Betwixt

by Danielle Garrett

  “Okay,” she said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  Adam sputtered, nearly chocking on his toast as he watched the scene from his place at the stove.

  “You any good with a potato peeler?” I asked with a smile.

  “How about I work on the décor,” she countered.

  With Lacey at the helm, we’d probably end up with a bedazzled table cloth, crystal candlesticks, silver streamers, and a disco ball, but hey, it was one thing off my plate.

  “Sure. That would be a big help.”

  Lacey finished her goblet of faux blood and then left the kitchen, listing off the supplies she’d need to gather from the storage closet in the guest room. Evangeline and I continued working until the potatoes were peeled and cubed, then went to work on the stuffing. Adam wrestled the bird into the largest roasting pan we could find and then put together a cheese platter.

  We laughed and drank cider as we worked and my fears of crashing and burning faded away. When we took a break to let things cook, I realized we were still missing one of our key members. “I wonder where Posy is.”

  “Maybe she went to visit Gwen?” Evangeline suggested. “For all we know, they have their own ghosts-only celebration.”

  “Not like they can eat,” Adam agreed.

  I nodded, but it still nagged at me as I moved into the next task.

  The hours ticked by and by the time Cassie texted to let me know she was on the way, it was after noon and we had a good handle on the meal preparations. When the doorbell finally rang, I patted my hands dry of the flour I’d been using to make rolls and started for the kitchen door. “That’ll be Cassie and Kirra,” I said before stopping short. I spun on my heel and looked back at Lacey and Evangeline. “Now, remember--play human.”

  Lacey groaned. “We know!”

  Evangeline smiled. “We’ll be good. We promise.”

  I hesitated another moment, glancing between them, before going to the front door. I was surprised to find Posy standing in the foyer, peering out the windows that framed the manors stately double doors. “Posy! There you are!” I hurried across the room and reached for the door knob. “We were hoping you’d join us in the—”

  Boom.

  Boots hit the floor, having launched himself from the fourth stair and smacked into a potted plant as he hurried after the enchanted turkey. “Whoa! That was a close one!” I snapped my fingers and the turkey stopped cold, frozen back to the ceramic figurine.

  “What on earth was that?” Posy asked, frowning at the now-lifeless decoration.

  “Oh, it was nothing.” I waved my hand. “Are you all right, Posy?”

  The doorbell sounded for a second time.

  “I’m fine, dear,” she replied. “You’d better welcome your guests.”

  Reluctantly, I tore my eyes away from studying Posy’s expression and opened the front door.

  “Happy Thanksgiving!” Cassie said, crossing the threshold first. She gave me a quick embrace and pressed a bottle of wine into my hands. “I figured by now you’d need this.”

  I laughed. “We’re actually doing okay. No tragic kitchen incidents.”

  “Yet,” Adam said, coming up behind me.

  Cassie flashed me a grin. “Hello, Adam! Happy Thanksgiving.”

  “Happy Thanksgiving, Cassie. Come on in.” He greeted Kirra, Cassie’s younger sister, and their father as they came inside. “Mr. Frank, please tell me you’re a football fan.”

  Mr. Frank smiled at Adam. “Show me to the tube, son.”

  “Right this way!”

  Cassie, Kirra, and I laughed as the two of them wandered off to the living room where Adam had the pre-game coverage fired up. “Guess we don’t have to worry about entertaining dad,” Kirra said to Cassie.

  “Sorry we’re so late,” Cassie said to me as we started back through the manor to the kitchen. “Dad wasn’t having a good morning. His back was really bothering him and I wanted to wait until his pain meds kicked in.”

  “No problem.” I steered them both into the kitchen. “I had help. You know Evangeline,” I said. Evangeline nodded and waggled her fingers. “And this is Lacey Vaughn.”

  Lacey smiled—thankfully, keeping her fangs concealed—and gave each woman a nod. “Nice to meet you. Holly talks about you all … endlessly.”

  I rolled my eyes and bit back a sharp reply. “Anyways, we have the turkey in the oven, the potatoes are boiling, the cranberry sauce is on a low boil, and the stuffing is ready to go!”

