At her beach house in Aura Cove, Katie was rushing around looking for a missing sandal. She was running late for her weekly dinner date with Frankie. “Dammit, Arlo.” She muttered, irritated as she got down on her knees and yanked up the comforter to discover her chewed-up shoe mingling with the dust bunnies underneath her bed. Using a hanger, she’d just fished it out from its hiding place and held it up when the doorbell rang.
Katie let out an exasperated sigh, brushed the dust from her hands, and got to her feet when the bell rang again. Hustling to the front door, she yanked it open to reveal a man she didn’t recognize standing there.
“Katie? You’re a sight for sore eyes.” Looking relieved, he ran a hand through his curly, caramel-colored hair that was laced with strands of white at the temples. He lurched forward and tried to pull her into his arms.
“Whoa, dude,” she said, blocking him with her hands and sidestepping the awkward advance by the eager stranger. “Have we met?” A sensation of Déjà vu welled up that left her disjointed and unsettled.
“It’s me,” he said, his warm toffee-colored eyes beseeching her confused green ones as he glanced behind her into the house. “Is anyone else home?”
“I’m not answering that question, weirdo. Back up and give me some space or I’ll have to call the police.”
Desperate to connect with her, he added, “It’s me…Arlo.” His gaze locked on hers, and she felt something click internally.
“No way,” she said, astonished, stumbling back a step as her hand flew to her mouth. The man in front of her was claiming to be her former rescue dog. The dog she’d adored for years and then discovered he’d been planted by Zoya to spy on her during her awakening.
“It is.” He rushed forward again, attempting to grasp her hands in his. Her eyes widened and she tucked her hands behind her hips, afraid to touch him.
“Prove it,” she dared.
“Your best friend is Frankie, and you have three children—Beckett, Lauren, and Callie.” He rattled off their names in quick succession.
“Anyone can find that information on social media.”
He scrubbed his scruffy jawline with his fingernails, considering his next move, then snapped his fingers. “You’re the third generation witch in a supernatural lineage and only discovered you have powers on your fiftieth birthday.”
Stunned, her jaw dropped open. When she recovered, she yanked him inside her home. “Shhh! Someone could overhear you!”
Once inside the house, he closed his eyes and deeply inhaled as a soft smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “God, I missed this place.” He opened his eyes. “But I missed you most.”
“Save it.” Katie's anger reared up. Her eyes flashed at him, darkened by the frustration she felt.
“You have every reason to be angry with me. I should have told you Callie was pregnant. I’m so sorry.”
Gob smacked by his obvious mistake, Katie shook her head in utter confusion. “What? Callie’s pregnant? No.” She dismissed the comment instantly.
“Oh no,” he cried, stunned that he’d dropped the ball again. “You didn’t know.”
“No. You’ve got it all wrong. It’s not Callie who’s pregnant; it’s Lauren.” She quickly tried to set him straight. This time, it was his brow that knit up in confusion and his chin that jutted back in disbelief.
“What? Lauren is pregnant, too?” He paced the length of the great room, mumbling to himself as he tried to come to grips with the news.
“You better start talking,” Katie warned him as she fired off a text to Frankie to reschedule their dinner.
“Shortly after the Autumnal Equinox Ball, Callie popped in for a visit, and I detected a distinct change in her pheromones. I believed revealing her pregnancy was my only chance to earn my freedom from Zoya,” he explained as he paced the floor in front of the island, stopping every few feet to wring his hands. “You know how desperate I was to return to human form, and how she’d dangled it in front of me, only to take it away. It was the only secret I knew she wouldn’t be able to resist.”
“Callie?!” Katie was awestruck. “I can’t believe it.”
“Yeah.” Arlo whistled under his breath. “Wow.” He scrubbed his hands over his face in shock as he took a seat. “I’m certain I would have detected it in Lauren, too, but she doesn’t visit as frequently.”
“Are you absolutely sure?” Katie asked, still trying to wrap her head around the fact she had two grandchildren on the way instead of one. The concept made a nervous belly laugh bubble to the surface. Astonished by her reaction, she clamped both her hands over her mouth as joy fizzed through her.
“Yes. I am sure. Congratulations on becoming a Gigi twice in record succession.” He offered a quick smile, then shifted to an apology. “I should have come to you first like I promised before I used the information to gain my freedom, and for that, I am truly remorseful.” Her focus shifted back toward his transgressions.
“You made a promise and you broke it.” After a long pause, she added, “Again.”
“W-wait,” he stuttered. “I can explain.”
“I’m done with your explanations,” she said in admonishment. “Do you remember what I told you last time?”
He nodded sadly, remembering the conversation by heart, “You said, ‘I’ll give you a second chance, but you won’t get a third.’”
