Page 128
Pepper reaches for her notebook, then stops. “Can I make the question list?”
I give her a look.
She presses a hand to her chest. “I asked very respectfully.”
“You waited almost two whole seconds.”
“I can wait longer if you need me to.”
A phone buzzes again, but this time it’s Pepper’s. Pepper reads Marcy’s message and sits upright. “She found the festival florals box.”
Theo lifts his head.
“She says some pages are stuck together, and she doesn’t want to damage them. She wants me to come look in person because there are plant names, old festival labels, and handwriting she thinks might be Vines’s.”
Town comes barreling into the house. I feel Theo’s old instincts before he speaks. A part of him wants to say stay here because here is what he can guard. He draws a breath then lets it out.
“I’ll take you,” Theo says. “I can drop you at the library, then pick up a few maintenance supplies while you work. I’ll stay close.”
Pepper is already typing. “I’m gonna see if Scarlet can meet me there.”
I look at the window, the fog, the cemetery waiting behind it. “I’m staying here.”
Pepper turns to me.
I make my smile easy because I mean it. “I’m much more handsome indoors today.”
“You’re always handsome.”
“Yeah, I am.”
Pepper laughs, shaking her head. “And so humble.”
Theo stands and bends to kiss the top of my head. Pepper leans in next, softer, her mouth warm against mine.
On the table sits a map and a miracle. Which road forward comes with the least cost?
Chapter 29
Pepper Vines
Ezra steals my new notebook and runs.
He makes it three steps from the couch before Theo looks up from packing the dock rubbing and says, “Ezra.”
The alpha command in his voice makes my toes curl.
Ezra grins over his shoulder, holding my notebook against his chest. “She needs to get dressed. I’m helping.”
“You stole my notes,” I say.
“I created urgency.”
Theo rises from the floor.
Ezra’s grin widens. “Oh, good. Now he’s motivated too.”
He darts toward the stairs.
