Page 20 of In Dangerous Water

“After the famous archaeologist,” Caroline added.

I nodded. “Well, considering baby’s mom is also a famous archeologist, it fits.”

Sitting around the table with Arianna and her family, I felt a weight slide off my shoulders. And that surprised me.

I hadn’t realized how badly I needed space from my own family and their fears until I was away from them. Perhaps, the peace and quiet of Ames Crossing would be the best thing for me.

I resolved to call my sisters in the morning, but for that night I was indulging in a well-earned reprieve from the police investigation and the pressure of my family’s worry.

Taking Rafe and Arianna’s invitation to make myself at home to heart, I shuffled into the kitchen early the following morning and made myself a cup of tea. With Ford for company, I slipped out onto the patio, sat in a cushioned chair by an outdoor table, and watched the sun rise. It was slightly misty and chilly, but I was comfortable in my borrowed hoodie and sweats.

I couldn’t recall the last time I’d breathed so easily or felt so light. Yes, there were still major issues to deal with, but I’d been unaware of how much weight I’d been carrying and how much stress I’d been holding in over the past few weeks until I’d literally removed myself from the mix.

The Mississippi River was to my west and although it was not within my line of sight in the village, I could still feel its magick and its power. It was comforting. Rolling my shoulders, I visualized any remaining anxiety that I carried gently flowing away.

While I worked on my visualization, my gaze traveled over the backyard and to the stone wall at the rear of the property. A huge old tree was growing at the back, and I guessed that must be where Arianna had excavated the artifacts, a cache including gold coins and jewelry, that had once belonged to the infamous river pirate, Emile Francois.

The story had made international news. It wasn’t every day that pirates’ treasure was dug up in a backyard in the Midwest. There’d been more gold found nearby as well, and I recalled that my sister Skye had interviewed Caroline and a few of her friends about the second cache of gold coins the kids had found in a nearby cave.

Skye had interviewed them for her paranormal show since the treasure was rumored to have been cursed,andbecause the children claimed to being trapped in the cave by a ghost when they found the gold. As if he knew my thoughts, Ford leaned against my leg and whined.

I reached down to pat his head. “Don’t like ghosts, do you boy?”

The dog grumbled.

“Don’t blame you,” I said. “Still, I think a ghost would be easier to deal with than the three of my sisters on a tear.”

Ford rested his head in my lap in sympathy.

“I’m going to have to make some changes, Ford.” I ruffled his ears. “If I go back home, I could be putting my sisters in danger. Whoever is stalking me knows where I live too. It’s not fair to put Brynn, Kenna, and Skye in harm’s way. Someone else has already been hurt, and whoever is doing this…they’re ramping up. After yesterday, that’s become all too clear.”

The dog licked my hand in sympathy.

“I thought about this for hours last night,” I said to my canine companion. “I can’t move back in the family home and act like everything is okay. It’s not fair to my sisters.”

The back door opened with a soft click and Arianna stepped out on the patio. “Good morning,” she said and took a seat to join me at the table.

“Morning,” I replied.

“Baby woke me up with a couple of rib shots this morning.” Arianna grinned ruefully.

“Maybe he’ll be a soccer player,” I teased.

Arianna rubbed at her baby bump. “Feels more like he’s doing back handsprings, not unlike his big sister.”

That made me smile, and we sat in companionable silence for a few minutes. Eventually Arianna broke the silence.

“Are you feeling better today?” she asked. “Less emotionally overwhelmed?”

“I am.” Releasing a contented sigh, I sat back in my chair. “I love my three sisters, but there are times when I desperately need my space. I come from a family of big personalities, and while I adore them, I also need to decompress without so many emotions pushing at me.”

Arianna nodded. “I understand that. I never really quite fit in comfortably with my family either. My magick was different—Iwas different. And when I was young it felt like I never quite belonged. It was one of the reasons I took off where no one would know me and tried my luck out west.”

“So you didn’t always live in Ames Crossing?”

“Nope.” Arianna smiled and proceeded to tell me how she had scraped by, working in greasy-spoon diners, until she’d met the archaeologist Dr. Tommy Walls. They’d become friends and she began to work for him as an assistant doing office work in a trailer at his dig site. Arianna told me how she’d fallen in love with archeology and started with field school the following summer. With Tommy and his partner’s encouragement, she had gone back to college to finish her degree and then to get her Masters.

“Like you,” Arianna said, “I prefer to quietly blend in and discreetly go about my business.”

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