.
Beetle was the previous town accountant who had sold his accounting firm to Heidi. He’d all but hired himself on as my part-time employee to keep himself busy in retirement. In summation, Beetle had fallen head over heels in love with my mother years ago when she’d attended high school here. She’d renewed his interest subsequent to my return. Let’s just say that the two of them are polar opposites, like fire and ice. I was wondering when they’d implode.
You have such a tendency to understate things, Raven. They are more like a stick of dynamite and a kitchen match. The fallout could rain down for years to come.
I was pacing back and forth in between the high-top tables when Ted finally walked into the shop, while Leo had decided a nap wasn’t going to be anywhere in his near future. He was currently back on the counter, his bulging left eye focused suspiciously on the cesaral spirit bell.
“Is everything alright, Ms. Raven?”
I’ve already gone into depth about Ted’s appearance, but I should also mention his quirky personality. He was beyond loyal, super kind, and—
My least favorite Crayola color?
I shot Leo a glare over my shoulder, grateful that Ted couldn’t hear Leo’s commentary. Only witches, warlocks, and other familiars could hear him drone on.
I was going to say Ted is concise. His oral communication skills tended to be very brief and to the point. When I’d first met him, I’d thought his sentences were kind of choppy. The more I got to know him, the more I realized he just didn’t mince words. He simply said what needed to be said and nothing more.
“Ted, do you remember when I needed you to ask Ivan about the sudden appearance of roaming spirits?” I inquired, rubbing the palm of my right hand. There was still a bit of leftover tingling sensations from when I’d seen Liam speaking with Eugene. “I need you to ask him again.”
“Has something transpired?” Ted asked, his straight eyebrows making a perfect V in concern.
“Well, that depends,” I replied warily, still hoping that the two sightings were nothing to get worry about. “Wilma and Eugene both claim to have seen the spirits of their dearly departed loved ones recently.”
Dead people. You can say it, Raven. They saw dead people. I’m pretty sure there was a movie made about a boy who could see and talk to dead people. It was very scary stuff that I’d rather not personally experience. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt.
Technically, Leo was right. We’d already encountered the spirit of an older witch when she’d had some unfinished business in the human world. We’d helped escort her familiar back through the veil. As a thank you, the fairy had left Leo with a glittery lipstick kiss that had stained the fur on his front right paw.
Don’t remind me. I still can’t get this annoying glitter off my fur. Do you see why the ringing of this bell is unacceptable? A cat can only explain so much glitter.
“What is Mr. Leo saying?”
I knew there was a redeeming quality in that lump of wax.
“Leo is just concerned about the sightings, plus the fact that the bell has rung a total of five times since we’ve discovered its existence at the antique shop. I guess we’re wondering if those two sightings were only two of the five rings we heard. It’s possible more sightings were made and not reported.”
Ted rubbed his large hands down the lapel of his black suit in contemplation. He only wore suits cut in the style of the late 1800s with paisley handkerchiefs folded perfectly in the outer pocket. With that said, his whitish-blond hair always stuck up a bit in the back to make him seem more human.
“I will speak with Ivan this evening, Ms. Raven.”
I waited for the relief to pour over me at Ted’s acquiesce, but the respite never came.
“Maybe I can come with you,” I offered, hoping that speaking to Ivan in person would alleviate my concern. “I’ve never met Ivan. Maybe it’s time we were introduced.”
“Mr. Ivan isn’t very social, for obvious reasons.” Ted warned, clearly not liking my suggestion. He shifted uncomfortably on his polished dress shoes.
One would think a grim reaper would need to be social, but maybe Ivan remained silent as he escorted souls into the afterlife.
That isn’t depressing or anything. Listen, I say we crash the poker game tonight. You can speak with Ivan, cast a spell to get rid of his cat allergies, and then you can leave me to win everyone’s cash. By the way, ask Crayola Head what the stakes are for tonight. I should be prepared.
“Please, Ted? Maybe if I tell Ivan myself what has been happening around town, he’ll have some insight for me.” I wasn’t beyond begging at this point. “I mean, what if there’s some simple solution…like the veil between us and the afterlife being thin this time of year? After all, All Hallows’ Eve is tomorrow.”
Well, that rather odd theory came out of left field.
