“Excuse me?”
“It just seems like there’s a common denominator here, and it’s not me.”
“I didn’t make their drinks last night,” I bite at her.
“No, but you were there when the charm went wrong. Just like you were there when the books started throwing themselves off the shelves, and when the ballerinas started flying,andwhen the skeletons started dancing!” She lists off each event on her fingers, her serious exterior crumbling by the time she gets to the last offense.
“This is ridiculous!” I shout, a laugh bubbling out of my chest and up my throat at that absurd list of events. Lucy breaks with me until we’ve both dissolved into fits of half-exhausted cackles.
“Okay, okay,” Lucy starts, catching her breath. “So, we know I’m not messing with the magic, and you’re not messing with the magic. That leaves us with one other common denominator.”
I groan, and in unison we both say what we’re thinking.
“Oliver.”
Using a spoon to dump a handful of chocolate chips into her palm, Lucy stares at her hands, a line forming between her brows. “Can guys even fuck with magic?”
“Theoretically, yeah.”
“What does that mean?”
I shrug, holding my chin in my hands as I lean against the counter. “Magic itself is rooted in the earth. Some places are more magical than others, and only certain people can tap into them. Ashwood Haven hasn’t had a man capable of tapping into the magic for . . . I don’t even know how long, but that doesn’t mean men elsewhere can’t. It’s entirely possible that one of them moved here to open a bakery and found himself with a well of magic at his fingertips.”
She pops a chocolate chip onto her tongue, humming with thought. “So, what I’m hearing is you need to continue prying into the past of the new guy and find out if he’s the one causing all of this.”
My heart races at the thought of getting more one-on-one time with Oliver. Normally, being forced to spend time with others makes my chest ache with dread. This time, though, it’s rushing with excitement, and it’s such a foreign feeling I have to press a hand to my chest to calm the sensation.
The movement isn’t lost on Lucy, so I speak before she can comment on it.
“Fine,” I chirp, “but that leaves you with research duty.”
Lucy freezes, her hand hovering midair on its way to pop another chocolate chip. “Come again?”
“You heard me. We’re going to call in Marilyn for backup during the lantern walk, and you get to go look through Grandma’s tomes on town history to figure out if anything like this has ever happened before.”
“No way. Not happening. Bad idea.”
I grin at her, reveling in the way her eyes go round with panic. “Too late. Thanks to you, I’m on new guy duty.” I turn away and head to the front door to flip the sign from CLOSED to OPEN, feeling smug as she scampers after me.
“Have you lost it? Do you not remember my two-point zip GPA? I cannotbe on research duty. End of story.”
I pause before the front door, whirling on her as Don waves at us, cheeks rosy with cold as he waits for his daily caffeine fix.
“High school was a decade ago. You’re an adult, in case you’ve forgotten. Besides, you and I both know that your crappy grades had nothing to do with your ability to do research and everything to do with your need to piss off every teacher in school by passing tests without completing a single piece of homework.”
“But—”
I hold up a hand to cut her off. Don tilts side-to-side, trying to make eye contact and get our attention through the glass.
“But nothing. If it turns out Oliver isn’t behind this, then we’ll need a lead on what is before Halloween hits and all hell breaks loose.”
Lucy glares at me, her mouth snapping shut with a pout. An argument is building in her eyes, and I leave her to stew as I unlock the door and let Don in.
I paste on my customer service smile, but the mischief in my eyes makes Lucy’s glare narrow in a dangerous way. “Good morning, Don.”
“Good morning, girls!” He steps past me into the shop, rubbing his palms together, and gives Lucy a wary look. He leans into me. “Should I be concerned? She has thatlook.”
I suppress a chuckle. Lucy chews on the inside of her cheek, cocking her hip to the side in a way that would make anyone nervous.
