Page 21 of A Dash of Wolf

“Did they take your mugshot again? Because the last one was actually quite flattering. You should just have them always use that one.”

Adeline put on her bravest smile. “Just a misunderstanding. Everything’s fine.”

She waited until the last customer paid and left before she turned to Emory. “We need a girls’ night tonight. We need to figure out who’s actually doing this before I end up in that cell for real.”

Emory already had her phone in her hand. “I’ll text Tempi and Cassie.”

Adeline nodded. “Cassie will be expecting the text.”

Princess Muffin Top jumped up onto the counter and strolled over to her bed. “For the record, I’ve already solved the case.”

Adeline and Emory both turned to look at the snarky cat.

“Well?” Adeline demanded. “Who is it?”

Princess Muffin Top picked up her front paw and started to groom herself. “I was only joking. I really am the full package...funny and beautiful.”

9

“Icancelled my date for tonight,” Princess Muffin Top said as she jumped up onto the barstool. “To stay in with you and your friends.”

“You stay in every Friday night,” Adeline said dryly.

“I’m just letting you know how magnanimous I’m being. That’s big of me. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Adeline rolled her eyes and went back to arranging the charcuterie board. She’d gone a little overboard, but she couldn’t help it, that was just her way. Three kinds of cheeses, fig jam, honeycomb, rosemary crackers, sugared almonds, and a cluster of grapes she’d enchanted to taste like whatever flavor her friends were craving. The side tray would have the extra truffles and scones she snagged from the bakery.

But she needed this tonight. She needed her childhood friends and her back deck and a bottle of wine and the sound of the bay.

Her cottage sat on the far edge of town, away from the neighborhoods where most witches clustered on Lantern Hill. Adeline had never wanted to live there. Too close to the Beaumont Legacy. Grandmother Lavinia’s mansion may not sit inside the development, but she had eyes everywhere. Instead, she’d found a little two-bedroom cottage on an acre of land that backed straight up to the water. No neighbors on either side...just marsh grass and wildflowers and a view of the bay that stretched all the way to the horizon. On clear nights, she could see the lights of shrimp boats bobbing on the water. It was the one place in Moonlight Bay that felt entirely hers. No connection to the Beaumont name.

The doorbell rang, and Princess Muffin Top’s ears swiveled. “It’s party time.”

Adeline opened the door, and Emory, Tempi, and Cassie all hurried inside.

“We brought more wine,” Emory announced, holding up two bottles. “A red and a white because I had a feeling we’d need it.”

“I stopped by the Rusty Anchor,” Tempi said, “and ordered up some of that hot crab dip we like. Hope you have lots of crackers.”

Adeline shut the door and smiled. “I do.”

“I brought nothing,” Cassie said. “I’m a public servant. I contribute my presence.”

Princess Muffin Top lifted a paw in the air. “Solidarity, sister.”

They filed through the cottage and out onto the back deck. They quickly arranged the charcuterie board, crab dip, crackers, and tray of desserts alongside the red and white wines and four mismatched glasses on the patio table.

“And my celebratory meal?” Princess Muffin Top asked with a tilt of her nose. “Because I’m starving here.”

Adeline set down a small dish of gourmet cat treats and a bowl of purified water on the wide deck railing so the cat could have a view of the bay.

“It will do,” Princess Muffin Top said after a careful examination of her food.

Emory poured the wine while Cassie kicked off her shoes and propped her feet up on the railing. Tempi curled into the oversized wicker chair with her legs tucked under her, her silver-blonde hair floating gently around her shoulders. The sun was just starting to drop behind the tree line, turning the bay gold and pink.

“So,” Emory said, handing Adeline a glass. “How’d it go with Ronin last night, Tempi?”

Tempi groaned and took a long sip of wine. “Why does that man infuriate me so much? He showed up fifteen minutes late, didn’t apologize, and then had the nerve to tell me my scavenger hunt ideas were ‘cute.’ Cute!” She leaned over and stabbed a cracker into the fig jam. “I wanted to blow him off the pier.”