Actually, I didn’t want to go.
Why, oh why, did I let myself agree to this?
My introverted personality that had been so desperate to try to socialize, who had seen this as the perfect opportunity to take in order to immerse myself within my new home, was now banging her head against the wall, wondering why she would do such a terrible thing to us.
Kitsune snickered after he swallowed a large bite of his burger. “Regretting anything?” he asked.
“No,” I said too sharply to be believed. “Of course not. This will be good. It’ll be good.” I shifted my eyes over to him. “You should come with, you know. It’ll be good for you too.”
“Mah, who’s to decide what’s good and what isn’t?” he asked, kicking up his feet. “You know George is dragging his patrol officers with him, Agatha will go the second anyone mentions free drinks, her poor assistant Luna will tag along just so Agatha doesn’t embarrass herself…” He shook his head. “I’d rather read my book in the blissful silence of my home.”
“Yeah…” I let my voice trail off because that sounded way better than going out.
Maybe I could still get out of this.
“Good luck…Pinkie.”
“Oh, choke on your hamburger,” I snapped, spinning around so I could finish organizing the back closet.
“It has cheese,” he called to my back. “And you’re fired.”
The problem was, George must have blabbed to Agatha because by the time I got home, she was already there. That was already a bad sign because she typically stayed until six or seven at night. If she was off early on a Friday and she wasn’t meeting up with Jeremiah for her supposedly secret trysts with the writer, then she really was going to be at the bar.
Which meant I would have to be there in order to ensure she didn’t embarrass herself.
I knew Agatha well enough to know she wouldn’t do something as stupid and as selfish as drunk driving. And even if she considered it—which I knew she would never—there were too many people present monitoring her. She wasn’t my responsibility and she would be pissed if she knew I considered her one. At the same time, I couldn’t find it in me to let her go to this alone. She was the strongest woman I knew, so it wasn’t like I was going to make a difference, but I wanted to be there for her in any way I could, if only to keep an eye on her.
“Well?” she asked when I walked through the back door. I stayed at the small cottage in the back, but a lot of the time, I was in the main house. We always ate together unless she worked late, and I liked the company. “You coming or what?”
I heaved a sigh. “I suppose.”
“Good,” Agatha said, flicking her loose ponytail over her shoulder. She swept over to the oven just as an egg timer chirped. “Luna’s been hounding me about going out tonight. How come I can’t enjoy, hmm? Just because I’m the chief, I’m allowed to have a little fun.”
“Yeah, but your idea of fun isn’t exactly professional.” I plopped at the table.
“Brat,” she snapped, pulling out a tray of cupcakes. Judging from the light cinnamon-sugar scent, I wouldn’t be surprised if these were carrot cake cupcakes. My stomach rumbled just thinking of devouring one, and there was now an excess amount of saliva in my mouth. “Tell me, what’s your thing with Richmond?”
“What?” My voice was flat and I would have lost my appetite if she hadn’t grabbed her homemade buttercream icing.
“He has a way with the women,” she said, pulling off the plastic lid. “I’ve had to go through so many records clerks because he can’t keep it in his pants, for crying out loud. He’s a dog that needs to be neutered. Anyway, I just wanted to make sure he hasn’t swept you up in that.”
“Why would you even think about that?” I asked, fiddling with my hair. “Sure, George is good looking, and he certainly has enough arrogance to think he can get with any girl he wants, but still. You know that’s not my type.”
“Your type?” She gave me a critical brow before touching the top of a cupcake, checking the temperature of it. “You mean brooding assholes like Alexander?”
I looked away. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up.
“Is Kitsune coming?” she asked. “I hoped you might have been able to convince him to. He’s been too caught up in his moodiness.”
“I tried,” I said, glad to shift away from Alexander. I hadn’t seen him for the entire month, and I was sure it wasn’t just me avoiding him. For that, I was grateful. “But he’s pretty intent on reading his book.”
“I swear, the fact that he even opened up that PI business is a miracle.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Oh, well. His loss. He needs to realize that he can’t keep living for ghosts and he needs to focus on the present. I know!” She slammed her hand on the surface of the counter so hard, my shoulders hiked up to my ears. “We need to get him laid.”
I choked on my own spit.
I couldn’t stop coughing.
“What’s the matter with you?” Agatha snapped as she began carefully smoothing on the icing.
“Did you…did you just say you wanted to get Kitsune laid?” I asked, because there was absolutely no way I heard her right. There couldn’t be. It just…it wasn’t done.
“And?” Her focus was her cupcakes.
“But…why?” I shifted in my seat, though why I was uncomfortable with the thought of Kitsune getting intimate with anyone was beyond me. Probably because he was my boss, and I was starting to consider him a friend.
“Because he needs it,” she said as though it was obvious. “It’s been a long time since… Well. It doesn’t matter. But he’s chasing his ghosts and living with his guilt like some proud badge of honor, and I’m sick of it. He’s too morose, too damn good to just sit around, catching cheating spouses.”