  “Impressive!” Cassie said. “I have the pies in the car. So, Adam will be happy.”

  “Don’t tell him that part yet, or I’m afraid they won’t make it to the dinner table.”

  Cassie and Kirra both dove into work and I excused myself to double back and find Posy, praying that Lacey kept her fangs hidden and that Evangeline remembered that magic was a no-go for the next few hours. She wasn’t in the foyer and I searched the study and the upper floor but couldn’t track her down.

  Eventually, I gave up and went back to the kitchen, but she wasn’t there either.

  “Everything okay?” Evangeline asked as I rejoined her at the stove.

  “Posy’s missing,” I said, keeping my voice quiet.

  “Oh?”

  “I just saw her out in the foyer and now she’s…” my voice trailed off as a flash of movement caught the corner of my eye. I glanced out the kitchen window and spotted her silvery form out in the backyard. “Something’s wrong. I’m going to go see what I can do.” I looked back at Evangeline. “You good here?”

  “Yeah. We’ve got it under control. Go.”

  I checked the clock above the kitchen door. We still had a couple of hours until dinner and there was a lot of work left to go. I wasn’t sure how to plausibly leave the kitchen and go running around the backyard chasing after Posy. Not with Cassie and Kirra standing there anyway.

  I glanced at the fridge and inspiration struck. I went to the fridge and pulled out a casserole dish that contained leftovers from dinner two nights before. The kitchen door swung open and Adam sauntered into the room, holding an empty plate.

  His hungry eyes roved over the food spread out on the counter, waiting to be transferred to serving dishes. I grabbed Evangeline’s arm and she turned to face me. “You’re on guard duty,” I said, jerking my chin in Adam’s direction. “If he starts making eyes at the food, feel free to smack him.”

  Cassie and Kirra snickered as Evangeline nodded. “Got it,” she said, suppressing her own smile.

  Boots crashed into my legs, meowing loudly. I glanced down at his wide, pleading eyes. “Him too.”

  He squinted up at me before turning tail and stalking away to go stand with Adam. “They sure make a sad little pair, don’t they?” Evangeline said, still smiling as she looked over at Adam and Boots.

  I flapped a hand in their general direction—it was safer than making eye contact and risk getting sucked into their pitiful, puppy-eyed expressions. “They’ll be fine.”

  “Where are you even going?” Adam asked.

  I held up the casserole dish in my hands. “I’m making a delivery.”

  “Of a casserole?”

  Yeesh, Adam, play along. “It’s for—”

  “The neighbor lady,” Evangeline chimed in.

  “Right. You know,” I cut a glance at Cassie and Kirra. “Mrs. Archibald.”

  Adam squinted at me like I’d lost my mind but shrugged. “Oookay”

  “I’ll be right back.”

  Cassie cocked her head at me as she loaded hot rolls into a basket. “Why don’t you invite her over for dinner? We can set another place at the table.”

  “Oh.” Right, because that would be the proper etiquette when handling imaginary neighbors.

  “She hates people,” Evangeline blurted.

  I blinked. “Right! She hates people. But you know —Thanksgiving and all…”

  Cassie and Kirra exchanged a bewildered look but didn’t press the issue.

  I hur
ried from the kitchen before I could dig myself any deeper and pulled open the front door to find Nick and Chief Lincoln on the front steps. “Oh! Holly, hey, we were just about to knock.”

  “Quite the hostess,” Chief Lincoln commented.

  “Right, well, come on in.” I stepped back and ushered them forward. I was losing time. Finding Posy in the forest behind the manor would prove difficult on a clear day. In the gloomy, grey afternoon, with a generous head start, I was going to be hard-pressed to catch up to her at all. “Happy Thanksgiving. Be right back!”

  I rushed down the steps, leaving the front for Nick to close, and scurried down the steps. The door shut and I waited half a heartbeat before tracking around the side of the house, careful to avoid the windows so no one would see me wandering around the backyard with a casserole dish in my hands. Posy was still lingering at the tree line and disappeared from sight just as I neared the back of the manor. I made a beeline across the yard and ducked into the cover of the trees. “Posy!” I hissed. “Posy!”

