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All of the town stared at them. Some were more subtle than others, and they cleverly stared, all the while averting their eyes. But there were some, like Cassie and Adam, who stared openly with their jaws on the ground.
It irked him.
Nora was beautiful, she was smart and kind, and it wasn’t fair that her shy demeanor had made her a bit of an oddity in Half Moon Key, a place meant to cater to the weirdos of the world. With its secluded and insular community, it should have been a safe space for Nora.
Not that it wasn’t. She was safe in all of the ways he could think … but one.
No one in town took care of Nora’s heart.
That pleasure and privilege would be all his now.
He squeezed her fingers with his, and he was rewarded with a wonderful smile. “Are you ready for this?” he asked, holding up the envelope Parker handed him.
“Bring it on.” She giggled. “I am so ready to win this thing and show all of the townies that I am one badass lady.”
He chuckled. “Not gonna lie, Nora. I have never wanted anything more than to prove to the townsfolk that they should’ve treated you a lot better.”
She winced and shook her head. “I don’t want you to think I’ve just been unhappy and bullied here. It hasn’t been all bad. I just haven’t really found my place.”
If she expected him to reply, she didn’t give him the chance. She ripped into the envelope and pulled out a thick slip of cardstock paper on which was written their clue.
I grow in the ground,
Though I am not a living thing.
Find the clue in the ring.
Nora met his confused gaze with a frown of her own. “I’m not sure I get it.”
“I definitely don’t get it.” He leaned over her to get a better view of the slip of paper and read it over for him.
“Anything?” she asked.
He sighed and shook his head. “This one is a little bit harder than the other one. Let’s focus on the first one.I grow in the ground, though I am not a living thing.”
“That sounds like this formation of rocks in the forest,” she commented.
His brows knitted into his forehead. “A rock formation? In the forest?”
She nodded. “When I was a kid, I roamed the woods a lot. This reminds me of a place in the mountains. There’s a little alcove of trees, but there is also this very intense rock formation that rises from the ground.”
He clicked his fingers. “Yes! Isn’t that the spot some people say is cursed or proof there is magic in Half Moon Key?”
“Yup,” she answered. “That’s the spot.”
“You think Jade and Parker would send people there?”
She shrugged. “It’s worth a shot.”
Jack agreed, and they made their way to his car without wasting any of their precious seconds. It was a diversion, of course. The rest of the teams were still standing around on the beach, looking down at their clue. A few people were staring at them in confusion, and Jack figured a few of the other teams would give up trying to solve the riddle for themselves and would resolve to cheating.
That meant he and Nora had to pretend they were going in the opposite direction of the woods. She understood because she got into this truck and snapped her seat belt. A few of the other teams ran toward their own vehicles, no doubt thinking they could tail Jack’s car.
They wouldn’t get the chance.
Jack peeled out of his parking spot and quickly drove to his place, where the pair leapt from the truck. “If we take a boat, no one can follow us,” he instructed.
“I seriously love how your mind works.” She laughed, running behind him.
