Theo laughed. “I suppose you want hash browns on the inside?”
“Yes, and more on the side. And bacon.”
“With your ham?”
“So much ham.”
Theo pushed herself up onto her knees and leaned forward, kissing Jordan softly on the mouth. She felt him take a deep breath and shift his weight.
“You feel so good …” she murmured between kisses. “So warm.”
“Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
She pressed herself against him and chuckled. “I think I have a pretty good idea.”
“I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe I need to show you …”
The wood in the grate popped and shifted, shooting a shower of sparks upward. Jupiter’s eyes began to close, and Theo’s lips moved along Jordan’s cheek. She pressed another kiss just below his ear.
“Okay,” she agreed. “Maybe you should.”
All of the sudden the room was filled with noise. Three loud knocks sounded on the front door and Jupiter jumped off the couch, his ears up and a loud, deep growl emanating from the back of his throat.
“Who in the world …”
“Theodora! Are you there? Theo!”
“That sounds like Ashley.”
Jordan stood up, pushing something into the front pocket of his jeans before offering his hand to Theo. She squinted up at him.
“It’s nothing,” he told her, pulling her to her feet. “Go.”
“Theodora!”
Theo rushed to the door and pulled it open to see Ashley on the other side of it. Her long, dark hair was disheveled and dotted with snowflakes, and her mascara was making black trails down her cheeks.
“What’s wrong, Ash?” Theo asked, pulling the girl in from the cold. “What’s happened?”
“They say she’s dead,” Ashley told her. Her blue eyes were wild and unfocused.
“Who’s dead?” Jordan wanted to know.
“I just saw her yesterday.”
“Who did you see?” Theo asked again. “You need to calm down and tell us what’s going on.”
“Mina Harper,” Ashley stood in the entryway, her whole body shaking. “They found her in one of the cabins on the lake.”
Theo thought about the conversation she’d had with Delaney earlier in the parking lot of Fireweed Farm. She’d felt awful when she’d heard the news a body had been found. Now that she had a name to put with that body, she felt positively sick to her stomach.
7. PAST TENSE
Once Ashley’s sobs had slowed and her body exhausted itself, she’d fallen asleep with her head in Theo’s lap. At that point, both Theo and Jordan had decided to stay where they were, there on the pair of couches, and they all fell asleep as the fire continued to cast light and shadow in the otherwise darkened room. When Indigo came downstairs the following morning, she found all three adults, Jupiter and four cats camped out together.
“Antee?”
Theo jumped at the sound of her niece’s voice, a sharp pain stabbing the back of her neck.
“Oh!” she grunted. “Hey, there, blue bird.”
“Chuff!” Jupiter said in greeting. Indigo went to where the dog was lying on the couch and wrapped her arm around his neck. She gave him a hug and gave the girl sleeping on Theo’s lap a once over.
“That’s Ashley.” She plopped a kiss on Jupiter’s snout, then she moved closer to her aunt.
“It is,” Theo told her with a nod that she quickly regretted. She reached up and dug her fingertips into the angry muscles in her neck. “She got some bad news last night about one of her friends and she didn’t want to be by herself.”
Indigo studied Ashley’s still sleeping face.
“That’s sad.”
“Hey,” Jordan said. “I know what we could do for her. How about we get her a warm washcloth so your Antee can help her clean her face. That might make her feel better.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Indigo agreed.
“You have to help me up first,” Jordan told her.
