Page 73 of Ghostly

Gabriel turned his attention to coffee, and Perry shifted, revealing the reason for his strange position—he was trying to hide a small box, stillmarked with shipping labels. Ida gasped, then quickly floated away from the doorway.

Perry was amazing, doing this so fast. She’d asked him to bring her some ingredients—she wanted to try a recipe she’d found in the ghostly book, but also wanted to keep it a surprise from Gabriel.

“So you see her as a normal person?” Perry asked. “Not translucent or anything?”

Ida stilled by the wall.

“No, normal. Most of the time, at least.” Gabriel’s voice was accompanied by a light clanking of a spoon against a coffee mug. “In normal light, like this, you wouldn’t know she’s a ghost. But in direct sunlight, or when she’s in darkness or shadow, and only streams of light reach her, it’s like…” More clanking. “It passes through her, illuminates her from the inside.”

“Like a lamp?”

“No, gentler. It makes her face glow, and usually, her hair is this shade between brown and red, but that light brings out the reddish hues more and…”

And what?

Ida brought a clenched fist to her chest, trying to steady the fluttering feeling inside.

But Gabriel didn’t continue, and instead, after a minute, Perry said, “We should get going, right?”

More clanking and rustling followed, and Ida jumped to the living room window.

“Oh, you’re here,” Gabriel said as they exited the kitchen.

“Just came in from the outside.” She couldn’t help but smile—it had seemed to become her automatic reaction, every time she saw Gabriel lately. “What are you boys doing?”

“Perry had a project due today, but needs a part for his laptop. I’m taking him to a store in town. Hopefully Hansen has it.”

Why on Earth couldn’t she stop smiling?

Gabriel smiled back.

“Uh, that’s nice of you. Good luck,” she finally managed.

Perry looked from Gabriel to two feet left of Ida, eyebrows slightly raised.

“Anyway, I’ll be back soon,” Gabriel said.

“And stuff’s in the kitchen, if you need it,” Perry said.

“It’s called coffee, not ‘stuff’,” Gabriel said, and turned to the hallway before he could see either Perry or Ida snort.

Perry winked at her—well, at the potted plant next to her—and headed after Gabriel. Ida waited until they left and rushed into the kitchen. Hands shaking in excitement, she opened the box, then did a few laps around the room to calm herself down before she dared to handle the fragile ingredients. A vial of rosemary essence; a bottle of clear alcohol, a tiny jar of dried leaves. She rubbed her hands.

Time to get cooking.

One definitely not love potion later

Ida counted to three four times, focusing on keeping the vial steady as drops of oil neatly trickled into the jar. She carefully released the vial and twisted to the counter across to consult the recipe in the book again. Almost done; all she still needed were the herbs, brewing in a pot on the stove, and for the concoction to cooloff.

She checked the pot. Boiling too much, perhaps? She could take it off now. She turned the knob left, then right again. Left, right, left…

The front door opened and closed. “I’m back!” Gabriel said. “They had to order the part and it won’t be here for days, so I let Perry borrow my laptop in the meantime. In other news—” He strolled into the kitchen and lowered his eyes to the stove. “Ida. Ida, no.” He came to her and turned the knob off, keeping his hand on it to secure it.

She clenched a fist.Go away, loop.

The knob stilled.

Gabriel gave her an encouraging smile. “So, the Schuyler Sisters want in on the house renovations. In fact, Dina insisted no one else touch the garden without her supervision, and Mark offered to help with the facade. Anyway, why does it smell like a witch’s kitchen in here?” Amused, he stretched his neck and smelled the pot.