“Hey.” Laying a hand on my arm, Gray looks up at me, her eyes flashing with determination. “We’ve got this. No matter what, we aren’t letting anyone take that Little girl from us.”
Lanie
“ButDaddy,”I whine, holding up the giant chocolate heart that’s nearly as big as my head. “You can’t deny a Little girl chocolate! It’s inhumane!”
Arms crossed, Daddy raises a dark brow, but his beard twitches enough to tell me he’s fighting back laughter. “I never said you couldn’t have any chocolate. I said you couldn’t have twopoundsof chocolate.”
“Aw, c’mon, Ax.” Plucking the giant heart from my hands, Uncle Bram grins and gives one of my braids a gentle tug. “It’s almost Valentine’s Day. You’re supposed to spoil her on Valentine’s Day.”
“It’s Valentine’s Daynext month, Bram.”
“Close enough,” Uncle Bram shoots back with a grin.
Daddy narrows his eyes. “Bram, if you buy her that chocolate…”
“Can’t hear you over the sound of what an awesome uncle I am,” Uncle Bram sing-songs as he makes his way to the register.
Sighing, Daddy shakes his head. “Fine. But when she makes herself sick on all that candy, you’re sitting up with her all night.”
Uncle Bram winks down at me. “Worth it.”
Between the candy Daddy has already let me pick out, the heart Uncle Bram bought for me, and the fudge Auntie Gray swears is for her even though she let me pick out all the flavors, we leave the store with closer to five pounds of candy. The back of Daddy’s truck is already full of bags after our trip to the bookstore, the toy store, and a cute little boutique where Auntie Gray insisted on buying me three new sweaters and a cute new pair of sparkly pink boots, and I’m not really sure how we’re all going to fit inside.
“Heading back up the mountain?”
Spinning around, I wave at the woman leaning against a stone column in front of the post office. “Bye, Sheriff Donnelly! Thank you for making sure I didn’t fall!”
The pretty sheriff returns my wave, one corner of her mouth kicking up in what could graciously be called a smile.
“I like her,” I declare as I turn back around to face my family.
Auntie Gray quickly smooths out her expression into a bright smile, but not before I catch sight of the glare she was sending Sheriff Donnelly’s direction. It’s not the first time I’ve noticed how annoyed my Auntie seems by the sheriff’s very existence, but for the life of me I can’t figure out why.
“Auntie Gray?” I ask when we’re all tucked back into Daddy’s truck.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Why don’t you like Sheriff Donnelly?”
In the rearview mirror I watch Daddy and Auntie Gray share a look.
“I have no problems with any of Forbidden Pines’ law enforcement.” Her tone is breezy, but in a way that sounds more like she’s trying too hard to sound unbothered.
Curioser and curioser.
“But every time you see her you get this look on your face.” I try to imitate her earlier glare, drawing my brows together and pursing my lips. “Like you just smelled something bad.”
Daddy’s deep laughter rumbles through the cab. “She does make that face, doesn’t she?”
“She does! And I don’t understand because Sheriff Donnelly smells like Christmas and wildflowers all rolled into one.”
“I donotmake any kind of face. And if I do, it’s just because Reese Donnelly has been a pain in my ass since the day we met.”
“But you just said you don’t have any problems with the police here. Did you tell a fib, Auntie Gray?”
Uncle Bram reaches over to tug at my braids again. “Can I see your new toy? Sincesomeonewas begging to leave the bookstore before her poor Uncle Bram finished his shopping and he had to miss out on the toy store?”
He’s distracting me. I don’t know why, but something deep in my gut tells me he’s trying to distract me from the Sheriff Donnelly question.
