Page 68 of Upside Down Magic

“Thankyou,Ian.”

Wow.Firstthe guy at theCabinet, nowTammy.HadIangotten some sort of potion at the dark marketplace without telling me?Ieyed him suspiciously, but he had his best unreadable granite expression on.Somethingto ask later.

Keyjumped out afterTammy, then turned to helpLilian.Alexhad gone back to the cemetery since there were only so many people we could squeeze into the back seat of theSUV.

“Leadus in,Faith.”

“Hope,”Isaid under my breath asIunlocked the back gate.Iheard a snicker, whichI’mpretty sure came fromLilianbecauseTammydidn’t intentionally misname everything and everyone—exceptIanand her friends, apparently—she just…wasOh-call-me-Tammy.

Wefiled into the backyard, down the stone path, around the metal fire pit, and into the back of the shop.Ireset the alarmwhileLilianpeeked into the kitchen and the storage room, then we moved into the front.

Thesight of my shop made my heart ache.

Itwas the middle of the day, and it was empty, the blinds drawn down, the chairs turned over the two tables.Therewas a sense of finality about the scene thatIwanted gone yesterday, andIhad the sudden urge to make everything appear as if we simply had no customers rather than us having had to shut down.Ihurried to turn the chairs back up and draw up the blinds hiding the front door window.

Muchbetter.

“Ilike this place,”Liliansaid, sitting on a counter stool. “Thinkyou can make us some tea while we wait?”

Ibrightened at the request. “Ofcourse.”Islid behind the counter and turned on the water urn. “Muffins?Cookies?”

“No, thank you.”

“I’lltake a grilled ham-and-cheese sand-witch,”Iansaid, a twinkle in his eyes.

Ah, but he knew how to get my spirits back up. “Nosandwich for you but here, have a muffin.”Iset a chocolate one on a plate and slid it his way.Oncethe water was heated,Imade a cup of lemon ginger forLilian, started a pot of coffee, grabbed a can of diet soda from the mini fridge, and drained half of it in one big gulp.

Backat the scene of the crime.

Theevil spell affecting paranormalscrime in particular.

Ididn’t know what it said about me orOlmedathatIhad to specify which crime, butIdidn’t care.Iwanted my shop back—our shop.Grandma’sand mine.

“Excuseme a moment,”Isaid and rushed upstairs.

Grandma’sspellbook lay on top of the dresser, as it always did.I’dalmost taken it with me toIan’s, but the shop could useas many good vibes as possible, and what was more powerful in that department thanGrandma’sspellbook?Nothing.

“Imiss you,Grandma,”Iwhispered, tracing the embroidered flowers on the green cover. “Iwish you were still here.Butdon’t worry,Iwon’t let them shut down the shop.We’regoing to fix this and then we’ll be back to normal, serving the community, being flooded byBrimstone’sfans, and sharing breakfast withDruevery day.”

“Hell, yeah, we are,”Drusaid from the hallway.

“Dru!”Iexclaimed and rushed to hug her.

Shehugged me back for a second before swatting me away. “Stop.Bad,Hope, bad.”

Iblinked away the sudden wetness in my eyes. “Imissed you.”

“Imissed the free coffee.”Shepointed at me. “Donotcry,Hope.Imean it.Weliterally saw each other two days ago.”

Iblinked faster. “Iwould never.”

Herfinger moved toward the floor. “Youreally think those two witches know how to fix things?”

“Theysound certain.”

“Sodo you before you mix some awful new tea combination.”

“Hey, they might not taste as good, but still works to quench your thirst, right?”

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