Page 121 of The Wicked

Next week. And he’s a she.

Oh, really? I had a hundred questions.

Meet for lunch tomorrow?

Parker

Coffee House at 1 p.m.

With EJ safely out of the way, there was no need for us to drive to Coos Bay anymore, and the twins were keeping a low profile. LKB Events was imploding thanks to Peanutgate—the victim’s husband had told just about everyone in the county what happened to his wife.

Brie

Running a few minutes late. Can you order me a house salad?

Brooke slid into the seat opposite, and Addy sat stiffly beside her. Thanks to the drama with Nico’s girlfriend, she’d spent a while in the hospital, and although she was putting a brave face on things, the pain was obvious when she let her guard down. I didn’t dare to give her a hug, so I offered a smile instead.

“How are you feeling?”

“Great!”

“Really?”

Brooke shook her head. “She’s just saying that so her mom will let her move back home.”

“At first, all the attention was nice. You know, having people make casseroles and bring me candy. But I’ve put on six pounds, and I’m sick of watching game show reruns.”

“You can always come over to our place if you need a break.”Our place.The words sounded weird, but a good weird.

“I just miss having my own space. Heck, I even miss going to work.”

“There might be some shifts at the Craft Cabin available now that Saralisa’s starting her own business,” Brooke offered.

“After you spent the whole ride here telling me how crazy it was there this morning?”

Crazy? The Craft Cabin was usually an oasis of calm, unless Paulo was tripping over the cat, anyway. “What happened?”

“A tour bus full of seniors broke down near Main Street, and most of them decided to visit the Craft Cabin while they waited for the engine to get fixed. We almost sold out of yarn. I called Everly in to help, and I thought she was gonna have a panic attack when they all headed to the register at the same time.”

“Did they get on their way?”

“Not yet, but after Paulo gave them a quick lesson in arm-knitting, they went next door to the Coffee House, so they’re Mary’s problem now. What are you having for lunch?”

“Just a sandwich. Brie wants the house salad.”

“But we’re having dessert, right?”

“Oh, yes, of course.”

Addy began fanning herself. “Don’t look now, but hot guy alert.”

“Where?”

“Okay, two hot guys. One of them is yours.”

Garrett had left early for a business meeting, and now I turned to see him heading toward us with a dark-haired man in tow. Addy was right about the heat factor. If I hadn’t been very much in love with the perfect partner already, I might have drooled into my soft drink.

Garrett bent to kiss me on the cheek. “Just passing through. This is Lewis—we went to school together. Lewis, meet Saralisa and her friends Brooke and Addy.”

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