  A silver silhouette flickered through a tree and she was standing before me, a quizzical look on her face. “Holly? What are you doing out here?”

  “I came to see you.” I set the casserole dish on a tree stump and turned back to face her. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, dear. Go back inside and enjoy your dinner.”

  I planted one hand on my hip. “You’re not fine. Fine Posy would be in there playing hostess and telling Lacey, Evangeline, and me which serving dishes to use and how our potato peeling technique was off,” I argued, offering her a smile.

  Posy’s lips twitched as though she were fighting a smile of her own. A tiny sign of progress. But it faded quickly and she waved a hand through the air between us. “I appreciate your concern, Holly. But you don’t need to worry about me.”

  I couldn’t force her inside, but I also couldn’t leave her alone.

  Posy stared past me and looked up at the manor, a glimmer of sadness reflecting in her eyes. “I have a lot of bittersweet memories, Holly. That’s what happens when you live for fifty-two years and then spend over a hundred as a ghost. You collect a lot of memories.”

  I glanced down at my hands. “You miss your family.”

  “I always miss my family.” She inclined her head, looking away from the manor. “But yes, it’s harder on days like this one. I think back to the Thanksgivings hosted in that very dining room. The way it felt to make dinner and be surrounded by family and friends and neighbors. I was quite the hostess, you know.”

  I gave her a wistful smile, easily able to imagine it.

  “Anyway, I figured rather than float around like a rain cloud, I’d steer clear and let you all enjoy the day.”

  “Posy.” I took a step toward her, wishing I could set my hand on her arm. “You don’t understand that when you’re not there, a part of our family is missing.”

  Her eyes went wide.

  “We’re your family now. Adam, Evangeline, Lacey. Me too. Not by blood, of course—”

  “Well that figures, since I don’t have any blood left.” Her tone was dry, but there was a slight gleam in her eyes.

  I rocked back on my heels. “Posy, did you just tell a dark joke?”

  She smiled. “It happens every once in a while.”

  I laughed softly. “We’d really love it if you could come and celebrate with us. Just think about how much fun you can have when half the people at the table won’t be able to see you. You can put your hands in their food or drinks.”

  “Holly!” she barked, looking thoroughly scandalized.

  What? The no-blood joke was funny but not ghost pranks? Ya win some, ya lose some.

  I smiled at her. “Please, Posy, come to dinner. It won’t be the same without you there too.”

  “You mean it?”

  “I do,” I replied, nodding. “Come make some new memories with us.”

  Her eyes sparkled. “Okay. Thank you for the invitation.”

  Posy floated ahead and glanced back as I started to follow her. “What about the casserole, dear?”

  I flapped a hand. “It’s for Mrs. Archibald.”

  “Who?”

  I laughed, not bothering to explain, and continued to lead the way back to the manor.

  We got back inside just in time to witness the sheer evil genius of a certain butterball tabby cat. As soon as the back door opened, Boots charged out, a turkey leg in his mouth. A chorus of screams followed and I raised my hand, ready to fire off a stunning spell and stop him, before I remembered the kitchen was full of humans and squelched the magic gathered in my palm.

  Short one drumstick, but full of laughter and cheer—yes, even Lacey—we gathered around the (predictable glammed up) table and shared the beautiful meal. It wasn’t all cooked to perfection, but it was perfect nonetheless.

  Toward the end of the meal, Adam draped his arm over the back of my chair and leaned in close. “You know what I’m thankful for this year?”

  I smiled at him. “That Boots didn’t run off with both turkey legs?”

  He grinned but shook his head. “No, Holly Boldt, I am thankful for the day that you showed up on the front porch.”

  “Even though I was accompanied by said turkey thief?”

  He laughed. “Even so.”

  I swallowed hard. “Happy Thanksgiving, Adam.”

  He held up his wine glass. “Here’s to many more.”

