Chapter 2
Dutton stared as Dahlia disappeared into the crowd. He was still dumbfounded that she was back in town. He hadn’t really expected to see her again. Not after she’d left his house in the early morning hours the day after she’d run away from her wedding.
That had been over seven months ago, and even though they’d only had the one night together, he hadn’t stopped dreaming about her since.
He blinked, wondering if he’d just imagined that entire interaction. For some reason, he couldn’t quite believe his own eyes. But when he looked at the destruction of the barbecue setup that was behind him, there was no denying it.
Dahlia Day was back in Keating Hollow.
But for how long? That was the million-dollar question.
“Dutton!” Briggs, his brother, called out. “What happened here?”
“There was a fire,” the older woman who was cleaning up the area said.
She clutched Dutton’s arm and looked up at him adoringly.
“A dog got loose, and some crazy lady knocked me over, causing the barbecue to topple, and then everything went up in flames. This lovely man used his magic to put it out.”
“It was nothing any competent fire witch couldn’t handle,” Dutton said, though he didn’t know if that was true. The fire had caused a small propane tank to explode, and fires that were fueled that hot were much harder to control than a regular brush fire.
“You saved that woman’s life,” the woman said, squeezing his arm. Her curly hair was all silver, and deep laugh lines were etched around her mouth and eyes. Dutton guessed she had to be in her seventies. She leaned into him. “You saved my life.”
“Wow,” Briggs said, his eyebrows raised as he glanced between Dutton and the woman. “Seems like my big brother is a local hero,” he said dryly.
“He’s definitely my hero.” The woman fluttered her eyelashes at Dutton. “You should come over to my place so I can thank you properly tonight.”
“Uh, I’m sorry,” Dutton said, trying and failing to dislodge his arm from her tight clutches.
While he could tell she’d been quite the beauty in her younger days, Dutton didn’t go for the grandmotherly type.
Besides, he had plans with Dahlia, and he wasn’t letting anything or anyone get in the way of his dinner with her that evening.
He was dying to know what brought her back to town. “I already have plans.”
“That’s too bad,” the woman said, pushing her lower lip out in a pout. “I have fresh berries and whipped cream in my fridge. If you were to come over, I’d let you—”
“Mother! That’s enough.” A man wearing an apron that read I Like My Butt Rubbed stepped up and gently pulled the woman away from Dutton, who looked dumbstruck by her flirting.
“Stop hitting on the poor man.” He turned to Dutton.
“Sorry about this. She doesn’t always remember that she isn’t in her twenties anymore. ”
“I know that,” the older woman said, swatting at her son. “But times have changed. Haven’t you heard? Age is just a state of mind.” She grinned at Dutton. “If you change your mind, let me know. I can always make more whipped cream.”
“I’ll keep it under advisement,” Dutton said and then turned and started walking back to his booth with Briggs on his heels, chuckling softly.
“What are you laughing at?” Dutton asked when they were out of earshot.
“Just the fact that you finally got a woman to look at you twice, and she turns out to be twice your age. You know, she seemed feisty. Maybe you should go for it.”
Dutton sent his brother a flat stare. “You’re a prick, you know that?”
Briggs just laughed harder.
Once the classic car show wrapped up, Dutton and Briggs made their way to the Keating Hollow Brewery. It was still late afternoon and Dutton had plenty of time before he was to pick up Dahlia.
“Want an order of wings?” Briggs asked. They sat at a table near the front windows, studying the menus even though they both knew it front and back.
“I’ll just have a couple of yours,” Dutton said. He was starving after manning his restoration booth all day, but he didn’t want to ruin his appetite before his date later.
“Are you watching your weight or something?” Briggs teased. “Because I don’t think it’s going to help before your big date tonight.”
“Funny.”
“Have we ordered yet?” Cash Moses asked as he took a seat at the table.
Cash was a local ghosthunter and partner to Harlow Thane, a friend of Briggs’s fiancée.
The brothers had become friends with him after a barbecue get-together that Melissa had thrown.
Now when the brothers headed to the brewery, they usually texted Cash in case he wanted to meet up with them. Today was one of those days.
“No food yet. Just the beers,” Briggs said.
“Oh good. I’m starved.” He glanced at the menu, nodded once, and then put it down. “You boys up for some poker tonight?”
