her with affection. Going down on her knees, she rubbed his back and then his belly when he rolled over.
“Oh my goodness. It’s like we’ve been apart for years. How are you, buddy? You good? Oh, I missed you, too. How about tomorrow you come to work with me?”
Work was where they’d found each other. The little guy had startled her behind The Bulletin when she’d parked and heard a strange noise by the dumpster. They’d adopted each other and Molly had been secretly thrilled when no one claimed the stray pup.
“Come on. Let’s go for a walk,” Molly said, getting up and going to the front door, the pup at her heels. Tigger’s love of walks worked in Molly’s favor since she was addicted to Calli and Dean’s sea salt fries and the lemon loaf her friend Bella served at Morning Muffins.
“Just a quick one, bud,” Molly said as they left through the front door. Despite the rumors she’d heard about the tension on set, she was eager to see the progress and meet the infamous Magnolia Sweet.
* * * *
Unless she stuck to the forested trails and away from the beach, no walk—with or without Tigger—was ever quick. Right after Molly had arrived in the small coastal town right outside of Portland, she’d found walking paths that allowed for privacy and went all through the hills along the beach. But the truth was, she preferred walking on the beach to walking beside it. Which inevitably meant stopping to chat with tourists and locals.
Tigger did not mind at all. Like her, he was a people person…or people dog. The trail from Katherine’s house took her to a set of stairs that led down to a quieter area of the beach. She’d start there and head up to Main Street. Tigger loved the attention. He yanked on the leash, stopping Molly in her tracks and growled at a piece of driftwood partially covered by the sand.
Molly bent to retrieve it. “Really? You trying to show the stick who’s boss?” She waved it in front of him, laughing at the way his tail wagging made his whole butt move. “Not so scary now, huh?” She glanced around quick and saw that there was no one close by. “One throw. That’s it.” She tossed the stick and let go of the leash at the same time, laughing when he momentarily got distracted by the leash following him. The tide was in but Molly didn’t have much distance to her throw so it didn’t matter. She remembered that Sam had been telling her about a summer baseball tournament he was part of. He’d asked if she wanted to join.
“I’ll need to work on my throw a bit,” she said out loud as the dog trotted back, tripping only once over his leash.
“Good boy. Look at you, conquering that mean stick.” Grabbing the leash, they carried on with their walk. The sun was starting to set over the ocean, the colors blurring across the sky as the wind picked up. She loved the sound of the waves and the smell of the water. Surprisingly, to her at least, she loved the feeling that Britton Bay was home.
Molly stopped along the beach twice, once to let a little girl pet Tigger, simultaneously begging her moms for a dog. Both women shared amused glances with Molly while also loving Tigger up. They didn’t say yes to their daughter’s request, but Molly grinned when she walked away and realized they hadn’t said no either. The second time was to say hello to one of the locals who was heading back from the pier, a fishing rod over his shoulder.
Molly loved the cadence of it all. There had been more than a few unpleasant moments in the town in the last eight months, what with three murders nearly back to back. It was unsettling to think of it like that in her mind, but she’d lived in Los Angeles, of all places, and had never experienced a dead body. Yet, here, in this town, she’d been part of solving not one, not two, but three murders. This was a large part of the reason why she and Chris, who’d gone from deputy to detective to acting sheriff in a very short period of time, often butted heads.
She didn’t mean to get herself entangled in mysteries, but she couldn’t deny they had a way of popping up when she was around. Despite the deaths, she felt safe and happy. Maybe there was something wrong with her that she could put those events in a box and store them on a shelf labeled Do Not Think About, but there was so much good about the town, it seemed to push everything else away.
“Hey Molly,” Bella, owner of Morning Muffins, called out as Molly took the concrete steps up to the cobblestone walkway that would lead her part of the way home.
Bella was locking the bakery door, and turned all the way around as Molly got closer. “Hey. How’s it going?”
Bella squatted down. “Hey, buddy. Sorry, no treats on me today.” She looked up at Molly. “I’m good. How are you? Clay didn’t get under your skin, did he?”
Molly laughed. “No. I’m fine. I am thinking that we just start sharing the news via gossip however, since it’s the fastest source of communication around here.”
Bella grinned unashamedly as she stood. “Nah. We still like to have something to look at online or hold in our hands.”
Main Street was mostly shutting up for the night. When it wasn’t tourist season, the hours shortened and the city seemed to sleep more. Molly hadn’t noticed Callan’s car when she’d stopped to say hello to the pretty brown-haired baker who made the best lemon loaf in the world. But she noticed his scowl when his car door opened and he stood up, looking at Molly and his on-again, off-again girlfriend.
“Hi, Molly. Bella, are we going or what?”
Molly cringed. She hated how Callan treated Bella. He could be a really nice guy but he could also be a complete jerk. Bella, on the other hand, was sweet and kind. She was always ready with a smile and a delicious treat, even when someone—say an editor who stuck her nose where it didn’t belong—accused that on-again, off-again boyfriend of murdering the town’s meanest reporter.
She’d admitted her mistake and apologized to both Callan and Bella but she’d never shaken the feeling that Callan was capable of dark things. He had an edge to him despite being friends with several of the people she knew and trusted.
Bella gave Molly a tight-lipped smile. “Better go. See you around.”
Tigger whined as they watched her walk toward the car and get in. As someone who’d given too much of her life to a man who didn’t deserve her, Molly’s heart ached for her friend. But she knew from experience that Bella wouldn’t and couldn’t be convinced to walk away until she was truly ready.
She picked up her pace as she walked home, thinking that she also knew from experience that once a person let go of the negativity pulling them down—whether it was a person or something else—the world opened up its doors. Sometimes those doors led a person exactly where they were meant to be.
Chapter Three
The Britton Bay Recreation Center was a hub of activity when Molly, Sam, and Chris arrived later that night. With a big auditorium that included a stage, the town often held large-scale functions at the site. There were two small gymnasiums and several classrooms that offered a range of courses from seniors’ yoga to CrossFit. Molly had tried a few classes but she preferred walking on the beach to a crowded, sweaty group workout.
A group of teens were heading noisily toward one gymnasium, a basketball bouncing in time with their steps. A couple of older women were paying for water yoga, which started shortly. A man and a woman who looked close to Molly’s age stood waiting behind the women, arguing heatedly but quietly, both holding squash racquets. Chris and Sam waved to the young man behind the counter, who looked a little frazzled as he chatted with the customers.
