Dakota worked as a chef in the Lighthouse, one of the nicest restaurants in town. I’d heard all about the revolving top of the lighthouse, which provided a complete view of the town and the adjacent Atlantic Ocean.
“We get to ride to the top?” I asked, as the sheriff and I entered the base of the lighthouse.
“That’s where the kitchen is,” he said. “You haven’t been here yet?”
“No, I haven’t eaten out much,” I said.
“You don’t strike me as a troll,” the sheriff said.
“A troll?” I sensed an insult in there somewhere.
“You know, hiding from the world under your bridge.”
“Oh. Like a hermit.” Okay, not an insult. “Staying home was a financial necessity in New Jersey. We rarely had money for restaurants. Marley and I splurged on diners and Chinese food.”
He gave me an understated nod. “I see.”
We stepped into the paranormal version of an elevator. It looked like a platform without walls.
“I’m not getting on that death trap,” I said. “One strong sneeze and I’ll plunge over the side.”
He grinned. “Get on, Rose. It’s perfectly safe.”
“You’d love that, wouldn’t you?” I asked. “An easy way to get rid of me.”
He chuckled. “Easy? Do you know the mess that would create? Trust me, there are far easier methods.”
“Why do I get the idea you’ve given this some thought?”
He took me by the hand and dragged me onto the platform. He tapped a pedal with his foot and we began to rise. I clutched his arm and pushed myself against him.
“Isn’t your daughter supposed to be the anxious one?” he queried.
That much was true. Thanks to her intelligence and the early death of her father, Marley was an anxious child with a fear of many things, including heights. I was generally okay with heights, although this platform was causing me to rethink my opinion.
Sheriff Nash reached out to the side. “Invisible walls, Rose. Go on. Touch it.”
Oh. I reached to the side and, sure enough, I felt a wall there. “Why’d you let me think it was empty space?”
He gave me a lopsided grin. “Because it was fun?”
We arrived at the top and the platform delivered us directly into the restaurant. The lunchtime crowd was taking advantage of the gorgeous skyline.
“We probably should’ve come during the off-hours,” I said. “She’s going to be busy.”
“That’s the best reason to come now,” the sheriff said. “She’ll be too distracted to tell believable lies.”
He didn’t need to flash his star badge, although it was pretty obvious, stuck to his chest. Everyone we encountered seemed to recognize him with barely a glance.
“Table for two, Sheriff?” an older woman asked, holding two menus. She gave me an appraising look. “She’s much prettier than the last one you brought here.”
The sheriff’s face reddened. “This isn’t a date, Alice. We’re here on official business.”
“Too bad,” Alice said. “If you have time, stop for a bite when you’re finished. Soup of the day is your favorite.”
His brow lifted. “Cracklewhip chowder?”
She nodded.
He sucked in a breath. “I’m sorely tempted, but first I need to talk to Dakota. Is she in the kitchen?”
“She is.” Alice looked concerned. “She’s very busy right now. Can it wait?”
“Nope. Sorry.” The sheriff swaggered across the room and I hustled to keep up.
We found the dryad barking orders in the kitchen. Despite the beads of perspiration on her forehead and her unattractive chef’s outfit, she was a natural beauty—no glitter required. With her rich brown hair and flawless skin, it wasn’t hard to see the attraction.
“Sheriff, the kitchen is insanely busy right now,” Dakota said, scrutinizing a dish in front of her. “Who’s responsible for this? It looks like mermaid vomit.”
“We need a word, Dakota,” the sheriff said. “The kitchen won’t fall apart in two minutes.”
“Says a man who microwaves his meals.” She wiped her brow with a cloth and maneuvered through the kitchen toward us. “Let’s go into my office, where it’s quiet.”
We followed her to a small room off the kitchen, and she closed the door behind us.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Need to ask you about some of your recent dates,” he said.
She squinted. “Recent dates? Why?”
“It’s my understanding that you’ve been out with Florian Rose-Muldoon, Thom Rutledge, and Cayden Mercer.”
