Arissa took her hand. “Thank you. Nice to meet you.”
“How’s the burst pipe?” Maureen asked. “I saw Billie finally made an appearance, so I’m guessing all’s good.”
“It is, thanks.”
“Not the best move-in day story, huh? But you got to meet the sheriff, kind of hit it off too, from what I’ve seen,” Maureen said slyly before adding, “Now that is a good move-in day story.”
Her blue eyes lingered on Arissa when the older woman chimed in, “You need to learn how to drive.”
Arissa’s head jerked to the older woman, her eyes hitting stormy gray ones. It wasn’t Arissa who needed a refresher course on driving. Her mouth opened before she could stop it. “You were on my side of the street.”
The woman’s eyes narrowed, as she lifted her cane and pointed it at Arissa, who almost took a step back but held her ground. “Are you suggesting it was my fault?”
Arissa looked at the cane before lifting her eyes to the woman. “I’m not suggesting.”
Silence followed for a beat before it was broken by what sounded like a bark. At first Arissa thought the older woman was having a seizure because her body was shaking and she was making the oddest noise until Arissa saw the twinkle in her eyes. It was rusty, possibly from lack of use, but the woman was laughing.
“I like her,” the older woman said to no one in particular before she announced, “Hyacinth Delacroix.”
Arissa reached for the hand she offered. “Arissa Haywood.”
Hyacinth didn’t release Arissa’s hand but held it tighter when she asked, “You knit?”
Arissa wasn’t sure if she should be offended. She was only thirty-three. Sure she didn’t get out much but that was out of preference. “No, I don’t.”
“Knitting circle, my house on Tuesday night.”
The scene popped into Arissa’s head, women sitting in a circle, sipping tea, working on their blankets or booties, but then looking at Hyacinth, Maureen and Millie, she couldn’t imagine any of them in that scenario. “But I don’t knit.”
Hyacinth’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “Neither do we.”
Intrigued, and slightly wary, Arissa said, “I’ll be there.”
“Good.” Hyacinth then asked, “What do you do besides running the elderly off the road?”
Arissa answered without thought because this was the strangest conversation she’d ever had. “I’m the editor of Southern Charm.”
A hand dropped on her arm, Arissa followed it to Millie who was looking at her like she just announced that she’d had a threesome with Chris Hemsworth and Jason Momoa. “Are you serious?”
“No, she’s lying,” Hyacinth said, then cackled.
“Are you really?” Maureen asked. “The Southern Charm?”
Arissa couldn’t lie, it felt nice. She loved her work, gave everything to her magazine, so being on the receiving end of a little awe, yeah, it felt good. “Yes, I’ve been the editor for six years.”
“Oh my God, you started the Christmas Charm feature,” Millie said, almost jumping up and down. “I made the centerpieces you featured the one year with the greens and citrus fruits. My family was raving about it, but it really was so easy.”
Arissa didn’t hide her smile. That was her goal for Southern Charm, designer looks that anyone could do. “I can’t tell you how great that is to hear.”
“I love your magazine. I have every issue. I don’t throw them away. Have them filed in my craft room for reference.”
A car honked. It was only then Arissa remembered they were in the middle of a parking lot. Hyacinth turned to the car and though the man had been rolling down his window to say something, he immediately rolled it back up again. Arissa chuckled.
“Meet us at Moe’s tomorrow night,” Maureen said.
Arissa wasn’t feeling very social, not after learning what she had about Hank. How had she been so wrong about what was happening between them? She wanted to go home, pull the blinds, turn on some sappy movies and eat ice cream. So she lied, “I’m still unpacking.”
“Bullshit,” Hyacinth said. “Come to Moe’s.” She leaned closer to Arissa and added, “How else are we going to learn what’s going on with you and our sexy sheriff?”
Those weren’t the words to get Arissa motivated, not after her run-in with Hank’s mom, but she knew she wasn’t getting away from them if she didn’t give them something so she lied…again. “Let me see how today goes. If I can make it tomorrow, I’ll stop by your place, Maureen.”
“All right, Sugar.”
“It was nice meeting you,” Arissa said, pulling her car door open.
“You too,” Millie replied.
Hyacinth wasn’t as gracious when she said, “That still remains to be seen.”
* * *
Hank moved to the side of his truck for privacy. Pulling his cell from his back pocket he looked to the mess of charred wood in a massive heap. He took his eyes from the burned down barn to his cell, tapped the screen a few times and typed out.
Fuck, sorry I haven’t contacted you in a few days, but fucking work got in the way. I’ll make it up to you, promise.
He hit send and leaned back against his truck. Arissa Haywood had gotten under his skin and of all the times to be taken away from Summerville to the next town over, it had to now. Huntsville was a spitting image of Summerville, minus the crazy townsfolk. So, when someone went on a spree of burning down barns, Hank was called in for his advice and support. Hank being Hank, jumped in his truck and took off.
Arissa’s heart jumped when her phone buzzed a text. Seeing it was from Hank, she felt the familiar warmth that stirred whenever she thought of him, but it didn’t last for long. She had thought things were going really great with him, but then he took off for a few days. She might not have thought much of that but after her run-in with Catherine, and her declaring Phoebe to be the love of his life, and then Hank goes missing right after that man showed
