Charmed Spirits (2 page)

She
ignored the dull ache gripping her heart. “Thank you. I know she loved you like
her own.” Damn, why did she have to go and say that? Now even more memories
flooded her. Memories of her and Matt sitting at her grandmother’s table,
drinking hot cocoa or making cookies, or planting flowers in the flowerbed on a
warm spring day.

She
wasn’t going to make it. Damn.

“Well,
isn’t this nice?”

And,
so it begins.

Jordan
turned slightly as Stacey St. James sidled past her and ran a finger down
Matt’s arm. He looked down at the stacked blonde-haired woman and gave a slow
blink then looked right past her like he didn’t care, but he didn’t move when
she linked arms with him.

Bitch.

Great,
it was high school all over again.

“Hello,
Stacey.”

“Oh,
Jordan! It
is
you!” Stacey batted her eyelashes, and Jordan wanted to
punch her…hard. “I almost didn’t recognize you. Why, don’t you look…like you’ve
been driving?”

Yep,
even after all these years, Jordan wanted to smack-a-bitch. But, apparently,
law enforcement frowned upon that, especially when said bitch was the daughter
of the most prominent family in town. Well, other than the Coopers, of course,
although Matt and his family had always been warm to her.

And
now thoughts of just
how
warm Matt had been with her flooded her mind.
Her cheeks heated, and she coughed. Enough of that.

“Well,
I drove here all the way from Denver, so, yes; I suppose it would look like
that.”

“How
long are you staying?” Matt asked as he extricated himself from Stacey’s
clutches.

“As
long as it takes to clean out the house and sell it.” Jordan couldn’t stay any
longer than that; she wouldn’t make it.

Could
that be disappointment in his gaze? No, it had been too long. He couldn’t
possibly care if she came or went. It had been eleven years. Besides, she’d
left without a world. He didn’t owe her anything beyond this brief encounter,
while she owed him everything.

She
hated being in debt to anyone.

Mr.
Clancy finally took her purchase, and she slid over some cash before the older
man had a chance to speak. Good thing since he looked like he’d seen a ghost—
ha,
funny
.

“Have
you seen the house yet?” Matt asked, his brows furrowed.

She
shook her head and took her Coke and gum back with a small smile to Mr. Clancy.
“Not yet. I was on my way over there. I just wanted to stop by for a drink.” She
squared her shoulders and started toward the exit.

“You
might find more than you bargained for if you want to get out quick.”

Jordan
stopped and pivoted toward him. “Why? It should only take a few days to clean
it out then slap on some paint, right?”

Matt
shook his head and put his thumbs in his belt loops—too sexy. “Your grandmother
got real sick at the end, and none of us knew.” Sadness washed over his face,
and Jordan held back any similar feelings. “It may take more than you anticipated
to get it ready.”

She
let out a sigh and closed her eyes, counting to ten. “Then I’ll just have to
deal with it, won’t I? I’m here for the duration in any case.” After all, she’d
quit her PR job, a job that she hated, so she could
find
herself. God,
how pathetic did that sound?

“Well,
if you need anything, I’m here. And I bet my brothers would help out in a
second.”

Jordan
nodded, a smile forming. Damn those helpful, sexy Cooper brothers. “Thanks, if
I need anything, I’ll holler. But I hope to do most of it on my own.”

Matt
nodded, a knowing look on his face. Damn, he could always tell her emotions and
he knew she was out of sorts. She hated their connection now. “Of course. Well,
I need to head back to work, but it’s good to see you, Jor.” He reached out
then looked like he’d thought better of it.

She
bit her tongue to keep herself from saying anything, or worse, touching him.

“Good
to see you too, Matt.”

Matt
turned, stopped suddenly, and turned back. “And I’m an idiot.” He grabbed a pen
from the counter and jotted something on a piece of scrap paper near the
register. “Here’s my number. Call if you need anything.”

“Thanks.”
She took it from him and watched him walk away, his muscular legs encased is snug
jeans. Yum. She stuffed the number in her back pocket and walked toward the
door. “Thanks, Mr. Clancy.”

He
winked. “Good to see you, Miss Jordan. Stay out of trouble.”

She
gave a huge grin. “You know me.”

“That’s
why I said it, hon.”

Jordan
laughed and walked past a fuming Stacey and through the exit. The sun beat down
on her though the wind chilled the atmosphere quickly.

“Just
so you know, I’m going to marry Matt. So keep your claws out of him.”

Jordan
stopped at her car and turned, her body aching at the thought of Matt marrying
that shrew. “Good luck.” What else could she say? I hope you break a nail and
die, you bleach blonde bitch?

Stacey
sniffed. “And you better be on your way out of town as soon as you’re done.
Because no one wants you here.” Jordan held back a flinch, but remembered the
look of compassion on Mr. Clancy’s face. Maybe not everyone hated her. Maybe. “No
one did before, and nothing has changed. So you can get your witchy butt back
in that old clunker of yours and leave.”

Jordan
put her Coke on the hood of her car and forced herself not to retaliate, at
least not physically. Oh sure, she could use magic or cast a spell on her, but
Stacey wasn’t worth stirring up trouble. “I don’t know what I ever did to you,
Stacey.”

“Don’t
you?” she spat.

“I
honestly don’t.”

“Do
my eyes deceive me? Is that Jordan Cross in
my
town?” A too-smooth voice
broke the tension between them, and Jordan wanted to vomit.

“Hello,
Prescott, your sister was just welcoming me to the town.” She clenched her keys
in her fist, ready to escape. God, she didn’t want to be here, not with
him
.

“Ah,
Stacey is quite the helper, isn’t she?” He wrapped an arm around his sister’s
shoulders and gave a perfectly fake, megawatt smile.

