The Hidden Grimoire by Karla Brandenburg (pride and prejudice read TXT) 📕

stumble across her gifts the way I did and hurt someone unintentionally.

Jason’s daughter wasn’t even born yet. I had plenty of time to worry about that. For now, a special order asked to be made.

By the time I’d finished blending herbs to help with insomnia, the workroom was flooded with natural light. Time to get showered and dressed.

An hour later, I packed the special orders into my tote bag and opened the covered basket that had become Ash’s transport. She jumped in while I put on my coat, and after I’d checked to make sure everything was turned off and closed, we started for town.

The well-worn footpaths crunched with frozen mud. The wind shook clumps of hoar frost from barren trees. I descended three wooden steps, taking care not to slip, and came out onto Broadway, the cobbled street that made up the business district.

The artist statue on the corner of Broadway and North was turned toward the Village Hall today. On the artist’s easel, the painting showed the Williamsburg-like building and an assortment of jack-o-lanterns on the surrounding lawn. Someone had tied a Lone Ranger style Halloween mask over the statue’s eyes.

People bustled in and out of the bakery across the street. Two men unloading a truck carried supplies into the restaurant. Beyond the florist, which hadn’t opened yet, two older men stood outside the five-and-dime in deep discussion.

While I unlocked the door to Windfall, I glanced at the bookstore next door to see if Yvonne had opened yet—no lights. Ash pushed her head through the hinged cover on the basket, followed by her two front paws. I hurried into the gift shop—no, it was a boutique now—and set the basket on the counter. Ash jumped onto the display cases and stretched her paws forward. Her ears quivered with the effort, and then she sat expectantly.

“Let me take my coat off,” I said. “Then I’ll feed you.”

She chirruped a half meow, half purr, as if she understood.

I left my tote on the rear counter and carried my coat to the backroom. Ash trotted along behind me, curling around my legs when I poured food into her bowl. I returned to the front of the store and set my hands on my hips. It would take time for me to get used to the new arrangement.

In place of the shelves of goods I’d sold on consignment up until a couple of months ago, clothes racks filled the middle of the floor. One corner of the shop held the armoire stocked with essential oils. In another, the table of soaps and bath salts.

The bell over the door announced the arrival of my business partner, Cassandra Larsen. She wore torn jeans, an oversized T-shirt and athletic shoes. Her ice-blonde hair was pulled into a high ponytail, but her makeup wasn’t as bold as she normally wore, even though her dark brown eyes didn’t need accenting.

“I didn’t think you were coming in until noon,” I said.

The cold had made her cheeks bright red against her pale complexion. “I have bad news.”

Chapter 7

Tears welled in Cassandra’s eyes and her voice cracked. “My grandmother passed away last night. I’m going to need a couple of days off.”

I rushed around the counter and hugged Cassandra. Her grandmother had had a catastrophic stroke a couple of months ago, so the news wasn’t unexpected. “I’m so sorry. Take all the time you need.”

“I hate to leave you in a lurch like this.” Cassandra drew a breath. “Some business partner I am. We’re just getting started and I have to bail on you.”

“I’ll be fine,” I told her.

“There’s something else I needed to tell you,” Cassandra said. “A woman was in here yesterday. She mentioned her sister had told her about Windfall, and she was under the impression it was, as she put it, an apothecary shop. I didn’t think anything of it at first, but I did tell her we’d recently changed our business plan. She asked me if the shop was under new management, or if the same bitch ran it.”

I took a step back, the words hitting me like a slap in the face. “And you told her...?”

“I went with new management, which isn’t a total lie.” Cassandra lowered her voice. “She gave me the willies. Didn’t the woman who started the fire at your house have a sister?”

I nodded, flashing on the image of the beautiful witch who’d locked me in my workroom. I cleared my throat, more from habit than necessity, the way I had for the past month after being hospitalized for smoke inhalation.

Nora’s voice echoed from our encounter yesterday. Be here. Now. I opened my mouth to breathe, my muscles tense. My voice came from far away. “If it was her sister, I hope what you told her will keep her from coming back.”

“I don’t mind telling you I’m glad you and Kyle made up. At least this way I know someone’s watching out for you in case things get ugly again,” Cassandra said. “We’ve all been through more than our fair share this year.”

I took a cleansing breath. “Don’t you worry about me. Go be with your family. Let me know what the arrangements will be, and please tell your parents I’m sorry for your loss.”

She hugged me once more and left. Stuck at the store, I was in a fishbowl if that woman’s sister came back, but my gifts had matured considerably over the summer. I understood my place in the world, and I’d learned to control the skills I had. I’d know if another witch walked into my shop.

As quiet as a whisper, Nora’s voice echoed in my head. Are you safe?

I smiled, considering how often I’d asked her the same question this year, and replied, All is well. At least I hoped it was.

Behind the counter, I stopped to pet Ash’s silky fur. If anything was amiss, she had proven a reliable alarm. My touch turned up the volume on her purr, but she remained curled