“Please do not be shy. Tell me what you think. Tell me what you need or expect from these events, and I will take it into consideration. If anyone would like to discuss something in more depth, I will be here for another hour.”
The room filled with conversation, and Ryder turned toward me. “Wanna sign up now, or after everyone’s picked the good stuff?”
“You forget there is no good stuff,” Jean said, leaning around me. “What’s the latest idea, almost-bro?”
“Cabin in the mountains. Solitude. Quiet. Just the two of us. Snow, fir trees, and a hot tub. Heaven.”
“Nice,” she said. “Don’t you think that’s nice, Delaney? Super nice?”
“Super nice,” I agreed, meaning it. “Let’s sign up. We don’t want to miss out on that bowling-league-burger-and-balloon-ride thing.”
Jean laughed. “Do you think she’ll let us bowl from the hot air balloons? Because I am in for it, like a million.”
“I think there’s a rule about dropping bowling balls out of the sky,” I said. “And if there’s not, I’m making one.”
I was already on my feet, but Ryder stayed sitting for a moment, our hands still clasped.
I glanced down at him. “What?”
A small smile curved his lips, but he just shook his head. “Nothing.” He tugged on my hand, once, then made to let go. Suddenly I didn’t want that.
“Hey,” I said. I leaned down, and he narrowed his eyes.
“What are you up to, future Mrs. Bailey?”
“This.” I kissed him, and knew he hadn’t expected it, because he tensed up for just a second before his mouth softened and he kissed me back.
This was where I belonged. This was us, together. And my world, spinning on the axis of us, set everything right, made everything good.
When I pulled away, his eyes were soft. “What was that for?”
“I love you,” I said, still not straightening fully, wanting to keep this moment just for us. “You know that, don’t you?”
If I hadn’t known him for all my life, I wouldn’t have noticed the slight hitch in his breathing, wouldn’t have noticed the tightening of the skin at the corners of his eyes.
“I do. And I love you too,” he said.
I nodded, but that hitch had made my world wobble again. The fear of not being able to get out of town fast enough collided with the fear of not doing my job to keep Ordinary safe. My stomach turned.
“Hey,” he said, seeing me as well as I had seen him. “We’ll figure it out. It’s a vacation, Laney. That’s supposed to be a fun thing, remember? No stress.”
I nodded, but everything in me tossed and turned, as restless as the January rain.
He stood, keeping our hands together, as unwilling as I to release this connection. “What were you talking to Than about?” he asked, as we joined the line at the sign-up sheets.
“Frigg’s ready to pass the baton.” Since we were among humans who didn’t know about the supernatural people in their town, discretion was necessary.
“Who’s next?” he asked. That was something else I loved about Ryder. He had only found out about the magical, godly, supernatural side of Ordinary a couple years ago. But he’d immediately become both wildly curious about it and also wildly protective.
I gave his hand a squeeze. “Than.”
“Ah,” he said, catching on. “First time, right?”
“Yep.”
“Expecting trouble?”
“I don’t think so, but well. First time.”
“Mmmm,” he said. “When?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“All right. Any plans after that?”
“Some things have been stolen and there’s something weird about some storage units…”
He raised an eyebrow and just looked at me. It was devastating.
An apology almost escaped my mouth, but I wasn’t even sure what I was apologizing for. I couldn’t help that I was a required part of the powers being transferred to a new resting place. I couldn’t help the thefts or the general town weirdness.
“Dinner?” I asked, holding tight.
“Yes?”
“Did you have something planned?”
“I put something in the oven,” he hedged.
“Will it hold?”
“It will. Why?”
“How about you and I do a little romantic stakeout together?”
“You think stakeouts are romantic?”
“If you’re with me they are.”
For a minute, I thought I’d overstepped. That even mentioning my work—his work, too, since he was a reserve officer—was too much when we’d been trying to ditch this town and flee.
But then a smile brightened his face and put a wicked little gleam in his eye. “Sounds like fun. You going to tell me who we’re spying on?”
“It’s reconnaissance, not spying. And I think it would be better for you to see it with your own eyes.”
Chapter Six
“Trench coat?” Ryder, next to me in the Jeep, asked.
“Bad weather. A trench coat doesn’t really stand out.”
“With the fedora and black gloves and sunglasses?”
I picked up my binoculars and zoomed in on the suspect who was tromping into the grocery store.
“Okay, yeah. It’s a little noticeable.”
“I expected more hair,” Ryder said, his own binoculars trained on the store.
We both watched as Bigfoot sneezed into the crook of his elbow violently enough to knock his hat off.
“He’s wearing the spell necklace,” I said.
“What’s the spell?”
“Makes him look human to other humans.”
Ryder adjusted the focus. “Okay. A very hairy guy, but yeah, I guess I can see it.”
“You’re more than just human. God-touched,” I said. “So you see more than most.”
“I see a really tall hairy guy in a trench coat having an allergy attack.”
“Yeah, that’s the drawback.”
“What?”
“He’s allergic to magic.”
There was a pause while he digested that. “Bigfoot’s allergic to magic?”
“Yeah, and Bigfoot’s a family name. His personal name is Flip.”
Another, longer pause. “Bigfoot’s name is Flip.”
“But since he’s the only Bigfoot in town, he just goes by the family name.”
“So there are more?” Ryder asked. “Bigfoots. Bigfeet?”
“Foots. Yeah. They do a family reunion thing every so many years. Not in Ordinary. This year is the reunion year.”
“When?”
“Soon, I think. It’s a complicated thing involving moon cycles and hair growth.”
He grunted.
“Right around the beginning of the year anyway.” I shrugged. “We’re in the ballpark.”
“All right. And you think he might have taken the streetlight?”
“Honestly, no. It’s not like him. Light bulbs, yes. Traffic signals? He’s never stolen anything other than bulbs. Why would he start stealing such large, obvious, and expensive things now?”