Daniel’s lips twitched at the mention of my ex-husband. “You’d look good even if you shaved it.” He took a bite and chewed for a moment. “So, not to pry, but how’d the sale go?”
I grinned. “It went well. Took longer than I wanted to settle everything, but I’m officially divorced and my house is sold. I’m a permanent resident of Mystic Hollow.”
His big smile lit up the dimly-lit restaurant. I wasn’t the only one who deserved compliments, but I didn’t know exactly how to tell him.
“I’m really glad you’re staying,” he said in a quiet voice. “Maybe next time I can take you on a real date.”
I shrugged. “I like Italian food, and the ambiance in here is great.” Oh, yeah. This wasn’t supposed to be a date. “For two friends, I mean,” I said with one arched eyebrow. “So, why’d you want tohang outanyway?” I asked.
Daniel sucked in a deep breath as he wiped his mouth. “Well, it’s a sensitive subject, I guess.”
“I’m pretty sure everything I’ve discussed with you since coming here was a sensitive subject,” I told him with a grin.
He lifted a brow. “You have a point there.” He took a deep breath and all the joy faded from his face. “While you were gone, my best friend came to me.”
That didn’t seem all that strange, but he said the words like it wasverysignificant. What was I missing here?
I nodded, trying not to give away my confusion. “Okay. What did he say?”
“No.” Daniel shook his head, frowning. “I meant my best friend Thomas.”
My fork clattered on my plate. His best friend, Thomas. The person who had died in a car accident with Daniel’s wife. Beth had been the one to call and tell me about it, and it’d brought me painfully back to the day my parents had died. Since then, Daniel had spoken of it, but I’d tried really hard not to pry.
Still, I had a feeling if his best friend’s ghost was regularly visiting him, this wouldn’t be a big deal. What had gotten the bear shifter so upset?
“Oh,” I murmured. “Okay.”
Was this a good thing? I had no idea if spirits visiting supernaturals was a common thing, a positive thing, or a heart wrenching thing. I had the urge to tell him that I was sorry, but I didn’t want to say the wrong thing.
“I just had this weird feeling like I should tell you,” Daniel said as he shifted in his seat. “Do you know why I’d have a feeling like that?”
I shook my head slowly, but even as I did the note came to mind. And Al, who Rick knew, also sprang to mind. That coincidence was too major. This was the perfect opportunity to tell Daniel about it. Maybe he’d be able to make heads or tails of it. “Okay, so I did something.”
Daniel set his fork down and gave me his full attention.
“I know you know bits and pieces about the strange things I’ve been experiencing since coming back to Mystic Hollow…”
He smirked, but said nothing.
Yeah, strange things was putting it mildly. “Well, I haven’t told you everything.” I didn’t wait for his answer, I just pushed forward. “The first time I suspected I had magic was when my ex and hisaffair partnershowed up at my house, stole some of my stuff, and I accidentally turned them into toads. I didn’t mean to! I wasn’t even sure if I’d actually done it, or if I was losing my mind. But that’s why they were missing. And before you say anything, I should have told you about my involvement in his disappearance, but because of your connection to the police, I didn’t want to put you in a bad spot. And, don’t worry, I fixed everything when I went back. They’re human again and they don’t know what happened.”
I stop talking and stare at him.
He cleared his throat and took a sip of his drink. “Okay, I can accept all of that. And I can even forgive you not being completely honest with me. But for future reference, although I’m connected to the police, I’m not a cop any longer. I don’t ever think you could do something truly awful, so if you run into trouble, just tell me. Be honest with me. But I don’t want you to keep important things from me again. Honesty is really important to me in a relationship.”
Relationship?
“Okay.” I pushed forward, wanting to tell him everything before it was too late. “But there’s more. I’ve been receiving strange notes here saying that they knew what I did with my husband. Kind of threatening and scary. I haven’t been able to figure out who could’ve done it, but I recently learned from my ex that he has a work buddy that he’s close to, and Al, who lives here. I’m thinking he could be the person responsible.”
His face froze. “Someone has been leaving you threatening messages?”
“Yeah,” I said, feeling uncertain.
He lifted a brow and anger blazed in his eyes. “Thatwill get taken care of.” He seemed to take a minute, then continued, his anger fading. “But I have to say, I can’t see Al being involved in anything like that. He’s just not that kind of guy. Why don’t we stop by after dinner and be sure though, so we can move onto other suspects?”
I felt strangely relieved. Not only would I get to meet the guy, but Daniel would be there with me. “That sounds wonderful!”
“Now,” he picked up his fork again. “Let’s finish eating and grab some dessert.”
