Bex turned and stared up at Theo and Jordan. “I take it that was a question no one wants to answer.”

Theo took a breath, then sighed. “There’s a lot that Caleb probably didn’t share with you.”

“Like what?”

Theo wasn’t sure if Bex realized how pushy she’d become. Since she didn’t know Bex very well, she gave her the benefit of the doubt.

“Nothing I really want to talk about right now,” she said keeping her voice level. “It’s complicated. Everything about Cleopatra is complicated. The short answer is that Indigo is my niece, but I love her like she was my own. It just makes sense right now for her to live with me at the barn.”

“Got it,” Bex said, looking back at the fire. “Wait.” She turned her head again. “You live in a barn?”

Jordan couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay, well, you can see why she might trip over that one.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Theo agreed. “No,” she clarified, “I don’t live in a barn. There used to be a barn where my house stands right now. Glory, my grandmother, was going to hire a builder to come in and renovate that barn into a living space, but after a few weeks, they both came to the conclusion that the existing building couldn’t do for her what she wanted it to. They tore it down and started from scratch, using some of the old wood for the mantle piece and a lot of the hardware for doors and other things. For some reason, she continued to call the new house ‘the barn’, and it didn’t seem strange to me or anyone else in my family until this second.” She shook her head and chuckled. “I guess I take it all for granted, this town, our lives. It all just seems normal to me.”

“Yeah,” Bex said with a tilt of her head, “not so for us outsiders. It is interesting, though.”

“I’ve had several people come and visit, and not one of them asked me why I call my house ‘the barn’.”

Bex gave her a shrug. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m just more inquisitive than most.”

Theo’s chuckle turned into a laugh. “You’re definitely inquisitive.”

“So,” Bex continued, either not hearing Theo’s comment or not thinking too much about it. “I heard you and Odette talking about the reception that’s taking place tomorrow. Who’s getting married?”

Jordan pulled his hand from Theo’s and draped his arm around her shoulder. She leaned into him. Sensing Theo’s reluctance to answer, Jordan spoke up. “It’s a funeral, actually. We’re holding the reception after the services at T.J.’s office.”

“That’s sad. Who died?”

Theo took a breath. “A woman was killed here last week up at one of the cabins by the lake.”

“Were you close friends?”

“No,” Theo told her, beginning to tire with all the questions. “I only met her once, but Ashley, my secretary was her best friend.”

Bex shook her head and her long, purple bangs fell into her eyes. “I can’t imagine any of the bosses I’ve ever worked for doing something like that for me.”

“Ashley’s special to T.J., and Mina was special to Ashley,” Jordan offered, giving Theo a squeeze.

“Mina’s mom hasn’t been able to come to terms with her daughter’s death. When Ashley told me how much she was struggling, I offered to help.”

“You’re top notch, T.J.,” Bex said.

“Oh, no,” Caleb said, coming back into the room and collapsing on the couch. “You’re new here, so we won’t dock you any points, but no one calls Theodora ‘T.J.’ but Jordan.”

“Damn,” Bex said, her palm pressed to her chest. “My bad. I won’t do that again. Can I at least ask what T.J. stands for?”

“Theodora Justine,” Theo answered.

“Nice,” Bex nodded.

“I’ve called her T.J. since we were little.”

“And none of the rest of us lowlifes are allowed,” Caleb teased. “So, what else were you losers talking about?”

“Mina Harper’s services are tomorrow,” Jordan filled him in. “We’re hosting the reception at the Brubaker Building afterward.”

“Mina Harper …” Caleb tried to place the name. “I remember a Libby Harper. Didn’t she work for Mom in the nursery?”

Jordan nodded. “For quite a few years, actually. Libby is Mina’s mother.”

“That means Mina was probably around our age, right? What the hell happened?”

“We’ve got her by a few years,” Theo said. She cleared her throat, remembering how Ashley struggled to talk about her friend in the past tense. She decided not to correct herself. “She and a guy she found on a dating app met at The Copper Queen. She was found the next day in cabin four. She’d been raped, then strangled to death.”

A silence fell over the room.

“That’s hard to think about,” Caleb said after a moment. “Were you friends?”

This time Bex answered. “No. Theo’s secretary and Mina were, though.” She turned back to Theo. “I know this is awful, and I’m almost embarrassed to admit it, but true crime totally fascinates me.”

“Here’s something you’ll really get a huge kick out of then,” Caleb told her nudging her leg with his foot. “These two are really good friends with the Cloud County coroner.”

“Are you serious? I’ve never known anyone who hung out with a coroner before. I was friends with a mortuary cosmetologist for a while. She had some crazy stories.”

“Delaney’s pretty tight lipped about her job,” Jordan said. “T.J.’s a lawyer, and she’s been involved in a couple of crimes that have taken place in Whisper Creek. Delaney has shared some details pertaining to those cases, but she’s very professional about it.”

Bex looked over at Theo again. “I didn’t realize you were a lawyer. This is such a small town. I guess I didn’t think there’d be a lot of business for a lawyer in a place like this.”

“You’d be surprised,” Theo told her.

“I’d love to pick your brain about the stuff that’s happened here.”

“There’s really nothing I’d be able to share that you can’t find on the internet.”

“Bullshit,” Caleb argued, taking a long pull from his beer. “Last spring both Theo and I were in Whisper Creek at the same time. It was her first visit back in a decade.” He shook his head and tipped his bottle in Theo’s direction. “I’m gonna bring that up next time Mom gives me shit for staying away too long.”

“Lord, you do go on and on,” Bex complained. “The flight, the long ass drive from the airport …”

“What I was about to say was that I was here to visit with the folks. Theo was here to prove her mom didn’t kill one of the realtors that lived in town.”

Bex almost spilled her beer. “You’re shitting me!”

“I never did understand that saying,” Theo commented with a shake of her head.

Jordan chuckled. “Oddly enough, Caleb actually got that story right.”

“Yeah,” Caleb agreed, “but what I didn’t tell you is that the dude was offed right here at the farm. He got a big pair of shears jammed into his chest.”