Page 8 of The Pumpkin Spice Cafe
‘Okay, okay, Tim. Settle down. No one is making you drink Tammy’s tea.’ The mayor held his hands up to quiet the crowd. Logan was right. They were on the verge of a zombie situation. ‘I believe we have the PS Café’s new owner with us tonight.’ Pete smiled encouragingly at Jeanie. ‘Maybe she can come up here and enlighten us on her plans.’
Jeanie drew in a breath and Logan thought maybe she wouldn’t want to go up in front of everyone. In fact, he was ready to jump in and explain that she planned to open this weekend, but she was already up and walking toward the podium.
He had been trying so hard not to notice her tonight that he’d missed how her hair was swept into a neat twist at the back of her head, and instead of hedgehog pajamas she wore gray slacks and a sweater the color of fresh cream. Her tall, black heels tapped loudly on the old wood floor.
He blinked. This woman was not the one he met this morning. This woman didn’t need rescuing. For the first time, he wondered who she had been before she moved here, what she’d done outside of Dream Harbor. He’d been so sure she needed him to help, to fix something for her. A bad habit of his.
She gave Pete one of her bright smiles and stood behind the podium. ‘Hi, everyone. I’m Jeanie. Dot’s niece.’ She cleared her throat, her smile wobbling slightly. So, she was a little nervous. ‘Sorry to have deprived you all of your caffeine for the week. I was ... uh ... just getting settled in, but the café will reopen this Saturday.’
Cheers went up from the crowd, and shouts of encouragement and welcome pulled Jeanie’s smile even wider. Logan felt his own lips tip into a matching smile. For the coffee. He was happy about the coffee.
‘I am having a little bit of an issue, though,’ Jeanie went on. ‘I’ve been hearing strange noises at night. It’s ... um ... been very disruptive to my sleep and I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on what it might be?’
‘Murderous farmers?’ Annie yelled out, and Logan kicked the back of her chair.
‘It’s probably just raccoons,’ Mac suggested. ‘I’ve seen a few fat ones digging out in the trash.’
Jeanie shook her head. ‘I don’t know. It really doesn’t sound like animals. And it’s a bit different every night. Sometimes like a banging, sometimes like a scratching.’
Oh, the crowd liked this little tidbit. Suddenly the room was erupting in theories.
‘Teenagers! Out causing trouble.’
‘Just a little mischief. It is October, after all.’
‘It’s probably a stress dream. I do dream readings. Come see me!’
‘It’s been very windy lately.’
‘You’re just anxious, hon.’
Jeanie’s head swiveled from person to person, listening to each crazy suggestion.
‘Could be haunted.’
Jeanie’s gaze snagged on Noah, captain of theSS Ginger, the town’s one and only fishing tour company and Logan’s other best friend. Lover of tall tales and beautiful women.
‘Haunted?’
‘Yeah.’ Logan could see Noah’s auburn-haired head bobbing in assent. ‘Definitely. Those buildings on Main are crazy old. It’d be crazier if they weren’t haunted, honestly.’
Logan would chuck something at the back of his friend’s head if he thought he could hit him from here. He’d brought Jeanie here to find a more plausible explanation for her noise problem, not to further support her ghost theory. Although, looking around the room now, he did not know why he thought this crew would come up with a more reasonable answer.
‘That’s what I thought, too! But Logan thought that was a crazy idea.’
‘Oh, did he?’ Noah asked, one copper eyebrow raised as every head in the room turned to look at Logan. The question was written all over their faces. Not anything about noise or ghosts, but all about him and Jeanie. Mostly, how was he already acquainted with the cute new girl in town?
Nope, not cute.
Just a new neighbor.
He felt the heat creep up his neck.
‘I think there could be something to this theory,’ Mayor Kelly cut in before Logan had to answer any questions. And for a second, Logan was grateful. Until the next words left the mayor’s mouth. ‘Actually, now that you mention it, I had a dream about this.’
Dear God, save him.Not a Mayor Kelly dream. He really was in hell. This was officially the last time he’d try to save the town from caffeine-addicted zombies.
‘A dream?’ Jeanie asked, completely innocent of the insane way this town was run. Logan must have been groaning out loud because Hazel jabbed him in the ribs again.
