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The next morning I woke up with a killer headache. Not only had the whole fiasco in the kitchen taken an unpredictably long time, but when it was over I lay awake for close to an hour pondering the meaning of Harold’s ghostly warning.

Seeds that have been sown will soon bear dangerous fruit.

What did that mean?

For all I knew, Harold heard it in some movie before he died and now summoned it back up, confusing it for a real memory. It certainly sounded like some weird prophecy that had come straight out of an epic fantasy film.

The more I thought about it, the more confused I became. I guessed I’d just have to wait and see what happened next, as much as I hated not being able to prepare.

It would be a busy day.

The coffeehouse’s grand re-opening had arrived. I had to give her credit, Kelley had made especially fast progress in retooling the menu and retraining the staff. Now the moment of her public debut as owner of Harold’s House of Coffee had arrived.

She’d need all hands on deck because today was going to be non-stop busy. The magic I’d secretly given to her guaranteed it would be so.

At my urging, Kelley had scheduled the full staff to work a double shift for the day, including me.

When I arrived at Harold’s, I found her wearing a white ‘50s inspired party dress with little pumpkins and horns of plenty patterned all over it. She ran over to me with a huge grin on her face. “Gracie, hello! Are you ready for our big day?”

“Your big day,” I reminded her with a grin. “And yes, I’m definitely ready.” No need to let her know I’d lost several good hours of sleep last night, thanks to the paranormal soap opera my life had become.

She nodded, and a pair of jack-o-lantern earrings bobbed along with her.“Good news, the new uniform shirts arrived last night. Grab one from the office and get changed.”

Oh, no.Harold had allowed us to wear whatever we wanted because he was too cheap to invest in uniforms, but Kelley had gone all out by commissioning a series of custom T-shirt designs that would change each month.

I sifted through the box until I found a large, then pulled it on over my other shirt. On the front, my new uniform said“#PSLISBAE,” which was the new hashtag Kelley was trying to get started on social media. The back read, “Ask me about my favorite pumpkin spice!”

Lord help us all.

When I came back out of the office, I found Kelley standing near the creamer station and staring up at the wall. As I drew closer, I discovered she was studying a framed picture that hadn’t been there when last I worked two days ago.

The photo was the same one that had been on display by the casket for Harold’s funeral. It was a close-up of his face, complete with chubby cheeks, narrow eyes, and receding hairline. Kelley should thank her lucky stars that she’d inherited her good looks from her mother.

“Do you think he’d be proud of me?” she whispered when I reached her side.

“I know he would be,” I said giving her shoulder a supportive squeeze.

Kelley turned toward me but didn’t meet my eye. “Really?” she mumbled. “You don’t think I’m overdoing it with the pumpkin spice?”

“People are going to love it. Just you wait.”

Now she looked at me. Her eyes held all her dreams and secret fears. This was so much more than a grand opening to her. It was an opportunity to bond with the father she’d only just begun to know. “What makes you so sure?” she asked.

“I just know,” I assured her, and then, “Hey, should we take a couple quick shots of pumpkin roast espresso to help get us pumped?”

“That’s a great idea,” she gushed, stepping past me and rushing toward the industrial sized espresso maker. “Everyone gather around!” she called as she worked the machine.

The three new hires had already arrived. I’d been so focused on my many magical problems this past week that I hadn’t really made any efforts to get to know them outside of Kelley’s team-building activities. Now that I knew our ghostly visitor had been Harold of all people, maybe I could start to relax even more. To let other people in.

Drake flew through the door just as Kelley was pouring the last shot into a little paper cup.“Sorry I’m late!”

“Actually you’re five minutes early,” Kelley said as she handed him a shot.

Drake jerked his head toward the door.“Should I go back out and come in a little later?”

“Oh, stop.” Kelley hit his chest playfully, and I watched as standoffish, sarcastic Drake blushed. He actually blushed! Perhaps there was hope for these two, after all.

“A toast!” I said, raising my own paper cup in the air.

“To Harold’s. Long may his legacy live!” Kelley cheered.

“To Kelley. Long may she overlook my tardiness!” Drake countered.

“To all things pumpkin spice,” I added.

The newbies shouted a combination of“Cheers!” and “Hear, hear!”

And then we all took down our shots of espresso.

“Ah, hot, hot, hot!” I cried.

“That went straight up my sinuses,” Drake whined.

The others just laughed and laughed.

Yup, we were ready to slay.

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