Cornbread & Crossroads

by Bella Falls

  Her grandmother smacked her upside her head. “Yes, mirror talk isn’t as convenient. No ringtones to give you warning. We just got used to being available to each other whenever we needed to talk, especially when we didn’t live in the same town.”

  “Although you shouldn’t have bothered Vivi and Delford on their anniversary trip that one time,” scolded Mimsy. “She about killed you for interrupting—”

  I held up my hand to stop her from finishing that sentence. And yet, the image of my grandmother and grandfather together intimately still tainted my brain.

  “I think I’ll take my chances.” Excusing myself, I went into the living room. I crossed my fingers, hoping against hope he wasn’t somewhere trying to be stealthy while chasing after the werewolf and his gang. Summoning my powers, I focused and centered my energy. “Mirror, mirror, how you shine. Grant me this request of mine. Send this call out far and wide, find Mason on the other side.”

  The reflection of my expectant face in the mirror shivered, and Mason’s eyes and part of his nose appeared. Whatever he was in the middle of, he didn’t notice me.

  “Mason,” I called out. His eyebrows furrowed, and he searched for the source of the noise. “Mason!”

  The detective’s eyes flashed to mine, and he cursed out loud. Tires screeching and horns blasted through the mirror, and I cringed, realizing I’d caught him while driving. He glanced behind him and yelled at someone in a nearby car. After he must have pulled over, I watched him throw the car in park.

  “Charli, what in the world are you doing in my rearview mirror? You almost caused us to crash.” His harsh words hurt until he adjusted the angle so I could see relief in his expression. “I’ve been trying to call you, but you wouldn’t pick up.”

  Another voice from his end grumbled something I couldn’t understand, and a car door opened and slammed shut. “Sorry,” I apologized through gritted teeth. “I didn’t know where I’d find you when I cast the spell. Was that the other detective? What’s his name? Clarkson?”

  “Yeah, he said he’d give us a few minutes of privacy.” He leaned in closer so I could see him better. “I’m both mad at you and happy to finally hear your voice. But if you’re contacting me this way, something must be wrong.”

  It took a whole three minutes to fill him in on everything that had happened since my return plus how I got ahold of him using a mirror. He listened with serious intent, waiting until I paused to take a breath.

  “I’m so sorry about your grandmother, honey. I know that must be tough for you and Matt. Do you want me to come back to help?” he asked.

  Every fiber of my being screamed, “Yes,” but I composed myself enough not to give away my desperation. “How close are you to closing the case?”

  Mason cast a hesitant sideways glance, and I guessed he was looking at the other detective. “The truth? Not as close as Clarkson had originally hoped. He actually wanted me to get you to come back and use your tracking powers.”

  My mouth gaped. “You must trust him a lot if you told him.”

  “He was the closest to me on the force, but I wonder if his zeal to catch Mordecai will outweigh his loyalty.” Mason sighed, and I noticed the bags under his eyes. “Let’s just say that things got tense when I made it clear that in no way was I involving you.”

  My heart ached to hold him and chase away the hurt I sensed. “I’m sorry it’s harder than you thought.”

  He ran his fingers through his hair and scratched the longer scruff on his face. “Longer than I’d hoped. Honestly, I kind of wish I’d come home with you in the first place. Then at least I could be of some use.”

  I considered whether or not to ask my next question, but I needed to know the answer. “How much longer do you think you’ll need to stay there?”

  “I don’t know.” Mason’s answer cooled my excitement of talking to him over the mirror.

  Before he had to go, I told him how to cast the spell to talk through mirrors. We attempted to come up with ideas on how to better plan a call so we didn’t cause each other unintended harm.

  The sound of a car door opening interrupted us, and Clarkson’s voice growled, “Come on, Clairmont. We’ve got to go.”

  “Give me one more minute,” Mason demanded with force. After the door slammed again, he shot an apologetic glance my way. “I want to keep talking, but we were on our way to talk to a possible informant.”

