Page 48 of Jingle Spells

“You holding up okay?” she asked, her voice surprisingly gentle.

“I, uh . . .” Jasper adjusted his glasses. “This is going to sound completely insane, but am I dreaming right now?”

“Ummm, don’t think so?”

“I had the most vivid dream that you and I were teammates on some ridiculous game show. And we kept giving the exact same answers to all these personal questions. Wild, right?”

Delilah’s eyebrows shot up. “You believe that you dreamt that?”

“I know, I know. Too much late-night television, clearly.” He laughed nervously. “Sorry, I don’t usually share my bizarre dreams with strangers.”

Something flickered across Delilah’s face. Amusement? Concern? It was gone too quickly to read.

“That does sound like quite a dream,” she said carefully.

“But the weirdest part is, I can’t quite remember how I ended up here with all of you.” He stopped suddenly, as if just realizing something crucial. “Good grief, where are my manners? We haven’t even been properly introduced, have we?”

He extended his hand, as if clinging to a small bit of normalcy might anchor him somehow. “Jasper Hopkins, pleasure to meet you. I’m the archivist with the county. Which I guess is probably why I’m here? I don’t really know,” he admitted. “But I don’t normally wander through forests at dawn, I promise. I’m usually quite boring.”

Delilah took his hand, her grip firm and somehow reassuring.

“Delilah Melrose,” she replied. “My family owns Stargazer Inn. I’m usually a little too boring to take strangers home, but something tells me you could use a room?”

“Well, I am exhausted,” he said. “But I’m afraid I don’t have a reservation.”

She grinned. “Bah, we’ll figure it out.”

Ahead of them, the trees began to thin, revealing what appeared to be a picture-perfect New England town nestled in the valley below. The sight hit Jasper with a wave of déjà vu that left him slightly dizzy.

Have I been here before? he wondered. It feels familiar, but I can’t quite . . .

“Home sweet home,” Delilah murmured beside him, and there was something in her voice, a noticeable mixture of relief and dread, that made him want to comfort her. But he had no idea why she needed comforting or why he felt qualified to provide it.

“It’s beautiful,” he said instead. “Like something from a Christmas card.”

“It won’t be if those magicians get their way,” Scarlett called back, having apparently overheard him. “Which is why we need to figure out how to stop them.”

“Magicians?” Jasper echoed, blinking in confusion.

Nate gave him a look that was almost like pity. “Man, he’s completely scrambled. That forgetting spell is brutal. Yeah dude, the magicians. You and I literally just discussed it, when we were having a beer at the casino. Remember? I was telling you about how these magicians keep trying to take over our town?”

Strike that, Jasper thought. It’s definitely pity.

“Hey, Scar,” Nate said to his companion. “I know he’s supposed to forget Oak Haven the moment he leaves, but shouldn’t he remember a conversation we had five minutes ago?”

Scarlett approached Jasper and peered into his eyes like a doctor performing a neurological exam. “You reckon all the shit that the magicians are doing is making everything worse?”

“Oak Haven?” Jasper repeated, increasingly wondering if he was in fact still asleep. “Is this still part of my dream?”

“You’re not dreaming, Jasper,” Delilah said gently. “But it’s . . . complicated.”

“A little sleep might help,” Nate suggested. “Let’s all meet back at the inn to talk strategy tomorrow. Obviously the town’s going to reject that ridiculous excuse for an offer, but the question is, what do we do next?”

“Works for me,” Scarlett agreed. “Not that I’ll be able to sleep, but I can stare at the ceiling and catalog all my regrets for a few hours. That’s always fun.”

With that, he and Scarlett headed off down the main street, leaving Jasper alone with Delilah.

“C’mon, let me get you settled at the inn,” she offered, not quite meeting his eyes.