Chapter 9
“Icancelled my date for tonight,” Princess Muffin Top said as she jumped up onto the barstool. “To stay in with you and your friends.”
“You stay in every Friday night,” Adeline said dryly.
“I’m just letting you know how magnanimous I’m being. That’s big of me. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Adeline rolled her eyes and went back to arranging the charcuterie board.
She’d gone a little overboard, but she couldn’t help it, that was just her way.
Three kinds of cheeses, fig jam, honeycomb, rosemary crackers, sugared almonds, and a cluster of grapes she’d enchanted to taste like whatever flavor her friends were craving.
The side tray would have the extra truffles and scones she snagged from the bakery.
But she needed this tonight. She needed her childhood friends and her back deck and a bottle of wine and the sound of the bay.
Her cottage sat on the far edge of town, away from the neighborhoods where most witches clustered on Lantern Hill.
Adeline had never wanted to live there. Too close to the Beaumont Legacy.
Grandmother Lavinia’s mansion may not sit inside the development, but she had eyes everywhere.
Instead, she’d found a little two-bedroom cottage on an acre of land that backed straight up to the water.
No neighbors on either side...just marsh grass and wildflowers and a view of the bay that stretched all the way to the horizon.
On clear nights, she could see the lights of shrimp boats bobbing on the water.
It was the one place in Moonlight Bay that felt entirely hers. No connection to the Beaumont name.
The doorbell rang, and Princess Muffin Top’s ears swiveled. “It’s party time.”
Adeline opened the door, and Emory, Tempi, and Cassie all hurried inside.
“We brought more wine,” Emory announced, holding up two bottles. “A red and a white because I had a feeling we’d need it.”
“I stopped by the Rusty Anchor,” Tempi said, “and ordered up some of that hot crab dip we like. Hope you have lots of crackers.”
Adeline shut the door and smiled. “I do.”
“I brought nothing,” Cassie said. “I’m a public servant. I contribute my presence.”
Princess Muffin Top lifted a paw in the air. “Solidarity, sister.”
They filed through the cottage and out onto the back deck. They quickly arranged the charcuterie board, crab dip, crackers, and tray of desserts alongside the red and white wines and four mismatched glasses on the patio table.
“And my celebratory meal?” Princess Muffin Top asked with a tilt of her nose. “Because I’m starving here.”
Adeline set down a small dish of gourmet cat treats and a bowl of purified water on the wide deck railing so the cat could have a view of the bay.
“It will do,” Princess Muffin Top said after a careful examination of her food.
Emory poured the wine while Cassie kicked off her shoes and propped her feet up on the railing.
Tempi curled into the oversized wicker chair with her legs tucked under her, her silver-blonde hair floating gently around her shoulders.
The sun was just starting to drop behind the tree line, turning the bay gold and pink.
“So,” Emory said, handing Adeline a glass. “How’d it go with Ronin last night, Tempi?”
Tempi groaned and took a long sip of wine.
“Why does that man infuriate me so much? He showed up fifteen minutes late, didn’t apologize, and then had the nerve to tell me my scavenger hunt ideas were ‘cute.’ Cute!
” She leaned over and stabbed a cracker into the fig jam. “I wanted to blow him off the pier.”
“You could,” Cassie pointed out. “You’re an air elemental.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
“Maybe he said ‘cute’ because he thinks you’re cute,” Emory offered with a grin.
Tempi pointed her cracker at Emory. “Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare go there.”
Adeline laughed. “I don’t know. I sometimes think he—”
“I will launch you all into the bay,” Tempi said with a laugh.
“Think of the lovely aquatic-wind babies you’d make,” Princess Muffin Top said from the railing. “On second thought, forget I said that.”
They ate and drank and laughed as the sky turned from gold to purple.
Emory told a story about one of her customers wanting to try something new, so he ordered a matcha.
He took one sip and asked why she was serving grass clippings as a drink.
Cassie told them about the dozens and dozens of “suspicious activity” calls the station had received the first two days the new chief had been on duty.
They all knew it was code for gossip chain.
“Speaking of the new chief,” Tempi said, looking pointedly at Adeline. “What’s going on between you two?”
Adeline took a sip of her wine. “Let’s table that for later.” She looked out and saw the lights from a shrimp boat bobbing in the water. “I’d rather talk about the bulldozer vandalism. Because it’s not me, but I’m afraid I’m going to be blamed for it.”
“You know everything we know.” Cassie set down her wineglass. “Someone is sabotaging Ivan’s equipment. Twice now battery cables have been taken out, and magical glitter spray paint was used to write a message on the bulldozer last night.”
