9. Isabella
CHAPTER NINE
ISABELLA
After Nick and I finish breakfast, I’m out on Main Street once more. While it’s true that Clover has most of the vendors lined up, I still want to get to know Lunamois. I can’t create an event tailored to a town I’m unfamiliar with.
I walk along the storefronts, looking in the windows and people-watching.
There’s a bookstore called One Page More that I definitely want to go to at some point, but the place that’s calling to me is a small boutique called Home.
It’s on the corner of the street, right across from Clover’s Market, and has big, beautiful bay windows in front.
I’m a collector of knick-knacks. Unique items that you can’t find in a regular chain store, and this looks like the motherlode.
The speaker over the door twinkles a little tune as I open it, alerting whomever inside that there’s a new customer. The only customer, in fact, but that’s not completely surprising considering it’s the middle of the workday.
“Be with you in a sec!” comes a voice from somewhere in the general vicinity of the back.
“Take your time!” I reply.
The shelf-covered walls burst at the seams with all sorts of random oddities and clutter. I love clutter.
I’m a maximalist to the extreme.
A small, ceramic cat calls to me. It looks just like my pet when I was a kid. My fingers close around the cool surface, and I know I’m not leaving here without this.
“Hello there. You’re a new face!” I turn to find a woman with raven-black hair and gray eyes standing at my side. “I know everyone in this town.”
Long teeth glint in the sunlight pouring in from the windows.
Despite her smile, the woman is naturally giving off predator vibes.
That might also be because she’s tall and lithe.
She’s not a werewolf—she doesn’t have the same energy as Nick and Georgie—but considering it’s the middle of the day… I’m not sure what she is.
I swallow back a gulp, trying to muster up my courage. “I’m the event planner working on the seventy-fifth anniversary event.”
“Ahhhh, you’re the woman Cole hired. I’m Polly,” she says, sticking out her hand.
“Nice to meet you. Isabella.” I close my hand around hers, her long, blood-red nails poking slightly into my skin.
“Lovely to meet you, darling. Tell me, what has you visiting today? Just enjoying the town or something more?” She retracts her hand, smoothing it over her pencil skirt in a move that I’m slightly jealous of. The confidence she feels in her own skin is something I’ve only chased after.
“Getting to know the town and the people who live here. Plus, I can never resist a tchotchke.” I waggle the ceramic cat.
She chuckles, giving me an even better view of her fangs. “A woman after my own heart. Let me show you my favorite things.”
Can vampires go out in the sunlight?
I follow her through the store, absorbing the genuinely unique collection of items and the ramrod straight posture of the woman in front of me.
The scent of lavender and something darker, like plum, trails up to the ceiling in little plumes of smoke from the incense burning on the checkout counter.
Intriguing, just like her.
“Take the cat, Isabella. As a gift.” She rounds on me after we’ve made a lap through the store. “A welcome to our cozy town of Lunamois.”
“That’s so kind of you, thank you,” I reply, smiling up at her. Two free things in only a couple of days? I don’t think I’ve felt this welcome in all the towns I’ve ever visited. That kind of camaraderie only makes Lunamois that much more appealing.
All I’ve ever wanted is somewhere I belong.
She smiles. “And if you can think of anything I can do to help with your event, please let me know. My father was the mayor before Cole, so I may have a little bit of insight.”
“He was?”
“Oh yes. I was never destined for a life of bureaucracy, unlike my father. Luckily, my dear cousin was more than happy to take up the mantle. Power-hungry little thing.”
“Cole is your cousin?” I’m going to need Georgie to draw me up a family tree situation for the people of this town.
She nods, fondness bleeding into her expression. “A little bit of a recluse, that one. But he’s a good man.”
“Seems like it,” I agree. I don’t admit that I barely even remember what Cole looks like. Nick seemed to suck up all the air in the room until all I could do was choke on his presence.
Okay, no. Choking on Nick is not the visual I need to be having.
“Enjoy your day, darling.” The cool mask slips back onto Polly’s face, easy as breathing. I wonder what she hides behind all that indifference. “And remember to come back soon.”
“I will. Thank you again!”
And as I push through the door and into the autumn day, all I have is more excited curiosity about Lunamois, about the people, and what supernaturals live here other than werewolves.
I want to peel back the layers.
I want so desperately to know more. I haven’t felt a fire in my gut like this in a very, very long time.