“I should probably ask Ivan first,” Ted offered, his frown still in place.
Let me guess. The grim reaper doesn’t like surprises. Hey, do you think he harbors resentment about me not crossing over with Rosemary? I never thought about it, but maybe he has some type of appointment ledger with everyone’s scheduled death date.
“That’s just morbid,” I muttered, gathering my long, black hair and bringing it around my left shoulder. “Ted, do you think you could ask Ivan about it this afternoon? Leo and I can accompany you this evening if Ivan gives us his permission.”
I wasn’t sure what would happen if we managed to upset the grim reaper, but I didn’t want to find out.
That’s probably the smartest thing you said all morning. Surprising Death shouldn’t antagonize him at all.
“I will pay another visit to my beloved first,” Ted said, finally relenting and causing me to breathe a little easier.
“Perfect.” I stepped forward and gave Ted an impromptu hug. He never knew what to do in these circumstances. He slow-patted my back awkwardly until I released his thin waist. “Thank you, Ted. Leo mentioned saving my sanity, but this is what will do the trick. I just want to make sure we aren’t going to have a spirit invasion of the entire town for Halloween.”
“I understand, Ms. Raven.”
Ted exited the tea shop, making a hard, left turn on the sidewalk in order to stroll down to Mindy’s boutique.
There is a bright spot to this predicament, if you think about it.
“Leo, you’re still staring at that bell as if it’s going to grow legs and walk to the cemetery itself,” I said wryly as I made my way over to the coffee station. Maybe I’d even add an espresso shot this time for additional courage in light of what we could be facing later this evening. “The only bright spot I’m seeing is that neither spirit that we know of decided to hang around for more than a mere glimpse.”
I’m just saying that this is the perfect time of year for a dilemma such as this. The spirits can walk amongst the other people dressed up in their costumes, and they would be none the wiser.
I shot Leo a contemplative glance, attempting to figure out what his game plan was in this situation. He was usually all doom and gloom, and here he was being an optimist.
“What gives?” I asked, refusing to have the wool pulled over my eyes.
Oh, that.
“Yes, that,” I stated, dumping the espresso shot into my cup of coffee. It was going to be a long day until Ted returned with news of our meeting with the grim reaper tonight. It wasn’t like such an event was an everyday occurrence. “What are you up to?”
Fine. If you must know, I’m tapping out for the remainder of the day.
“You are not tapping out of this mystery, Leo.” There were things that needed to be done, such as Leo popping in to visit Wilma or Eugene to make sure they weren’t talking to thei
r long-deceased loved ones. “We have work to do.”
Ninja squirrel work, to be exact. I’ve been neglecting my duties, Raven. The squirrel apocalypse is just as important as a spirit apocalypse. Squirrels by day, spirits by night. That’s my new motto.
“Leo, don’t you dare—”
You’re on bell duty, Raven. Accept your fate for whom the bell tolls.
And just like that, Leo disappeared from the counter, leaving a puff of orange and black fur floating in his wake. I should have just taken that espresso in a shot, especially after my fate had all but been sealed.
Yes.
By that, I meant that the cesaral spirit bell decided to ring once more.
“Leo, get your glitter-stained paw back here!”
Chapter Four
I wonder who would win—a small coastal town full of ninja squirrels or a half-dozen, soul-possessing supernatural spirits?
Thankfully, Leo had materialized back inside the tea shop the minute I’d frantically demanded his presence. A few hours had passed with me making a few phone calls to Liam and Heidi, both of whom claimed they’d heard nothing else from any of the residents concerning spirit visits or odd sightings of any sort.
I’d put my stash of premium organic catnip on the ninja squirrels. Before you summoned me back here, I was able to get a peek at their acorn storage operation. I wasn’t impressed. It seemed completely random to me. Skippy’s minions were scattered all over town and had no logical plan for collecting those acorns for their extended winter hibernation. You know, I just realized how much Skippy and I have in common. My minions are operating totally outside the box, too.
“If you’re comparing me to one of those ninja squirrels, you can stop right there, Mr. Doom and Gloom,” I warned, pointing a pen in Leo’s direction. We were both back at the counter in close proximity to the cesaral spirit bell. “I think I have a plan.”
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