In the Company of Witches (Evenfall Witches B&B, #1)

by Auralee Wallace

I used to love the beginning of the fall semester. The smell of new books. The start of sweater season. The crisp fall air so ripe with possibility!”

I have tasted fall, it is a warm cup of tea, too quickly it cools.”

The intermingled smells of orange peel, cloves, tea, and old books instantly filled me with a happiness I hadn’t realized I’d been missing.

I took a look around the shop. It was such a special place. I loved everything about it. Its creaking wood floors. The prized rare books underneath the glass by the counter. The two-hundred-year-old fireplace Theo spent a fortune to keep up to code. The beautiful antique grandfather clock. Keeping it wound had been one of my jobs, along with watering the plants, and picking up the mail. Theo didn’t like to focus on mundane details. Not when there were books to discuss. Speaking of books, I eyed the towering stacks that had popped up around the shop. I used to be the one to reshelve them. I had to hand it to Theo, though; even with the seemingly random piles, I knew she would never forget where she had placed a single text.

“It’s killing you not to shelve them, isn’t it?” “Maybe just a little.”

Same

Brynn, sometimes the sun lifts you up, sometimes the clouds bring you down, but if you’re a smart witch, you’ll ignore all that and ride the wind.

but there was something a bit magical about the silence of a room filled with books. You could almost feel the stories reaching out to you with romance and adventure.

it’s good to be a little scared every now and then? Lets you know you’re alive.”

“But it does bring up some interesting points about families.” “Like we should all stay in our lanes or die?” “That is the most obvious interpretation, but I was thinking more about how we all fall into character during family strife. And how we can get stuck in those roles, and how they cause us pain.

That was the thing about grief I had come to know so well. It was always too much. The loss always too big. The pain always takes up too much space. It takes all the room you have until there is nothing left, and then it takes even more.