But it’s Emmie who I hug last.
Emmie’s lips tremble as she presses them tight.
“Don’t have too much fun or you’ll never want to come back.” Her chest bounces. “What the heck—have all the fun you want. You’ll never leave this place for good. You’ve got that hot man all to yourself for two weeks straight. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were three of you when you got back to Cider Cove.”
“We are not making a baby.” A nervous laugh strums through me.
“Oh, make a baby.” Macy hops over. “Make two. Give Mom something else to brag about.”
Hux and his oddity of a date, Mackenzie Woods, head this way.
“Are you talking kids?” Hux closes his eyes as he gives me a hug. “I guess I’m going to be an uncle.”
A maniacal laugh rumbles from Mackenzie. “That might make me an aunt.” She winks my way. And if I play my cards right with this guy, that might just be the case.
They take off, and I’m not too sad about it.
“Come on, Em.” Macy takes Emmie by the hand. “It’s time for Bizzy to get busy.” She gives a wink my way. “Do everything I would do—twice.”
They take off, laughing into the wind, and I turn to find Leo speaking with Jasper.
Jasper shakes his head. “Not now,” he says it sternly to Leo, and my curiosity is instantly piqued.
“What’s going on?” I say as I look to their somber expressions.
Jasper takes a full breath. “Go ahead, Leo. I’m not going to keep her in suspense.”
“Leo?” His name comes out with a dull laugh. “What’s going on?”
He glances past me in the direction Emmie took off in and swallows hard.
“I was just telling Jasper, the two of you have inspired me. Bizzy, I’m in love with Emmie, and I don’t want to keep my gift from her any longer.” He blows out a breath. “I’m sorry. I know that you said that when I was ready to do this you wanted to share your secret with her, too. I’ll wait for you to come back. And, I’ll let you take the lead.” He nods to the two of us. “My apologies. I wasn’t planning on telling you tonight, Bizzy.”
We say goodnight, and I try my hardest to digest this.
Emmie is going to know my secret soon.
Leo and I are going to spill our telesensual cards out onto the table, and I pray Emmie will speak to me again once we’re through. Emmie believes we share everything, and soon she’ll know that hasn’t been the case at all. My heart breaks just thinking of what the outcome might be.
Jasper scoops me up in his arms, and I gasp with a laugh caught in my throat.
“All right, Mrs. Baker Wilder.” He gives a sly wink. “I’m taking you home.”
“Home,” I coo as I bite down on my lip.
Sherlock and Fish bound alongside us, and soon Jasper is carrying me over the threshold.
He doesn’t stop until he races me to the bedroom.
Sherlock barks. I call the middle of the bed! Right between Bizzy and Jasper!
Fish roars back. I’m sleeping on Jasper’s head. It’s like I’m getting a brand new pillow.
But Jasper and I close the door just before they can enter.
Jasper’s lids hood low, a devilish smile twitching on his lips.
Sherlock barks from the other side. What are they doing, Fish? I think they’ve forgotten us already!
A caustic meow rips from Fish. They haven’t forgotten us. Bizzy would never forget about me. They want to be alone, bonehead. Come on. Let’s get cozy on the sofa. Try not to drool on the pillows. It looks like we’re going to have to get used to each other.
Jasper and I get used to each other really quickly—and then we take it slowly. He and I explode like an inferno in that bedroom with enough passion to fuel a rocket to the moon, six times over. Jasper kisses me quickly, and I am all his. And he’s all mine, too.
In the end, everything turned out just the way it was supposed to.
Jasper and I were meant to be together. It was fate.
And now fate mandates I tell Emmie the truth once Jasper and I get back from our honeymoon.
Fate.
I wonder what fate has planned for Emmie and me.
I wonder what it has planned for Jasper and me.
Jasper runs his finger over my cheek. “What are you thinking about?”
“You,” I whisper as the sun begins to break through the curtains. “What are you thinking about?”
His mind goes straight to white noise, and I laugh as he lands his lips over mine.
“Great news,” I say. “We get a lifetime of this.”
“Good deal.”
“Best deal ever. Now let’s seal the deal again.”
And we do.
*Thank you so much for reading! We hope you had a blast with Bizzy and her friends. Need more Cider Cove? Be sure to pick up Butchered After Bark (Country Cottage Mysteries 10) coming up NEXT! It’s Halloween in Cider Cove!
An innkeeper who reads minds. An ornery detective. And a trail of bodies. Cider Cove is the premiere destination for murder.
***Includes RECIPE
My name is Bizzy Baker, and I can read minds—not every mind, not every time but most of the time and believe me when I say it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.
It’s October and Jasper and I just returned from our honeymoon to find the inn playing host to the Haunted Harvest Festival, complete with a pumpkin patch, scare nights, a midway with games, and enough candy to rot your teeth. But a secretive group of women, called the Midnight Maidens, decide to host a little private party of their own on the grounds and the night ends in murder. Throw in the haunted doll collection Georgie had
