Page 41 of The Pumpkin Spice Romance
“And then I just panicked,” I said as I wrapped up the story. “Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he wasn’t going to kiss me.”
“He was totally going to kiss you,” said Shayla.
“And then I ruined it,” I said sadly. “Well, but maybe he won’t think I’m crazy like Tyler did when I told him I was psychic. Maybe he won’t tell everyone that I’m a certified crystal woo-woo nut.”
“I still say you should have let me punch that guy.”
“I didn’t even meet you until two years after I broke up with Tyler.”
“And I still say you should have let me hunt him down and punch him in the face.”
“I got new friends,” I said. “Eventually. I really feel like the statute of limitations has run out.”
“Nobody lets me choose violence,” said Shayla, shaking her head.
“Maybe it would be OK,” I said wistfully. “Maybe Felix wouldn’t freak out. Maybe it would be fine. He said it was fine.”
“Why don’t you give me twenty-four hours to do a little digging and find out more about him?” said Shayla. “I’ll go full stalker on his socials and whatever, and then we’ll know if he’s a nut job, and you can make a more informed decision.”
“Mail!” said Romeo, opening the door and shoving the mail into the basket that I kept there for the massive pile of junk that we seemed to get. “I’m not here!” The door shut again at vampire speed.
I sighed and got up. There was no sense in moping. Deja Brew still needed me to do work.
“Informed decisions. Yeah. Sensible,” I said, going to the basket. I sorted through the mail, tossing the junk into the recycling bin.
“You don’t want sensible?” asked Shayla.
“I wanted romantic and hunky,” I complained.
“I know,” said Shayla. “But Maddie. . .” Shayla sighed. “Sweetie, even in the Supernatural community, gifts like yours are rare. People try to take advantage of them. You need to be careful. It’s worth taking a little extra time to check someone out. Not everyone who likes the same coffee as you can be trusted.”
I knew she was right, but I wanted her to be wrong. At least about Felix. Depressed, I flipped through the rest of the mail and was about to discard the entire pile when one letter caught my eye.
“Oh, fart nuggets, not again!” I ripped open the envelope and then waved the letter inside in fury.
“What is it?” asked Shayla, taking the letter out of my hand.
“Cometcents is trying it again!”
“They want to buy Deja Brew?” asked Shayla, puzzling through the letter. “Why does it sound like they’re threatening you?”
“Because that’s how they do it. They sound intimidating, so I’ll take the lowest possible amount. They just want to take over the shop and dismantle it so they can put one of their crappy cookie-cutter locations in my spot. I turned them down last time, and I’ll turn them down again, but why are they back now? Like I don’t have enough to deal with!”
“We’ll get it sorted out,” said Shayla confidently.
“No, we won’t,” I said, taking the letter out of her hand. “I’m ignoring them. And if they send an actual person, I’ll let you drop-kick him out the door.”
“Yay!” exclaimed Shayla, clapping her hands. “Violence!”
I laughed reluctantly. My love life might be a disaster, but at least I had friends I could count on.
9
MADDIE
Felix was going to text.
That was it. That was the sum total of my vision. No context. No clues as towhatthe message would be. Just. . . FYI, your life will be disrupted in about five minutes.