I stuck up my finger. “I’ll have you know, we have closed five more cases in the last month since I got here,” I said with pride. “And while they are cheating cases, I like to think the two of us work well together.”
That he hasn’t called me to come get you is promising,” she agreed. She moved onto the next cupcake. “At least you haven’t annoyed him too much or else he’d have tried to lose you.”
“I mean, he did do that the first week, but I found him every time, so…” I shrugged. I tried not to stare at the cupcakes but it was so hard not to. “I think he got sick of it.”
“Trust me, Kitsune doesn’t get sick of anything, considering he has all the time in the world now,” she said. “He once pulled an elaborate scheme on Brody that took him two months to enact, and, while it was hilarious, it was also incredibly time-consuming. He only measures things based on Jeremiah’s damn books. I swear, those two perverts should visit the hot springs and come up with a book together.”
“Jeremiah, huh?” I asked, wiggling my eyebrows at my aunt.
“And what’s that supposed to mean, brat?” She squirted too much icing onto the cupcake and it dripped off the side.
“Claimed!” I exclaimed, trying to reach the cupcake. She slapped my hand away.
“Hey! These are my hangover cupcakes. No hangover, no cupcake.”
“What about designated driver cupcakes?” I asked.
“Ha! More like stale water and bar mints for you,” she said. “So. In your humble opinion, he’s doing okay?”
I wanted to answer right away, but I stopped myself. I tapped my chin, giving myself a moment to think about it.
“I think so,” I said. “Excluding the terrible choices of food he consumes and the books he reads, I think he’s doing okay. He talks to me more than when I originally started and he really is good at his job. I think…I think he keeps himself from working a job he loves because he’s punishing himself for something, but I don’t know what that would be. I know it’s not my business, but it’s sad, I think. I just wish…” I chewed my bottom lip. “I don’t know. I just wish he’d forgive himself and move on.” I glanced over at Agatha, who had stopped what she was doing in order to stare at me. “What?”
“No, nothing.” Her lips curved into a smile.
“What?” I asked.
“It’s nothing,” she repeated. “I’m just glad to see someone’s watching over the brat.”
The Pour House was surprisingly packed. I wasn’t sure what I expected, considering it was a Friday night, and it was May, which meant summer was coming and more and more tourists began to rent out the beach homes and the town tripled its population size.
My aunt’s job had gotten much more complex with Mayor Ugani’s murder. Dan was the interim mayor because of his status as city manager, but Agatha’s responsibilities tripled as the second person in command of the entire town. It made sense why she would seek to go out and let loose for a while. I didn’t know why she would risk it, though. With her white-blonde hair and her expansive chest, she was memorable. Her face still held all of its youth, and I wouldn't be surprised to see men of all ages trying to buy her a drink. She’d never admit it, but her only soft spot was Jeremiah. I just didn’t understand why nothing happened between the two of them.
“Piper!” Kelly exclaimed, throwing an arm around my shoulders. It was clear she was already tipsy because there was no way she considered me a friend just yet. At least not someone she felt comfortable hugging so freely like this.
“Troublesome woman,” Maru muttered next to her.
I looked between them before grinning. “Are you guys dating?” I asked.
“No,” he said.
“Yes!” Kelly exclaimed. “Maru will never admit it, but he’s been in love with me since high school. He finally had the courage to finally ask me out.” She squealed and gave his cheek a sloppy kiss.
He wrinkled his nose but didn’t wipe said kiss away.
“Piper, you came!” the blond patrolman said. I thought his name was Nathan.
“Hello, hag,” Simon said next to him.
“Hey!” Nathan barked. “Don’t call her a hag. You’re a hag.”
“Do you even know what hag is defined as, dickless?” Simon asked.
“You want a definition of dick? ‘Cause I’ll show you mine!”
I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“Captain Agatha!” Nathan exclaimed. “How do you know Piper?”
“You really are an idiot, aren’t you?” Simon asked before taking a sip of his beer.
“Well, Pinkie,” a low voice said as a warm body sidled up next to me. “I’m surprised you came.”
“Yeah, well…I think I need friends,” I said.
“What? Kitsune doesn’t do it for you?” He stepped around me so he could flash me a charming smile, removing the toothpick from his lips.
“No,” I said with a frown. “It’s not that. It’s just…”
I hadn’t really had friends before. Not real ones, anyway.
“Let me buy you a drink,” he insisted. “Water, you said? Ice?”
“Yes.” I nodded. “Please.”
“I thought you said there was nothing going on between you and Richmond,” My aunt said. She thought she was whispering, but she definitely wasn’t.
“Something’s going on between you and Detective Richmond?” Nathan asked.
“Do you think maybe his vision is going?” Simon asked.
“Nothing is going on –”
“Here.” George handed me the water and clinked it with his bottle of beer. “Here’s to friends.”