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Peyton shuddered, staring down at the spot where the body had been. “This is creepy as hell.”
“Agreed,” said Remy, placing her purse on the panty table. She grabbed dried herbs from inside.
“Planning on cooking?” Kinsley asked, eyeing the herbs suspiciously.
Remy grabbed a lighter, then lit the ends of the herbs on fire until smoke billowed up. “It’s sage. It wards off evil spirts.”
Apparently, Remy and Kinsley weren’t the backup, sage was.
Kinsley rolled her eyes.
Peyton laughed quietly. She knew people back in Seattle who believed in ghosts and magic. But Remy was a true believer. She made decisions based on what the tarot cards told her to do. For the past two years, she’d been saving up every penny she had from working at Kinsley’s bar to open up her own New Age shop, Black Cat’s Cauldron. In reality, it would be a tea, candle, and herbal remedies shop, but in Remy’s mind, the world was full of magic. Sometimes Peyton envied that about her. “Honestly, if the sage works,” Peyton said, “I don’t much care what you do.” Truth was, she’d hoped ghosts were real and that Adam could check in on her once in a while, but that was only wishful thinking on her part.
The longer Peyton looked around her shop, the more breathing became easier. By all appearances, nothing happened there. The cleaning crew did an amazing job, and there wasn’t a speck of blood on the floor. From what she’d learned last night from a conversation with Boone between orgasms, insurance would cover the money lost in the robbery. This was a blip in time. A strange blip, albeit, but still just a blip, and she was determined to move on from…again.
The truth was, even with the murder that had happened there, Peyton didn’t want to give up her shop. Over the last month, helping women pick out bright, flirty outfits had brought out the bright, flirty side of herself again. Back in Seattle, nursing had been dark at times, and with Adam’s passing, she’d become more buttoned up. She felt a lot more like herself again, rediscovering all the things that made her feel beautiful and sexy, and there wasn’t a chance in hell she’d give that up.
Kinsley hopped onto the counter, her legs dangling. “Did Boone say what they think happened here?”
“Robbery gone wrong,” Peyton replied, moving the first panty table back into its rightful position. “Which is just awful, considering I barely keep any money here in the safe. That poor woman.” She paused, admitting a truth that kept getting bigger and bigger in her mind. “And yet, all I keep thinking about is that it could have been me.”
“I think anyone’s mind would go there,” Kinsley said.
“I got this.” Remy moved in next to Kinsley and grabbed her tarot cards out from a box in her purse. She removed them from the silk and began shuffling. A moment later, she spread them out and then went still. “Ah, well, let’s not worry about this.” She quickly placed them back in the silk before glancing at Peyton with a totally fake smile.
Peyton frowned. “Did they say something awful?”
“No. No,” Remy said, tucking the box back into her purse, avoiding Peyton’s gaze. “Just some heavy stuff going on.” She gave Peyton a quick look and a slight shrug. “Besides, you don’t believe in all this anyway.”
Before Peyton could decide if she wanted to change her mind, since Remy seemed to know something, Kinsley rolled her eyes, then said, “In this world, you’ve also got Boone now. He won’t let anything happen to you.”
Remy nodded, leaning her elbows back against the counter. “He’s good at protecting the people he cares about.”
Peyton sighed, wishing Kinsley had listened and met her at the shop like Peyton had asked on the phone, instead of showing up at her house. She didn’t want confusion. Once she settled the next table into place, she faced Kinsley. “Listen, I don’t want this to be weird or anything. I know Boone stayed at my house last night, but this thing with us, like we talked about, is casual, you know?”
Kinsley barked a laugh. “Okay, okay, I know, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if you ended up my sister-in-law.”
Peyton glanced at Remy.
She shrugged, waving the sage around, especially in the corners for whatever reason. “I’m with Kinsley on this one. It wouldn’t be terrible. You guys are cute together.”
Peyton wisely kept her mouth shut this time.
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Obviously aware of Peyton’s dodge, Kinsley pressed on. “So what is it? Asshole ex-boyfriend? Messy break-up? I mean, why are you so hung up on not having a boyfriend and trying to pretend that you aren’t totally falling for my big bro?”
“It’s none of those things, and I’m totally not falling for anyone,” Peyton answered as honestly as she could. “I just…” She sighed heavily. She wanted to tell them the truth, she did, but damn it felt so good not having anyone look like she was that poor widow. “I want to focus on me for a while. That’s all.”
“Don’t let her ruffle your feathers, Peyton,” Remy said with a smile. “You’re not the only one ignoring that she’s falling hard for someone.”
“First, I’m not falling for anyone,” Peyton repeated. “And second, huh?”
“I second that second thought.” Kinsley snorted, examining her fingernails. “Because, surely, you can’t possibly be talking about me. I hate men. All of them. Well, except the ones that I use instead of a vibrator when a girl just needs some.”
Peyton chuckled. “Have there been many of those men lately?”
Kinsley hesitated, then gave a little shrug. “There’s this guy Jake, who’s in the military. He comes home for a while, then gets deployed again. We have fun when he’s here.”
