"Alrighty, inner-child and warmth, positivity," Jenson said, reading from the small booklet. "Hey, that's not bad. Taylor is kind of like a child."
"Hey," he said, offended.
"Inner-child. You are in touch with your inner child," Theo corrected.
"What kind of reading are they doing?" Tilly asked.
They all tilted their heads.
Lady Macbeth popped her head up over the table, sitting in Theo's lap.
"Uh, is she supposed to have that?" Jenson asked, pointing to Lady.
Everyone looked to see Lady Macbeth holding a tiny animal.
Eloise let out a sigh and pushed into the greenhouse. "Lady. We have talked about this. You cannot just bring animals home."
Lady chittered, holding the baby bunny close to her chest. The creature couldn't have been more than a few weeks old, and everyone knew they would bring it into The Lost Souls House. Eloise picked Lady and the bunny up from Theo as Bess brought in the tray.
"Oh, thank god," Jenson praised as she passed around mugs and plates. "Our manly stomachs could not have handled another round of our baking."
"Thanks, Kelsea," Taylor called, and she smiled, shaking her head at them.
"I can bake next time," Theo said.
Both men looked surprised.
"Come over to my place. I'll make chili and lemon pound cake."
"Hey, you were right," Taylor said to the women. "This is pretty fun. I feel super bonded."
They nodded, giving them placating smiles.
"We will leave you to it," Ursula said, opening the door for them to file out.
"Hey," Taylor called after them. "When do we get to hex people at the graveyard?"
They stopped and looked at each other before bursting into laughter, to the men's confusion.
Eloise and Ursula shook their heads, and as they closed the door, they said, "Magic is only for women."
Epilogue
Jeremy Bracker sat alone on his large back patio, a dark house at his back, a perfectly curated garden in front of him, except for a wild vine of white pumpkins crawling and spilling over the black wrought iron fence.
He wasn't sure where his parents were. He never was when they were gone, which was often. But tonight he couldn't face the loneliness of the house, so he'd come home after a Halloween party one of his friends threw, grabbed a glass of iced water, which was now tepid, and sat in one of the expensive outdoor chairs his family rarely used.
He had been hoping to see a certain black-haired girl at the party. Three hours of pretending to enjoy menial conversation with people, looking over their shoulders for her and around corners as he went to and from the kitchen.
His mind played over every moment with her for the last three months.
He knew who she was, of course. Before.
He frowned as his mind still tried to make it over that fence of impossibility.
Before.
Before the hex.