“It was disappearing glitter,” Tempi said. “So what’s the big deal there? I get the battery cable thing is annoying, but what’s really going on here?”
Since she wasn’t driving anywhere, Adeline poured herself a little more red wine. “I think Ivan is trying to make a bigger deal out of this so he can try to get people on his side. Make it seem like I’m causing major damage for the sake of the squish-squids.”
Emory nodded. “Which in turn will make people side with him and his building.” She popped a grape into her mouth. “Sneaky of him.” Her eyes went wide. “You spelled the grapes! Mmm…chocolate-covered cherry flavor for me. Goes great with my red wine.”
“Could Ivan be sabotaging his own equipment?” Tempi giggled. “I just realized how naughty that could sound.”
Princess Muffin Top snorted. “Someone take the wine away from her.”
Cassie chuckled as she topped off Tempi’s glass. “I’m driving them all home, so she’s drinking my second glass for me.”
“Back to Ivan,” Emory said. “It could be he’s the culprit.”
“Who else?” Adeline asked. “Who else has a grudge against Ivan?”
The girls all stared at each other.
“I mean, it could be anyone,” Emory said. “There are a lot of people angry at the projects Ivan has done over the years. Especially this one.”
“I still can’t believe the council gave him the go-ahead,” Tempi said.
“I’m not,” Adeline said. “Grandmother Lavinia said something to me that makes me wonder if it wasn’t on purpose. She basically implied if I didn’t like what was going on, then maybe I should step up and take her seat.”
The girls all gasped.
“What did you say to that?” Tempi asked, shoving a cracker of hot crab dip into her mouth. “How did you keep your cool?”
The girls knew where she stood on taking over her grandmother’s council seat.
“I told her there was more than one way to reach a goal.”
“Good for you,” Cassie said. “To be honest, I’m shocked Chief Wolfe gave Dixon and me tonight off. Chief worked until three today, then went home for a few hours before coming back and working seven until midnight. I’m sure he’ll be parked out at Drury Marsh the entire time tonight.”
“He seems determined to catch the culprit,” Emory said.
“But he’s looking at us,” Princess Muffin Top said. “It’s insulting.”
Adeline sighed and leaned back in her chair. She stared out at the bay, drained the last of her drink, then spoke. “Can I tell you guys something? And Cassie, I need you to swear this stays between us.”
Cassie held up her nearly empty wineglass. “Off duty. Off the record. Swear.”
“I think...” Adeline took a breath. “I think I might have feelings for Chief Wolfe.”
The silence lasted approximately three seconds.
“I knew it!” Emory shrieked.
“Called it,” Tempi said into her wine glass.
“Oh, honey,” Cassie said, shaking her head with a grin. “We all knew.”
“She stares at his backside every time he walks away,” Princess Muffin Top said. “It’s shameful, really.”
“I do not! And I’m being serious right now!” Adeline sputtered. “He’s basically arrested me twice. How can I have feelings for someone who keeps putting me in handcuffs?”
Tempi giggled. “I don’t think I better touch that question.”
Emory popped an almond into her mouth. “Adeline, the man offered to help you take down our booth last night. He told you he didn’t think you did it. That’s a man who likes you.”
“He’s a werewolf,” Adeline said quietly. “Grandmother Lavinia would lose her mind.”
“Good,” all three of them said in unison.
“I concur,” Princess Muffin Top added.
Adeline threw back her head and laughed.
Now that she’d spoken her feelings aloud, she felt better...
freer. These were her people, her friends.
Always had been. Emory, who’d been beside her since they were kids chasing fireflies through Whisper Crossing.
Cassie, who’d graduated with her and chosen law enforcement, but still supported Adeline and Emory and their protests in her own quiet way.
Tempi, whose family had moved to Moonlight Bay when she was in high school.
Her first day she just fit right in with them.
And Princess Muffin Top, who would never admit to loving any of them… but who was always, always there.
“All right,” Adeline said, setting down her glass. “Enough about my love life. We need a plan. I’m not going to sit around and wait for the next sabotage and the next arrest. We need to figure out who’s doing this.”
Emory’s phone buzzed. She glanced at it and grinned. “The eight are on board. They’ll meet us at seven tomorrow morning at Drury Marsh. Don’t worry, I’ve got Dawnya and her daughter covering both shops until we get back.”
Cassie held up her hands. “I don’t even want to know.”
“It’s probably better that way,” Princess Muffin Top said, her eyes gleaming in the dark. “Plausible deniability.”