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“I guess that’s as good of an ‘okay’ as we’re going to get from her,” Remy said, turning back to Kinsley.
Kinsley nodded. “She’s marrying a cop, goes against the grain not to tell him.”
“Are we totally horrible people?” Remy asked, moving to zip up the bag.
“Hell no,” Kinsley snapped in an instant. “Damon is a horrible person who did horrible things to people but was smart to invest his money. You’re simply getting your due for the shit he put you through.”
Remy took the bag off her coffee table and it landed with a thud on the floor. The confusion and guilt seemed to disappear with Peyton’s approval. If the good one out of all of them didn’t see anything wrong with this, then how bad could it be? “What if Damon comes back for the money?”
Kinsley considered that and then shook her head. “Not going to happen. My dad told me that they have him on identity theft, fraud, mail fraud, and who knows what else. He can put be away for twenty-four years in prison.” She paused, then shrugged. “But if it’s really worrying you, then we could also drive to Whitby Falls and tell him that you found the money and turned it in.”
Remy nodded. “Yes, I’m worried. I want to make right decisions, not wrong ones.” The only reason she was even considering this was because Kinsley nudged her toward it. Remy always made bad decisions. Kinsley seemed to always make the right ones.
“Okay, later today, let’s pay him another visit,” Kinsley said, then wiggled her eyebrows. “So, are you in or are you out?”
Remy stared at the bag. The bigger part of her thought she did deserve this. The money was in her house. Damon’s past victims were getting what they were owed. She had the chance to change her life for the better, and she wanted desperately to take it. To finally have the shop she’d always dreamed of having. But big decisions like this were not handled rashly. “I’ll tell you tomorrow morning if I’m in or out.”
Kinsley hopped up from the couch and then slid her arm into Remy’s. “Dude, can’t you just decide for yourself, without doing some voodoo shit?”
“Take. That. Back.” Remy frowned.
Kinsley rolled her eyes. “Fine, I take it back, so what ritual happens tonight?”
“I’ll do a cleansing spell before bed, then ask Nana what I should do,” Remy explained. “By the time I wake up, I’ll know.”
Kinsley gave her the most exasperated expression Remy had ever seen. “Because she’ll tell you in your dream?”
“That’s right.” Remy pinched Kinsley’s arm. “And stop looking at me like I’ve lost it completely.”
“Actually,” Kinsley countered after a moment. “I stress drink and binge eat over huge decisions. Your way sounds healthier.”
Remy smiled, reached for the bag to bring back upstairs, and then considered what Kinsley had said. “Um…so about the drinking and binge eating, can we do that too?”
Kinsley was already walking toward the kitchen. “On it!”
Chapter 8
Two weeks later, Remy’s life wasn’t only back to normal, her dreams were coming true. Above her, standing on a ladder, Asher hung the new sign for Remy’s shop. The dark wood sign hung from a wrought iron hook and had her new black cat logo with BLACK CAT’S CAULDRON written in calligraphy with vines growing out of the words. With the help of the entire gang, they’d renovated quickly and painted the walls a deep cream color after she’d bought the building that included her loft. Remy loved the worn hardwood floors and left those as is. There was already a counter from the shop that was there before, so they simply sanded the old wood and painted it black. The shop was everything she’d hoped for, and she could hardly believe two weeks had flown by since she woke up from her dream and got the go-ahead from her nana. It hadn’t exactly been a yes, but Nana had been smiling as she walked down Main Street toward Remy. That’s about as good of a thumbs-up as Remy could hope for to use Damon’s money to buy her shop. Which, of course, Damon didn’t know, because she and Kinsley had driven to the larger jail in Whitby Falls. In privacy from the hovering Asher and Boone, Remy had told Damon that she’d turned his money in. The scowl on his face told her he believed her. Free and clear, she was taking the little help fate had given her to turn her life around.
“How’s that?” Asher asked, glancing down at her. Today he wore jeans and a leather jacket around a gray T-shirt, looking mighty fine this chilly afternoon with a brisk west wind cutting through the town.
“Perfect.” She smiled, holding on to the ladder. “It’s just perfect.”
Everything was perfect, really. Considering her life two weeks ago was in complete shambles, things had taken a turn for the better. Except for the Asher part. She’d tried over the last couple weeks to keep things very platonic, not thinking about him too much. But he came around, a lot, obviously worried about her. Only she wasn’t in bad shape. She wanted him… all the time. Asher wasn’t helping matters, considering she was trying to stay out of his bed, and he seemed determined to get her back in it, always getting very close and doing his best to keep the heat burning between them. Which he seemed to do without much effort. He had yet to kiss her again, but all the teasing he’d done lately made her want to grab that T-shirt and drag him close until those lips met hers. For that reason, she had made sure someone was always with them. Being alone was a big no-no, just in case that urge to rip his shirt off took over.
When he slowly came back down the ladder, she quickly moved away, knowing that if he got near her, all that energy between them would electrify her. Ever since she woke up after their night together, there was this weird back-and-forth thing going on. Her body trusted Asher, but her emotions didn’t. And right now, her emotions were at a high risk, because with every hot spike of desire also came the clench of her heart.
She couldn’t forget that he’d broken her heart into a million pieces. No matter how much growing up Asher had done these past ten years.
His feet hit the pavement and he wiped his hands, glancing up at the sign. “Yeah, looks good.” He turned to her with a smile. “Nana would be so proud of you.”
Warmth rushed through her. All the years she’d hoped and wished for this day, and it was finally here. Nana would be proud, more than proud actually. “I wish she could have seen this,” Remy said, glancing at her storefront. Nana had perfected all her creams and candles over the years. She wanted to help people. And it felt so good that Remy could see that come to life now.
Finally, Remy’s life was on the right track.
Movement passed by the window and Remy noticed Kinsley and Peyton putting stuff on the bookcases along the far wall. Boone and Rhett were both coming out of the back room with boxes. For the last week, Remy had been in her kitchen making up batches of Nana’s potions and creams. “I actually can’t believe this is happening,” she said, turning back to Asher.
His eyes went soft. “It’s a damn good thing your mother came through for you.”
