Page 65 of A Spell of Midlife Mayhem

‘No, my lawyer will email them. He tricked you.’

‘Yeah, I realised that afterwards. Sorry, Mum, I wasn’t thinking. But at least he won’t come knocking on your door, will he? You’re on the other side of the world.’

He’d better not.

‘I need to get back to sleep, Rose. I’ve got work in the morning, and it’s late.’

‘Okay. Sorry about calling after midnight. Speak soon.’ She disconnected.

I put the phone down and fell asleep almost immediately.

Chapter 22

A SOMBRE MOOD HUNG in the office the next morning when we ate the pastries Melissa had brought in. We drank a toast of tea to Ronald Morris. Lydia shed a few tears again.

We all missed him. Even me, who had only known him briefly.

After Lydia said it was time to get the house ready for visitors, she pulled me aside once Penny and Melissa had left the office.

‘I know you can see our ghosts,’ she said. ‘So, you’re a witch, Heather. How advanced are you?’

She’d caught me by surprise. ‘Um... I’m a beginner. I didn’t even know anything about witchy things until recently. I was told the abilities don’t appear in my family before the mid-forties.’

Lydia laid a hand on my shoulder. Her expression serious, she asked, ‘Do you have a mentor?’

‘Yes. Do you mind me asking... how do you know about witches, Lydia? Are you—’

‘Yes, I am. I’m quite new at this myself. I have a few simple spells and supernatural senses. I first saw our ghostly occupants about a year ago.’

A thrill of joy raced through me. Lydia was a witch too!

‘Maybe we can learn together! If it works like that, and if you want to, I mean.’

She smiled. ‘That would be great. Have you started on the correspondence course yet?’

‘Not yet. My first lessons haven’t arrived, but I’ve signed up.’

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