Willow turned back to Cece. “I mean, I had coffee with her a couple of months ago.”
“Bullshit,” Cece said.
She stalked away, yanking her arm away from Willow when the smaller woman hurried after her and touched her elbow. “Stay away from me, lady, or I’ll start screaming.”
“Cece, please, you’re in danger, okay? There are people after you and your aunt - she wants me to warn you,” Willow said in a low voice.
Cece barked harsh laughter. “Right. She’s what? Reaching out to you from the beyond?”
“Yes,” Willow said simply. “I can communicate with the dead.”
Cece’s laughter faded, and she stared at Willow. “Holy shit. You’re certifiably crazy, right?”
“No,” Willow said. “Look, I know how this sounds, I do, but you are in terrible danger, honey.”
Cece laughed again, her emotions flip-flopping like a fish pulled from the water. “Oh sure, I am. Let me guess, my dead aunt was secretly in the mafia, and her death was a mob hit, and now they’re after me?”
“No,” Willow said. “But a family of powerful witches wants you dead, and your mother and aunt’s protection spell isn’t working anymore.”
Cece’s mouth dropped open. “Their spell?”
“Yes,” Willow said. “They were witches. Please, give me half an hour, and I will explain everything. I promise.”
Cece shook her head. “I don’t know who you paid to get this information, but you should ask for your money back. My mom and my aunt hated anything to do with witchcraft. Aunt Sybil and I fought all the time about me practicing witchcraft and -”
She stopped, took a deep breath, and let it out. “Why am I telling a crazy woman my life story?”
Still clutching her container of cake, Cece said, “Stay away from me.”
“Cece, please -”
“If you approach me again, I will scream and have the cops here so fast your cute, crazy head will spin. Do you get me?”
Willow nodded, and Cece spun around and marched toward the tills. She paid for her cake, her hands shaking so badly she could barely use her card before stuffing the container into her oversized purse and leaving the grocery store.
She headed out of the parking lot and onto the sidewalk before glancing behind her. The tiny, crazy woman was nowhere to be seen, and Cece let her breath out in a harsh sigh before slowing down a little.
“You’re fine, Cece. You’re fine,” she murmured as she walked down the street. She hadn’t been in the store that long, but the air, which had felt brisk but refreshing on her walk to the store, now felt like it might freeze her damn face off in a matter of seconds. She quickened her pace, pulling up her jacket hood and tucking her face into the collar. She wished she had remembered her scarf and mittens.
She walked briskly, her nose sticking together from the cold, and the icy air seeping through her sweatpants, numbing her legs.
“You’re fine,” she murmured again, even though she felt far from it. The conversation with the crazy woman had rattled her badly. How did she even know Aunt Sybil, and why on earth would she think her mother and aunt were witches? They’d both hated anything to do with magic, and as a kid, Cece had been forbidden to even watch any shows with magic or witches. They both –
The sharp retort of ice cracking behind her sent Cece’s heart into immediate overdrive. She whirled around, staring into the darkness behind her. The streetlights on this particular street were spread far apart, but she could still see the man walking behind her. Her heart thumping and thudding, she slipped one hand into her jacket pocket, curling her hand around the pepper spray she carried. She flipped the lid off with her thumb, then positioned her finger over the trigger and eased it out of her pocket. She held it against her side as the man drew closer, her body trembling wildly.
Squeezing the pepper spray in a tight grip, she sucked in a harsh breath as the man approached. She could hear the music blaring from his earbuds, and he gave her a curious look as he passed by her on the sidewalk. She eased her grip on the pepper spray, a shaky laugh escaping her mouth as the man walked on without a second glance. She slipped the pepper spray back into her pocket as the man turned right at the corner ahead of them and disappeared into the darkness.
“Get it the fuck together, Cecelia,” she said, her voice too trembly for her liking. The rush of adrenaline faded, making her feel even colder and shakier. She hurried down the street, tucking her head down as a blast of cold air made her eyes water.
Christ, the sooner she got home, the better. She didn’t fancy freezing to death for a piece of cake.
Your house won’t be any warmer.
Lord, wasn’t that the truth. She’d had a few different companies in to look at the furnace, but they all said the same thing – it was on its last legs, not worth fixing, needed a new one, blah, blah, blah. As if she just had a few thousand dollars lying around to install a new damn furnace.
She shivered wildly as she approached the corner. It would be a ‘sleep on an air mattress in front of the fire in the living room’ night for sure. In fact, she might even –
A hard hand curled around her arm and yanked her to a stop before she could step off the sidewalk and cross the street. “Give me your purse, lady. Right the fuck now.”
