The Witching Hour

Chapter 21 - Chance

A couple days had passed since the Hunter's Moon incident, and thankfully no one had brought up the werewolf drama. The Pentacle had gone back to their routine, the training on a slight pause. Ivy had no objections to this plan. It allowed her to get back to her shop and avoid an interrogation from her fellow witches. As for Hunter, he had been fast asleep when she had entered the house that night. He didn't see how shaken up she had been.

Knowing she should do research on this, Ivy went the other direction. She buried her head into her plants and rarely came up for air. This entailed repotting a bunch that had outgrown their homes and downsizing other that refused to grow. Ivy didn't have to worry too much about plants dying on her. She frequented the shop regularly enough to pump some of her power into her babies. Now, if she had been gone for days on end, this place would likely look like a waste zone.

Music wafted through the store. The notes got under her skin and pushed her to dance. Midway through a slight shimmy, the bells on the front door cut through the shop like a knife. Ivy froze in place, poking her head past the wall that blocked her from view. Griffin Moreau stood just past the entrance, pushing his hands into the depths of his pockets. His normally perky hair lay in a mess over his scalp. His eyes rounded the shop until they landed on Ivy.

"Oh hey." Recognition reflected in his eyes. From his reaction, Ivy knew Griffin wasn't expecting to her see here. He sent her a slight wave with a smile that sent chills down her spine. "Is this your shop?"

Ivy's mouth failed her. She settled with a nod. Disappearing for a second behind the wall, she repotted her plant with a wave of her hand and joined him in the front of the shop. In those seconds between her darting behind the wall and reappearing, Griffin had started to walk over. When she came around the corner, Ivy ran headfirst into him and practically fell onto the floor.

Griffin threw out his hands to catch her, gripping her by the biceps. Ivy put a hand to his chest to steady herself, blushing immediately at the contact. After deeming she was fine, Griffin let her go, taking the warmth his hands brought with him.

"Hi, yes, yes it is my shop." Ivy spoke fast, her hands trailing absentmindedly to where the warmth had once been. She moved in front of him and shifted back to the front of the store. "A generous and anonymous benefactor left it for me."

"Hmm." His dark eyes examined the place from floor to ceiling. Cocking her head to the side, a curious gleam shone in her eyes. Griffin recognized this place, and she wanted to know how. "Nothing's changed. It's just like how I remembered it."

Ivy's brow furrowed at the nostalgia-rich sentence. When she took over, she didn't feel it was right to gut the existing nursery. She kept the name and the basic layout but opted to give it a fresh paint job.

Griffin chuckled at her expression and continued on his journey down memory lane. "I grew up around here, as you likely heard." He sent her a wry smile over his shoulder. "We popped in here quite often. My mother –" His eyes grew a few shades darker as he broached a sensitive subject.

Seeing him struggling for words, Ivy became overwhelmed with sadness. She wanted to close the gap between them and tell him it would be okay. Gripping the edge of the counter, she refrained. It wouldn't be appropriate, especially with how little they knew of each other.

"You'd think it'd get easier," Griffin all but said to himself. He took a deep breath, holding it in a few seconds longer. "As I was saying, my mother was an earth witch. She loved to come in here and play with the plants. She tried to teach us her tricks, but none of us were skilled in the art of the earth." Griffin paused, letting the sentence hang. "Nice to see that someone worthy took over the shop."