He looked up at me from under his dripping sheriff’s hat. “Hey.”
“What are you doing?”
“Well … it’s raining.” He hopped back over to his boat, wiping his hands on his pants, before drifting forward in neutral.
“Oh, thank you.” I walked the length of the dock, so we didn’t have to shout. “I mean, I know, uh, how you feel about the boat.”
He planted his fists into his lower spine and arched backward with a groan. “My issues are not with the boat. I like the boat a lot.” He pinched his lips together, and then sighed heavily. “In fact, I think this boat and I, under the right circumstances, could have something pretty great together.” He shook his head. “But people keep getting in the way.”
I nodded. “We’re, uh, not talking about the boat anymore, are we?”
Grady’s eyes widened in question.
“Or maybe we are just talking about boats,” I said slowly. “I always manage to underestimate your love for boats.”
A light came on behind Grady’s eyes. “Oh, you thought I was talking about—”
I held my hands out. “Please. Stop.”
He chuckled. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m not here to talk about the boat.” He edged even closer to the dock. “I was hoping we could maybe figure some things out.”
* * *
A few minutes later we were seated in a swing chair on the back porch of the retreat.
Neither one of us really seemed to know how to start, so I said, “How’s Tweety? Kit Kat?”
“She’s fine,” he said with a nod. “They’re both fine. Kit Kat slept on the couch in my office. Rhonda brought them breakfast this morning from the Dawg. Lumberjack special.” He looked out to the trees. “Got one for herself too.”
I scanned his face. He didn’t look sad so much as just resigned. “Not for you, though?”
“Not for me.”
A moment passed as we watched some crows peck at the ground.
I sighed and shook my head before looking over at him. When I saw the expression on his face, I couldn’t help but put my hand on his shoulder. I wasn’t happy about any of this. But I knew he wouldn’t have arrested Tweety if he had another choice … which meant there had to be pretty significant evidence. The other thing I realized sitting there with him was that all the worrying I had been doing about being attracted to Matthew was just nonsense. I didn’t care what stood in between us. This was where I wanted to be. This was the man I had been crazy about my entire life … and yet, I also knew I was pretty much guaranteed to muck it all up. My mind flashed to the tapes sitting in my bedroom. I wanted to give them to him … I just had to see them first. Probably had to do with my trust issues again.
He met my eyes with his. “So this trip isn’t exactly turning out how we planned.”
“Nope,” I said, smacking my lips together.
“You know I didn’t want to do it, right?”
I nodded slowly and sighed.
“And despite all the evidence, I still don’t believe she did it.”
“Despite all what evidence?”
“Erica.” I think he meant to say it as a warning, but it really just came out kind of sad.
I let my hands drop to my sides. “I know. I know. You can’t tell me.”
“No, I cannot.”
I brought one leg up to curl underneath me as I twisted my body to face him. “Grady, you know I don’t blame you.” I almost reached out to grab his hand, but I just couldn’t. “I get that you’re just doing your job.”
He closed his eyes and sighed, his face relaxing.
“But you’ve got to know—”
He tensed right back up. In fact, his little jaw muscles were rippling quite a bit. “Don’t say it—”
“Freddie and I are going to do everything we can to find out the truth.”
He flopped back onto the swing chair, rocking us both. “Why?” he asked looking up at the ceiling of the porch.
“Why? You know why. Tweety is family—”
“No, not that,” he said pulling his head back up.
“Oh, then what, why?”
His head flopped back down and shook side to side. “Why are we cursed?”
I smiled a little.
“Did your mother do some kind of moon ritual? I know she hates me—”
“She doesn’t hate you,” I said, looking out to the trees. “She just blames you for my leaving town all those years ago … well, and for the whole business at the Raspberry Social.”
“I thought we sorted that all out!”
I squinted my eyes and pinched my lips together before saying, “Yeah, she’s not always rational. But”—I straightened up with a smile—“the good news is … I like you quite a bit.”
He held my eyes a moment, sending heat rushing over my body. “I’m going to tell you something,” he said, voice deepening, “and I don’t want you to take it the wrong way … because it’s going to sound terrible.”
