Page 2 of Herbs & Hex-breaking

Chuckling to myself, I continued to walk home—which was the apartment situated directly above my store—and figured Julie and the reluctant Greg would be wandering in later this morning to do some shopping.

I slipped around the back of the row of brick buildings and went to the rear metal staircase. It went straight up to my apartment door with a tiny, covered landing. And when my cell phone buzzed, signaling a text, I paused in mid-step.

There was a message sent from my friend Hattie Broussard. I’d like to speak to you as soon as possible. I hope you can help me with a potentially witchy problem. Thanks.

Hattie was a fun young woman with a sunny disposition. I purchased my store’s house plants from her family’s nursery and greenhouse. She, her mother, and her grandmother, in turn purchased my teas, loose culinary herbs and various spice mixes. “I wonder what this is all about?” I said to myself.

Determined to stick to my schedule, I tucked my phone in my pocket of my walking shorts, let myself inside, and headed straight for the showers.

***

By nine o’clock I was downstairs, turning on the lights and walking the sales floor. I dressed for comfort that day, in a soft navy skater style dress that had moons and stars scattered over the fabric. The celestial dress boasted deep pockets which was great for carrying my cell phone. Sensible flats were on my feet—as I’d be on them for most of the day,

Catching my reflection in one of the decorative mirrors, I stopped and fussed with my hair. I’d loaded up on a ton of hair product that morning, in an effort to have curls and not frizz in the Alabama humidity, and had allowed my dark auburn curls to air dry.

My hair had a mind of its own. Depending on the light it could appear deep red or brown. Today, it seemed to be behaving itself. My makeup I kept fairly business-like but with a bit of a witchy edge. Mauve lips, soft blush, only a bit of reddish-brown eyebrow pencil to define my brows… I added the drama with my eye shadow and did a dark charcoal smoky eye lined with navy. The contrast of the softer more natural face, with darker eye makeup, made my medium blue eyes pop.

Turning away from my reflection, I considered the sales floor. I had restocked all the teas, culinary spices, and spice blends after closing the night before, and so that morning, it was simply a matter of doing a bit of straightening, adjusting the seasonal displays and scooching things in from where items had sold.

My retail space was narrow but long. Originally this building had been an old drug store, and when I bought it, I’d been thrilled to discover that a massive old wooden apothecary chest and shelves had remained intact along one of the walls. Made from oak and stained dark brown, they ran from front to back, divided about two-thirds of the way down by a heavy pocket door. Taking my cues from the building’s history and the apothecary chest, I had decided to name my place The Apothecary Shoppe.

I’d spent a solid week cleaning all of the drawers and wooden surfaces. I didn’t refinish them, but instead I gave them a good scrubbing. The vintage metal hardware and label holders that remained only added to the look. The huge apothecary chest was now the focal point of my store’s display, and I took advantage of it. Trailing plants spilled from some of the partially opened drawers, while the rest were neatly labeled and pressed into service for the storage of the herbs, teas and spices that I sold. On the open shelves above it I had vintage tea tins, antique canning jars and glass bottles of herbs displayed.

As Halloween was only two weeks out, I currently had small pumpkins, silk autumn leaves, and LED candles scattered around to make the atmosphere a tad more festive. Not one for horror and gore for the October holiday, I preferred to keep it more natural and harvest themed.

I also kept the sales floor as open as possible. With the building being narrow, every inch was prime presentation space. There were a few round display tables dotted about on the sales floor, but there still was plenty of room to maneuver. My checkout counter was tucked in a front corner, near the main door and slender front windows.

The counter itself was built out of an old sideboard that I’d picked up for a song at an estate sale. My father had helped me retrofit it, making it a taller and a more practical work surface for the checkout area. Here I had combined the old and the new: with a large vintage scale for looks, a sleek digital scale for weighing and pricing bulk herbs and teas, and my very modern point of sales system that was on a convenient stand.

Slipping behind the counter, I went to the touch screen and booted up the program for the day. The noise of the pocket door sliding along its tracks had me glancing up. One of my neighboring merchants—and my cousin—was also opening.

As I watched, a tall, sultry brunette popped her head in. “Hey, Kate,” she said.

“Morning, Circe,” I said.

“Do you want to keep the doors open between the shops today and encourage more foot traffic between us?”

“Sure.”

My cousin walked across the sales floor clutching her morning coffee like a lifeline. She wore a long sleeveless black dress and strappy leather sandals. “I know we usually do that for the winter holiday season…” she said, “but why not take advantage of the bump from the tourists and locals and their Halloween sales?”

“It’s a good idea,” I agreed, while my cousin let out a huge yawn.

Circe eyeballed me. “How in the hell you always wake up so freaking chipper and perky in the morning, absolutely mystifies me.”

I only smiled at her. This was a familiar complaint from my cousin. “I like to roll out early and get my walk in,” I said. “It clears my head.”

“If I didn’t love you, I’d hate you for being so damn bouncy and cheerful.” Circe narrowed her eyes. “Even your curls seem bouncier this morning.”

“Good thing you love me then,” I said as I began to set up the cash drawer for the day. “You’re a touch crankier than usual, sugar. How late did you stay out last night?”

“I got in around three,” she admitted. “I went to go hear Mark’s band play at the club down the street.”

“Did you have fun?”

Circe’s dark eyes narrowed. “It was okay. I’m not really into doing the whole ‘musician’s girlfriend’ shtick.”

I plopped a hand on my hip. “Please don’t tell me he expected you to sit off to the side and flutter over him the entire night?”