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  “You’re a good friend, Az,” I told him as I put together plates with the vegetables, buns, and toppings.

  He laughed as I peeked out the window and saw Simon’s high school friends gathered around the table.

  “Is it weird to you,” I asked, “that they’re all still friendly? If you were to make them kids again, their behavior isn’t so different from when we have high school kids come in.”

  Az considered for a few minutes and then said, “A little bit. But I’d be like that if I were back in my hometown in Jamaica. A lot of the guys I grew up with aren’t necessarily in the same place anymore, but…if we were…we’d be like those guys out there. What about you? Do you have some old friends that make you a 16-year-old again?”

  I shrugged and then admitted, “I had good enough friends in high school, I guess. But no one that I’ve talked to even a year or two after high school. We all went our separate ways and never met back up.”

  “You were closed off when you got here. It was like you were so busy learning and trying to get along that you forgot your personality at the door,” Az said, “Maybe you wouldn’t have gotten to be such good friends with us if you hadn’t had to help find who killed Kyle Johansson. We were all suspects and we were new to you, but you stood up for us. The way you went after finding the killer—it made me and Zee think—that Rose is a keeper. Let alone, your tenacity being how you cemented Simon falling for you so fast.”

  “So you think I don’t have leftover high school friends because I had a wall around me until Johansson was killed?”

  Az considered and then nodded. I wasn’t sure about that, but maybe there was a reason that I didn’t have these long-lasting friendships or had ever fallen in love before Silver Falls. Maybe, somehow, that first murder made me reveal who I truly was.

  “Maybe,” I said, but it felt like an accurate guess. “So you think the reason I’ve never been in love before is that I was just closed off?”

  “Rosie luv, you are utterly lovable. The fact that Simon is the first man who has truly loved who you are—that isn’t a sign that there was something wrong with you. It’s a sign that you never let someone find out who you were.”

  Maybe. Maybe I was forced to let myself be known. Maybe it was Silver Falls itself that changed me. It was this small beach town on the Oregon Coast where everyone knew each other and more often than not loved and helped each other. Even with our slew of murders—they seemed to reflect a deep—and a little terrifying—love. It was interesting to me and disturbing how many people felt love shift into something that destroyed the very thing you had loved.

  “Why are you being wise on me, Az?”

  “It bothers me that you’re worried, Rosie. Whether Simon’s parents love you or not, and I think they will love you, Simon loves you. There is no scenario where he doesn’t walk down the aisle to marry you feeling like he won the lottery of wives.”

  “You want to be my maid of honor instead of Zee, Az? Cause it feels like you’re bucking for the position with all this encouraging wisdom.”

  Az shook his head and winced. He flipped a burger and then added, “At this point, I think she might kill me for getting dethroned at the last second. I suspect you’re causing trouble on purpose, Rosie luv.”

  I laughed and called out, “Zee, Az is trying to take over as maid of honor.”

  “Matron of honor,” Zee said. “Come meet Simon’s boys.”

  I walked out to the dining room and found Bobby had been joined by three more guys. I knew Hank, Jane’s husband. He had his permanent tan from fishing for a living. He had lines by his eyes from grinning and squinting in the sun. Everything about Hank was vital. He seemed as though he could go for a long run, work all day, and then turn around and dance all night.

  I’d semi-met the massive Bobby, but he made me shake my head when I glanced him over. He sent me a cagey grin and his eyes twinkled as he met my gaze. He was pro-football player big and made me feel a little bit like a child.

  The next guy was Liam. He seemed at least a decade older than Bobby, Simon, and Hank. I knew they’d all played baseball together and spent nearly every weekend having video game marathons, going fishing, or pulling stupid pranks. It was hard to believe. Liam was chunky, he’d lost a lot of hair, but it wasn’t so much that he had signs of aging but that he looked worn.

  The last of the guys was Justin. His slender frame belied Simon’s stories about how Justin had been able to eat endlessly. He had the red-yellow hair that seemed like a bad dye job with an almost, but not quite, orange tan. My mom was getting her hair done and had been tanning before the wedding. Had Justin done the same?

  “So which of you is from Hong Kong?”

  Bobby raised his hand.

  “And who is from the Great Lakes?”

  That was Liam.

  “So where are you from Justin?”

  “Seattle,” he said. “I’m surprised that Brent isn’t here.”

  “Right?” Bobby asked.

  “Simon said he couldn’t find him,” I said. “They haven’t talked in years. Not since his parents moved away. Simon was pretty bummed when he realized all the old gang was making it except Brent.”

  “Yeah, for real,” Liam agreed. “I’ll have a green salad.” The last part was to Zee but the rest of the guys groaned.

  “Hey now, I’m old now. I get indigestion and…”

  Bobby slapped a bottle of antacids down on the table and raised his brows in challenge. A huge part of me could not believe I was seeing full-grown men peer pressure someone into unhealthy food.

  “You only live once,” Justin said.

