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Chapter Twenty-Six

C lover considered the many, many jars crowding the dining room table. I didn’t think I had so many . She and Whit had managed to move all her things from her parents’ house, but now they had to figure out where to put them.

Whit picked one of them up and read the label. “For abundance? What are all these?”

Clover put her hands on her hips, peeking into the kitchen even though she already knew there wasn’t enough space there.

“Herbs, spices, and tea blends,” she answered, distractedly. Maybe we could bring one of the bookshelves from home? But we built them upstairs. We’d have to take it apart.

Whit placed the jar back on the table. “Well, I see two reasonable ways forward. Either we put shelves in the dining room, or we find space in the root cellar. If we put them in here, they would be close at hand. But the root cellar is a cool, dark place, which I’m assuming is better for them?”

Clover nodded, then glanced around the room. “Yes.” She hummed in thought. “Would it be too cluttered in here, do you think?”

“We can figure something out. Why don’t we just move them to the root cellar for now so they’re out of the way. The entrance is outside. I’ll show you.”

As they started refilling boxes with jars, a knock—hesitant and light—came from the other room. Clover’s skin tightened. Is the ghost back?

“Someone’s at the front door,” Whit said before moving toward it.

Clover’s tension didn’t ease. She’d almost rather it was a ghost. What if it was one of Whit’s relatives? What if they reacted even worse than her family when they found out Whit had married a summer witch?

But as Whit opened the door, Clover heard a familiar voice. “Oh, h-hello, you must be Whittaker. I’m Erie, Clover’s sister. Is Clover here?”

Clover rushed across the room into the hall where Whit held the door open. Her ears had not deceived her. Erie stood on the doorstep, a bouquet of white and yellow daffodils in her arms.

Erie smiled a warm but embarrassed smile. “Hey, little sis. So I heard you got married.”

Clover’s eyes watered. She should have known that out of everyone, Erie would be the one to reach out. She was the most likely to listen and not jump to conclusions, the family peacekeeper.

“Would you like to come in?” Whit asked.

“Yeah, come in, Erie. I’ll make some tea.”

Erie nodded and handed Clover the flowers as she stepped inside.

“Pick the jar you want, and I’ll take the rest to the root cellar,” Whit said while closing the door.

Clover grabbed the jar of hibiscus, knowing it was her sister’s favorite, then told Erie to follow her to the kitchen.

Clover had familiarized herself with the kitchen earlier that morning, so she knew there weren’t any vases. But she had seen a large beer stein that should hold the flowers long enough for her to get a vase. Erie glanced around the space as Clover filled the stein with tap water.

“Thank you for the flowers and for coming out,” Clover told her sister. “How did you find me anyway?”

Erie snorted. “As if I can’t always find my wayward sister. I heard everything from Ari and Mom. Ari mentioned Whittaker’s name, and it sounded familiar to me. Then I remembered the order for camellias that came in a few days ago. I went to the antique shop first, but it was closed. Anyway, his address is public record.”

Without a proper tea kettle, Clover put a pot of water on the stove to boil. “Have you thought about being a private detective?”

“Should I?” Erie laughed.

Clover scooped hibiscus leaves into her favorite tea pot, which she’d packed from her family home, and finally turned toward her sister. “How’s Mom and Dad?” she asked, afraid to hear the answer.

Erie sighed. “They just need some time, Clover. You dropped a bomb on everyone, me included, by the way. How did you expect them to react?”

Clover drooped at Erie’s words. “I know… But I didn’t know what else to do. They would have tried to stop me, and I’d already made up my mind.”

Erie was silent for a while, watching Clover’s sad expression. “So how long has this been going on? I was as surprised as everyone else. I didn’t know you were seeing anyone, let alone a winter sorcerer.”

Clover peeked up at her sister. “Not long…five days?”

“Five days ?” Erie shouted.

Clover winced. “Okay, but listen. I met him at the end-of-summer party, and we kissed, and it was perfect. And when I was leaving, I talked to a crow. Then he ordered those camellias. And when I delivered them, he asked me to marry him. So I said yes. It felt right. I’ve felt stuck for months now, and I asked the summer gods for change. This is what they sent me.”

Erie listened carefully to Clover’s rushed explanation. “He crashed the end-of-summer party?”

Clover nodded meekly.

“Well, he’s got a set of balls on him; I’ll give him that. And even for a winter sorcerer, he isn’t bad to look at. I could imagine falling in love with a pretty face like that at first sight,” Erie snickered.

Clover blushed. “That wasn’t the reason,” she muttered.

Erie bumped Clover with her shoulder. “But it doesn’t hurt, though, right?”

A slow grin spread across Clover’s face.

Sighing, Erie wrapped her arm around her little sister. “You’ve gotten yourself into a pickle this time, sis. But I trust you. If all the signs told you this was the right decision, who am I to argue with the gods? Trust your intuition. It’s never led you astray.”

Clover rested her head on her sister’s shoulder, relief spreading through her. “Have I told you how great of a sister you are?”

Erie gave her a squeeze. “Tell me again. I never get tired of hearing it.”

“You’re a great sister.”

Erie laughed. “Well, while you’re so worried about what Mom and Dad think, you should be worried about Llew. I’ve never seen him so upset. He nearly destroyed an entire wedding order by squeezing the heads off stems.”

Clover groaned.

Erie patted her back. “Let’s have some of this tea, shall we? I’d like to meet my new brother-in-law.”