  “That’s fine. I know how important it is for you to see it through till the end.” I wanted to mean the words I said, but a big part of me didn’t.

  “Don’t think I’m choosing this case over you.” Mason glared to the side before gazing back at me. “Let me try to come up with a compromise. It’s about to get really intense for us for a few hours. Keep a mirror by you, and I’ll see if the spell works both ways. If you don’t hear from me by one in the morning, then you contact me. I’ll make sure I’m somewhere near a mirror. And alone.”

  “Clairmont, let’s go!” Detective Clarkson’s voice roared.

  Mason kissed two fingers and held them up to touch the reflective surface. “I’ll talk to you soon, Charli. Love you.”

  “I love you, too,” I managed before his face disappeared and my own eyes blinked back at me, a little moist from the burgeoning tears.

  Placing the mirror down, I covered my face with my hands. How did my life go from fantastic to terrible in such a short time? With a loud groan, I wiped away any stray wetness from my face determined not to give into despair. Gathering my wits about me, I went to find my friends to thank them for giving me space.

  Blythe reached me first. “Hey, congrats on getting the spell to work.” She wrapped her arm through mine. “Couldn’t help but overhear you say the L word to each other. Gotta say, he’s a better match for you than Tucker ever was. Even though I heard you say the words to him a thousand times, they never sounded quite as right as they just did.”

  I leaned my head against her shoulder. “Thanks, friend.”

  She escorted me into the foyer. “One more thing. Dash is standing out on the porch.”

  A rueful chortle escaped me. “Of course he is.”

  “If you want, I’ll tell him that it’s not a good time right now,” Blythe offered.

  I unlinked our arms. “No, it’s okay. Tell Matt I’m going to go for a short walk, and when I get back, I’ll take over watching over Nana so he can go home. Remind him he has a wife and daughter who need him, too.”

  My friend winked at me. “Will do.”

  Out of all the times Dash could have talked to me over all the months since he left after the barbecue contest, he chose this moment. Thank goodness I’d had a large meal to give me strength.

  Pulling open the door, I greeted the shifter. “Hey, Dash.”

  He stopped pacing and came over. “Hey. I’m sorry if I’m bothering you. After Lee had me help him test his spell phones, I guess the ride back to town made me think of you.”

  It had been ages since I’d taken Old Joe for a ride. A small part of me longed to get on a motorcycle and chase after a life filled with more freedom and less fear. But much like crying too much, running away wouldn’t solve anything.

  “How’s your grandmother doing?” His raspy voice sounded sincere.

  I glanced through the screened door up the stairs in the direction of Nana’s bedroom. “There hasn’t been any change. She’s still knocked out, which I guess is better than the alternative.”

  A warm hand gripped my shoulder. “She’s a strong woman like you, Charli. She’ll fight and make it through to the other side of this. I’m sure of it.”

  The look that followed held something deeper in it, but he huffed out a breath and let me go.

  I managed not to start crying again with a sniff. “How do you know? Are you psychic now?”

  The shifter smirked. “Well, I was right about you and Mason.”

  At the mention of my relationship, my cheeks heated in awkward embarrassment. “What, you knew we would get toge
ther?”

  “Not exactly. Remember, I said that you’d save him in the long run,” Dash repeated. “He would have been a fool if he hadn’t pursued you.”

  The last thing I wanted to do with the wolf shifter was talk about Mason and me. “Do you want to take a short walk with me? I could use the distraction.”

  He gestured for me to walk down the porch steps before him. We strolled past the large live oak tree out front and onto the road. A waxing moon barely provided enough light for me to see the way, but I assumed Dash’s shifter abilities would allow him to see well enough for both of us.

  The crunch of our feet on the road added to the symphony of the early evening. On any other normal night, I would enjoy the peaceful sounds and maybe even the company. It weighed on me how very not normal my life had become in such a short time.

  “Did you enjoy your trip?” Dash asked, breaking up the silence.

