“She’s special.” Looking at her with her hair swirling around her and her nose all awkwardly scrunched up as she concentrated, I realized I was so far gone it wasn’t funny. “I never thought that...”
East tilted his chair back and raised his beer in my direction. “You like her.”
“Yeah. More than.” I sat back, feeling the truth of it and the weight of everything attached to it.
“That’s great, Kipp,” Wade said, quieter this time, giving me a considering look.
The music shifted, flowing into a steel guitar melody that touched something deep and familiar. Aurora dropped off a round without asking, but she also brought a pitcher of ice water and glasses, giving us a knowing look. She knew we were really here to watch after our sisters, and East was here to watch over Lila. I felt like I’d joined the club, though. Snorting, I laughed at Hattie’s antics.
“She really can’t figure out that line dance.”
East chuckled. “She’s struggling.” Hattie was half-twerking and doing a sort of cute tap dance thing. “She just needs practice.”
“If you say so,” Wade snorted. “We won’t make fun, though. She’s family.”
“So we can now,” East reasoned.
Hattie turned and waved at us, nearly tumbling into Chloe as she did. I would have never guessed her to be uncoordinated, considering how she moved in bed, but apparently, line dancing was her kryptonite. We all waved back like fools and started chatting about stupid stuff like East’s newest construction project and Wade’s new parking meters. I kept my focus on the chaos on the dance floor and thinking up all the fun things I’d do to her later.
CHAPTER 39
Hattie
It had been a long time since I felt like I had a genuine sisterhood. When we were girls, Jane and I were a duo. Our friendships revolved solely around the two of us, and we would occasionally hang out with others, but we didn’t form deep attachments or alliances with other girls because she and I were all the best friends we needed. Of course, once she was gone and I was alone, it really hit me hard that other women didn’t operate the way my twin and I had. There were friendship groups where it wasn’t just a core of two.
Watching Sage, Chloe, Phiny, Lila, and Mia, I realized I had missed something by limiting my world. I would never say I regretted my time with Jane, but seeing how they interacted... I loved this. They were chaotic and wild as they joked and teased each other. Each one seemed to embrace the others and their own small insecurities.
All the women were so different from each other. Phiny was more reserved, hanging back a little, watching with her quiet eyes that carried unspoken hurts. Lila was casually friends with everyone, flitting from person to person. Chloe, the youngest Holt, I hadn’t had a read on yet, but she was more carefree here among the women, with her hair down than she had been at the farmhouse. There she had more of a ‘good girl’ persona. Now she was lively, flicking glances over at the firefighter who’d joined her brothers. I wondered if I could ask Kipp if they were dating. Mia was drinking maybe a little more than she should, with an abandon that made me question the reason… but that could be my constant investigator vigilance.
“Come on. You try.” Sage pulled me onto the dance floor, where people were doing complicated moves that made my head spin.
We’d been here for over an hour now, and I was loosened up enough to try, even though I’d warned them all that dancing wasn’t really in my toolbox. Ask me to pick a lock, interview someone shady, or examine evidence— I was your girl. If it involved finding a motel in a two-bit town in the middle of nowhere or camping in your car and making a meal out of granola and a bag of chips because you couldn’t make it to the next town, well, I was your person. Line dancing? Any dancing? Nope.
“You can do it.” Chloe demonstrated, a smile lighting herface. “Watch me.” She pivoted, hands on her hips. “This first part is a ball-cross and turn.”
Laughing, I tried to follow her lead without understanding any of it, but I was too buzzed to care that I probably looked like an idiot while they shouted directions at me like, “step right” and “kick.” Chloe had made it look super sexy with her hair swinging and her hips swaying as she danced.
By the time we stopped, we were all giggling and falling over each other. “Sorry, I’m hopeless. Should come with a warning label.”
“You’re pretty terrible,” Phiny admitted. “Maybe you’ll get better as you get more practice. It took me a while, too.” She looked skeptical, though, and I couldn’t blame her.
“I doubt it. Somehow, my brain never seemed to get the message about moving to a beat. I can enjoy music while sitting still, but ask me to move and listen? I can’t do it. It’s fun to try with you guys.” It was, which surprised me. Typically, I found any time when people had cornered me to dance excruciatingly embarrassing. Even the Holt boys’ chuckling at me made me feel warm and toasty in all the good ways.
“Are you going to stick around when this case is over?” Chloe asked tentatively once we were all back in our booth. She had been glancing over at the guys for a while now. “Kipp really likes you.”
It didn’t escape me that they were all looking at me with expectant eyes, and this wasn’t an easy answer. Biting my lip, I tried to capture my thoughts about what my future might look like. Just this morning, my period had hit with the cramping to boot, and I was feeling a little emotional about it. Kipp and I hadn’t talked it through, but I was pretty sure we were both experiencing mixed feelings.
“I really like him, too.” That was the easy part. The more challenging part was sorting out how deep the feelings had gotten and what I was going to do about things once all this was tied up. There was also the complication that my heart had sunk this morning. Instead of being relieved, I was sad. “Not sure about how things will work out after this case, but I’d like them to.”
Sage wrapped an arm around me. “Don’t you worry, Hattie. We’re all on your side. If there’s anything we can do to help you with Kippers, we’re here for you. And you’re part of our new team, right?”
“Right,” I agreed, not sure about the way she was eyeing me speculatively.
“Well, girls, it’s time we got Wade back for his latest attack,” she said, leaning forward. “He played a prank on Phiny last month by swapping all the sugar with salt. Rude. Don’t you think so?”
“Yes?” All of them nodded. “Definitely. Very rude.”
“Exactly. We need to catch a raccoon.” Sage squeezed me. “He needs to be reminded of the pranking balance of power.”
