Tianna blinked. “I have ancestral rights, sir.”
“Age before beauty,” he shot back, and exited cackling.
“I don’t like him,” Tianna grumbled.
Join the club, I thought.
“I must go.” She strode out of the shop as if on a mission. To tail him? To thwart him? Should I alert Logan Langford, thecourtyard’s owner, about her claim? Wouldn’t he hold all rights to the property, both above and below?
“Well, sheesh!” Joss let out a wheezing breath. “That was weird.”
Fiona flew to us and, wiggling her arms like Tianna, said in a silly voice, “It is my destiny.”
I laughed and recapped the gist of Shara’s visit last night for Lissa.
“She said it was buried beneath the courtyard?” the librarian asked.
“Yep.”
“You know, pirates settled the coast years ago. It’s possible one of them hid a crate of gold doubloons on the property.”
I giggled. “What if Tianna’s great-grandmother cavorted with a pirate and knew the precise spot it was buried, hence the reason she’s reaching out to her great-granddaughter via dreams?”
“What a tantalizing story,” Lissa exclaimed.
“You know, if the story proves true, she could be a very wealthy woman,” I said.
“She already is if the Tillbury wealth transferred from subsequent generations to her,” Lissa said. “Did you see that diamond ring she was wearing?”
“Couldn’t miss it. It was stunning.”
“Courtney, I’m somewhat concerned,” Joss said soberly. “Having seen Ferguson Moss in action, I know he can be a terror. What if he’s headed to City Hall to demand the city dig up the courtyard?”
I gasped. “He wouldn’t dare.”
CHAPTER THREE
The fairies have never a penny to spend,
They haven’t a thing put by,
But theirs is the dower of bird and of flower
And theirs are the earth and the sky.
Rose Fyleman, “The Fairies Have Never a Penny to Spend”
IN THE AFTERNOON,I CALLED LOGAN and explained the situation. In the past two years, rather than remaining an old curmudgeon, he had turned into a prince of a guy because he’d joined the Pedaling Pioneers, a bicycling group, and asserted that exercise was good for the soul. He told me not to worry about the matter for another second. Tianna or Ferguson would need a permit in order to dig up any of the courtyard, and no judge in the land would grant either request.
A couple of hours later, while dining on the patio of Hideaway Café with my father Kipling Kelly—he hated his formal name and preferred Kip—I mentioned the situation. He agreed with Logan, which set me at ease. I would worry no more.
“Now,” Dad said, “Wanda and I have some news.”
After my mother died, my father didn’t date. Anyone. However, when he met Wanda Brownie, my best friend’s mother, it was Kismet. The two were a perfect pair. He loved introducing her to the outdoors. She adored acquainting him with great art. Both enjoyed dining out. Wanda resembled her daughter, right down to her towering height and curly brown tresses, though she preferred form-fitting clothing showing off her trim figure while Meaghan preferred Boho chic attire.
“News?” I echoed.
“We’re getting married,” Dad announced.