  “Mm-hmm.” Although I’d regaled my friends with more details, it didn’t feel right to do the same with the shifter. “It was nice to get out of town for a bit. But now…”

  “You wish you’d been here to help your grandmother?” he guessed. “From what Lee’s told me, there wasn’t anything you could have done to make things different from what they are even if you’d been here.”

  I frowned, hoping the dark would keep him from noticing. “My brain registers that logic, but my heart still hurts.”

  Dash stopped walking and waited for me to notice before he spoke. “What did your grandmother say when you told her you wanted to leave?”

  The fact that he knew I would check with her first spoke volumes about how well he’d paid attention to my life. “She practically pushed me out the door to go.”

  “There you go.” He took a few steps forward, turning around to get me to follow him. “That means you can put your guilt down and stop carrying it on your shoulders.”

  “How do you know I was feeling guilty?” I questioned my decision to walk with this annoying companion.

  Dash’s teeth gleamed white as he grinned with arrogance. “Because I know things.”

  “What, are you psychic now?” I snorted, catching up to his longer strides.

  “No,” he admitted. “I just know you.”

  I opened my mouth to contest his claim, but found no words to throw at him. Despite the shifter’s absence, he did possess a strange ability to see the bigger picture and analyze it with shrewd observations.

  “Do your amazing skills in reading people come in handy as a pack leader?” I questioned, ready to switch places in the hot seat.

  He took a moment before answering, “Actually, they do. It’s advantageous to have a good idea what might happen three or four steps ahead of whatever negotiations I’m working on.”

  Advantageous. Big word for someone who usually grunted. I smiled at my inside joke and kept him talking. “So, what big deals have you made for your pack?”

  “Besides the ones I revealed at the park?” Dash kicked a stone, listening to it ricochet off the pavement and into the dirt. “I’ve made sure that our territory is safe. That’s my first priority.”

  “And is it? Safe, I mean,” I clarified.

  He placed both hands behind his head and let out a long groaning sigh. “It’s getting there. There’s a lot to fix, considering all the damage Cash had done with the surrounding communities.”

  I nodded in sympathy at the hard job he had waiting for him in the mountains. “Not to be indelicate, but why are you still here in Honeysuckle if things are bad up in the Red Ridge territory?”

  “I still own a house here, and I’d neglected the property for far too long. So, I’ve been fixing the place up as well as packing a few things to take back with me.”

  My feet stuck to the ground as it dawned on me why Dash was here. “You’re getting ready to sell your house, aren’t you?”

  He stopped moving forward but didn’t turn to face me. “Not yet.”

  “But sometime. Someday, you’re going to put it on the market.” I didn’t know why the thought of him selling his house made me sad.

  He cocked his head to the side so I could hear him better. “My place is with the pack, not here. They need a strong leader.”

  Dash’s words made sense, but again, my rational side conflicted with my emotional one. But other than being a shareholder in Lee’s business, what else would hold him to Honeysuckle?

  “I guess you deserve to have a life on solid ground, not torn between two places,” I admitted with reluctance. “It makes sense that you would go all in for your life there. Although I guess now you won’t be a married man anytime soon.”

  The gold in the shifter’s eyes blazed to life. “I could if I wanted to.”

  “What, are all the girls falling for the hot shifter leader?” I teased.

  A low chuckle rumbled in his chest. “It’s not like I’ve been a monk or anything. There’s been interest.”

  “I have no doubt,” I snorted, remembering his enthusiasm when he’d talked about the Whitaker sisters at the potluck. Maybe one of them had captured his attention?

  “But that’s not what I was talking about. Remember I said that my brother did a lot of damage as did the fight to oust him as leader,” Dash continued.

  A shiver ran down my spine as he reminded me that he had been the instrument to remove his brother out of the pack and out of life itself. I should run far away from the killer next to me, and yet I wanted to hug him for his loss instead.

