I yanked the underwear off my head as I squeaked out some sort of greeting. “I didn’t know you were coming by.”
“Yeah, I wanted to check on you after what happened.” He looked like he was fighting hard not to burst out laughing.
“I’m good. Just hanging out here with Henry, watching a movie.” Belatedly, I realized I was talking with my hands and swinging the underwear around at the same time. I stepped back and stuffed them into my back pocket.
“Can we talk?” Daniel asked with a big grin on his face. He nodded at Henry. “In private.”
8
Emma
Opening the back door,Daniel waited for me to go out then shut the door behind us with a quiet snick. “Please,” I motioned toward the glider. It was a two-seater, that matched the two Adirondack chairs that sat out there as well. I knew men often liked to spread out, so I figured that was the best option for him. “Sit.”
He did, and then patted the spot beside him. I perched on the edge, barely letting my whole ass fit on the chair, not wanting to crowd him, as nerves fluttered in my belly. It had to be because I didn’t know what he was going to say, right? He looked so relaxed sitting there though, like he would be at ease anywhere. It made me almost want to lean back into him and absorb some of the chill attitude he had. And maybe enjoy watching the waves with the arm of a handsome man around my shoulders. So, sue me.
“I came to tell you that you’re no longer considered a suspect.” He grinned at me as I looked over at him. His eyes sparkled in the low light. “In my official capacity as retired sheriff, I got the skinny.”
I patted his knee, surprising myself or maybe even both of us with the contact and smiled. “Thank you, but I already knew. Beth’s sister told me.” I hesitated and looked out at the waves with my hand still on Daniel’s knee. I knew I should remove it, that to leave it there might be considered inappropriate, but I couldn’t bring myself to let go. When he put his hand over mine, I decided to trust him. “There’s something else, though. I don’t think it was a natural death, no matter what the police have ruled it as.”
He sat back, accidentally dislodging my hand, but he caught it and twined our fingers together. My heart swelled with the small sign of affection. He had enjoyed having my hand on his knee. In fact, he enjoyed it so much that he didn’t want to let my hand go, which was why it was now wrapped in his much larger one. His voice was careful, quiet, like he didn’t want to scare me off, as though I was some wild creature needing to be approached with caution, as he asked, “Why do you think that?”
“So, Roger had a partner. He disappeared five years ago. Do you remember that?” I hoped that Daniel might have information he would share with me about what happened, or at least what they think happened.
Daniel sighed, frustration and disappointment warring in his gaze. “I was on the force when that guy disappeared. I couldn’t find anything.” He squeezed my hand. “That case always bothered me.”
“Do you have any information at all?” I asked. I hadn’t yet told him I was thinking of investigating this on my own. I wasn’t sure how he’d react. I wasn’t sure how anyone would react, or at least anyone who knew me and my new skill set. It wasn’t as though I was Veronica Mars or something and adding karma into the mix just made everything more complicated.
“Not really. If you thought Roger was an ass, you should’ve met Cliff. He was a real dick.” He ducked his head and seemed to mentally scold himself. “Pardon the language.”
I snorted and squeezed his hand. Worrying about language in front of me was adorable, but I wasn’t a little girl. I’d heard worse and had much worse directed at me personally and from my husband as well, or at least he had been at the time. Not that I wanted to think about Rick right now. He always had a way of ruining the moment. “Don’t worry on my account. What else?”
“He was hated by pretty much everyone in town, so the list of suspects was substantial. But nobody panned out.”
I wavered, but I had to give him more information in order togetmore information from him. “I think Beth might be in trouble. I think someone went after her ex, and since she’s still part-owner of the business, I’m scared they’ll go after Beth. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to her.”
He furrowed his brow. “I don’t think she’s in any danger,” he said. “Unless Roger had something to do with Cliff’s disappearance, or if Beth had something to do with it, why would anyone go after either of them?”
His words sounded good, but his eyes looked worried. The reassuring smile he gave me didn’t quite touch those mossy green orbs, and I knew there was something about the case he wasn’t telling me, something that would make him worry about Beth too now that I’d planted that seed.
I wanted to tell him everything, to bare my soul to those observant green eyes of his, but I couldn’t. Not yet anyway. I needed to know what happened to Cliff before I told him anything else. I didn’t want to accidentally implicate Beth just because I didn’t understand something or didn’t have all of the information. I knew everything supernatural in Mystic Hollow was new to me, so I wanted to be extra careful, especially when it came to my friends.
An awkward silence stretched between us, so I turned my gaze toward the ocean in the distance. The quiet rush of the waves hitting the shore filled the air along with a few bird calls. The white foam of the waves washed up the beach as though it was desperately trying to escape the rest of the ocean, only to fail and be reclaimed by it once again. In some ways, it felt like Mystic Hollow was reclaiming me. I took a risk and glanced at Daniel again only to find him watching me. I turned my head back to face the white caps. It was safer that way. No tempting gazes trying to make me spill my guts.
“So,” Daniel said, sounding just as awkward as I felt. “How do you like being back in town?”
“I’m pretty happy,” I admitted. “I don’t want to go back.” I paused, considering his question properly before I answered any further. The idea of living with Henry was strange, homey but strange. There weren’t many middle-aged women that lived with their equally middle-aged brothers. I wasn’t ashamed about it, far from it, but if I was to theoretically start dating again at some point there may be some awkward moments in store. Though Daniel seeing me with my undies on my head and Henry acting as though everything was completely normal and something I did every night ranked up there with some of my top awkward moments as an adult. I had to rank adult and teenager awkward moments separately because I was a super awkward teen.
I couldn’t help but remember some of the awkward moments I’d had with Daniel as a teen. I’d had the biggest crush on him then and if I was honest, ever since I’d come back to Mystic Hollow, it had been coming back. How could a woman resist a man like him? Tall, muscular, dark hair, green eyes. He was the definition of dreamy.
After being silent for what was probably too long, I added, “In fact, I’m seriously considering selling my home and staying here with Henry permanently.”
His eyebrows flew up as his eyes brightened, making my heart thaw just a little from the block of ice my ex had turned it into. “I vote for that. You being here permanently, I mean.”
Standing, Daniel paced a few steps away before turning back to look at me. “Have you tried the new sushi restaurant in town?”
I shook my head. “No, not yet.”
He scuffed his toe on the deck. It was almost like time had flashed backward and I could see the high school version of him that I’d always dreamed would ask me out one day. “It’s good.”
