“Keep it up, mouth,” Aunt Tillie warned. “I’ll put you on my list if you’re not careful.”
“That’s no longer a threat.” Thistle was blasé. “I’ve been on your list for more than twenty-five years now. Guess what that means to me. Absolutely nothing. As in there’s nothing you can dish out that I can’t take.”
I shot her an incredulous look. “Why must you say things like that?” I demanded. “You know that’s just like waving a red flag in front of her face.”
“She says it because she needs constant attention,” Aunt Tillie replied. “Now that Clove is about to give birth to the first baby of the next generation and you’re engaged to the boy wonder over here, she feels left out.”
“I do not,” Thistle shot back. “I love my life.”
“If you say so.” Aunt Tillie’s gaze never left Thistle’s face. “You know what? Screw it. You’re on my list. Does that make you feel better?”
“It doesn’t make me feel anything,” Thistle shot back. “Being on your list means nothing.”
“We’ll just see about that.”
Sensing that the conversation could derail and venture into the “I know you are but what am I” realm, I asked, “You have a body?”
Landon’s smile slipped. “We do, and I need your help.”
Yup. That definitely wasn’t good. “Dad and Uncle Warren are here, so I assume Uncle Teddy isn’t the victim.”
“Teddy is inside baking,” Dad said. “He’ll want to see you before you go, Thistle.”
Thistle nodded. “If he’s baking, you don’t have to twist my arm.”
“Me either.” Clove’s cheeks turned rosy. “Is it cookies? Or wait ... cake? Even better, is it cheesecake?” She was fixated on food these days, but I really couldn’t blame her. If I had an excuse to eat nonstop without judgement, I would run with it.
“I believe it’s bread.” Warren shot Clove an apologetic look. “Sorry.”
“There are fresh doughnuts inside,” Dad offered brightly. “Can I entice anybody inside for those?”
Clove’s hand shot in the air. “Me!”
“I figured.” Dad turned to me. “What about you?”
I risked a glance at Landon, who kept his face neutral. There was enough worry lurking in his eyes that I shook my head. “I don’t think I’ll have much of an appetite after Landon shows me what he needs to show me.”
“Probably not,” Landon agreed. “I know I don’t have much of an appetite.”
“Even for Teddy’s new maple bacon doughnuts?” Dad challenged. “He had you in mind when he started experimenting. He pretty much has the recipe perfected.”
Landon pressed his lips together and shook his head. “I’ll try them another time.”
That’s how I knew this was serious. Finding a body was always serious, of course, but whatever was in the woods behind the Dragonfly had killed my future husband’s gluttonous appetite. That meant it was bad. Likely really, really bad.
“Let’s get this over with,” I said.
Landon held out his hand. “Why don’t the rest of you head inside? Terry is on the scene now. The medical examiner will be here shortly, but we need Bay to see something before they get here.”
Dad stopped him. “Why are you forcing Bay to look at dead bodies?” There was an edge to his voice that I recognized.
“Dad, we’ve talked about this,” I replied. “I’m a witch. Sometimes I have to do witchy things.”
The statement only served to darken his expression. “This is a murder, not a witch thing.”
“How do you know?” I asked.
“I found the body.” Ghosts whipped through the depths of Dad’s eyes, showing me exactly how haunted he really was. “It’s terrible, but there’s nothing magical about that scene.”
Instinctively I reached over and patted his shoulder. “I’m sorry you had to see it.”
“I don’t want you to have to see it.” Dad was firm. “She’s not a police officer, Landon. This is your job.”
Landon chewed his lower lip. “I need her to see it. I’m sorry you’re upset.”
“Why does she need to see it?”
Landon just stared back at him.
Dad growled and then took a step back. “Do what you want. This is between the two of you.”
“It is,” Landon readily agreed. “Take the others inside. I shouldn’t have Bay out there too long. You can spoil her rotten when we get back.”
Dad and Landon had worked themselves to a relationship in which they didn’t overtly attack one another regularly. I didn’t know if they would ever be friendly, but they had made terms. “Fine, but you owe us for babysitting Tillie.”
“Hey!” Aunt Tillie was almost to the front door when she pulled up short and glared at my father. “I don’t need a babysitter. In fact, I was the babysitter when your kid was little and you were never around.”
Dad let loose a sigh. “I stepped into that one.”
Landon tugged me toward the woods. “We shouldn’t be gone long. Keep an eye on Aunt Tillie until we get back.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
Landon was quiet until we moved past the foliage line. He released my hand and started rubbing the back of my neck. “I really am sorry about this.”
“Don’t be sorry. We’re a team.” That distinction had been harder for him to accept. He was taught that law enforcement personnel were supposed to go it alone, not include civilians in their investigations, but in our time together he’d slowly changed his outlook.
“We’re definitely a team.” He slowed his pace to study my face. “I love you.”
The naked emotion I found overtaking his features tugged on my heartstrings. “I love you too. What’s wrong? I know this is bad. Just ... tell me.”
Rather than tell me, he reached out to push the branches in front of us aside. I registered several things straight away. The first was that I’d been to this clearing before. The local teenagers had been drinking in this spot for weeks, taking advantage of the location to party hard. The second was that the body of a woman lay spread eagle on the ground.
“Oh, geez.” My heart clogged in my throat as I registered the regret on Landon’s face. “Is that ... ?” I
