“Sure,” Harrison quips. “I gotta go. I’m taking another client out to brunch.”
“Look at you, working on a Saturday.”
“I fucking hate it,” he mutters. “I keep hearing talk of a promotion so I put in the work, yet it’s been a year of this fucking bullshit.”
“Maybe it’s time to look for a new job. There are quite a few marketing companies in Syracuse.”
“It’s something to consider. Talk to you later, sis.”
“Bye, Har. Love you.”
I end the call, drop my phone back in my purse, and go into the bookstore. I’m in love as soon as I step foot inside, inhaling deep. The scent of ink and paper calms me the same way the smell of sweet feed and hay does when I go to the barn. I take my time looking through the books, absolutely loving that this bookstore stocks a ton of indie books.
Twenty minutes later, I head up the counter with an armload of romance novels. A pretty blonde woman stands behind the counter.
“Did you find everything all right?” she asks as I accidentally drop a few books onto the countertop.
“Yes,” I say. “I found more than I intended.”
She laughs. “That’s easy to do.”
I try to neatly stack the books and notice several wedding magazines open on the counter next to the register. “Are you getting married? Congrats if you are.”
“No, my best friend is, but I’m still really excited.”
“Oh, fun!”
“I’m mostly excited to plan the bachelorette party,” she says with a laugh and continues ringing up the books. Her fingers sweep over mine when I hand her my credit card, and she looks at me a beat too long. Smiling, she quickly swipes the card and hands it back to me.
“Have fun at the bachelorette party,” I tell her and take my heavy bag of books.
“Knowing the bride, it’ll be a wild night.” She smiles again. “Have a good day.”
“Thanks, you too.”
I go back outside and continue walking down Main Street, going in and out of shops and spending more money today than I did all last month combined. I order food to-go from Maria’s, a Mexican restaurant downtown, and go back to the house. I sit in the kitchen this time, texting Laney as I eat, and then spend the rest of my daylight hours walking around the property and exploring the house again, desperate for something to jog my memory again.
I have another early morning, so after packing up the snacks and washing the few dishes I used, I shower, change, and sit in bed so I can leaf through the Book of Shadows.
“Aunt Estelle?” I whisper and look around the room. “You said you’d give me answers somehow.” I wait a beat, as if she’ll knock three times to let me know she’s here. I roll my eyes when I get no reply. Of fucking course. Out of all the ghosts to inconvenience me over the years, the one dead person I want to talk to isn’t speaking.
Sighing, I get under the covers and fluff up the pillows to comfortably continue reading an entry in the book that reads more like a journal. The first few sentences are too faded to make out. I skip to the most recent entry, knowing it was written by Aunt Estelle by the tiny script.
“‘I predicted another disturbance in the Ley line before the High Priest was able to sense it. The cards are never wrong,’” I whisper to myself as I read out loud. Ley line? I think I’ve heard that phrase before. Maybe? I carefully flip through the book as quickly as I can, certain I’ll find a page about Ley line.
I make it only three pages before I’m distracted again by a page about telekinesis. According to this, most witches are able to learn how to manipulate energy around them, in turn using it to summon objects to them or push them away. Some witches are born with the natural ability, using their telekinetic powers as a second nature.
There’s a note in the margin, thankfully not written by Aunt Estelle, saying the best way to get started is to put a bay leaf in a bowl of water, wait until it stills, and then try to move it with your mind. There aren’t any bay leaves in the house, but I can pluck a leaf off of the rosebush outside, which is exactly what I do.
Sitting at the island counter, I stare into the bowl of water and wait for it to go completely still. I give myself a headache trying to push the leaf around with my mind, and as a shock to no one, it doesn’t move at all.
My phone rings right as I’m dumping the water in the sink. I turn the bowl upside down and set it on a towel to dry. Wiping my hands on my pants, I go back to the island and grab my phone.