The shop was warm and bursting with life on Halloween. It was a confectioner’s dream. Rows of cupcakes, rolls, tarts, cakes, and candies lined the cases. Charlie, in her cat woman costume, helped Olivia, who was dressed as an angel (of course), and me (I was Daphne from Scooby Doo) hand out treats to the steady stream of adults and children. Some even stayed to mingle. Holden, dressed as himself (of course), sat in the corner of the room trying to restrain baby Baker who already had a mind of his own.
The one person I had hoped would come, Boone, didn’t. In fact, he’d been absent since the day Garret attacked. But it was okay. There were far too many blessings in my life to be upset over one disappointment. I would make another friend. Now that I wasn’t starved, it was easier to have faith in that. My mind drifted to Phoenix. I hadn’t seen him since the night I couldn’t remember. Then again, it wasn’t like I’d gone to Xavier’s to look for him either. To be fair, there wasn’t much call for our paths to cross in my day-to-day life and that was probably for the best. He was too good at tempting me and as each day passed, with me still unable to remember a single detail of that night, the more I feared I’d done something I would regret.
Charlie tugged on my skirt. I looked down at her round cheeks, flushed from the excitement and massive amount of sugar she’d eaten. “Aunt Maggie,” she said, eyes sparkling. “Can I have the big one?”
She was pointing at a large pumpkin-shaped iced sugar cookie on the counter. “Um,” I glanced back at Olivia who shrugged. “Okay, but don’t make yourself sick.”
“Okay.” She skipped off to collect her cookie.
Olivia laughed, handing me her bowl of candy. “I better go help her or you’ll have fingerprints all over the case.”
My smile grew as I greeted the next group of customers with their treats and introduced myself.
“So you finally opened your dream bakery,” my best friend Izzy said behind me.
I closed my eyes, half hoping she wouldn’t be there when I turned around and half ecstatic to see her. “Izzy.” I hugged her gently as possible. “I meant to text you back, but time got away from me. I’m so sorry. It’s wonderful to see you.”
She nodded slowly, still not smiling. “Everything looks great. I’m just glad to know you’re alive and doing well.” She started for the door.
“Iz, wait.” I couldn’t let her walk away. Not after everything. No matter what I was, I missed my friends. Some people, maybe, were built differently and could happily exist alone, but I wasn’t one of them. I needed people. I loved people. And she was my people. “I know I messed up. I’m sorry I haven’t been around. It was completely me, not you. I was working through some stuff. I didn’t mean to shut you out.”
She shook her head and crossed her arms. “We’re friends, Maggie. I know you went through something when Baker died, and I wanted to be there for you.”
“I know, but I had to deal with it on my own. Baker’s death changed my life and I lost myself for a while. I just needed to…I don’t know.” I hugged the candy bowl to my chest. “I promise I’ll be around more if you still want me to be. I’m starting to feel normal again.”
She pressed her lips together, eyes trained on the corner of the room. “Of course I want you around.”
I handed her a bag of treats. “You know where to find me.”
She looked around the store with the start of a grin. “It really does look great.”
The rest of the evening flew by and when everyone was finally gone, I had a huge, glorious mess to clean up. There was a light tap on the front door just as I was finishing up sweeping. I flipped the lock and opened the door. Boone stood on the other side, unsmiling.
“How’d the opening go?”
“Wonderfully—totally wonderfully. Come in.”
He closed the door behind him. “There’s more than vampires out there, isn’t there?”
I opened and closed my mouth. “You don’t want know.”
He nodded. “I think it’s too late for that. I was getting ready to come here and trick-or-treaters came to my door. As I put the candy in their bags, I had a vision about the middle one.”
“What happened?”
He plunked into one of the chairs. “He was taken from his bedroom by an old lady. I saw him sleeping in his bed, then a door appeared in his room. An old woman stepped out of it and picked up the kid. Then I swear she looked right at me and winked. I know it sounds crazy—but then again, you’re a vampire; it doesn’t get much crazier than that.”
Yep, it was definitely my sort of crazy. I thought I needed the store to feel normal again, or even that I needed to fall in love, but I didn’t. Phoenix showed me that, but he wasn’t entirely right. I was still the girl I used to be, the one who wanted to own a bakery and unapologetically loved the color pink, but I was more than that now. I was also a half-vampire who could hopefully do more good than harm in this world.
The store would be a great adventure, but it wouldn’t make or break me. Life was still mine for the choosing. And this had all the makings of one of those moments that would define who I was going to be.
I gave Boone my last piece of candy and sat down across from him, leaning forward on my elbows. I met his squinty blue eyes. “How much do you want to know?”
“Everything.”
Check out more books by Liz:
URBAN FANTASY/PARANORMAL ROMANCE
The Knead to Know Series
Knead to Know (A Knead to Know Short Story)
Fairytale Ambrosia
Psyche Souffle (Valentine’s Day Knead to Know Short Story)
Ghostsnaps (Coming Soon)
The Sekhmet Bounty Series
Sweet Little Lies (A Sekhmet Short Story)
Catatonic (A Sekhmet Short Story)
Catastrophe
Catacombs (Coming Soon)
Catapult (Coming Soon)
The Guardian Trilogy:
Secrets
Choices
Consequences
Be Light (Guardian Trilogy Christmas Short Story)
Snow and Mistletoe (Guardian Trilogy Christmas Short Story)
Good Tidings(Guardian Trilogy Christmas Short Story)
The Jinn Trilogy:
Ember
Inferno
Vestige
Without a Map (A Jinn Trilogy Short Story)
The Easy Bake Coven Series:
Easy Bake Coven
Hungry, Hungry Hoodoo
Pickup Styx
Tiddly Jinx
Ghosts in the Graveyard
Ollie, Ollie Hex ‘n Free
Frost’s Bite (An Easy Bake Coven Short Story)
If the Broom Fits
Stark Raven Mad (Coming Soon)
Moonlight Madness (Coming Soon)
MYSTERY
Dark Corners
Dark Passing
Dark Obsession
The Ninth Floor
MANY AUTHORS CLAIM to have known their calling from a young age. Liz Schulte, however, didn't always want to be an author. In fact, she had no clue. Liz wanted to be a veterinarian, then she wanted to be a lawyer, then she wanted to be a criminal profiler. In a valiant effort to keep from becoming Walter Mitty, Liz put pen to paper and began writing her first novel. It was at that moment she realized this is what she was meant to do. As a scribe she could be all of those things and so much more.
When Liz isn’t writing or on social networks she is inflicting movie quotes and trivia on people, reading, traveling, and hanging out with friends and family. Liz is a Midwest girl through and through, though she would be perfectly happy never having to shovel her driveway again. She has a love for all things spooky, supernatural, and snarky. Her favorite authors range from Edgar Allen Poe to Joseph Heller to Jane Austen to Jim Butcher and everything in between.
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