“Exactly.”
“But we’re soulmates,” he cried, scrambling to find the right words to connect with her.
“Soulmates don’t lie to each other.”
“Katie, please.” He reached out and tugged at her arm, begging her with his eyes.
“Take your hands off me,” she spat at him, and when his cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, she felt guilt well up inside her gut.
“I’m sorry.” He backed up to give her space. “For all of it. But you have to understand, I wanted the opportunity to be with you on a level playing field. I wasn’t content to just be your dog. I wanted to know you as a man.”
“There were other ways to go about it. You, of all people, know how important trust is to me after what happened with Jeff.”
He hung his head and sighed. “You’re right. I do.”
Katie walked over to her wine chiller and pulled out a bottle of wine. Taking her frustration out on the corkscrew, she twisted it with extreme angst. The popping noise when she uncorked it was the only sound that breached the silence followed by the glug-glug-glug of her pouring it into her glass.
“I could use one of those,” Arlo muttered, trying to lighten the mood.
“Now you’re really pushing your luck!” Katie snorted in outrage. “I should serve it to you in your dog dish.” She drained her glass, refilled it, and then reluctantly returned to the cabinet to pull out another wine glass that she filled and then slid over to Arlo with her fingers.
“Thank you,” he whispered after a long, awkward pause.
“This is so wild.” Katie felt her anger start to diminish with the wine. “I am sitting in my kitchen… enjoying a nice glass of chardonnay… with my dog…” she chuckled at the ridiculousness of it as her smirk became a snicker,“…who thinks he’s my soulmate.” She pressed her lips together to hold in the raspy giggle lodged deep in the back of her throat. Her mirth at the bizarre situation kept bubbling up as Arlo took a sip of the wine, unamused.
The absurdity of it finally hit her full force, and her shoulders started to heave with the effort of repressing her laughter. The harder she tried to hold it in, the more she tittered and snorted, which only made her laugh harder. Crossing her legs and squeezing her pelvic muscles to prevent a leak, she dissolved into a heap of crazed giggles in front of him. The unhinged reaction made Arlo’s eyes widen, unsure how to navigate this shift in her. Katie laughed until she cried. Then she wiped the tears from her eyes and propped her chin up with her hands as her gaze leveled back on Arlo.
Letting out an exasperated breath, she offered him the smallest concession, “The first thing that has to go is the name.”
It was a baby step, and Arlo took it as a good sign. “Agreed. I was thinking Loran. Kind of an homage to becoming a new Arlo.”
“Nope.” Katie dismissed it immediately. “Loran and Lauren? Too close for comfort.” She burst into giggles again, now on her third glass, feeling the warmth from the alcohol hitting her senses.
“That’s fair.” Arlo nodded, then said, “How about Roland? It has all the letters.”
“Declined. Roland is a middle management dolt who still lives with his mother. I can’t call you that. Quit trying so hard to be clever.”
“You pick it then,” he offered, trying to be accommodating.
She eyed his shaggy hair and tanned skin. “You have a middle-aged surfer vibe. Bohdi? No. That’s not it.” She cocked her head to the side, studying the smattering of freckles meandering their way across his cheeks and nose. Her eyes locked on his, and she leaned closer, examining the starbursts of gold and green surrounding his black pupils. Katie felt a trickle of warmth bloom in her center and fought against it.
She remembered the last time she spoke to him when she asked how she’d recognize him when he returned. “You’ll know when warmth floods your heart and it feels like Déjà vu.” Against her will, the warmth was there. Although she couldn’t fully give in to it, she felt her resolve soften.
“How about Brody?” she suggested.
“Brody,” he repeated, the corners of his lips twitching up in a small smile. “I like it.” He reached out to touch her but stopped himself just short to honor her desire for boundaries. “Mostly because you gave it to me.” He paused, then asked the question he needed to ask, “Does this mean you’re open to getting to know me?”
“Perhaps.” She drained the last of the wine from her glass, adding, “But only as a friend.”
He opened his mouth to speak, then decided against it. Katie saw the tendon in his jaw tighten.
“Take it or leave it.” She offered her hand to him to shake, And when he pressed his warm palm to hers, it felt oddly familiar and eerily comforting.
“I’ll take it. If that is the only way I can be in your life right now, it’s a good place to start.”
“It is,” she agreed and stood, gathering their glasses to wash in the sink.
He pulled out his new cell phone. “Can I have your number so I can message you?”
“Sure,” Katie said, rattling off the digits as she plunged the glasses in warm, soapy water.
After he left, she tapped his message and added him to her contacts as Brody. Another frizzle of laughter at the ridiculousness of the situation overwhelmed her. “Gosh, this magical world never disappoints.”