‘That was quite the outing,’ said Noah as he parked Rosie’s vintage Cadillac in the garage of the Pink House. He and I had ridden home together, after Finn made it clear he was planning to enjoy the cider flight in the Sunflower Maze greenhouse, and then probably stop by the Hammer and Thistle as well. Lara and Jack had stayed with him – Lara promising to catch up with me at the book-signing event later that evening. She’d also vowed to confiscate Finn’s Jeep keys.
I’d contemplated staying – a glass of wine in the cosy greenhousedidsound appealing – but I owed Eddie a draft of my Sandy Balls article. And so Noah and I had driven back into town, golden oldies on the radio, quietly trying to figure out exactly what had happened at the farm.
‘You feel it too, don’t you?’ I asked him. When he took a moment to respond, I clarified: ‘With the town’s magic, I mean.’
‘Right,’ he said, although from his tone I wondered if he’d been about to respond in an entirely different way. ‘Yeah, something does feel amiss. Mom’s roses. Soraya’s ice cream. And the crows, most obviously.’
‘It’s escalating, too,’ I said, frowning. ‘What’s next? A horde of hippos breaks out of the zoo and ransacks Keiko’s art camp?’
‘Not while I’m working, I hope. Unless it’s pygmy hippos.’He drummed his hands against the steering wheel. ‘It definitely seemed to start after that weird Summerween Festival cloud …’
I shrugged, hoping he couldn’t feel the anxiety pouring off me. ‘I mean, things get weird this time of year. Strange weather, strange magic.’
I was twisting my ring back and forth on my finger – enough to attract Noah’s gaze. Before he could say something, I slipped my hand in my pocket.
‘Are you coming to the book signing tonight?’ I asked, changing the subject. ‘It’s with Vero someone – he has a photobook of hotels throughout Europe. Tiff is really excited about it.’
I didn’t mention that the reason Tiff was excited about it was that she had a crush on the owner of the bookshop. There were already enough complicated romantic feelings in the air.
‘Why not,’ said Noah, with a shrug. ‘But you have to promise me you’ll get your article done first.’
I groaned. ‘I know. Eddie’s been texting me all day. But I’m on vacation!’
‘I feel the same way carting around my law-school textbooks,’ said Noah. ‘But you’ve agreed to it, right? Eddie’s relying on you.’
I nodded, though with a bit of a grumble. Noah was right, butugh, why did being right involvework? Finn would’ve made me feel fine about blowing off the whole deadline.They can just fill the space with an ad or a wordsearch, he’d have said. Sometimes a bit of permission went a long way.
Of course,Finndidn’t need permission. He was off doing whatever it was he was doing when he stepped out of eyesight. I tried not to show it, but I was worried. Finn had always been a free-wheeling wild child, but recently he’d been taking things to new extremes.
I frowned. Was I feeling this way because I cared for Finn romantically? Or because I cared for him as a friend?
It took me a minute to realize that we’d parked in the garage and that Noah had pulled the keys from the ignition.
‘You’ve got a lot on your mind, huh?’ said Noah quietly. He reached over to rub the furrowed spot between my eyebrows. I blinked – it was exactly the same gesture I’d wanted to perform on him a few days earlier.
‘It’s just the article,’ I lied. ‘It’s harder than it sounds to write about something called Sandy Balls.’
Noah ducked his head. ‘I bet. And also, that whole day was not my best moment. Sorry about … all of that.’
I chuckled. ‘I’ve got some great photos to go with my article at least.’
‘Great,’ said Noah, with fake cheer. He swung the car keys in his hand. ‘I’m going to get some studying done while you do your thing. Why don’t you come find me when you’ve finished your article, and we’ll head down to the bookshop together?’
‘And if I show up without having finished it?’ I asked, teasingly.
‘You’ll just have to live in the shadow of my dismay for ever more.’ He smiled. ‘Or I’ll adjust one of my portraits of you to give you sticky-out ears and buck teeth.’
I gasped. ‘You’d never!’ Then I considered. ‘Wait,oneof your portraits? There’s more than one?’
Noah raised an eyebrow. ‘I’ll never tell. Go write your article, Molly.’
I hung my head. ‘Yes, milord,’ I said, in a pathetic voice.
He rolled his eyes as he went off towards his studio, but I could tell he was amused.
Inside the Pink House, Rosie was leaning over the kitchen counter, frowning at a caulk gun.
‘Hey, love,’ she said as she fiddled with the device. ‘I hear it was interesting times over at the sunflower farm.’
