Witchy Bad Blood (PAPERBACK)

Lottie suddenly stopped and opened her arms. “Here we are. What do you think about this? Isn’t it perfect?”

The ta-da moment was lost on Jess.
“This is Edmond Rice’s shoe shop.” 
Lottie sighed theatrically. “Sadly, Cobbled Together is no more.”

Jess peered through the window at the store bursting with shoes. “What do you mean?”
“Edmond’s decided to close up.”

“Oh no. This is the first I’ve heard of it. Do you know why?”

Lottie gave her a look of disbelief. “You don’t know him well then?”

Jess flinched. She’d made little effort to get to know everyone in town until recently. It had taken a while to accept that she was staying, and people around here had long memories. “We’ve met several times.”

“Then you’ll know what a sweetie he is and that the rest of us have rallied around him at this difficult time. It’s common knowledge—to most of us—that since poor Edmond lost his wife recently, he hasn’t been the same. While he certainly loved this store, he loved Isla more.” Lottie lowered her voice and glanced around them. “And then there’s the disappearance of his dear friend when he needed him. Unfortunately, with all that heartache, he hasn’t worked much, and his finances haven’t been great in a while. You can imagine how everything he’s dealing with has taken a toll on him.”

“How awful.” Of course Jess knew about the death of Edmond’s wife, and she had given her condolences, but in her defense, she’d been so wrapped up in witchy training and the store, as well as solving a couple of murders, she hadn’t had time to do more. And what of the missing man?