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 together?”
“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
