Rufus smiled. “It looks like I might be.”
Earl tipped his hat. “Now if y’all will excuse me, I’ve got to make sure we do our due diligence with Shane.”
As he walked off, I turned to Rufus. “Thank you for saving me.”
Rufus thumbed toward the bushes. “Are you sure about that? Because a minute ago you were telling me to leave and mind my own business.”
I rolled my eyes. “Icantake care of myself.”
He inhaled deeply and stared up at the sky. “I’m sure you can. You don’t need me showing up with a disarming spell to force a man to drop his weapon.”
Realizing that I was being an idiot, I shook my head. “Okay, I apologize and for real—thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
We locked gazes, and I felt myself soften. “You told Earl that you’re staying?”
Rufus’s cheeks reddened bashfully. “Well, it seems that I might actually have a job.”
I lifted my brows. “You mean spell hunting?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Something like that.”
I shivered, the shock of Shane’s attack and revelation suddenly hitting me.
“Come on. Let’s get you a blanket and some cocoa. Your body needs sugar and to relax.”
I let him drag me away. As we walked, I rested my head on his shoulder and, for once, wasn’t bothered by my past.
Chapter 23
Peachwood did not take the information that Shane Prader had murdered Sadie March well. They shook their heads, wondering how such a nice man had swindled all of them into thinking he was a saint.
Hannah, Sadie’s mother, had gotten justice—which in the end was what mattered. I also discovered that Liam hadn’t been talking to Sykes Laffoon about Sadie at all.
“I was trying to get him to let go of the business,” Liam explained to me a few days later. “But he wouldn’t do it.”
“What was Sykes referring to when he mentioned getting rid of her?”
Liam snickered. “Oh, he meant some racing dogs that he’d once had.”
I shook my head. “Weird.”
It was the last day of the renovation, and we were just about finished. After Sadie’s funeral, Liam had thrown himself into the project, and I had finished up buying all the rest of the supplies with lines of credit from the town shops. Once this was over and Dooley paid us, I’d be back on even ground—not rich but not in debt.
Well, I wouldn’t have a company because I simply didn’t have the money that Sykes needed, and I wasn’t going to borrow any more. I stared at the gorgeous barn that we had fixed up and was proud of myself. It would be my last project as Magical Renovations, but that was okay. I had a future. I just wasn’t sure what it was yet.
A truck rumbled up. Liam and I turned to see Dooley and Dottie arrive.
Liam gave me a wide smile. “You ready for this?”
“I sure am.”
We took Dooley and Dottie (who gave me another bag of peaches—boy, I loved that woman) on a tour of their new house barn. They had glossy countertops, a huge fireplace, lots of cabin-type furnishings with antler chandeliers and a huge deer head that Dooley had harvested on one of his hunts.
“It turned out good,” I said to Dooley.
“Kid,” Dooley said harshly, his eyes shining. He didn’t speak for a moment, and I worried that he would tell me it was horrible. “Kid,” he started again, “you didgreat.”
