“Your dad was proud of you, even though he didn’t know how to show it.”
Thomas swallowed the lump in his throat. He patted the bed, and Jack’s head lifted. A second later, the humongous canine leapt onto the bed and swung his head back and forth, first licking Chelsey’s face, then Thomas’s.
“Easy, Jack,” Thomas said, stroking the dog’s fur. “All right, you can hang out with us. But when it’s time for sleep, you’ve got your doggy bed.”
Chelsey waved a hand through the air.
“You don’t have to kick him out. I can’t stay the night.”
Thomas sat up.
“Oh?”
“Who will care for Tigger?” Tigger was Chelsey’s orange tabby. She’d found the cat pawing around her garbage and adopted him. “Besides, I need to open the office early tomorrow. Raven has the day off.”
“What about LeVar? Can’t he steer the ship for you?”
“He’s coming in at noon, and I don’t want to dump too much on his plate. LeVar needs to study.”
Thomas settled his head into the crook of her elbow. Jack lay at their feet, gnawing on a bone.
“I get it. Well, I hope you’re here for dinner. I’ll be home after four.”
Chelsey tapped his shoulder.
“Did you forget? Tomorrow is Halloween. We’ll both be busy handing out candy all evening.”
Thomas ran a hand through his hair.
“Ugh. Halloween is our busiest night of the year. There’s always someone causing mayhem in the county. I predict overtime in my future.”
“Don’t be a Charlie Brown. Halloween rules. There’s a full moon this year, so you know what that means.”
“It means I’ll be chasing juvenile delinquents past midnight. Full moons make everyone crazy, right?”
“No, it means you’ll stop by my place after the trick-or-treaters call it a night.”
Thomas waggled his eyebrows.
“I like the sound of that.”
She thumped him on the head.
“I meant we’ll stay up late watching scary movies. And maybe we can do other things after.”
“Now you’re speaking my language. So what’s on the docket?”
“Since it will be a full moon, a werewolf marathon is a must.”
Thomas chuckled at the ceiling.
“So I’m spending my evening with Lon Chaney.”
“I’m thinking along the lines of An American Werewolf in London, The Howling, and Silver Bullet.”
“Go big, or go home.”
“Exactly.”
Thomas hadn’t planned on a gory movie marathon, but it sounded fun. They’d become close over the last month, first as friends. Then they’d slipped into a romantic relationship, neither noticing until they were spending every evening together. Thomas kissed the top of her head. Her freshly shampooed hair smelled like vanilla milk and papaya. Still, he worried about Chelsey. During the summer, she’d repeated mistakes from fourteen years ago by pushing her friends away. She forever teetered on the edge of depression. He hoped their relationship helped her turn the corner. Since Thomas and Chelsey had become a couple, her anxiety attacks had ended, and the color had returned to her complexion. She looked ten years younger.
An orange rectangle of light disappeared from the yard when LeVar flicked off his lamp. Life was good, Thomas thought to himself. Besides having Chelsey back in his life, he was surrounded by friends—LeVar in the guest house, the Mourning family next door. Raven lived with her mother, Serena, on the other side of the lake, and Darren’s cabin was a fifteen-minute walk from Thomas’s back door. He closed his eyes and breathed. The window was open a crack, despite the October chill. One lonely cricket chirped from the yard. The cricket’s friends had retreated for the season.
Chelsey glanced at the clock.
“That’s my cue. If I don’t get home soon, Tigger won’t forgive me.”
“You could bring him by sometime.”
Chelsey moved her gaze from Jack to Thomas.
“Seriously?”
“Good point. Jack’s a good boy, but I’ve never seen him around cats.”
“My guess is he’d love Tigger the way he loves a juicy steak.” As Chelsey pulled a sweatshirt over her head, her phone hummed. She fixed her sleeves and swiped the phone. “That’s weird. Nobody calls me this late except for you and Raven, and she’s hanging out with Darren tonight.”
Chelsey scrunched her brow and stared at the screen as Thomas sat against the headboard. He set a hand on her shoulder.
“Everything all right?”
“It’s Kane Grove PD. I wonder why they’re calling.”
CHAPTER THREE
October 30th
9:30 p.m.
Raven drew up her knees and nuzzled against Darren’s stubbly cheek. They cuddled on the couch inside the state park ranger’s cabin, a fire crackling in the woodstove and pumping soothing heat through the cozy home. Blessed with the physique of a fitness model, the ebony-skinned private investigator lay her head on Darren’s chest and closed her eyes, relaxing as his chest rose and fell like gentle waves. At forty-two, Darren was seventeen years older than Raven. They’d become a couple over the summer after a flirtatious conversation. She smiled, remembering the barbecue Darren arranged with Thomas Shepherd. She couldn’t imagine life without the ranger.
The tourism season ended after Labor Day. Once the chilly weather set in, cabin reservations dried up. Except for a handful of hikers on sunny afternoons, the recreation enthusiasts had abandoned the state park. Having all those acres of forest and trails to share with Darren sent an excited jolt through Raven’s body. This was paradise, and it was all theirs.
He played with her beaded hair. It pleased her he liked the new hairstyle.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“How happy I am. I love this place.”
“You could move in, you know? There isn’t much room, but it’s comfortable.”
She stretched and yawned.
“I wish.”
“So why don’t you?”
“Someone has to care for Mom.”
Her mother, Serena, had overdosed on heroin last spring. Had LeVar and Thomas not saved Serena, Raven wouldn’t have a mother anymore. Though Serena had thrown her daughter
