Page 60 of Flirty Fall Fling

“Great idea!” She tilts her head, glancing at the jacket hanging on the back of the chair. “Whose is that?”

My coffee goes down wrong, and I cough, almost choking. It buys me a second to come up with a story. “Lost and found from the shop. Somebody left it, and I brought it home so I’d remember to track down the owner.”

“It looks expensive.”

“Probably one of the leaf peepers who stopped by this week.”

And then the jacket rings, and it’s playing The Addams Family theme song even though it’s muffled. It’s loud and too cheerful.

We both look at it, and Josie’s head tilts. My soul briefly leaves my body.

“I wonder if that person knew they had their very own Morticia at their disposal. Obviously, a fan.” She snaps along twice and sings along.

I cross the kitchen, dig into the inside pocket, and silence it.

The lock screen appears with notifications. There are six missed calls and a text from someone named Patterson.

Patterson

Answer your phone, or I’m flying out there.

And under it, an email preview from the board office with a subject line I already hate: Please Accept Meeting Request—Nov. 1.

I shove it back into the pocket.

“Anyone important?” Josie asks.

“Nope,” I say.

“You should’ve answered it. Maybe they could help you locate who this shit belongs to.” She drains the rest of her coffee and sets the mug in the sink. “Okay, getting dressed, then scoping out the funnel cakes. I’ll meet you and Winter at the shop.”

“Have fun,” I say, grabbing the jacket and phone.

She moves upstairs, and I stand in the kitchen, listening. When all is quiet, I rush to the library, where I left Jamie waiting. When I enter, he’s holding Charlie like a baby, and it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever witnessed.

“You’re a cat person?” I ask.

Charlie is purring loudly, like he’s never been happier in his entire feline life.

“Yeah. I guess I am now,” he tells me with a grin, setting Charlie down.

“Green flag,” I whisper.

The furball doesn’t move, just sits at his feet, pawing at Jamie’s leg. He bends down and pets Charlie’s head and under his chin.

“Sorry, buddy. I really gotta go.”

I hold out the jacket and keep my voice just above a whisper. “Somebody named Patterson has called you six times. And as I was silencing your phone, I saw a text where he was threatening to fly out here.”

“My brother. He gets dramatic when I don’t answer.”

“You have a brother?”

My rabbit hole stopped at his dating history. It was all I could handle before I closed out of my search. I never made it to his family. I don’t think I’ll be searching him again anytime soon. It was overwhelming.

“I have one brother, and he’s plenty. I have a little sister too. I think you’d like her. She’s a very talented painter.”

“Wow. Oh, there was a notification about a meeting.”