  “Well, the leader from an adjoining pack at the edge of Georgia has made me an offer. Peace, trade, and shared ownership of a part of his territory in the mountains,” he said.

  “And who would you have to marry?” I pushed.

  “His daughter.” His glowing eyes watched for my reaction.

  The more Dash revealed to me about his life, the less I understood it. Would he ever be able to marry for love, or would it always be something negotiated? A deal made to achieve something else? What a hard existence to commit to.

  As much as he’d gone through, he didn’t need my pity. “Arranged marriages have been happening for millennia.”

  “Would you be able to do it? Get married, I mean, to someone you had no feelings for?”

  I tried to imagine what situation would be so dire where I might agree to hitch myself to a person with no emotional attachment. It seemed like an impossible scenario, but maybe he needed to hear my support rather than my real answer.

  “If the safety of my family or people that I cared about was at stake, then yeah. I would consider getting married if that meant they’d be okay.” I almost believed myself.

  Dash snorted. “Of course you would because that’s what you do. You save people.”

  Realizing I needed to get back to Nana’s house to relieve Matt and send him home, I changed direction to mosey back. “Nothing wrong in putting others’ lives first before our own. Sounds like that’s the life you lead.”

  Another long sigh peppered the air. “You have the makings of a great leader if that ever happens for you someday.”

  Memories of Nana acting as the beacon of leadership for Honeysuckle Hollow filled my brain, and my fear for her health doubled. Picking up my pace, I rushed towards the house.

  Dash caught up with me and held onto my arm. “I didn’t mean to make you worry about your grandmother.”

  “I still need to get back,” I insisted, aiming for the glow of the house lights up ahead.

  “I guess I was more of an irritation than a distraction,” he grumbled, staying by my side.

  Despite my need to see Nana to quell my churning anxieties, I did appreciate finding out more about Dash. “Hmm, let’s call you an irritating diversion,” I joked.

  “I can take that.”

  We ran out of pleasantries for light banter, and any other topic that interested me would be far too heavy for tonight.

  Dash didn’t follow me up the porch steps but waited for me to go inside. When I pulled open the screened d
oor, I turned to thank him.

  He held up a hand as if to dismiss my gratitude. “I know it’s hard for you to believe, but your grandmother is going to be okay.”

  “Here you go again, being a soothsayer.” I narrowed my eyes at him. “How do you know that’s going to happen?”

  Dash’s teeth beamed again as he grinned wide. “Because you Goodwin women are tougher than anything I’ve ever encountered. More stubborn, too.”

  His faith in Nana charmed me, but doubt still clung to my heart. “I wish I could believe like you do.”

  “Then I’ll believe enough for the both of us,” he promised. “Night, Charli.”

  With a small wave, he left the illumination from the house lights and disappeared into the shadows of the night. The lack of thundering motorcycle sounds meant Dash must have come on foot. I paused before heading inside, my mind racing with thoughts of his life and mine. And how much more complicated life had become for both of us.

  Chapter Ten

  Ada kicked me out the morning of the town hall meeting, promising to get in touch if anything changed. With Nana unable to attend, Matt and I agreed we should represent the Goodwin side of the council, even in an unofficial capacity.

  “You should go home and try to catch a nap first,” my brother advised.

  I snorted, “You first.”

  Both of us could pack for a week’s vacation using the bags under our eyes. But I felt worse for Matt since he also had a full-time job he was trying to balance with caring for Nana plus a baby.

  “How’s Bea working out for you?” I asked.

  For the first time in two days, he perked up. “I’m so glad we found her. She’s a natural, and I’m pretty sure Rayline is absolutely smitten. If we didn’t have Bea, I don’t know how I’d keep even a shred of sanity right now.”

  My heart warmed for the brownie. She’d moved into Matt’s guest room, quickly entrenching herself as one of the family.

  “I’m glad you’re happy with her. Tell her I miss having her around and that she’s welcome to come visit whenever she wants.”