Bronwyn saw her, let out an excited squeal and rushed straight over in her dark skinny jeans and pink crop top that hugged her figure, rolling her little suitcase behind her.“Hey!”She ditched the suitcase and grabbed Willow in a bear hug, engulfing her in a familiar cloud of tropical scent.
Willow laughed and returned the embrace.“Hi.Oh, it’s so good to see you.”
“You too.It’s been way too long.”
Almost two years.She eased back to smile at her.“You look fantastic.”She still had the small silver hoop piercing in the right side of her nose, and a jewel in her belly button.
“So do you.”
“I dig the tat.”A beautifully shaded, artistic skull with a rose in plain black on her left upper arm.
“Thanks, it was a grad present to myself.And who’s this?”She looked down at Rufus.
“My new roommate.We’re still getting to know each other, so he’s a little skittish, but he’s settling in better now.Rufus, wanna say hi?”
Bronwyn crouched down and smiled at him.Rufus gave a little tail wag and didn’t retreat, stretching his nose toward her.
“That means you can pet him if you move slowly.Maybe start under his chin, or on his chest.”
“On your chest, eh?”Bronwyn crooned to him in her adorable Canadian accent, running her hand over the white blaze on Rufus’s chest.“Oh, you’re so soft.Hi, Rufus.”
Rufus lowered his ears and surprised Willow by darting his tongue out to lick Bronwyn’s cheek.“Hey,” she protested as Bronwyn laughed.“No kissing other girls right in front of me.Cheater.”
“He’s a sweetheart.”
“He’s a flirt, apparently.”Considering what he’d been through, she was proud of him.
“He’s a rescue?”
“Yep.Mae took me to visit him at the shelter last weekend.”
Bronwyn rose, her gorgeous blue-green eyes twinkling.“I can just imagine how that went.You’re a lucky boy, Rufus.”
Willow studied her thoughtfully.
“What?”
“Nothing.I guess I’m just a bit disappointed.No accent at all, after spending more than a year in the UK?”
Bronwyn smirked.“I picked up some local lingo over there.Things like ‘hiya,’ and ‘howay the lads.’That satisfy you?”
“It’ll have to, I guess.”She hooked her arm through Bronwyn’s and started toward the street, holding Rufus’s leashes to her left.“Hey, did you get the pictures I sent you?”
“Literally just as we docked.Tell me all about it.”
“Rufus found it on the beach this morning.Hope you don’t mind, but I’m taking you straight to the sheriff’s office to have a look at it.”
“No, not at all.”Bronwyn shaded her eyes against the glare as they started up the hill, looking toward the cliff above the marina, and gasped.“Is that a humpback mandible arch?”
Willow chuckled.“You’re such a bone nerd.But yes, I believe so.”
“Can you blame me?They’ve got one at Whitby, and another at Seahouses over in the northeast of England where I was, but I’ve never seen one over here before.”
“This place used to be an old whaling station.”
Bronwyn nodded.“I read that.I’ve always wanted to visit the island, but especially now that I’ve finished my degree.I mean, Skeleton Island?How freaking cool is that?”
Willow grinned.“Glad you’re excited.Welcome to Whalebone Cove.”
