The jangling of the bell over the door brought her attention to the front of the shop. She breathed a sigh of relief when Morgan burst through the door, her cheeks flushed, holding two steaming paper cups.

“What’s the matter?” Fiona held her hand out, accepting the drink gratefully. Peeling back the plastic tab, she inhaled the sweet vanilla scent of the latte.

“I just had a run in with Prudence Littlefield!” Morgan’s eyes flashed with anger.

“Oh? I saw her walking down Shore road this morning wearing that god-awful orange sunflower scarf. What was the run-in about this time?” Fiona took the first sip of her latte, closing her eyes and waiting for the caffeine to power her blood stream. She’d had her own run-ins with Pru Littlefield and had learned to take them in stride.

“She was upset about an herbal mix I made for Ed. She called me a witch!"

“What did you make for him?”

“Just some Ginkgo, Ginseng and Horny Goat Weed … although the latter he said was for Prudence.”

Fiona’s eyes grew wide. “Aren’t those herbs for impotence?”

Morgan shrugged “Well, that’s what he wanted.”

“No wonder Prudence was mad…although you’d think just being married to her would have caused the impotence.”

Morgan burst out laughing. “No kidding. I had to question his sanity when he asked me for it. I thought maybe he had a girlfriend on the side.”

Fiona shook her head trying to clear the unwanted images of Ed and Prudence Littlefield together.

“Well, I wouldn’t let it ruin my day. You know how she is.”

Morgan put her tea on the counter, then turned to her apothecary shelf and picked several herbs out of the slots. “I know, but she always seems to know how to push my buttons. Especially when she calls me a witch.”

Fiona grimaced. “Right, well I wish we were witches. Then we could just conjure up some money and not be scrambling to pay the taxes on this shop and the house.”

Morgan sat in a tall chair behind the counter and proceeded to measure dried herbs into a mortar.

“I know. I saw Eli Stark in town yesterday and he was pestering me about selling the shop again.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him we’d sell over our dead bodies.” Morgan picked up a pestle and started grinding away at the herbs.

Fiona smiled. Eli Stark had been after them for almost a year to sell the small piece of land their shop sat on. He had visions of buying it, along with some adjacent lots in order to develop the area into high end condos.