AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Seriously? Are you eventryingto remember what unfinished business you have here?”
“You don’t know for certain that’s why I’m here. Are you a ghost expert? Maybe this is it for me for all eternity.” He shrugged with both shoulders, tossing his hands up.
“Why me?” Willow cried to the heavens. Then, picking up her phone, she tapped a few buttons and raised it to her ear.”
“Who are you calling? Getting an update from your mother?”
“No. But that reminds me…”
She paused as the voice on the line answered the call in a mumbling, almost imperceivable drone. “Thank you for calling Szechuan Charlie’s how can I help you?”
“Yes, I’d like to order a large Kung Pao chicken please.”
“Take out or delivery?”
“Delivery.”
Montgomery frowned. “You’re trying to torment me, aren’t you?”
“Oh, I can’t decide. Let me ask my roommate.” She half covered the phone with her hand and asked Montgomery, “Rice or noodles?”
“I see how you are,” he said, shooting eye daggers at her.
“You’re right,” she replied, then returned to her phone call. “We’ll have both.”
She added cream cheese wontons and potstickers to her order, gave the Chinese restaurant worker her address and payment information, and after finishing the call, she reached down under the counter for the box Dale stored for her. There was no return address on the label, but Willow knew the signs it had been delivered by magic. It could only be from Esme.
Montgomery remained in place. Glowering at her.
“What?” she said with faux innocence. “You like Chinese food?”
“I’ve been to a few chop suey palaces in my time, yes.”
“Then what’s with the sour face? Oh that’s right. You don’t have a mouth.”
“I have some semblance of a mouth, otherwise how could I be talking to you right now? I simply can’t put anything in it.”
“Believe me, if I could put something in your mouth to get you to stop talking, I would.”
Willow’s blush didn’t overtake her until she noticed the repulsed horror in Montgomery’s eyes even as his gaze dipped to her lips. Then, like a wave, heat bloomed in her cheeks, reaching the tips of her ears.
Do not think about the bookcase. Do not think about the bookcase.
“Anyway…” she said, forcing down a swallow. “We have a lot of work to do and it’s going to be a long night. I have to eat.”
Grateful for something to do with her hands, she reached for the scissors she kept on top of the register, but they weren’t there.
“Where are my scissors, Boogie Man?”
“Top left drawer.”
Willow glowered at him as she plucked the scissors from the drawer and sliced the package open at the seam. It was not a very large box, but there seemed no end to the items Esme had packed in there. A few divination candles, bundles of dried sage, a grimoire the size of the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, little jars of potions, crystals, charms, and a cauldron large enough for most witchy purposes.
“What, no dragon bones, Esme?” Willow joked under her breath as she arranged the objects side by side on the counter, tossing the box behind her.
“How did all those things fit in that little box?”
Willow shrugged. “Esme is really good at packing things.”
