Twice the Temptation

“So what do we do next?” Avery asked.

“Watch and wait. I’m assuming that you’ll keep an eye on Reese while she’s here this weekend.” He turned to Reese. “And I want you to keep thinking about people who might have a motive. Start back in your days at Le Cordon Bleu if you have to.”

“You could browse through those scrapbooks you keep,” Avery suggested.

“Scrapbooks?” Nate asked.

Reese felt the color rise in her cheeks. “Collecting memories was Sister Margherite’s idea. She’s the nun who first taught me to cook. She insisted that it was important to chronicle my culinary successes. Then whenever I doubted myself, I could just review my laurels. I still keep them.” The truth was, she’d brought new photos with her from L.A.

“Check through them,” Nate said. “They might trigger something.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m going to put in a call to a police captain I know in L.A. and make sure they document the first two incidents there. They can check with your production crew on that end and see if they noticed anyone hanging around your set while you were filming.”

Avery frowned at Reese. “I wish you’d let me call your sisters. MacFarland Investigations could send someone here to watch over you.”

“You can’t. If they knew anything about what was going on, they’d fly in. And Naomi’s arguing a case on Monday to get a judge to open up the sealed adoption records on the woman Dane and Ian believe might be their sister.”

“They’re trying to locate a brother, too, aren’t they?” Nate asked.

Reese nodded. “All they’ve been able to find so far is that after they were all separated, their younger brother was placed in a foster home for a year. In any case, I don’t want Naomi distracted—she’s got too much on her plate as it is.”

“Okay,” Avery conceded. “But—“

Whatever else he was going to say was interrupted by the arrival of two women who stopped at their table. Reese recognized both instantly. The tiny and bubbly brunette was Molly Pepperman. She ran a boutique in town and had become a close friend of her sister Jillian. Rising, Reese hugged Molly first and then the older woman at her side, Miss Emmy Lou Pritchard, the local librarian.

“Reese, Avery told us you’d be here. We don’t see enough of you in Belle Bay,” Molly said. Then she nodded at the two men. “Avery, Nate, good to see you both.”

“What are you two doing here?” Reese asked.

“We’re checking in early for the Singles Weekend,” Molly said. She flashed a grin at Miss Emmy Lou. “We decided we might get a head start, check out our prospects, so to speak. We’re also planning to take a chance on the fantasy box.”

“No, I—” Miss Emmy Lou began.

Nate cut her off. “You’re what?”

Molly met his eyes. “There’s a big mixer kicking everything off tomorrow night, and Avery is going to let interested guests draw fantasies out of Hattie Haworth’s fantasy box. Miss Emmy Lou and I are going to be the first two in line.”

Nate’s eyes narrowed. “You’re talking about the hat box that was discovered in Hattie’s secret room?”

“That’s right,” Molly said brightly. “My grandmother is coming in tomorrow to run the store for a couple of days so I can devote my full attention to the festivities here.”

“Clarissa is coming back to run the store?” Nate asked.

“That’s right.” Molly turned to Reese. “Are you going to draw one? “

“No,” Reese said. Hers was already burning a hole in her pocket.

“Oh, that’s right.” Molly tapped a finger against her forehead. “I forgot. You must have drawn yours at the same time Naomi and Jillian did. And theirs have come true.” She took Reese’s hands in hers. “That must be why you’re here this weekend. To see if Hattie can work her magic for you, too.”

Reese opened her mouth intending to set Molly straight. But then it struck her suddenly that Jillian’s friend might have it exactly right. She might not have come here with the idea of letting Hattie work her magic, but the seed had been firmly planted the instant she’d run into Mr. Blue Eyes in the lobby.

The question was, what was she going to do about it?

It was at that moment she felt the tingling awareness that she’d felt off and on during the day whenever Blue Eyes had been near.

He was here in the bar right now.

For an instant, everything inside of her yearned to search the crowd in the bar and find him. To leave everything else behind and go to him.

“Miss Emmy Lou and I are going to work the room.” Molly released her hands. “Feel free to join us when you’re done.”

Reese didn’t watch the two women walk off. If she did, she was sure she’d see him. And she hadn’t yet decided what to do. Panic and anticipation bubbled up. Once she did see him again, she would have to make a decision. She would have to take charge.

“What kind of a Singles Weekend are you running here, Avery?”

The sharpness of Nate’s tone had the effect of allowing Reese to refocus on the two men. Tension was radiating off the sheriff in waves.

“Just the regular kind. Lots of hotels and resorts run them. The trade magazines all rave about how they build business.”

“Other hotels and resorts don’t offer Hattie Haworth’s fantasy box and the promise that those fantasies might come true,” Nate pointed out.

Avery studied Nate for a moment. “Capitalizing on the growing reputation of Hattie Haworth and her lover as matchmakers isn’t against any law I’m aware of.”

“It’s not their reputation as matchmakers you’re capitalizing on. Ever since news of that box has leaked out, the talk in the village is that the fantasies on the parchment papers are all very sexual.”

“And what’s the harm in that?” He winked at Nate as he pulled out a brochure and pushed it toward him. “What happens in Haworth House stays in Haworth House.”

Reese watched color rise in Nate Kirby’s face.

“The harm is that Miss Emmy Lou Pritchard, a pillar of our community, intends to draw out one of those sexual fantasies. She’s close to seventy.”

Avery’s brows shot up. “Is there some kind of age limit on fun—some statute that I’m not aware of?”

“No.” Nate glanced toward the two women, and it was then that it clicked for Reese. Nate Kirby wasn’t upset that Miss Emmy Lou was going to draw out a fantasy.

He was worried about Molly. Jillian had mentioned to her that Nate and Molly had a history.

“No,” Nate repeated as he turned back to Avery. “Nothing you’re doing is against the law. But just to make sure it stays that way, I want to book a room for your Singles Weekend.”

Avery smiled at him. “I had a feeling you might, so I saved one for you. Come right this way.”

Reese managed to hide her amusement until the two men had exited the booth and started toward the lobby. But her smile faded entirely as a man slid into the seat across from her.

The moment she glanced up, the blue eyes trapped hers. Thoughts slipped away as her heart leaped into her throat and fluttered like a bird.

“I think we should talk about the fantasy on your parchment.”

4

“YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT the parchment?” Reese asked.