“Okay,” I said with a dry swallow.
His eyes tightened and he clicked his tongue a few times before he said, “Erica Bloom, I want to make you mine in about nine hundred different ways.”
My breath caught, making it hard to ask, “Nine hundred … physical ways?”
“Oh yes,” he said with a nod.
I gulped. “You’re right. That’s terrible. Really.” I nodded. “I’m my own woman. You can’t make me yours,” I said, voice cracking again. “But did you say nine hundred?”
“But I can’t. We can’t.” He rolled his head back to stare at the ceiling, and just like that all the tension between us popped. “You and Freddie are going to do something illegal, and I’m going be all like, Roar. Roar. Roar. I’m the law. You do what I say, and—”
Suddenly I found myself straddling Grady.
“Whoa,” he said in surprise, grabbing my hips. His eyes darkened when they met mine.
I looked down at his lips, licking my own. “Do you ever think, Grady, that maybe we talk too much about our problems?”
“I’m always thinking that we talk too much. Like all the time.” He leaned up toward me while sliding his hand around the back of my neck and pulling me in. Our lips came together, hard, and my brain liquefied.
For a few timeless seconds, I lost myself in all that was Grady. Things were firing in my body that I didn’t know existed. In fact the only words I could form in my brain were nine hundred … nine hundred different ways.
Then I realized something else … this was our first kiss! The very first time our lips had ever touched. Finally—
Then it all stopped.
I felt Grady tense beneath me.
With our lips still joined, my eyes flew open. Grady’s were open too, but not focused on me. They were looking off to the side.
“Grady,” I mumbled, lips still unwilling to leave his, “is there a group of silent people standing behind us?”
He nodded.
I sighed then turned my head. On the back lawn stood the group of retreat-goers. My eyes darted over to my mother. Yup, the look on her face said, I’m not sorry. A few threw awkward waves. The man who had winked at me the first day gave us a thumbs-up. I watched the group glide away before turning back to Grady. “In fairness, they may have heard us arguing on the phone the other night. I think they’re glad we made up.”
He gave me that sad smile I’d had been seeing way too much of from him lately. “I’ve accepted that I should be prepared for anything when I come over here.”
“So, have we?”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Made up?”
“I should get back to work,” Grady said, putting his hands on my hips and easing out from underneath me.
“Grady?” I couldn’t keep the surprise out of my voice. I mean, I wasn’t surprised that Grady wasn’t thrilled with the idea of Freddie and me investigating Mr. Masterson’s death, but I didn’t think he would be this unthrilled, like let’s-not-date unthrilled. Besides, he was the one who had arrested my Tweety!
“What do you want me to say, Erica?” He got to his feet and flung a hand out toward the lake. “Go! Investigate with Freddie. Do whatever you need to do. I’m just the sheriff of this town. I don’t mind.”
“Grady,” I said. “I can’t do nothing. This is Tweety. We’re just going to talk to people. Maybe find out things you can’t because you’re the sheriff.”
“And there it is once again,” he said, throwing the same hand into the air.
“I didn’t mean—”
“You don’t think I can do my job.”
“Grady, come on,” I said, jumping to my feet. “That’s not fair. You know I’m not the type of person who can just sit back and do nothing. It’s not in my DNA.”
“You know what?” he said, rubbing a hand over his face. “I’m really tired. I need to go. Again, I don’t—” He held up his hands. “I don’t want to say anything.” He moved toward the porch steps.
“So what? That’s it?” I shouted after him. “First kiss and now we’re through?”
He jerked to a stop but didn’t turn around. “I didn’t say that, Erica, and you know it.” He inhaled deeply and held it a moment before letting go. “I said I’m tired, and I need to go. And I need to go so that I don’t say something like we’re through without meaning it.”
Heat raced to my cheeks. I knew he was right. Now wasn’t the time to discuss this, but my emotions felt otherwise because all I heard was that he might mean it. “So what’s the deal?” I asked, shaking my head a little too wildly. “Are we going to see each other later?”
