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“Your mom says we don’t predict the future. We give advice based on intuition and asking the right questions.”
Piper hops off the couch, bending down to hug Cass, then scrubbing the top of my head. “Time to put a comma in this. I’ve got to get home before Mamma has Ryan stockpiling tuna.”
It’s our classic sign-off. Our visits never end with a period. We simply insert a comma until next time.
“Ryan’s probably grown a foot since I saw him last.” I put my arm around Jinx’s shoulder. Her seven-year-old son is the cutest thing. Cass and I were in the room when he was born. “Thanks for coming over and bringing me all this stuff!”
“Do you need groceries?” Cass opens my refrigerator, which holds a block of cheese, a dozen eggs, and a bottle of wine.
“I’ll be okay until tomorrow.” I pat her on the back.
We all group-hug at the door, and Piper slides my long bangs off my cheeks. “I’m so glad you’re back, BB. I know you wanted to make a big splash in the big city, but I bet you can make an even bigger splash in this small pond. We won’t let you drown.”
My eyes heat at her words, and I tuck my head, pulling them closer for another hug. “I’m not sure what I was looking for when I left, but I’ve got my people right here.”
“I’ll swing by Bud’s and make sure he doesn’t try to screw you on those repairs.” Cass lifts her chin.
“Would Bud try to screw me?”
Her nose wrinkles, and she starts to laugh. “I doubt it. I just like to mess with him. He’s so old, he still can’t believe a girl knows anything about mechanics.” She puts her hand on her chest dramatically, exclaiming, “Agirl!”
Another group squeeze, and they head out, waving and calling back to Edward with all their variations of his name.
I close the door, feeling both full and quiet at the same time. Dropping onto the couch, I scrub Edward’s head, which he lowers onto my lap.
“I’ve got the best friends,” I muse, tracing my fingers along the many lines in his hound-dog head. “You’re going with me to work tomorrow, so you’d better be ready.”
He’s not worried about our first day on the job. It’s his nature to sniff out clues and find bad guys.
I, on the other hand, have a little more to do proving myself in this town where I’m the daughter of a tarot-reader and an escape artist and the granddaughter of a magician. While I love my family’s unconventional lifestyle, I want to be taken seriously for my real-world skills.
My mind drifts to the last time I said those words out loud to anyone. I was standing on the back porch at my mom’s house, buzzy from a few glasses of champagne, the excitement of striking out on my own, and Aiden Stone standing over me in the silvery moonlight.
Aiden Stone, the star of all my teenage fantasies, was actually talking to me. It was a first.
I’d been swooning over him since I was a teenager, and he’d pick up his younger brother Adam from school. He was all broad shoulders and stormy blue eyes, then he left to do a tour with the Marines and came back even hotter than when he left.
His face had acquired an edge, a sharpening around the jaw, which now has a brush of whiskers that made me shiver wondering how it would feel against my soft skin.
Was it only six months ago we’d stood together, chatting in the moonlight? I’d been captivated by the fullness of his lips, the light in his eyes, the fresh cedar scent hanging around him. He was so big and strong and solid andsexy.
“When I left Eureka, headed to San Diego, I thought I might never come back.” He lifted the drink, and my eyes traced the flex of his muscles—so hot. “But when my four years were up, Ma asked me to come home. Alex was on active duty, and Adam was off flying planes. Dad was gone…”
He looked down, and I swooned a little closer. I’d had just enough champagne to give me courage, and the low vibration of his voice resonated in my insides, heating every part of my body.
“Now you have Owen, and you’re the sheriff. Looks like it all worked out for you.” I smiled, lifting my chin and imagining him lowering his lips to mine.
“I wouldn’t say that, but Owen makes up for it.” His blue eyes moved from the trees to me, drifting from my parted lips to my eyes and along the edges of my hair like a hot caress. “Adam said you’re going to be a forensic photographer. That can be a pretty rough field.”
“I don’t mind.” I exhaled a laugh. “I’ve always liked working on puzzles and finding clues. When I was little, I collected rocks that had unusual markings, and I took pictures of animal tracks back there in the woods. I liked to pretend I was Veronica Mars or Brenda Johnson.”
“The Closer?” He chuckled.
Heat bloomed from my stomach to my chest, and I did my best not to fidget or blink too fast. “I thought if I got a serious job, people would take me seriously and not think of me as… you know.” I shrugged. “One of the town clowns.”
“I would never call you a clown.” We were so close to touching, and he was looking at me for the first time with something like interest. I almost forgot to breathe. “You’re a smart girl. I bet you’ll do well.”
“You do?” I focused on blinking slowly, meeting his intense blue gaze, slipping my tongue out to wet my bottom lip.