“As
always. Well, if that’s all, I’m going to go. Thanks for the welcome.” She
opened her car door and slid inside. A hand caught the doorframe before she
could close the door, and Jordan inwardly cursed.

“Now
that you’re back, just know that I’m the mayor of this town,” Prescott sneered.
“And we don’t need any of
your
kind here. So watch your step, and I’ll
be sure to watch it as well. You aren’t welcome here, Jordan Cross. And if you
cross
me or my town, I’ll stick Sheriff Tyler Cooper on your ass so fast you won’t be
able to hex anyone this time.”

Prescott
looked up and narrowed his gaze. “Ah, there is our Sheriff now. You’re lucky
this time.”

Jordan
bit her tongue. She didn’t hex people. It was a moral rule of hers. But damn
Prescott and his insults anyway.

“If
that’s all…” She tugged on her door, and Prescott pulled away, his fake smile
back on his face.

“Welcome
to Holiday, Jordan.”

She
slammed the door closed, revved her engine, and pulled away. Jesus, what had
she been thinking coming back?

Holiday
wasn’t her home, not anymore. She’d do her job and leave. She had to because,
if she didn’t, no amount of spells would protect her heart or her sanity.

Chapter 2

Matt
Cooper walked into the hardware store in a daze, his body going through the
motions while his mind tumbled in an array of memories, anger, and longing.

She’s
back.

Jordan
Cross, his high school love and childhood best friend…back. She’d left without
a word, leaving a mess of dashed possibilities and his broken heart in her
wake.

But,
Jesus, she looked even better than before.

Her
green eyes seemed darker, more haunted or sorrowful, than before, like she’d
fought more than she’d bargained for and was still losing. Her hair was longer
now, very glossy sable locks falling to the middle of her back in careless
waves. He’d had loved to run his fingers through it when they sat at the
lakeside watching the sun set.

Yes,
they’d been that clichéd in high school, but he’d loved her.

Loved.

Past
tense. Because he didn’t love her anymore. She’d left him. Left him with his
problems, his everything and yet nothing.

Matt
shook his head and went behind the counter, trying to ignore the dull pain in
his temples.
Darn witch, she shouldn’t be here
. He didn’t want to think
about her. Didn’t want to deal with it all over when she left again.

But,
she’d looked so lonely in that store, even surrounded by people.

Without
her grandmother, she
was
alone.

Dammit.
He couldn’t think like that. She didn’t want him. She’d proven that when she’d
left. She’d even had the forethought to leave the ring on her pillow for him.
He dug his hand in his pocket and gripped the small circle of white gold and the
little diamond he’d been able to afford.

Right,
so why had he put it back in his drawer that morning instead of returning it?
Why had he kept it all this time? And why, for some odd, unknown reason, had he
stuck it in his pocket this morning? Maybe Jordan had whispered something on
the wind, and he’d heard. She was a witch after all.

“Boss?
You okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Brad, his assistant, asked as he
leaned against the counter next to him.

The
irony of that statement was not lost on Matt.

He
cleared his throat and took the binder off the counter to check inventory. “I’m
fine.”

“Really?”
Brad asked, his eyes wide. “And seeing Jordan Cross didn’t do anything to you?”

Matt
turned, eyes wide. “How the hell did you find that out so fast? You’ve been in
the store the whole time.”

Brad
smiled and wiggled his iPhone. “Modern technology and Facebook. There’s already
a poll going on the Holiday Page to see if the two of you get back together.”
He leaned closer, grinning. “So, you have any inside scoop?”

Matt
snorted. “Unfreaking believable, and even if I did, I wouldn’t give it to you.”
He shoved the binder toward his assistant and shook his head. “Go do the inventory
and tell Sally to man the register. I’m going out for the day.”

“To
Jordan?”

“Fuck
off.”

“Hey!
Watch your language. I’m your employee, and you could corrupt me.”

“Yeah,
and I knew you when you were in high school, smoking weed behind the bleachers
and trying figure out how to get in Sally’s pants. I could always tell Sally
about how you feel if that would make us even.”

Brad
paled and looked frantically over his shoulder. “Exnay on the pants thing.
Okay?”

“Just
because you failed at your attempt, doesn’t mean you didn’t try.”

Brad
let out a sigh. “Tell me about it.”

Matt
laughed. “I’m going to head over to Jackson’s. He wanted me to check out the
banister because one of the balusters looked loose. Don’t steal from the
register.”

Brad
put his hand over his heart, his eyes wide. “
Moi
? I can’t believe you’d
think that!”

Matt
raised a brow. “Uh huh.
Adios
.”

“Say
hi to Jordan for me,” Brad teased.

“Sure
thing. And say hi to Sally.”

Brad
blushed and cursed under his breath as the cute redhead came up to the register,
completely unaware of his decade-long crush.

Unrequited
love. A bitch at its finest.

Matt
got into his Chevy and started toward Jackson’s. His eldest brother still lived
in their family home since no one had wanted to sell it after their parents had
died in the car accident that haunted the Cooper brothers’ dreams. Matt lived
in a small apartment above his hardware store, though eventually, he’d planned to
move to a home he could build on and make his own. After all, he wanted to
raise a family. It was just the whole finding-a-wife thing that got in his way.

He
pulled up beside his brother Justin’s Jeep and turned off his truck. He hopped
out and grinned at his older brother. Well,
all
of his brothers were
older, but that was beside the point. Justin was his height at around six foot
one but wore his hair slightly shorter. They all shared the same blue Cooper
eyes, though.

“Hey,
you here for dinner?” Justin asked, a grin on his face. His brother grinned
often these days and was pretty laid back, a far cry from the troublemaker he’d
been in his youth. Now the elementary school principal could smile and laugh
with the best of them.