Page 15 of Haunted Eclipse

I shook my head. “No. Or rather, I’mlivingwith her. As I said, I just moved back. So, you’re the sheriff? Congratulations! You always wanted to be a police officer.”

“Well, I made it, so it seems.” He glanced at me, then shifted his eyes away. “So, did your husband move back with you?”

I hesitated. It was always awkward whenever I had to tell someone I was a widow. There was always that moment when I could see pity in their eyes, and then they would stumble over their words, trying to rectify a gaffe they didn’t know they were making. At times, I had just taken to saying that I wasn’t married, rather than try and explain. But Stuart knew I had married, and I wasn’t about to lie and say I was divorced. I decided to just rip off the bandage.

“Actually, Dan died a couple years ago. I’m a widow. I lost my job a couple months ago, the same day I came home to find my house going up in flames. Rather than try and start over again in Seattle, I decided to come back home. I don’t know whether I was running away, but for good or ill, here I am, back in Midnight Point.” I picked up one of the New York strips and placed it in my cart, along with a package of ground beef, and a pot roast.

Stuart froze. “I’m so sorry to hear that. It sounds like you’ve had a rough time of it.”

I nodded. “Yes, well…I’m here now. I opened a new business—a matchmaking business—this week. In fact, I just opened my doors yesterday. I’m staying with Astra until I can find a house. I’m in the market, by the way. So if you hear of any houses with good bones, preferably single story—though I’ll take a two-story if I have to—that seems reasonably priced, please let me know?”

“Of course,” he said. “Why don’t you give me your number?”

We exchanged numbers, and then he blushed again, stumbling over his words. “I suppose I better get home.… Paula is waiting for me. I don’t want to keep her waiting.”

I glanced at his left hand, but saw no ring. “You’re married?” In my many years in the matchmaking business, I had learned a lot of men didn’t wear their wedding rings.

“No, actually I’m not. I’ve been seeing Paula for about seven months now.” He shuffled a little, then took hold of the handle on his cart. “I suppose I’d better get on with my shopping.”

I could tell that he wanted to stick around and talk some more, but I didn’t want to give his girlfriend a reason to worry.

“I need to get my ass on the move, as well. I have company coming for dinner tonight. It was good to see you, Stuart. I’d like to have coffee later on, and have a proper catch up.”

“I’d like that,” he said, looking relieved. “Drop by the department any time you want. Feel free to text me and we’ll schedule a coffee chat.”

I turned with my cart and moved on to produce, thinking about Stuart. We had a wonderful time together, but I was witchblood and he belonged to a wolf shifter pack, and that alone was reason enough for us to break up. Though we’d both been sad, it had been an amicable breakup, although few breakups were ever easy.

I finished shopping and carried my bags to the car, ignoring the world of snowflakes that surrounded me. Seeing Stuart again had brought back a slew of feelings, though not romantic ones. When I was nineteen, I couldn’t wait to get out of the town. I wanted adventure, I wanted to visit places other than my sleepy, little, magical town in Western Washington.

But now? When I thought about being back in Midnight Point, I felt safe and comforted, as though I’d found a soft mattress after sleeping on the ground too long.

What a difference twenty-five years could make.

CHAPTER SIX

As I unlocked the door,Miss P. greeted me, twining around my feet. It occurred to me that she had gotten so used to Dahlia, that when we found our own house, she might be lonely. I had occasionally considered adopting another cat, but back in Seattle I had been out of the house so much until Dan died, that I didn’t think it was fair to have a pet. But once he died, I started spending a lot more time at home.

Miss P. had magically appeared in my life, showing up as a tiny stray, only a few months old, who would have died if I hadn’t rescued her. The vet said she was pure Maine Coon, so she must have escaped from some breeder. I had put up fliers, just in case, but there had been no answer, and so she became part of my life and home. Now, even though I had my own business here, I could make my own hours and that made a big difference.

I set the groceries on the counter and began putting them away after I hung up my coat and took off my boots. Miss P. jumped on the counter and sat there, watching me.

“ How would you feel about having a little brother or sister?” I asked.

Miss P. let out a purr and languidly batted my hand as I reached out to rub her tummy.

I had decided on macaroni and cheese with crab for dinner, and had splurged on a Dungeness crab that was precooked and cleaned. As I cracked the shell and separated out the meat, Miss P. gave me the side eye that told me she wanted a bite.

“Oh no, not this. I didn’t pay twenty bucks to feed this to you, you little thugette. Tell you what, you can have shrimp flavored kitty food for dinner.”

I set the crabmeat aside and then thought about cooking down the shells for a stock, but decided it was too much trouble, and one crab shell wasn’t enough to make a proper broth, anyway. I glanced at the clock.

Five-thirty.It was too early to start cooking the actual dinner. I refrigerated the crabmeat container, grabbed a diet root beer and a bag of Fritos, and headed for the living room.

Astra’s house was comfortable, but it felt empty without her. She was the heart and soul of this home, and I realized how quickly I had fallen back into the family routine with her. As I curled up on the sofa, Miss P. joined me and I turned on the TV.

“What shall we watch?” I asked. My aunt subscribed to every streaming service you could think of and they were all tied to her television. Not only did we have hundreds of shows at our fingertips, we could also record live broadcasts.

Miss P. purred.

---