She crossed her arms and glared at us. “What’s it to you?” Her deep scowl had no impact on her beautiful features.
“Would it surprise you to learn that they’re currently living their lives as frogs?” Sheriff Nash asked.
It seemed to take a moment for the news to sink in. Dakota struggled to find the right words.
“I’m sorry. Did you just say they’re frogs?”
“That’s right,” the sheriff said.
She burst into throaty laughter. “That’s brilliant. Who did that?”
The sheriff stared at her, waiting for the realization to take hold. Her almond-shaped eyes widened.
“Me? Are you serious? I’m a dryad. We don’t do transformation spells.”
“But it would be simple enough to pay someone to perform a few spells,” the sheriff said. “Maybe a chance for revenge?”
“Revenge for what?” Dakota asked. “I dumped all three of their sorry butts. One date each was more than they deserved.”
I warmed to her immediately. “Preach, sister.”
She gave me the once-over. “Is she a new deputy or something? What happened to the leprechaun? Did his luck finally run out?”
“Deputy Bolan is still my right arm,” the sheriff said.
“I’m not law enforcement,” I said. “I work for Vox Populi.” The statement still felt foreign on my tongue.
“She’s chasing the same leads I am,” the sheriff said.
“And you let her come with you?” Dakota studied me. “I guess I can see why.”
I shot the sheriff a quizzical look, but his expression remained blank.
“Why’d you give them the heave ho?” the sheriff asked.
Dakota looked thoughtful. “Well, Thom just wanted to feed off me. I feed people for a living. I didn’t need that at home, as well.”
Perfectly understandable.
“Cayden couldn’t keep his gaze pinned on me for more than sixty seconds before his head was turned by some busty blonde. I left that date midway through. I’m far too busy to waste my time on that minotaur shit.”
“And Florian?” I prompted.
She hesitated. “To be honest, I actually liked Florian.”
“Then why only one date?” I asked.
“Because I know his reputation,” she said. “If he’d managed another date, he would have charmed me into sleeping with him, and then that would have been the end of it.”
“How do you know you wouldn’t have been different?” I asked.
She gave me a regretful smile. “Because I’m not a witch. Everyone with half a brain knows that his mother won’t allow him to marry outside the coven.”
“Then why go out with him at all?” I asked.
Her arms dropped to her sides. “Have you seen Florian? How could I resist?”
She had a point. Cousin or not, even I recognized the white-blond hunk of beauty that was Florian Rose-Muldoon.
“Can you think of anyone who would’ve held a grudge against these three guys?” I asked. “You had conversations with all of them. Maybe a common name popped up.”
Her expression brightened. “It’s not a grudge, but they all get their hair cut at the same barbershop. Maybe the barber’s heard something.”
“Which one?” the sheriff asked.
“Snips-n-Clips,” she said. “I remember being surprised. I expecte
d Florian to go somewhere more upscale.”
“Thanks for the tip,” Sheriff Nash said.
“Stay for lunch, won’t you?” Dakota asked. “My treat.”
Sheriff Nash glanced at me. “How about it, Rose? You hungry?”
“Really?” I figured the last thing he’d want to do was share a meal with me.
He placed a hand over his sheriff’s star. “I consider it my civic duty to make sure you’ve tried cracklewhip chowder.”
I shrugged. “I’ll try anything once,” I said.
He flashed a lopsided grin. “I’ll bear that in mind, Rose.”
“What’s so special about cracklewhip chowder?” I asked.
We were seated at a small table next to the floor-to-ceiling window. I watched the scenery go by as we slowly rotated at the top of the lighthouse—the sparkling blue water of the Atlantic, the mysterious Fairy Cove, Mariner’s Landing, and then around to the picturesque town on the other side. A perfect viewpoint.
“You have to taste it to understand,” he said, and held out his spoon. “You’re welcome to try some.”
I wrinkled my nose.
