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“Then we search the old-fashioned way.”

“In that case, I’ll pack my wading boots. See you then.”

Vale cleared his throat. “If I said I looked forward to it, would that be insensitive given the circumstances?”

I chose my response carefully. “I look forward to helping you catch this monster and find Yume.” There. Reasonable without encouraging him.

I hung up, ignoring the flutter of my stomach. Our relationship was strictly professional. That was all it could ever be—no matter how much I wished otherwise.

CHAPTER SIX

I swung the mallet and hit the ball through the hoop. More accurately, I hit the ball into the hoop and knocked over said hoop. Oops.

“What’s wrong with you today?” Meemaw asked. “You’re usually better than this.”

“You said last month Coven Croquet is one of your favorite activities,” Margie threw in for good measure.

“It is. Sorry. My mind is elsewhere.”

“With your boyfriend?” Catherine teased.

“Vale isn’t my boyfriend, but yes, my mind is in Savannah, just not for the reasons you think.”

“You have no idea what I think.” Meemaw tapped her ball and knocked mine out of the way. Showoff.

I told them about the monster and the plan to search the waterways.

“Okay, fine,” Meemaw said. “Not for the reasons I think.”

“Do you know how many waterways are in Savannah?” Joan asked. “How do you intend to search them all by yourselves?”

“Vale has a team.”

“I don’t think a Love Talker will be much use to you in this situation.” Louise sent her ball rocketing through a hoop.

“Not just Gage. Cowboy and his friend Harriet, too.”

Meemaw’s spine straightened. “The witch?”

“Yes. Vale said she’s working on a spell to help us cover more ground.”

A sly look passed between Meemaw and Margie.

“Still, one witch and all those marshes,” Meemaw said with a shake of her head. “Harriet would have to be excessively powerful to cover even a quarter of them.” Meemaw’s face was innocence personified. “Is she excessively powerful, this Harriet?”

“Not excessively.” Harriet preferred her tea shop, The Mad Harriet, to supernatural business.

“Can’t the local coven pitch in?” Margie asked.

“Vale is trying to keep the situation contained. If word gets out that a dangerous monster is on the loose, we risk widespread panic.”

“If only there was a coven you trusted that could help find this monster and that poor missing woman.” Meemaw’s fingernails clicked rhythmically on the handle of her mallet.

Silence stretched between us as she waited for me to ask. I resisted the impulse. Evermore was already dealing with a weapons situation and a new assistant director of security. Then again, if I took the witches with me, that would be one less opportunity for Meemaw to prank Penny. Really, I’d be doing her a favor by whisking the troublemaker away for an afternoon to help Savannah. A win-win.

“How would you feel about a road trip?” I asked.

“Road trip?” Joan was so caught off guard by the request that she missed her ball entirely.