"Geez, I hope I don't accidentally summon her ghost," I mumbled as I pulled out the offerings the twins had given me. I lit the incense then set down the whole cake they had insisted I bake, along with an antique crystal decanter filled with sherry.
"She doesn’t know you. You have to make a good first impression," Morticia had insisted.
"Please, Mrs. Romani Queen," I began, clasping my hands together.
Is that how you were supposed to address her?
I breathed in the cold fall air. "I am coming to you for help. My life is a mess. I don’t know what to do." I didn’t want to be greedy. "Please just give me guidance, show me a path. Thank you for your time."
I waited for the incense to burn down. When it did, it took a second for my eyes to adjust. I could swear I saw someone move behind me in the graveyard.
Was it a ghost? Something worse?
I scooped up my bag and lantern to hurry back to my car. Of course, at that point, the lantern gave up on life, leaving me in the pitch-dark. Pulling out my phone, I fumbled with it to try to turn the flashlight on. A loudcreakemanated from the woods bordering the west side of the graveyard. I stumbled.
I heard rustling that sounded like footfalls in the dry grass. Someone orsomethingwas definitely in the graveyard with me. I started to run, still trying to get my phone to work. The flashlight came on, illuminating a toppled gravestone just in time for me to trip over it.
"Crap!" I yelled.
My phone crashed to the ground. I was about to land on it when a pair of strong arms grabbed me, hauling me back.
"Vampires! Zombies!" I screamed, wriggling and trying to fight off my attacker.
"Penny, stop! It’s me!"
I blinked. "Garrett?" I hit him on the chest.
"Ow," he said mildly.
"I should say ow," I said, shaking my hand. "Why is your chest so hard?"
"Why are you in a graveyard at midnight?" he retorted, grabbing my shoulders. "Are you hurt?"
"Just my phone," I said. He bent down to pick it up. "It’s broken. Crap. Just my luck."
"Why are you even here?" he demanded. "You could have been hurt."
"I needed—"
"What could you possibly need?"
"I don’t need to explain myself to you," I said shortly. I didn’t want to tell him about the Romani queen. It seemed dumb in hindsight. The twins were crazy.
But then here was Garrett. Was this a sign? The wind blew, and the leaves rustled. Garrett's blond hair waved slightly in the wind. His eyes were the color of the moon. He reached out to stroke my cheek.
"You have chocolate on your face," he said.
"Long story," I said.
He kept stroking my face.
All right, Romani queen, I asked for a sign. Obviously you gave me one. Here it goes.
I let my hands slide up his chest. There was a sharp intake of breath. Almost inadvertently, Garrett leaned toward me.
"I thought you didn’t want to go out with me," he said, his breath warm against my lips. Garrett's gray eyes were liquid mercury in the moonlight.
"I lied," I replied, closing the distance and pressing my mouth to his. It was a brief kiss, chaste, though I didn’t want it to be.