He peered at me. “You’re one of those, aren’t you?”
I straightened in my chair. “One of what?”
“The kind of person that doesn’t share food off the same fork. I bet no one is allowed to sip out of your coffee cup, either. You probably put a protection spell on it.”
I tried to hide my guilty expression. “I don’t know what you mean. I don’t even know how to do a protection spell.” Yet.
He held the spoon closer to my mouth. “So taste it, then.”
“I don’t want to.”
He grinned and popped the spoon into his mouth. “Use your own spoon, then.” He pushed the bowl across the table toward me.
“It does look good,” I said, lifting my spoon and digging in. It felt oddly intimate, eating chowder out of the sheriff’s bowl. I wasn’t up on werewolf culture, but I figured they weren’t shy about sharing meals, so this was no big deal.
The sheriff watched me eat with a combination of amusement and satisfaction. “Amazing, right?”
I nodded, my mouth full of chowder. It tasted salty and flavorful, like ingesting the sea but not in the horrible way that gets water up your nose.
“Do you like your scallops?” he asked, and pulled the bowl back toward him.
“Love ‘em.” I bit into another one and sighed with pleasure. They weren’t magical, but they were magically delicious.
“Gonna offer me any?” the sheriff asked.
“If you promise to use your own fork.”
His grin widened as he speared one. “Tell me about New Jersey.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Is it as crowded as everyone says?” he asked, slurping more soup off his spoon. Normally, I wasn’t a fan of slurping, but something about the way Sheriff Nash did it made it seem charming, almost sexy.
“Depends on where you are,” I said. “There are plenty of parts of the state that are rural. You just need to know where to go.”
“Did you live in a rural area?” More slurping.
I shook my head. “I wasn’t far from Philadelphia.”
“But that’s in Pennsylvania.”
“Yes. Right across the Delaware River.”
“Huh,” he said, and scraped the last of his soup from the bottom of the bowl. “What did you think of Dakota?”
“Besides the fact that she’s insanely beautiful?” I queried.
“I don’t think her appearance tells us whether she’s guilty.”
“That’s very sensible of you, Sheriff.”
He winked. “I try my best.”
“I don’t think she’s responsible,” I said. “She’s too straightforward. She doesn’t seem like someone who would resort to magic. If she likes you enough, she’ll give you another chance. If not, you’re out.”
“Sounds like that’s probably your approach, too. You could come back another time, compare notes with her on your dating experience.”
I laughed. “Dating experience?”
“Sure,” he said. “Attractive woman like you. I imagine you have experience.”
“Hardly. I married my husband when we were still children ourselves. We had Marley immediately, so dating was never really an option.”
He fell silent for a moment. “When did he die?”
“Four years ago. An accident on the road. He was a truck driver.”
“And you haven’t dated since?”
“No.” I leaned back in my chair. “Didn’t I tell you all this already?”
“You told me you qualified as a…born-again Maiden, was it?” he said. “But that doesn’t mean you didn’t date.”
I splayed my hands on the table. “I didn’t date.”
“Okay, then. Glad we established that.”
“Why?” I asked.
He blinked. “Why what?”
“Why are you glad we established that?”
He looked confused. “Just trying to get a handle on your history, Rose. Never a bad thing for the sheriff to get to know new citizens, especially from the human world.”
“You know you called me attractive, right?”
The sheriff rolled his eyes. “I think even Deputy Bolan would agree with that statement, and he thinks you’re a pain in his green rear. It’s not exactly breaking news.”
“Maybe it is to me.”
“Then you should probably alert the media. Tell your boss so he can print it in the next paper.”
We stared at each other for a beat too long, until the vibration of my phone made me jump.
“Hot date?” the sheriff asked. “Oh, wait. Of course not. You don’t date.”
I looked at the phone. “It’s a reminder from Aster. She’s picking me up in an hour to head over to the tourism board office.” And I’d nearly forgotten all about it. Some Rose I was.
He inclined his head. “You’re working there, too?”
