Page 149 of Flirty Fall Fling

I laugh, and it comes out shaky, but he pretends not to notice.

I grab his hand, opening his palm.

“There are pictures of our hands.” My throat tightens. “The rumors. The things they’ve said about me.”

He links our fingers together. “I read it all. That’s why I came to see you.”

“Thank you,” I tell him. My emotions get the best of me, and tears start to fall.

“Aw, babe,” he says as I fall into his arms.

He holds me against him, letting me cry. He doesn’t ask me to stop. Instead, he rubs my back, letting me empty my emotions on his shoulder. It’s what I need.

“I miss my aunt, and she’s the only person who would know what to do in this situation,” I say against his chest.

His hoodie is wet where my face is. I pull away, and he wipes the tears away with his thumbs.

“So, what would she do?” he asks.

It’s such a simple question, and I roll the thought around in my mind a few times.

“If she were here right now, she’d be confirming guests for her party,” I tell him. “It’s in a little over a week.”

So is our deadline. Neither of us mentions it.

“She’d spin it to her advantage. Get as much exposure as she could. Flora loved the spotlight. Loved rumors. She’d very much feed the beast. She’d do wards on her name.” My eyes widen. “That’s it.”

Before I can say anything else, my cell phone rings. I look at it and see it’s Doris Jean. I let out a sigh and answer on speaker.

“Honey! Oh, good. I’m so glad you answered. I was just talking to some of the ladies and wanted to confirm the Halloween party is still on.”

“Of course it is,” I tell her.

“Great. Wanted to make sure you weren’t going to cancel it with all these ridiculous things being said about you. We’ve got your back, just like we had Flora’s. We’ll handle it,” she says and hangs up on me.

Jamie’s brows are raised. “You have the grandma mafia on your side.”

“Uh, sounds like it.” I stare at the phone. “That felt like a sign.”

“Maybe it was,” Jamie says.

I look up at him. “You don’t believe in that.”

“I didn’t. But unexplainable things happen when we’re together.” He shrugs. “At some point, a man has to stop calling some things a coincidence.”

I grab his hand. “Come on. We’re leaving.”

“Where are we going?”

“To do a protection spell in the study.”

“Hold on,” he says, pressing the mustache back onto his face and putting his sunglasses on. His hood is on his head.

We move into the front, where Ivy, Martha, Josie, and Winter are resetting the store.

“Everyone has off today. Put a sign on the front.”

“Where are you going?” Josie asks.