Chapter 25
PANDORA’S DIARY
Times I wanted to kiss Leo for being supportive and forcing my guard down: Lost count
Times I felt weird for calling him my boyfriend: I’m only doing it in my head. Also, every single time
I started humming as we headed back to the village.
“You sound cheerful,” Leo said, though he sounded dubious.
“I am.”
“Good! Good. Uh… why?”
“Because I didn’t make Trevor’s gift go haywire with my bad vibes!”
“Nobody thought you had, Pan.”
I made a face at him, because obviously I thought I had. “So maybe this is just normals being assholes. Wouldn’t be the first time.”
“It’d be a pretty elaborate prank,” Leo said.
“Yeah, like crop circles. It turns out a couple guys strapped on homemade snowshoes and wandered through corn fields for, like, ten years. This is nothing.”
“Unless it goes on for ten more years.”
“True,” I said, as we rolled into the village. “The faerie-kin detectives can’t turn in their imaginary badges quite yet.”
The street had been cleared since we left, and carts were parked in front of most stores, laden with trash.
Tourists milled around looking confused while Mr. Kim, our one-man tourist board, directed them to the marina for boat and beach umbrella rentals.
I noticed the redheaded cop interviewing shop owners while Philip lurked near a few out-of-place boulders, unwilling to move them with normals around, but clearly making plans.
The Barnacle was open again, and I spotted Gabe heading inside with his leggy friend.
“Wait!” I told Leo. “Pull over. Hey, Gabe! Gabe!”
Leo pulled the cart to a halt beside Gabe and his lady friend, who was wearing a navy babydoll dress and a straw hat. Her legs were still amazing. Gabe froze when he saw me climbing from the cart, clearly worried I was going to start drama.
So I hugged him and asked, “Is your shop okay?”
“Someone messed with the wood pile, but that’s it.” He pushed his glorious hair back and I felt no twinge of attraction, even though he was wearing a faded blue T-shirt that lit up his eyes. “Nobody knows what happened?”
“Drunk frat boys from the mainland?” the woman suggested.
“You must be Ava,” I said. “I’m Pandora.”
Her eyes brightened. “Gabe’s told me so much about you!”
“Same here,” I said. “But I won’t repeat any of his lovelorn confessions, because I don’t want to embarrass him.”
Gabe groaned. “Well, this is ideal. Uh, Ava, this is Leo, we played on a few of the same teams in—”
“I definitely won’t say he calls you ‘the one who got away,’” I informed Ava, “because he was too full of himself to appreciate you at the time.”
“Please,” Ava grinned, “don’t tell me that.”
“Boys are dumb,” I told her, with a sharp glance at Leo. “Can you imagine pushing a woman away for a silly reason?”
“Especially one who’s far too good for him!” she said.
Gabe shot Leo a desperate, silent plea for rescue, and he obliged. “So, uh, how long are you here for, Ava?”
“Oh, I’ve been spending a lot of time on the island the last few months.”
I noticed Leo briefly clock her legs. I couldn’t blame him, but he better not make any more satyr remarks.
“So you know we don’t usually have vandalism like this,” he said.
“Yeah, I’m a realtor,” she explained. “So I know the island a bit. My company’s got a big client who’s eager to buy property here. Developed, undeveloped, on the coast, in the woods. They don’t care, they just love Beane. And I don’t blame them.”
“Even after all this?” I asked, gesturing to indicate the mess.
“Yeah. I checked this morning and their attorney says they’re more enthusiastic than ever.” She gave a teeth-whitened smile. “This might even lower property values. I don’t suppose either of you own land here?”
“Ava!” Gabe scolded.
She flushed. “Sorry, sorry! I forget not to accost everyone I meet. It’s just, I’m paying for my MA in Landscape Architecture by selling real estate…”
Leo asked about her degree, and seemed a little too interested. Since when did he like bushes and begonias? We chatted for another minute, then said goodbye. They slipped into the Barnacle and we returned to the cart, where I glared at Leo.
“What was that?” I demanded.
“I love her,” Leo told me.
I shot him a look. “Oh, is that right?”
“Devotedly. She’s taken Gabe off the board. She is my new favorite person.”
“Did you just refer to me as ‘the board’?”
“Hmmm, let me rephrase. She’s taken Gabe off the broad…”
I groaned, but was secretly pleased. “So what’s next for the faerie-kin detectives?”
“Can we hold off on kicking ass and busting perps?” He nodded toward the library on the hill. “And take another crack at the manuscript?”
I felt an edge of unease, which I didn’t really understand. The manuscript had awakened my gift, after all. Maybe it could explain my gift, too.
“Right now?” I asked.
“Well, it’s not like I want to spend any time with the rarest and most magical book I’ve ever encountered in my life.”
“Fine. I’ll flip the pages, you take the pictures…” I paused. “After we eat. And check on Deja.”
“I sense delaying tactics,” he said.
“Don’t be silly,” I told him. “I’m not delaying, I’m procrastinating.”