“Volunteering,” I said. “My family seems big on community service.”
“Community meddling is more like it,” he grumbled.
“Thanks for suggesting we stay and eat,” I said. “It was the best meal I’ve had in Starry Hollow so far.”
He opened his mouth to say something, but then seemed to think better of it. “No worries, Rose. Why don’t I drive you home?”
The Starry Hollow Tourism Board was located on Enchanted Road not far from the library. Aster insisted on driving me in her car, even though Aunt Hyacinth had offered her driver.
“Her driver isn't magical," I said. "Why don't you accept the offer?" Aster had told me before that she and her husband tried to use as little magic as possible in the house, so that their four-year-old twins wouldn't become too dependent once they came into their magic at age eleven.
“It isn't about magic," Aster said. “As much as I don’t want to be reliant on magic, I also don’t want to be reliant on Mother.”
She parked the car and we walked up to the Colonial-style brick building with its inviting white front porch and cherry red door. Flowers bloomed from hanging pots and a flag of Starry Hollow swayed proudly in the breeze. A black lantern burned above the entryway.
“That's not a light bulb," I said, observing the lantern.
"No, some businesses and residences prefer fey lanterns," she said. "You'll find a mixture of that in town. Some people cling to their magic in any and every possible way."
“Well, I guess it makes sense for the tourism board to show off their magic." Flaunt it if you've got it.
“But we cater to paranormals,” Aster said. “Personally, I don't see the need to advertise the magical elements. Starry Hollow has plenty to offer that isn’t magical."
I disagreed, but that was probably because the whole idea of a magical town was still new to me.
We entered the building where a man greeted us…Okay, not a man. He had a man's upper half but a horse’s lower half. A h
orse man? No, wait. A centaur. I silently thanked Marley for her impressive mythological knowledge.
"Good afternoon, Thaddeus," Aster said. "I'd like you to meet my cousin, Ember Rose."
“Of course. I heard all about your dramatic arrival. Most exciting news.” Thaddeus smiled at me and trotted over to shake my hand. "Thaddeus Taylor at your service, Miss Rose."
“Ember is going to be working with us as a volunteer," Aster said, her fingers gliding absently across her pearl necklace.
“Splendid," Thaddeus said. “We can always use another pair of hands."
I glanced around the bright and airy space. The interior was as charming as the exterior, with wooden floorboards and rustic furniture. The room was filled with books, brochures, framed photographs, and trinkets that represented all the good things in Starry Hollow. I noticed a replica of the Lighthouse and my expression brightened.
"I had lunch in the restaurant earlier today," I said, touching the top of the lighthouse. "It was amazing. I would go back for the views, even if the food was terrible." Which, thankfully, it wasn't.
Aster gazed at me with interest. "Did you dine on your own? You should have called me. I'm always up for lunch, unless I’m volunteering or with the boys."
"I wasn't alone," I said. "I was with Sheriff Nash."
I heard a slight choking sound from Aster. “I’m sorry. Did you just say you had lunch with Granger Nash?"
"We were talking to Dakota, the chef there," I said.
“I see," Aster said. "She had a date with Florian recently, didn't she?"
I nodded. "As well as with the other two frogs."
“Do you think she did it?" Thaddeus asked, intrigued. “I don’t mean to pry, but people can talk of little else right now.”
"Definitely not," I said. "She actually liked Florian, for one thing."
"Somebody has to," Aster muttered.
"Are you working for the sheriff?" Thaddeus asked. "Did something happen to Deputy Bolan?”
I gave a dismissive wave. "No, I'm working on a story for Vox Populi. The sheriff agreed to let me shadow him as a favor to my aunt.” Okay, that last part was a lie, but it seemed better than ‘the sheriff thinks I am annoying and wants to make sure I don't damage his case.’
"I see we have the new brochures out," Aster said. She plucked a colorful pamphlet from a display case and paged through it.
Magic & Mystery (Starry Hollow Witches Book 2) Page 4
