Page 56 of The Secret of Emerald Cottage

Chapter Thirty-Two

“You know, I can’t help but feel a tad guilty over having this much fun,” Cat whispered as she watched the dive team do their thing in the middle of Miss Lilly’s cove, and Molly totally understood. Out there in the cove, Sloan and his team were working hard while she and the girls lounged on Miss Lilly’s deck, where mild fall temps cooperated with a blue sky and blazing sun to shimmer across the surface of the breeze-kissed cove. In the background a Monet mix of scarlet, gold, and saffron leaves stirred in slow motion, dappled with sunlight that set autumn aflame. A sigh drifted from Cat’s lips, as soft as the breeze rippling the water. “But you have to admit, this is pretty exciting.”

“Sure.” Mouth swagging to the right, her sister-in-law Lacey reached for the jar of peanuts on the table. “If you’re not the dead person, I guess.”

Cat’s twin, Shannon, giggled, the sound more nervous than happy as she, Molly, Cat, and Lacey watched the dive investigation while Miss Lilly and Brec prepared a special lunch. “Don’t make me laugh, Lace, because it’s way too sad.”

“Yeah.” Molly buffed her arms despite the warmth of the day, the whole thing giving her the eebie-jeebies because of her dream. “No offense, Cat,” she said as she picked up her tea, but this is the type of ‘exciting’ I can do without.”

A bit of the devil glinted in Cat’s eyes along with the sun. “Which brings me to a whole ‘nother type of ‘exciting,’ girlfriend.” She wiggled her brows. “Like somebody who has the hots for you?”

Molly almost choked on her drink, hacking hard while Shannon gently patted her back, wondering how on earth Cat could possibly know about Brec’s feelings for her. “Who?” she said in a croak.

Cat rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, Molly—what does the man have to do to open your eyes? Kiss you like Prince Charming?”

Heat suffused Molly’s face as she gulped a drink of tea, thinking that, yes, that was exactly what a guy needed to do—twice!

Nodding her head toward the aluminum dive boat emblazoned with the words “Chatham County Police,” Cat delivered her classic smirk. “I defy you to deny that that detective out there is one of the hottest men in Chatham County, Molly Stewart, with a heart that matches his looks. And if you don’t believe me, just ask Connie Hendryx and Connie Saunders from the singles volleyball group—they’d kill to go out with him.”

Molly blinked, mouth falling open as she gaped at her best friend. “Seriously? You couldn’t find a better verb?”

Cat grinned. “Sorry, but honestly, Mol, if you knew how many hearts that guy breaks without even trying, you’d take more than a second look, guaranteed, because you two would be perfect together.”

Molly glanced out to where Sloan was supervising the dive on his day off. Working alongside another officer as line tenders for two divers, he straddled the deck at the side of the boat with line in-hand, muscled arms strained in a sea-green Polo that matched his eyes. No question he was gorgeous, but so was Tyler, and look where that had gotten her. “Are you kidding? Sloan and me?”

And of course Cat rolled her eyes again! Huffing out a noisy sigh, she drilled Molly with a wiseacre look. “No, the officer next to him, goose. Of course, Sloan, Molly! The man’s only been eyeing you for months now.”

Molly’s gaze flicked toward the boat again, homing in on the obvious bulge of biceps and sandy textured brush-up-style hair fluttering in the wind. Yes, she’d known he was interested because there was always a hint of a smile whenever he talked to her that he didn’t seem to do with anyone else. Then there was the point-blank intensity in his eyes when he looked at her that somehow made her feel safe, but then he was a cop, so that was only natural. Right?

Molly deflected with a forced chuckle. “Well, then he must be the slowest man on earth.” Her smile took a slide to the left as her thoughts immediately tracked to the “fastest man on earth,” who’d kissed her in her sleep before being formally introduced. “Because he sure hasn’t said a word to me about it. Besides, he took Amy Etner to Erica Rothlisberger’s wedding last month, so I just assumed they were dating.”

Cat cut loose with a grunt. “Ha! You kidding? Amy wishes they were dating, but Sloan is too nice of a guy to turn her down when she asked him to be her plus one. Besides, Matt Wood is dating Amy now.”

Peanut poised at her mouth, Lacey’s jaw dropped. “What? Sloan’s super-shy assistant deputy? Since when?” She squinted at her sister-in-law, nose in a scrunch that she’d obviously missed out on some prime gossip.

Cat tipped a side nod to Shannon, reaching out to fist-bump her twin with a grin. “Since my brilliant sister here suggested that Sloan fix Amy up with Matt because they have so much in common.”

Lacey gaped as she popped a peanut in her mouth. “Like what, breathing?” She chomped on her peanut, her disbelief evident in the lift of her brows. “For crying out loud, Matt Wood barely talks at the few volleyball games he’s attended, and Amy never stops, so she’ll eat that poor guy alive!”

Cat shrugged. “What can I say? They’re both into tennis, apparently, so it’s ‘love-love,’” she quipped, and it was Molly’s turn to roll her eyes.

Cat glugged some tea before clunking the glass onto the table, pinning Molly with a narrow gaze. “And, duh, of course the man’s been a little slow because he’s also been a little busy lately with break-ins and murders, if you recall. And don’t forget he knows you’re still getting over Tyler, so Chase says he’s been giving you that time, which is pretty sweet if you ask me.”

And pretty slow too. Molly glanced from Sloan on the boat to the kitchen window where Brec was scowling while making his famous chicken delis, and wished for the hundredth time that Striker Boy hadn’t made such inroads into her heart.

Lacey tossed another peanut in the air before snapping it with her mouth. “Trust me, I understand how you feel, Molly,” she said with a note of sympathy, “because my cousin tried to fix me up with Chase a few months after my fiancé dumped me.”

Molly gaped. “Seriously? You dated Chase first?”

Shannon timidly waved her hand with a shy grin. “And me second.”

“What?” Molly flopped back in her seat, gob-smacked that her SEAL buddy who’d sworn off women after a bad breakup in the Navy had dated all three of her good friends.

“Yep.” Cat hurled some peanuts in her mouth with a dry smile. “And don’t think I don’t make him pay every day of his life for me being his third choice.”

Lacey chuckled. “Before and after the vows were said, I might add.”

Cat stuck her nose in the air with a toss of her strawberry blonde ponytail. “I got my man, didn’t I?”