Chapter 35 Sam

T he energy on Samhain was electric. Even as a kid, I always felt like there was an excitement on Halloween that was completely different from the excitement I felt around the winter holidays. I think it had something to do with the mounds of candy back then, but as a witch, I got that my intuition was just sharper on this day.

I'd been up early, even without my alarm. Originally, I'd planned to wear my fancy witch hat and call it a day as far as a costume went, but there was a vintage shop two doors down from Broomsticks that had a Victorian-esque gown in their window in the prettiest shade of lilac. It was so stupid, but it made me think of the merchant's daughter-turned-damsel in the pirate romance novel Jesse had apparently decided was his favorite book of all time.

I definitely hadn't read over all his notes multiple times.

I walked by the window for days, but after I'd gotten Jesse's flowers, I'd marched in the shop to look at it up close. I assumed it would be the wrong size, and I could stop thinking about it, but the tag read almost my size, and with it being a corset back, I knew I could make it work. As I twisted my hair into a braided crown that morning and took in my overall appearance, I felt pleased with my decision. Even more pleased when I opened the door of the guest house and found another, maybe even more beautiful, bouquet waiting for me. This one was all shades of purple with deep emerald greenery and baby's breath dipped in silver glitter. The card read: I didn't want you to have to choose. Now you have one for home and work. Happy Samhain.

The fact that he'd called it Samhain made my heart do a tap-dance. It was one thing to think what I could do was "cool," but he was actually trying to learn. I pulled out several of the stems and dried them off before weaving them into my braid.

Perfect .

The store was dead during the day except for some last-minute people in need of costume accessories, but that was to be expected. I didn't sit down once anyway, determined to re-familiarize myself with every square inch of the shop now that it was going to be partly mine . All the little ideas that had popped up over the last several months that I'd pushed aside because it wasn't my store, my business, I was now trying to recall.

"You can take a break, you know," Zin said as she entered the shop from the back.

"Is it already three?" I asked.

The day had flown by. I found myself moving the flower arrangement from Jesse to another table, again, convinced it looked better near the checkout than the front.

"It is. You should get something to eat before the sun goes down and we are swamped. How did your fancy new website work for booking readings?"

"Oh! I haven't looked since this morning, but even then, we only had four or five open spots." I pulled up the admin side of the site and felt triumph spread across my body. "Completely booked."

"Excellent work, Samantha. I also love this dress. It's worthy of its own romance cover."

"Thank you. I kind of want to wear it every day." I did a dramatic twirl and let the fabric float around me.

"Absolutely perfect. Now eat."

She shooed me out the door, and I didn't even feel out of place in my costume at the cafe because all the workers were completely decked out. I ordered my favorite bagel sandwich from a Beatnik poet and was handed my iced tea by Lydia from Beetlejuice. I love this town .

I decided to sit and eat in the café instead of hurrying back. I looked out at the shop-lined street and sighed. The way I looked at everything had shifted just slightly since I'd decided to stay. The trees along the sidewalk made their own version of a sunset with the array of reds and yellows and oranges, and all the street signs had Halloween-themed banners. I hadn't felt this way often, but I was pretty sure the emotion was content , and it was so peaceful.

The only remaining worry was that I needed to talk to Jesse, like, really talk to him, and hope that he'd meant what he said. I just wanted to get through this event tonight, and then I would happily tell him I was all in, too. That thought no longer struck fear deep into my core. Instead, it sent little lightning bolts down to my fingertips, remembering how they felt on his skin. I gave an involuntary shiver and decided it was probably time to go and get my Halloween on.