Page 18 of A Love Like Pumpkin Spice
When I glance at Lauren, I’m surprised to see her nod.
“At first, I thought it was probably a mouse. Or any other tiny, normal, non-paranormal creature. But then I realized no normal mouse would follow me fromroom to room. Every room I go into,scratch, scratch, scratch—she’s there. It’s like she’s stalking me! Or judging me? I don’t know. The scratching surely sounds judgmental.”
“You’ve got issues,” Lauren says lovingly, fighting a grin. “No cat would judge you, and ghosts don’t exist.”
“Oh, really?” She turns in her seat and shoots Lauren a glare. “Then how do you explain this? Every time I try to hang something up, I swear a chill runs down my spine. Like, she disapproves of my decor choices. Last night, I put up a perfectly normal picture from some premi”—she stops herselfand clears her throat, giving Lauren a meaningful look—“someevent. Honest to God, nothing offensive to the feline spirit realm—and I kid you not, the whole thing slid right off the wall. No nails loose, no breeze, only straight-up cat disapproval.”
“Maybe you didn’t put it up properly?” Kieran asks from his space at the counter before he gets up and motions for me to scoot over. “Make some space. This is better than any gossip about myself I could hear from over there.”
“Oh, hi, Kieran,” Lauren and Nic say in unison. Even Caleb is curious, crossing his arms in front of his chest, his notepad with our orders still in his hand.
“I’m … oddly invested now.”
“You should be invested in our coffees,” Lauren teases him. “I wasn’t kidding about my caffeine addiction.”
“Shawna’s got it.” He looks over his shoulder at the woman who has been helping him work through the noon-rushes for years now, before leaving early in the afternoon to spend time with her grandchildren.
Her copper hair, streaked with occasional gray strands, is tied back loosely, yet it holds up surprisingly well—even though she moves between the counter and tables with the energy of a whirlwind. She's the kind of woman who can take six orders at once, clean the counter, and make you laugh—all in the blink of an eye.
Once he catches her eye, he moves his hand to signal their order to her, in what appears to be their own secret sign language. She pulls out a pencil tucked behind her ear and quickly writes down his order.
“Okay, good.” Lauren nods happily, her fingers nervously tapping the table.
I pay the banter of Caleb and Lauren no mind, but I catch the corners of Nic’s mouth twitch as she listens in.
“I definitely put it up properly, Mr. Science over here,” Nic finally continues. “And try to explain the clear and loudmeowing right next to my ear at three o’clock in the morning. Or the way something left an indentation in the blanket and kept my feet warm right after. Both scared the hell out of me.”
“Maybe you dreamed it?” Caleb scratches his scruff, and I tilt my head. “Sleep paralysis?”
“That would be a cute sleep paralysis demon, though.” Lauren giggles.
“Are you sure it’s not creaky house sounds and guilt about Chaos’s passing?” I wonder and sip my coffee, noting the way they wistfully stare at my mug.
“No, the place is sturdy. No creaks, no whistling. It’s sturdier than my emotional state.” She freezes for a moment, then shakes her head. “Which isn’t saying too much, now that I think about it.” She takes a deep breath, and then, finally, Shawna appears with their drinks, receiving grateful smiles from the two of them. Lauren’s eyes light up as though she may just have found her new favorite person. Funny, Jensen does the same when I open a bag of treats. She wasn’t kidding about her love for coffee.
“If it’s a ghost, what’s your plan?” Lauren asks, taking a sip of her coffee and releasing a deep, happy sigh. “Oh, this is good.”
“Thank you,” Caleb says gruffly, but from the corner of my eye, I can see the corner of his mouth twitch.
“Are you going to call a pastor for an exorcism? Ignore it? Draw salt circles around your house? Find a pet psychic that will show her the light?”
“I was thinking more along the lines of bribery. I ordered a bunch of treats and left some out in a little dish, you know, as a peace offering. But when I woke up, the dish was mysteriously tipped over, and the treats were all over the floor, but there were less than before. So now I’m paranoid that I’veencouragedthe ghost cat. Maybe I’ve accidentally opened some portal to the cat afterlife, and now I’m obligated to feed her every night.”
“You realize you’re talking about feeding an invisible, likely non-existent cat spirit?” I raise my eyebrow at her amusedly. She takes the little biscuit off the saucer and throws it my way. It bounces off my sweater, falling to the ground.
There’s no use trying to retrieve it. Jensen barely lets it land before he devours it. Thank God the biscuits Caleb uses here are, well, not exactly dog-friendly, but not poisonous.
“Oh, I realize it, all right. But you don’t get to judge my supernatural pet-care routine. Not until you have your own cat ghost that knocks over picture frames and gives you the heebie-jeebies in the middle of the night. Maybe she’ll be at your place tonight, Daddy.” I grimace at that last word, making the whole table laugh.
“God, I can’t believe I’ve been here for only a few days, and this town is already making me a crazy cat lady.”
“Welcome to Wayward Hollow, I guess,” Caleb says dryly, and Kieran hides his wheezing laughter behind his hands.
Nic glances at Lauren and exhales a deep sigh. “Just what have we gotten ourselves into here?”
“Don’t worry, you get used to it,” Kieran says, chuckling at their skeptical expressions.
Chapter 5
