Page 22 of Herbs & Hex-breaking

“Apparently.” I sighed. “And now Nash Ellington says the Poindexters are searching for him too.”

“One of the best things about Dex is his kindness,” Circe said. “And him ghosting you—after the pair of you finally get together—that seems totally out of character to the guy we’ve known for the past two years.”

“Well, I—”

My cousin cut me off with a slashing gesture of her hand. “What if he had a psychic vision about his father passing and decided to get the hell out of town before the Poindexters could come looking for him?”

“Gods, I hadn’t even considered that!” I admitted as anxious tears started to fall. “I was so hurt and embarrassed...”

Circe rushed over for another hug. “Hey.” She pulled me close. “Don’t cry. I got you.”

“We don’t have time for me to have a breakdown,” I said, sniffling against her shoulder. We have to open the stores in like, ten minutes.”

“Oh hush, you,” she ordered. “The stores can open a tad late. Just don’t unleash the hell hounds, will you not?”

“I won’t,” I promised, resting my head against my cousin’s shoulder for a few moments. When I lifted it, Circe had a Kleenex in hand.

“Mop your face,” she directed. “Taylor and Toni will be here soon, and we’re going to get through today and enjoy our Halloween plans—despite everything that’s going on.”

“Okay,” I said, wiping my eyes.

“By the goddess.” Circe shook her head at me. “You’ve only made it worse, Kate.” She reached under the counter and hauled out her cosmetics bag.

The rear door opened and I heard Taylor and Toni come through. “Happy Halloween!” Taylor called out. “We brought pumpkin muffins!”

Circe shoved me toward her tiny restroom at the back of her candle shop. “Go take a couple of minutes and fix your face! I’ll make sure everything opens and is up and running.”

I hustled straight for the restroom with the bag before Taylor and Toni saw me. Then I went straight to the mirror above the sink and pulled myself together. Working hard to calm my emotions, I took a few deep cleansing breaths and repaired the damage to my makeup.

When I opened the door to the bathroom, I had composed myself. I smiled at Taylor and Toni who were passing out homemade muffins and hot cocoa.

“Thanks, girls,” I said, accepting a paper to go cup of cocoa. “This is a nice surprise.”

“Today is going to be great!” Toni said enthusiastically.

I managed to smile in response. Typically, I adored the fun and magick of Halloween day at the shop. However, this year I was merely thankful that it would keep me busy and my mind off Dex.

***

Halloween day was indeed full of activity. As was our tradition, Circe, Lorna and I handed out candy to the trick-or-treaters from the front steps of our building that night. This year it was strained between Lorna and I. Nothing rude was said, but it was still awkward. Circe didn’t speak to her at all and instead had simply sent Lorna a long measuring look and then turned her attention back to the kids.

Once the trick-or-treaters dwindled down, Circe hauled me off to the nearest bar and we had a drink. She went for a fancy chocolate martini, and I stuck with a glass of red wine. In the past Lorna had typically gone with us. This year it was only the two of us…making me wonder if this whole situation with Dex was going to ruin the friendship between Circe, Lorna and me.

Later that night, once I was back in my apartment, I worked a protection ritual for Hattie and her fiancé Johnny. Taking advantage of the energy of Samhain, I cast a spell to reinforce the protection work I’d already done, and another to keep the couple clear of any more maleficence. Afterward I tumbled into bed and slept deeply.

When I woke to my alarm early on the morning of November the first, I was surprised to see that the large jar candle I’d used in my protection work the night before was completely burned out. It should have lasted for several days. Studying the jar, I found that it had burned cleanly, but that the jar had cracked.

Taking that as a good sign that the hex on Hattie and Johnny had broken, I smiled despite the cloudy skies and spitting rain that I could see out my front windows. With a huge yawn, I pulled on a pair of my oldest shorts and a t-shirt and headed down to the shop, intending to take down the Halloween décor and give the store a thorough cleaning.

It would be sweaty, messy work, and with that in mind I scraped my hair back in a ponytail and didn’t bother with any makeup. I’d scheduled enough time to swap out the seasonal décor, mop the floors, and get back to my place upstairs to take a shower and make myself presentable for another day of retail.

Grateful for the busy work, I cued up a classic Fleetwood Mac play list and threw myself into it. After an hour, the Halloween décor was down and I’d shifted the front window display over to a more autumnal and Thanksgiving sort of theme. I used large white and orange pumpkins, colorful silk fall foliage, and a cornucopia filled with realistic looking fruit and dried wheat. After tucking all of the Halloween Jack-‘o-lanterns away in their storage totes, I swept up the stray glitter.

There were also spider webs around my front window, I’d discovered, so I wet down a couple of paper towels and removed them. I checked to see if there were any live spiders crawling around in the window bays but didn’t see any.

To keep any future spiders away, I went in the back where I kept my cleaning supplies, got out a spray bottle of peppermint oil and water that I’d mixed myself, and spritzed the corners of the window where I’d removed the spider webs.

Peppermint oil was a safe and natural deterrent to spiders. “That ought to do the trick,” I said. And with a nod, I went to go haul out the mop bucket.