“Like a pairing, right?Oh my god, how fun would that be?Tara, you could pair the beers with your kolaches, and then I could pair the beers and kolaches with a coordinating book.”
“Books and Boos and Kolaches doesn’t have the same ring to it as just Books and Boos,” Aiden says, a note of reluctance in his voice.
“Well if we don’t get rid of the boos infesting my books, we’re not going to have a books and anything.”I tilt the glass up, draining it.
Ideserveit.
“Man, y’all are really going all in on trying to make me believe in ghosts, huh?”Aiden sips his own beer.
“I wish,” I tell him.
“I don’t have to bake for your event with her, Aiden.But she’s right about that beer tasting good with the jalapeno venison sausage roll I make.Or any of the jalapeno klobásník, really.”
“No, it’s smart to offer food with beer at events.We all know that after that first fall festival when everyone got so sloshed they were falling down.”
Jack huffs a laugh, and Em covers her face with both hands.“That was a disaster.”
“We definitely want food,” I say slowly.“But not if it’s going to bother you, Aiden.”I touch his wrist, and he glances down at where my fingertips meet his skin.
“It’s not going to,” he shakes his head, and I snatch my hand back.
Probably shouldn’t just like, try to hold his wrist.Sends the wrong message.
That I’m into holding wrists, for one.
“Can I have some potato skins?”I ask.“I feel the need to carb load like it’s freshman year.”
Aiden half stands, using a set of silver tongs to set several cheese-laden potato halves on my plate.
Three should be enough.It’s like one and a half potatoes.With all the fixings.
“I want one more, please,” I tell him.“And sour cream.”
He adds two more and a dollop of sour cream, then looks at me expectantly.
“Perfect,” I tell him, beaming.“Beer, cheese, and hot potatoes.What more could a girl want?”
“An unhaunted bookstore, probably,” Em says.
I point at her.“Correct.Unless the ghosts were useful and into shelving books.”
Tara tilts her head, a thoughtful cant to her lips.“You might be onto something there.”
“What, like retraining evil spirits?”I dip the hot potato into sour cream, then take a blissful bite.
“Y’all have got to stop.”Aiden groans.“I’m not falling for whatever this is.”
Tara rolls her eyes.“It’s not all about you, Aiden.”
“Jack, seriously,” he pleads, looking to the other man for help.
“Dude, we’ve both told you plenty of times about shit that’s happened at our places,” Ward pipes up.“You don’t believe it, fine.But I know what I’ve seen and felt, and that shit is out there.”
Jack nods in agreement, and Em grins at me conspiratorially.
This sets off a round of conversation about the different things that each of them have experienced—though Em and Tara steer the conversation away from any outright mention of witchcraft.
They include me in their jokes, explain shared histories, and all in all, it’s a lovely time.