  Along Came a Ghost

  Introduction

  When a relaxing weekend is cut short, Holly and friends scramble into action to keep a mysterious new ghost from terrorizing their peaceful life at the manor.

  With the help of the new ghost whisperer in town and her quirky sidekicks, it's a race against the clock to unlock the secrets of the past.

  Note from Danielle:

  Along Came a Ghost is a novella set between the events of Witch Way Home and Lucky Witch. The story introduces Scarlet Sanderson, a ghost whisperer with a unique set of problems to say the least! This novella also kicks off the Beechwood Harbor Ghost Mysteries series, a spin-off of Holly’s adventures.

  The first book in Scarlet’s series is called The Ghost Hunter Next Door and I think you’ll want to check it out!

  Chapter 1

  Boots, I swear if you eat one more of those pixie peppers, I’m going to let Lacey turn you into a handbag!”

  Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

  Scowling, I shot a look over my shoulder. A long, bushy tail stuck out from behind a large planter. I rolled my eyes. Pathetic. “You do realize I can still see you, right?” I flicked my wrist and sent a tickle of magic out toward the fuzzy rebel. He hissed as the magic tendril wrapped around his sizable middle, then made a futile attempt to dig his claws into the wood floor, unwilling to leave his ill-chosen hiding spot.

  I released my hold on him and he pouted, half a pixie pepper stem hanging out of the corner of his mouth. My scowl gave way to laughter when I saw the pitiful look on his face. “All right, message received. I’ll pick up some catnip seeds next time I’m in town. Will that make you happy?”

  Boots blinked his amber eyes in slow motion and then munched down the rest of the stem.

  “I’m not kidding. I need those in mint condition if I’m going to be able to sell anything next weekend,” I said, turning back to my work. I was, quite literally, up to my elbows in work, both hands caked with potting soil as I rooted around in a large planter box. It was only a few days into March, but my greenhouse was already bursting with new life, which was a relief. Now that I had both my potion master license and permission to go into the haven, some of the top potion shops were interested in sourcing my herbs and plants. Thankfully, handmade potions are making a strong comeback within the havens so I had some negotiating power.

  Bill Praxle, the crooked owner of one of the largest potions conglomerates in the havens, had ended up losing his council hearing and was locked away in an SPA prison on the other side of the country for a laundry list of crimes. His ho
key-pokey potions had been flushed from the markets and his shops had folded like bargain-basement lawn chairs.

  My own potions business was back in full swing and my clients were placing larger and larger orders. I worried that part of the reason behind the sudden surge was because people wanted to stock up on the good stuff just in case I got into another scrape with the law. I knew that chapter of my life is officially closed, but I certainly couldn’t complain about the influx of business.

  Life was good.

  Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

  “Boots!” My voice boomed through the small greenhouse and sent my tubby tabby bolting out the door that I’d propped open to let in some fresh air while I worked. Without the fresh air, the greenhouse would start to feel like a pungent sauna, the hot air thickened by the odor seeping from the bags of manure and fertilizer.

  Growling under my breath, I pushed up from my kneeling position in front of the large planter box and went to assess the havoc that the pepper-loving monster had wreaked. Half of the delicate—and apparently delicious—plants were mowed down and a pile of the seed pods were scattered all over the floor. Boots had been stockpiling them, creating his own afternoon buffet. “Bat wings, Boots! I’m not in the cat candy business.”

  As I stooped over and swept the mangled remnants into my hand, a strange gust of air swept through the greenhouse and set the hairs on the back of my neck on end.

  “I used to have a cat.”

  My chin jerked up at the strange, disembodied voice. I surged to my feet, dropping the peppers I’d collected. “Who’s there?”

  I caught a slight shimmer of light out of the corner of my eye and turned just as a man—well, ghost-man—floated through the wall and then paused by my workbench.

  I took a step backward and bumped into the door frame. “Who … who are you?”

  While I knew a ghost couldn’t hurt me, having one creep up out of nowhere was still disconcerting.

  The man looked bored as his gaze roved through the small greenhouse. When his eyes found mind, he answered plainly, “Lenny Knowles.”