This time he did turn around. He planted his hands on his hips and nodded. “I think that’s pretty much guaranteed, don’t you?”
I leaned my face forward and held my hands out, giving him a What the hell are you talking about? face.
“Well, whatever you and Freddie have planned today, I’m sure somebody’s bound to call it in. I’ll have to make sure I work it into my already jam-packed schedule.” He walked down the steps and put a halfhearted fist in the air. “Roar.”
* * *
“Wait. He seriously said Roar?”
I nodded with my lips pinched together. “He did.”
“He’s such a weirdo sometimes,” Freddie said, grimacing. “I mean, an unfairly handsome weirdo. But still a weirdo.”
I was sitting at the island in Freddie’s kitchen waiting for him to pass me a coffee. It was a gorgeous room, just like every other room in the house. Definitely a chef’s kitchen with its stacked ovens, ample counter space, state-of-the-art appliances—I was pretty sure the fridge gave back rubs. Freddie told me his parents had it redone a couple of years ago while they were visiting. I couldn’t help but wonder if it made Freddie sad to have this kitchen built for … well, people, and to be always be alone in it.
I had driven Lightning back to Freddie’s with the tapes right after Grady left, avoiding my mother completely. I could not go another round of charades having had so little sleep.
“That being said,” Freddie added, tightening the belt of his robe, “he did cover my boat, so I’m going to cut him some slack.”
“Seriously,” I said, trying to keep the emotion from my voice. “He knew who I was before we started whatever it is that we’ve started. This should not be a surprise.”
“In fairness, he probably wasn’t counting on there being so many murders around you.”
“Two. Two murders,” I said, sticking up one finger before I realized I needed to add another. Hmm, I was pretty tired … and upset.
“Right.” Freddie nodded, passing me a steaming mug. “Although, for most people, two is a lot.”
I sighed. Our plan this morning was to head over to the library to use the VCR, but that was suddenly feeling very wrong. “We probably should just turn the tapes over to Grady.”
“What?” Freddie shouted. “You can’t be serious!”
“Freddie,” I said with a sigh. “You know it’s the right thing to do.” I was getting one of those tired headaches that can only be cured with about fourteen hours of sleep.
“I do not!” Freddie scoffed. “Erica, now, more than ever, we need to focus on what is important here.”
“Okay,” I said. “We could try to do that. I suppose there’s a first time for everything.”
“The important thing here is … me.”
“What?” I yelled, pulling the mug too quickly away from my mouth, slopping hot liquid over the side. “You were supposed to say Tweety.”
“Well, of course, Tweety, that goes without saying, but stay with me here a second.” He straightened up and jabbed a finger on the counter. “The last time there was a murderer in town, who tried to pin it on an innocent suspect?”
I chuckled painfully. “Well, there was me. I think I may have done that.”
“And?”
I realized where Freddie was going with this, and suddenly it wasn’t so funny. “Grady.”
“And,” Freddie said quite seriously, “who was right all along about that not being the case?”
I paused a moment before I muttered, “You.”
“Exactly,” Freddie said, slapping the island. “So given our respective track records, who do you really think should be the first person to see that tape?”
“Still Grady.”
“What!”
I turned again to look outside. It was certainly better than looking at Freddie’s overly indignant expression. “You were lucky, that’s all. And while I’m not exactly thrilled with Grady at the moment, I—”
“Luck?” Freddie planted both his hands on the island and leaned forward, as though he might make a lunge for me. “Luck was never part of the equation.”
“Freddie, I—”
“Now, these tapes”—he snatched them off the stone surface of the island and held them up for me to see—“are the official property of Otter Lake Security. I don’t see a subpoena, do you?”
I shook my head no.
“If you understand nothing else, Erica Bloom, understand this,” Freddie said. “I am your best hope to free Tweety. I know this to be true.” He spun to stalk out of the kitchen. “Now hurry up and finish your coffee.”
I stayed frozen watching Freddie stomp to the steps that led up to his bedroom.
“Come on,” he whined. “I just realized if we hurry we can make the opening of the fair after the library. The mini donut lady always gives me a sample from the first batch.”