“No can do,” Dutton said, shaking his head. “I’ve got plans.”
“D finally managed to snag himself a date,” Briggs said with a snicker. “You’ll never guess who with.”
“Miss Maple?” Cash asked, his expression feigning pure innocence.
“You’re hilarious,” Dutton said and then nodded at the server who placed three beers on the table. Miss Maple was the sweet older woman who owned A Spoonful of Magic. If he had to guess, Dutton would say that she was the age of his grandmother.
They placed their order, and Dutton thought they’d finally move on from discussing his love life, but then his brother leaned forward and said, “He’s taking the runaway bride from Valentine’s Day out to dinner.”
“Nooooo,” Cash said, his eyes widening. “The one he spent the night with?”
“I didn’t spend the night with her,” Dutton insisted.
“Did she, or did she not, stay over at your place?” Briggs asked.
Dutton declined to answer. Nothing he said would convince his brother and Cash that they hadn’t had a one-night-stand. Though why he cared what they thought, he couldn’t say.
“You know what this means, right?” Cash said, his eyes glittering with mischief.
“That I don’t have to spend the night watching you two humiliate yourselves while I kick your asses at poker?” Dutton asked.
Briggs let out a loud, fake laugh as he pretended to crack up. Then suddenly he sobered and said, “You wish.”
“I wasn’t talking about poker,” Cash said. After he took a swig of beer, he put his pint down and asked, “Haven’t you ever heard the old saying that if you steal a bride you’re the one who’s destined to marry her?”
“You’re trying to say that I’m going to marry Dahlia?” Dutton just shook his head. “I barely know the woman, and you’re already trying to marry me off? You two have been relationship-pilled.”
“Pilled?” Briggs asked, looking more interested than offended. “Is that how I ended up in this predicament?” He nodded. “That does make more sense. Otherwise, how would I have been trapped into looking at invitations and floral arrangements?”
Cash snorted.
Dutton scoffed. “Right. Like you aren’t right where you want to be.
” He knew his brother was head over heels for Melissa.
And Cash and Harlow were the perfect pair.
Dutton was happy for both of them, but he already knew marriage was out of the question for him.
He’d tried that once. It hadn’t worked out then, and he had no desire to try again.
“You’ll be there soon enough,” Cash deadpanned.
“Don’t count on it. I’m not the marrying type,” Dutton said.
Briggs chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what I said, too.”
“I used to think that, too,” Cash said. “But…” He held up his left hand, showing off a simple gold band. “You can see how that turned out.”
“There’s nothing wrong with marriage,” Dutton said. “For other people at least. It’s just not for me.”
“We’ll see,” Briggs said, still laughing into his beer.
Thankfully the food arrived, and the pair stopped harassing Dutton about his love life as they started shoveling food into their mouths.
Dutton had a couple of wings and stole a few of Cash’s fries. He certainly wasn’t full, but it was enough to get him through until later that evening.
As they were walking out of the brewery, Cash said, “Enjoy your date. Let us know when we need to plan the bachelor party.”
Briggs laughed.
Dutton flipped them off and headed to his car.
They were both still laughing as he climbed into his 1960 T-bird. It was a car he’d spent many years restoring, and he drove it mostly to classic car events but had been known to take it out for a spin with the top down on days when the weather was nice.
Dutton pulled out of the parking lot and started to head home to his retreat in the woods.
While he’d enjoyed the city life when he’d lived in downtown San Diego, he couldn’t deny the fact that he loved having extra garage space and the peacefulness of the redwoods that surrounded his property in Keating Hollow.
He was turning off Main Street when his magic tingled over his skin, alerting him to a fire nearby.
Dutton scanned the area, seeing nothing, but his magic intensified, tingling just under his skin like it always did when he sensed a fire.
As he drove, the feeling started to wane, and he knew he was driving in the wrong direction.
Making sure there wasn’t anyone coming, he quickly did a three-point turn and headed back into town. His magic instantly confirmed he’d made the right choice.
Suddenly he spotted billowing smoke coming from a shop called The Magic Pie.
He quickly parked and ran over to the shop.
A lady wearing an apron with the shop’s logo on it was clutching her phone to her ear and hastily explaining to someone on the other end that a fire had randomly started in a trash can near the register and now the building was on fire.