"Thank you," Wade said gratefully, filling his plate. "This really does look amazing."
"Enjoy, guys," Henry said as he piled his plate with food. "I've got a game I need to get to, so I'll be in my room." He waited, staring at Alice. “Or I can wait…?”
Alice shook her head. “I want to play too, and I think we’ve socialized enough.”
With that, she got her food, and they disappeared down the hall, leaving us to our meal. I didn’t blame her though. Alice was an empath, so she seemed to prefer being by herself or with Henry. Otherwise, she got overwhelmed by other people’s emotions.
I was about to dig in when I got a text from my son. “More rings,” I told everyone, flashing them the screen.
They gave their opinions on the rings, and I texted back rapidly to my son, grinning as I did. One of these rings might end up on his girlfriend’s hand for the rest of their lives. My little boy was actually on the cusp of getting married. And to someone I liked! That didn’t happen every day!
As we ate, conversation flowed easily between the four of us. Beth seemed a bit more cautious and reserved than usual, especially when it came to talking about supernatural animals. It was understandable, given that she was still getting to know Wade, and her animals were her babies. Plus, his mermaid heritage had certainly been an unexpected surprise.
The nice thing was that Wade didn’t seem to mind. If anything, he seemed to have zero expectations for what she would tell him and was quick to share his own love of supernatural animals. I think his openness was appealing to Beth. Even in their bestdays, Beth’s ex hadn’t exactly been an open book, and he’d had zero interest in her love of animals.
"Did you know there's a colony of weresquirrels living in the park downtown?" Wade asked, clearly fascinated by the subject matter.
"Really? I had no idea." Beth sounded genuinely intrigued. "I've heard rumors of werecreatures around town, but I never imagined squirrels would be among them."
"Yep, they're pretty elusive," Wade continued, pausing to take another bite of pasta. "I managed to catch a glimpse of one once. Cute little thing, but you wouldn't want to get on its bad side."
"Interesting," Beth said, her tone guarded yet curious. "I'm always trying to learn more about the different supernatural creatures in our area."
"Me too," I added, looking at Wade with interest. "It's fascinating to think about all the different beings living among us."
"Like centaurs," Daniel chimed in, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "I've always wondered how they manage to drive cars without getting their hindquarters stuck."
I looked at him in shock. Centaurs weren't real.
Were they?
"Actually, I've heard they prefer to stick to more traditional modes of transportation," Wade replied with a grin. "Horse-drawn carriages and the like."
Oh, geez. Daniel was teasing. "Of course! That makes perfect sense." I laughed, imagining a centaur trying to squeeze into the driver's seat of a compact car.
"Have you ever encountered any other unusual supernatural creatures?" Beth asked Wade, her voice tentative but genuinely curious.
"Once, I came across a nest of griffins up in the mountains," he replied, his eyes lighting up with excitement. "They were magnificent creatures – part eagle, part lion, and incredibly powerful. I studied them for as long as I could. Did you know their females are the alphas? And the females lay the eggs, but the men sit on them. And the females thank the males for their hard work by covering their nests in flowers and bringing them ‘treats’ in the form of these golden berries." He stops, looking embarrassed. “Sorry, I do tend to go on sometimes.”
"No, not at all, it actually sounds amazing," Beth murmured, her gaze locked on Wade as she listened intently when he continued. It was clear that despite her initial reservations, she was growing more and more comfortable with him by the minute.
Good. Maybe we were busy with the supernatural world in Mystic Hollow, but it certainly didn’t mean we couldn’t have some love in our lives too. Maybe Wade would bring that loving energy to Beth. Karma knew she deserved it.
15
EMMA
After Wade left,Beth was eager to dive into our investigation. But she seemed a bit off, not her usual chatty self. She didn't want to talk about Wade - maybe it was the mysterious air he had about him, or maybe it was his rugged good looks that threatened to break through her no-nonsense exterior. Either way, I tried my best to respect her wishes, even if I wasdyingto know what she thought of him.
We set up around the dining room table with Beth’s laptop, coffee, and a stack of papers. Not even a minute later, Carol came walking in. Earlier we’d texted her to see if she was still busy with Deva or if she had time to help, and she’d seemed eager to get a break from the restaurant.
“How was it?” I asked Carol.
She wrinkled her nose.
“That bad?”
She gave a tired laugh. “No, actually, it’s more that I just felt useless. Deva is so on top of everything that I actually think the warlocks are taking breaks fromherrather than her work.”
