Page 108 of Bad Seed

“Feed me?” he drawled.

“For sure. I’m having gumbo, jalapeño hush puppies, and sweet tea.”

“I’m going the shrimp-and-grits route, and if you don’t eat all of your hush puppies, I’ll help,” he said.

She laughed. The waiter came, took their orders, and brought out little mini cast-iron skillets of crackling corn bread hot from the oven—one for each of them—and ramekins of whipped butter.

“What is this?” she asked.

“Pones of crackling corn bread. Cracklings are deep-fried pork skins. Back in the day, it would have been standard fare on any table in the area. Now it’s a hot commodity with the tourists.”

Harley cut a piece out of her pone, slathered it with butter, and took a bite. “Ohmygodthisissogood,” she mumbled, talking around the bite.

He grinned. “We’ll make a southern woman out of you yet.”

A short while later, their orders came, and she waded through the gumbo and hush puppies like she’d been starving. Brendan ate his, and then her leftovers, and was finishing his drink when he saw Amalie walk in.

Almost instantly, they locked gazes. She spoke to Paula, the hostess, then wound her way through the diners to their table and slid her arm around Brendan’s neck and hugged him.

“Hey, BJ. Did you leave anything for me to eat?”

Brendan stood up and gave her a big hug. “Congratulations, Sister. You’re just in time to meet my Harley. Harley, darlin’, this is Amalie Pope, Sean’s wife and Wolf Outen’s daughter. She is a CPA and has an office on Main Street down by the bank. Amalie, this is Harley Banks. You two are in the same line of business,except you don’t pack a gun when you go to the office, and she does.”

Harley was smiling. “It’s the PI license. It’ll catch you every time. I’ve heard so much about all of Brendan’s family. It’s wonderful to get to meet you, and congratulations on your blessed events.”

Amalie immediately put a hand on her tummy. “We’re excited, and I also heard from Dad that you’re going to be working for him here at the hotel.”

“That I am,” Harley said.

Paula came up behind them and touched Amalie on the shoulder. “Your to-go order, honey,” she said, handed it off, and hurried back to her post.

“Oh, thank you,” Amalie said. “I guess this is my signal to get back to the office. Good to see you both,” but as she put her hand on Harley’s shoulder to say goodbye, her eyes widened, then almost went out of focus.

Harley froze, unaware of what was happening until Brendan whispered, “Sunshine, don’t move.”

“Look for the stag to make your bed. Look for the stag to lay your head,” Amalie said, then blinked, glanced at her watch, and tightened her grip on her to-go bag. “Gotta go. Tax preparations piling up. Come see us,” she said, and left.

“What just happened? What did that mean?” Harley whispered.

He shrugged. “We’re all so used to it, I forget how startling it can be to some. Amalie just gets visions…orhears voices… I don’t know what it means. Maybe something to do with the future. She just knows things. Kind of a mixture of precognition and psychic abilities.”

“Was she always this way?” Harley asked.

He frowned. “I don’t think so. You saw her scars. You saw the white streak in her hair. All of that was from a car wreck. She nearly died. The car was on fire, and she was screaming for help when she heard a voice in her head telling her it was going to be all right, and seconds later, she was pulled from the fire. She survived it and came away with scars, a white streak in her hair, and precognition.”

“Good lord,” Harley muttered. “She’s as phenomenal in her way as Wolf Outen is in his.” She reached toward her healing head wound, then stopped. “I’m never going to complain about this again.”

“You own the right to complain,” he said. “And I think it’s time we got you home. You need to call your parents and let them know it’s safe to visit now.”

She sighed. “Oh lord. More drama.”

“Hey, it’s all good. Just remember, I survived Clyde Wallace. Cranky parents won’t even put a dent in my attitude.”

“Well, they still put a dent in mine,” she muttered.

Brendan stifled a smile. Harley Banks was so much more than just a pretty face. She was genius-level smart and full of more grit and determination than she could hold. As long as he stayed on the good side of this woman, he was gold.

As soon as they got home and settled, he pointed to the phone she was holding. “I’m going to give you a little privacy to call your mother. She can relay all the pertinent information to your father. You won’t even have to talk to him directly, okay?”

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