Scattered applause begins, picks up steam, and then the crowd is going wild, whooping and hollering and dancing to the music Em’s still blaring at the front of our strange witchy parade.
“Man, that was a cool special effect,” someone near me says.
Prudence and I share a long look.
“Do you think it worked?”I ask her.
“We didn’t die,” she says, then resumes licking her thigh.
At least it’s not her butthole.
Tara and Tilly and Em are all hugging, and Ivy and her sisters have found each other in the milieu.They give me a thumbs up when they see me looking.
And then Aiden is in front of me, sweeping me into a giant hug.
“I’m so proud of you,” he says, beaming down at me.“Look at this.You did it.”
“You think so?”I ask, biting my lower lip.
“Even if the store is still haunted—which seems doubtful, based on… well, whatever that was.”He lifts an eyebrow and I huff a laugh because yeah, toads exploding into glitter was so not planned.“Even if it is—you did this today.You organized a whole event, distributed drinks, and look.”He points to a drone up above, filming the whole thing.“This is going to look great on the New Hopewell tourist pages.And you’re opening your store today.That’s huge.”
Bending down, he plants a huge kiss on my lips.
I lace my fingers around his neck, holding him close, savoring the way his arms feel around me, wanting to burn this moment into my brain.
I did it.
I am doing it.
All the hard things, things I once thought were impossible—I am doing them.
I pull apart and I feel lighter, happier, like a huge weight’s been lifted off my shoulders.
“Come on,” I yell, turning around.“Let’s go see for ourselves.”
* * *
My brand-new sign,designed and ordered by the incredible graphic designer who basically got my entire life together, swings outside the bookstore.
My bookstore.
“To Be Read,” it says, in pink and green lettering.“A Bookstore for Those Who Like to Wander Through the Pages”is stamped in a neat serif font beneath my logo.
“Breathe,” Aiden tells me, and I do as he says.
“Like ripping off a Band-Aid,” I mutter, and then, squeezing my eyes shut, I unlock the deadbolt and twist the door handle.
The door swings open, and Aiden and I both gasp at the same time.
The bookstore is still full of the wholly unexpected.
But this time, it’s not ghosts, or cobwebs, or spiders, or anything spooky at all.
Well, unless you consider fully stocked bookshelves spooky.
Behind me, someone claps.
“The box worked!”Ivy squeals, and Posey gives me an intensely pleased expression.
