Page 93 of Meet Cute Magic

And then I get to my knees before the bookshelf she once knocked down while breaking into my place and show Rosie just how sorry I am.

CHAPTER 33

Rosie

Jack and I spent the night making up for lost time, reveling in the new bond without the panic of time breathing down our necks like the last time. It was perfect, and even though there’s a lot for us to figure out and continue to talk through, I feel more lightness in my heart than I think I ever have. That’s enough for me to know that Jack and I are going to be just fine. We slept in, waking in each other’s arms before making love again and finally rolling out of bed before heading to grab a late breakfast at Violet’s and bringing treats back to my place to get the full story from Phillip, where he told me that in his afterlife, he saw the threads tying Jack and me and decided to play a bit of ghostly matchmaker while getting something for himself.

I should have been angry, but by the time I got the full story from him, I was blissed out after a night back with Jack and couldn’t find it in me to be too put off.

On Saturday night, my sisters and I sit in a much larger salt circle, a smoldering bowl of herbs before us, and five lit white taper candles surrounding us at the five points. We hold hands, repeating the same name over and over: Sarah Mayfield.

It happens just like last time, the chill moving through the room, the candles flickering, the creaking of the old floorboards before one candle goes out and an achingly familiar form is before us.

Our mother.

Her long dark hair is pulled back, and she still has some of the lines on her face, though she looks slightly younger now, like the burdens of everyday life have been lifted and she’s a bit freer. Confusion washes over her face before it clears as she takes in my sisters and me. My eyes water, and my sisters’ hands in mine tighten.

“Well, hello, my sweet girls,” she murmurs with a soft, mournful smile, and I let out a small, choked sob.

“Mom?” Poppy whispers and when I turn to her, tears are running down her cheeks. Vi’s eyes are watering, but tears don’t drop, and I wonder if, now that she’s a bit older, she can see the resemblance between herself and our mom.

“Hi, my babies. What am I doing here?” she asks with a small laugh.

“We, uh,” I say, sniffling and trying to snap myself back into the task at hand. “We summoned you.”

She nods, then looks around the room. “Oh!” she shouts when she sees Jack, clearly startled, and the flames flicker a bit with her surprise. “You, uh, you brought company.”

I almost forgot he was here, but then a part of my chest lights up, knowing I get to introduce them.

“Mom, this is Jack. My…” I realize that I don’t know what to call Jack. My friend? My lover? My—

“Her boyfriend,” Jack finishes, filling in for me and sending a wave of warmth through me with his words. “Lovely to meet you. I’d have brought flowers, but…” his words trail off, and a blush blooms on his cheeks. Poppy lets out a musical laugh as she wipes at her cheeks, and Vi snorts.

“But you’re dead, so you know. That would be hard,” my middle sister says. Our mom smiles at her and my chest swells.

My mom is here.

Holy shit.

“Well, it’s lovely to meet you, I suppose. Now, can I ask why you three went against everything I’ve ever taught you and summoned a ghost? The danger, girls!” our mother says, turning to me with wide, disapproving eyes. “Rosie, what did I—”

“All’s well that ends well,” Phillip says, floating through a wall. Percy comes prancing in through the door and just like last time, he walks right over to Jack’s salt circle and lifts a paw.

“Percy! No!” Vi says. The cat looks at her, glares, then walks away without messing with it, instead stepping into our circle and into Poppy’s lap.

“He did this last time too,” I grumble, though I’m not really that worried about his safety now that we aren’t actually summoning anymore, and Mom is relatively harmless.

“Last time?” our mother asks, raising an eyebrow in my direction.

“This isn’t Rosie’s first time doing it,” Poppy tattles, and our mom’s jaw goes tight.

“Last time she did it alone. Summoned Jack’s grandpa,” Vi says with a smirk.

“Snitch,” I say, shooting daggers at Violet.

“You’re the idiot who—”

“Girls. Girls!” Mom says in her firm voice that I haven’t heard in years, the one that gets all of our attention. “Enough. Are you three going to explain what’s going on here and why you’ve been summoning ghosts?”