Page 22 of The Pumpkin Spice Cafe
‘Customers want their coffee. They don’t care if I’m standing on my head while I serve it,’ she’d argued. He dropped it after that.
‘A new theory about your ghost,’ Annie said.
The butcher block counter between them was ‘L’ shaped, with a side for the register to place an order, and a side with stools for sitting. Annie pulled up a stool and sat with a sigh. The bakery closed at three so Annie was off for the day.
‘Oh, right. Well, that problem is solved.’
‘Solved? What, already?’
Jeanie slid Annie’s usual chai latte across the counter, and Annie clutched it in her hands. She breathed in the spiced scent before continuing with her questions.
‘Ghosts can be tricky. Are you sure it’s gone?’
‘Turns out it wasn’t a ghost at all.’
Annie frowned into her mug. ‘Did Logan convince you of that? He’s the world’s biggest skeptic, Jeanie. He only believes in things he can hold in his own two hands.’
‘He did pet the cat that showed up last night with his own two hands, so I think it’s settled.’
‘A cat? No way.’
As if on cue, the cat who Jeanie had so cleverly named Casper, sauntered into the café. He walked to the square of sunshine on the floor coming in from the big front window, plopped down, threw a leg over his head, and began to lick himself.
If Norman was here, he would have a fit. He was less than pleased with the new Pumpkin Spice Café family member. But Jeanie had already taken him to the vet this morning, gotten him his shots, bought a litter box and a giant bag of vet-recommended cat food. This guy was here to stay.
Annie glanced at Casper and then back at Jeanie. Her skepticism was written across her round face.
‘It’s true. I was here last night with Logan and then we heard this scratching at the back door. It was the cat. It must have been what I’d been hearing all along.’ Jeanie’s face heated at the mention of Logan and being here all night with him and the memory of how his fingers had felt brushing across her cheek when he swept the hair away from her face.
Annie raised an eyebrow. ‘Hmm.’
Oh, no, her farmer fantasies were clearly written across her face. She’d never had this problem at her old job. No one in her old life had evoked these feelings in her. She had never once wanted to burrow her face into the work shirt of any of her colleagues. It was the magic of the flannel.
‘Well, if anything else strange happens, you let me know because I think Mac is up to something.’
It was Jeanie’s turn to raise a skeptical eyebrow. ‘You think Mac is haunting my café?’
‘Not haunting.’ Annie waved a hand, nearly knocking over her mug, and Jeanie slid it out of the way. ‘I think he’s trying to scare you off.’
‘Why would he do that?’ Jeanie had hardly met the man. A café owner and a pub owner basically worked opposite shifts. Other than a polite hello when she was closing up and he was opening, she hadn’t interacted with Mac Sullivan at all.
‘He wants your space. He’s wanted to expand the pub since he bought it last year. I heard he made an offer to Dot for the café, but she turned him down.’
‘Even still. Just because he wanted the café at some point doesn’t mean he’d try to drive me out of here.’
‘You don’t know him like I do, Jeanie. Just be careful,’ Annie added ominously, before sipping the latte Jeanie had slid back in front of her.
‘Will do.’
The bell jingled over the café door and another cool breeze swept into the shop. Dry leaves swirled in its wake.
‘Oh, aren’t you a little darling!’ Hazel stooped down to rub Casper’s belly and he purred in delight. ‘Where did he come from?’
‘That’s Jeanie’s ghost.’
‘Really?’ Hazel looked up, her eyes wide behind her glasses. ‘This little guy was making all that noise?’
‘Apparently,’ Annie said, still not sounding convinced. ‘Jeanie and Logan were here all night before that cat showed up.’
