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“Is this too much for you?” she asked, taking his hands in hers. He cast his eyes down on them and took a breath.
“I’m fine. I just feel like I’m in a completely different world. Not Mysthaven.”
“Well, hey. Who knew you were so quick with the death puns?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“In this century we call them Dad Jokes.”
“Why?”
“Because they’re so bad, they’re funny.”
Montgomery shook his head. “I’m sure there are a great many things I will never understand about your generation, least of all your sense of humor.”
“That reminds me of something I wanted to talk to you about. I’d like to throw a ball, but I don’t know if I can plan something before Halloween.”
Originally, she had her heart set on the Regency era, but now, after that Somewhere in Time dream, she decided the theme should be 1912.
“When is Halloween?” Montgomery asked. “I’ve lost track of time.”
“In about ten days, which gives me a week to prepare. But I wouldn’t be able to pull it off without some…” She leaned in to whisper. “Magical intervention.”
“Don’t look at me. I can’t even spook anymore.”
“I’d just like to know if you’d oppose. Try to burn me at the stake or throw me in the river to see if I float.”
He clenched her hands. “I know I first overreacted when I found out about your… heritage. But I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for your talents. You are a gifted individual and shouldn’t be ashamed of that. However…”
“However? There’s always a however.”
“However,” he continued. “You seem a little… out of practice.”
“A magical mess,” Willow supplied. “I ruin everything.”
“No you don’t. I’m living proof of that. Well,maybeliving. It sure feels like living.”
“You really think it was me that made you…” she widened her eyes suggestively. “Well, you know.”
“Corporal?”
She nodded conspiratorially.
“I truly do believe it was you. How else can you explain it? A century and a decade. It’s almost as if I’d been waiting for you all this time. You not only have magic, Willow. Youaremagic.”
She blushed. “You say that to all the ladies.”
“Only witches that bring me back to life.”
Willow felt a heavy awareness shift between them, and wasn’t sure how she felt about it. Montgomery wasn’t an ordinary guy, and even if he was, would she want to explore the possibilities between them? He might not have been a ghost anymore, but he was still moving her things around like an obsessive-compulsive poltergeist.
“Okay, here are your Cokes,” Bo announced, dropping them on the table. “Do you want straws? I have to ask you that ever since the environmental committee came through here with their baseless threats.
“Straws would be great,” Willow said crisply. “You know you could get paper straws to make the environmentalists happy.”
“We used drinking straws made of manila in my time,” said Montgomery. “There were a myriad of diseases in 1912, and straws allowed customers of the Moonstone to avoid making direct contact with the glass while drinking.”
“The Moonstone.” Bo said flatly. “1912.”
