Page 13 of Sunsets & Slow Dances

“POA?” I questioned.

“Plan of action. That’s what they say on Love Island.”

“Right.” My momlovedreality dating shows. She was a hopeless romantic despite everything my dad did. “I guess my POA is that I’m going in to see an attorney after I pick up the kids from school. Reagan something.”

I took a bite of my eggs and once again thought how unique the name was. I’d only ever met one person named Reagan. It was Nadia’s college roommate, Reagan York. I’d only met her a few times, but I liked her.

“Comfort,” my mom filled in the blank as she set the pile of bacon on the table. “She’s married to Billy Comfort.”

I nearly choked as the eggs went down my throat. “Billy Comfort is married?”

“All the Comfort boys are. And do you remember their baby sister, Cheyenne?”

Cheyenne. Cheyenne. Cheyenne. I wracked my brain trying to come up with a who…

“Oh!” I snapped my fingers. “Yes, yes. I do. But she doesn’t live here, does she?”

A phantom memory materialized of her leaving town after her mom died to go live with her grandparents up north. After that, it was like she’d never existed. I didn’t remember anyone speaking about her.

“She’s back, and she’s married to Cash.”

“Cash Malone?”

“Yep.”

I wondered how well that went over with Billy. If I remember correctly, Cheyenne was Billy’s shadow, and Cash was Billy’s best friend. I didn’t have siblings, but from what I’d seen, most of the time, brothers didn’t appreciate their friends hooking up with their sisters. Wait, I guess I did have a sibling. That was going to take some getting used to.

“Who did Hank and Jimmy marry?”

“No one local. Hank married a sweetheart from Seattle. A single mom named Skylar, they have a daughter the same age as Matty named Luna. They just had a baby boy, Mason. And Jimmy married a girl from New York named Isabella. She’s a doll, and they have a one-year-old.”

Damn.It was crazy for me to hear that all the Comfort brothers were married, but especially Billy Comfort. There were a couple of reasons hearing that they’d settled down surprised me. First, there was an urban myth attached to their family name called the Comfort Curse.

Legend said that their great-great-grandfather Phillip Comfort, who was a longshoreman, had a secret, forbidden love affair with Lucille Abernathy, who came from generational wealth. When her affluent family learned of her betrothal to someone so far beneath her station, they demanded that she call off her engagement at once or be disowned and disinherited. When faced with that heartbreaking ultimatum, Lucille chose Phillip.

Unfortunately for Lucille, Phillip did not choose her. Lucille was left at the altar when Phillip eloped with a chambermaid who worked for Lucille’s family. Lucille was heartbroken and tried to go home, but her father was an asshole and turned her away. The next day, when the family woke up, they noticedthe window in the parlor was broken. They searched the entire estate; they found Lucille un-alived in her childhood bed. She’d left a note explaining that she’d poisoned herself, and with her dying breath, she placed a curse on Phillip Comfort and all of his male heirs, dooming them to a lifetime of the same heartache and despair that she had endured. Each of them would fall madly in love, only to have it end in tragedy.

Since that day, the rumor is Lucille roams the halls haunting her family home, Abernathy Manor, which has been featured on over a dozen paranormal television shows and is regularly listed in the Top Ten most haunted places in the US.

Growing up, I’d never believed in the curse, but a lot of people in this town, this county, hell, even the state did. The curse wasn’t the only reason I was surprised that the Comfort men had all said I do. They were notorious for three things: fighting, fucking and flirting. Hank, the oldest, was the fighter. He got into brawls in bars before he was even legally allowed to vote. The youngest, Jimmy, was the flirt. He could charm the pants off anyone. Literally. Just like his brother, Billy, whose nickname was Panty Dropper and was known for fucking.

My interest was officially piqued to meet the woman who’d tamed the Panty Dropper.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of movement and turned my head and saw Chloe walking quietly to the front door.

“Chloe.”

She stopped but didn’t turn toward me. Over the past two days since she’d gone missing, she’d said a total of ten words to me. They were all one- or two-word responses to questions I’d asked her. I knew that she was dealing with a lot, and I was doing my best to give her space and respect what she was going through without putting any expectations on her behavior.

I’d told her that I was here for her if she needed anything and that she could talk to me about anything. I took her shoppingto make sure she had essentials for school. Her mom hadn’t wanted a funeral or any sort of memorial service. She’d been ill for quite some time and had made plans to be cremated, which she was, and Chloe had already been given her remains. From what I’d been told by Reagan over the phone, Danielle was diagnosed with kidney disease four years ago and was placed on dialysis two years ago. Her health deteriorated rapidly over the past nine months.

I couldn’t begin to imagine how scary that must have been for Chloe to go through. At her age, watching the one person you have in this world die right in front of you. I wished there was something, anything, I could say to make Chloe feel better or make her feel supported at least, but every time I spoke, it seemed to have the same effect as nails on a chalkboard to her.

“Do you want some breakfast?” I asked as I got up from the table and walked into the front room.

“No.”

My mom walked around the corner. “Hey, sweetie.”

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