Still, I was convinced Beckett had been the target and that whoever had aimed the gun was an excellent shot. I was chalking my conviction up to my magical intuition—not that I was sure I had one of those, but whatever.
Eugene’s murder board was turned to face the group. It’d only been a few days since he’d started it, but it felt much longer. New pictures had already been added to the board. A red dot on a map showed where I’d been standing beside Beckett. If he hadn’t bent down to retrieve my cup, my nightmares last night would’ve been a lot more disturbing.
I shuddered.
Gideon’s hand slipped into mine, and I scooted closer to him. I had half a mind to crawl into his lap just so I could feel his arms around me again.
Beside me, Hazel’s knitting needles clicked and clacked in a steady rhythm, although it was faster and a bit more aggressive than usual. Tulip was winding her green hair around one of her webbed fingers. She didn’t usually fidget, so I suspected it was a sign she wasn’t as calm as she appeared. Az had his arms folded over his chest as he scowled at a spot on the table in front of him. His jaw kept clenching and unclenching. Perry was hunched down so low that he looked seconds from sliding under the table. And then there was Sandy.
The sprite’s mouth was hanging open in shock as his gaze darted all over me. “Where are the cupcakes or cookies or muffins or…?” He waved his hand through the air. “Anything.”
My cheeks heated. “I… uh… I didn’t think I should bake.”
“Butwhy?”
I squirmed in my seat. “Well, after the whole Truth Muffin Debacle…” Yes, that was all capitalized in my head.
“But… what does that have to do with cake?”
I blinked at him. “You would still want to eat something I baked?”
The delicate features of his face crinkled up like I wasn’t making any sense. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“I told you it’d be fine,” Gideon whispered in my ear.
Tears welled in my eyes. I was such a mess today, but knowing someone would still want to eat something I baked gave me hope. My bakery dream might not be dead yet. Gideon and Elwood had both said as much, but they were biased. Having Sandy confirm it meant the world.
“I’ll bring something next time,” I said, my voice rough with emotion.
“That would be best, dear,” Hazel said. “I only ate a handful of flies this morning, because I expected to have a treat to nibble on once I got here.”
Elwood cleared his throat to get our attention. “This is not our usual misfit meeting, but I want to check in with everyone. How are you doing after everything that’s happened this week?”
“Humans are assholes,” Az said.
“We don’t know that the shooter was a human,” Elwood said.
“No, but the drunk who threw up on the bench outside my bookstore sure was.”
Everyone made sounds of commiseration.
“I wouldn’t normally agree,” Sandy said. “But some of the humans are driving the Whispering Pines staff crazy, too.” His gaze darted to mine, then away quickly.
“You mean Josh, don’t you?”
“Well, yeah…” Sandy squirmed. “There have been tons of complaints from people staying close to his room. Either he or the person he’s been taking back to his room is a real screamer.”
Josh had never been particularly vocal when we’d been together, but he might be trying new things. Unless Beckett was the enthusiastic one. Or who knew? He might have found someone new to lure back to his room. Whatever the reason, I really wished people would quit linking my name with Josh’s. He wasn’t my problem anymore.
Then Perry shuffled in his seat.
“Perry, did you have something you’d like to share?” Elwood asked gently.
The bigfoot hunched a little lower. His shaggy hair fell in front of his eyes. He hadn’t attended many meetings and wasn’t comfortable talking in front of everyone yet. “I liked working in the food truck. The restaurant is nice, but there are always so many people coming and going from the kitchen… the truck was good.”
“That’s wonderful, dear.” One of Hazel’s long spider legs reached across Tulip to pat Perry.
Tulip huffed. “Am I the only one who wants to find Roy’s killer and drag him to the bottom of my pond?”
