Page 25 of Wolf's Forbidden Curse

“Big cities mostly,” I said, trying to keep things vague. “This is the first small town I’ve been in for a long, long time. But I’m happy to be here, and I mean, c’mon, you can’t beat the views. Solara Bay is absolutely stunning.” As much as I typically hated making small talk, it actually felt good to chat casually about something that wasn’t life or death.

“I agree,” said Missy. “The view is something else, and this is one of those beach towns where I thought maybe people would be really stuffy and stuck up, but they’re not. At least, not all of them are.”

“Right?” I laughed. “When I first got here, and Al told me it was illegal to sleep on the beach, I was afraid I might have chosen the wrong place to settle down, but now I’m starting to feel like maybe I was just judging the place prematurely.”

“You were going to sleep on the beach?”

“I thought about it.”

Missy looked at Al, who merely shrugged. Suddenly feeling a little put on the spot, I cleared my throat and tried to get back to the subject at hand.

“But yeah, I’m pretty happy here,” I said.

“Does that mean you see yourself staying for a long time?”

“I don’t have any reason to leave.” That’s how I chose to answer without giving too much away.

“Me neither,” Missy said, beaming. “This place really is magical. And I’m not just saying that because of all the strange rumors people say about this area.”

I frowned. “Rumors?”

“You haven’t heard them?” She smiled at Al. “Do you want to tell, or shall I?”

He shook his head. “Before the night we met in the bar, I didn’t even know about the rumors myself,” he said. “I really hadn’t heard anyone talking about Solara Bay the way you did before you came here.”

“Yes, well, to be fair, you don’t leave town very often. People outside of a five-mile radius have some things to say about this area.”

Al put his hands up in the air. “That’s true. You’ve got me there. But that’s why you should tell her, not me.”

Missy turned her attention back to me. “People think this town is, I don’t know, like haunted or something? There are a bunch of stories about the fisheries, and then there are all those abandoned factories on the outskirts of Solara Bay. They’re creepy buildings where kids dare each other to go inside after dark, which is some true classic horror movie stuff. It just lends itself to a lot of ghost stories and the like. When I got here, I definitely felt like there was something going on, something in the air. I don’t know if it’s ghosts or not, but there’s… something.”

I raised a brow. “You think it’s magic? That’s the word you used before.”

She shrugged. “Could be. Something like that.”

“Huh. Well, I haven’t seen anything that would make me think the town is haunted, but I’ll keep my eyes out for sure.”

“You should,” she said. “And let me know if you see anything. I would be so curious to hear if there’s any truth to the stories.” She grinned. “I’m not just a collector of rare antiques. I’m also a collector of rare tales and oddities of all kinds. If you happen upon something you think I’d find interesting, please keep me in the loop.”

“... Will do.”

Missy had a strangely gleeful look in her eye when she said this, and I would be lying if I didn’t admit that it weirded me out a little. Perhaps I would’ve tried harder to figure out what her deal was if a bird hadn’t flown over our heads right then and called everyone’s attention to it with a loud cry.

“That’s a Belted Kingfisher!” Al said as he leapt to his feet. “I can’t believe I’m actually seeing one in my backyard.”

The bird landed on a tree next to the patio and chirped a few times. Al walked carefully across the wooden slats, and even though he hadn’t told us to be quiet, Missy and I fell silent. Once he was close enough to get the shot, he gingerly took his phone out of his pocket and photographed the bird. After a few snapshots, the bird flew away, and Al watched it go, hand on his chest like a proud parent.

“That was amazing,” he said softly. “I’ve lived here my entire life, and I’ve never seen one of those up close. My birding group is going to lose their minds when I show them these pictures.”

I laughed. “I didn’t know you were a birder.”

“Me neither,” said Missy.

He smiled over his shoulder at us. “There are a lot of things you two don’t know about me.”

“Well, I, for one, hope to change that.” Missy got up and went to him, putting her arms lovingly around his shoulders. He kissed her cheek and snaked his arm around her waist.

“And that’s my cue to go,” I said, getting out of my chair. “You two have a nice rest of your morning. I’ll see you at work tomorrow, yeah?”

---