  “That doesn’t count coming from you. Food never messed you up the way it messed me up,” Liam said.

  “Oh yeah,” Bobby laughed, a little meanly, “You had gas all the time.”

  “IBS,” Liam said and then almost growled, “Jerk.”

  “We’re not having poop stories in the diner,” Zee told them. “Shut your traps and talk about your kids or whatever it is you heathens have accomplished for yourselves.”

  “Oh man,” Justin laughed, “I know I’m home when Zee has scolded me.”

  “Hush now,” Zee said.

  I escaped while they harassed each other about their food. In the end, we made up four double burgers with bacon, four chocolate milkshakes, and as far as I could see, they were all drinking soda as well. I suspected if we served beer, they’d been downing them while they talked. The laughing was intense, and I wished that Simon could be there with his friends, but he’d gotten to Portland and his parents’ flight had been delayed.

  I helped Az while I watched the four old friends laugh. It seemed far more possible that half the time they were laughing that one of them was being mocked. The only that could be said of their juvenile ways was that, for the most part, they were all teased. It seemed like the loud Bobby escaped mostly unscathed, but he also seemed the most bull-doggish and aggressive.

  “Tell me please that they’ve regressed back to high school. They seem more like…what’s the word? Friend-enemies?”

  “They’ve regressed. In real lives they have legitimate jobs and at least one of them has kids. Prepare yourself for Simon to slide back into his caveman days as well.”

  “Oh man,” I muttered, “Maybe I will be a runaway bride after all.”

  Chapter Three

  Simon’s mother got out of the car and ran around the side of it, throwing her arms around me, and squeezing me until I couldn’t breathe. It took me about three seconds longer than it should have to hug her back, but if she noticed, she didn’t say a word.

  “Simon said you’re thinking of babies.”

  I blinked and shot him a glance. He grinned at me unrepentantly and then winked.

  “I am so excited. Oh, my goodness. I am so excited. Grand babies! It’s all I have ever wanted. You’re making all my dreams come true and making my baby happy at the same time.”

  I tried smiling at her thought I was a little ov
erwhelmed. The truth was, I had been at the end of my rope before they’d arrived. I had spent the day so worried about whether she would like me that by the time they’d gotten to our home, I was out of energy for worrying about it.

  Simon’s mother was one of those thin, energetic retirees that I dreamed of being. She was wearing nice slacks and a sleeveless blouse and didn’t look at all as though she had been traveling. Her lipstick was perfect, the rest of her makeup was precisely in place, and she made me feel tired even though she’d been the one who’d been flying all day.

  Simon’s father looked like him, but his dad also looked tired, thank goodness. A part of me was concerned that Simon’s mother, Joyce, was inhuman. I’d have looked more exhausted than she did with only the drive from Portland.

  Simon’s father, Marvin, was about an inch shorter than Simon. Marvin looked like a man who was enjoying his retirement. His Hawaiian shirt was the horrible kind of fantastic and his sandals were well-worn.

  Marvin kissed my cheek and said, “Joyce, calm down. Rose will think you’re insane. You’re like a bouncing rat dog.”

  Joyce elbowed Marvin in the ribs as Simon wrapped his arm around my waist.

  “Simon!” His mom squealed. “Your house! It looks so much better now. I love what you did with the porch. The wrap-around porch and swing are just inspired!”

  “Thanks, Mom.” He kissed my cheek and whispered, “Talking about grandchildren is the number one way to make my mom love you. Until she knows you of course.”

  “Enough canoodling!” Joyce called. “I want to meet the dogs, snuggle the cat, and go for steak. Then I need to see the flowers at the chapel. I can not wait to meet your mom, Rose dear. I feel like we’re going to be best friends. I understand she’s retired, too. She should really consider Florida as a permanent location, so she won’t have full-time access to my grand baby.”

  I blinked, a little shocked, and Simon shook his head when I shot him a look. “Rose’s mother travels a lot, Mom. You don’t need to worry about that.”

  “How does she travel anyhow? Did she sell everything?”

  We hadn’t told his parents that Mom and I had inherited rather a lot of money from my grandparents. Most people didn’t know that about me which was how I preferred it.

  “Well she got some money after her parents died, and she was always frugal,” I said.

  “Those pictures from France didn’t seem all that frugal.”

  “Longer term rentals are cheaper,” I said as Daisy pranced around my feet. Simon had let the dogs out and his mom stepped back, her hand to her chest.

  “I suppose I knew that you had a bunch of dogs, but meeting them is quite different, isn’t it?”

  “Sit,” Simon said and all of them dropped their behinds, tails flopping against the floor with Daisy and one of the pups wiggling in excitement.

  “You know dears,” Joyce said, glancing around. “If you left the dogs out during the day, it wouldn’t be quite so fragrant of dogs in here.”

  “It isn’t fragrant of dogs,” Simon told her, shooting me an apologetic look.

  “Joyce!” Marvin said.

  “We have very small dogs, Mom,” Simon added. “We aren’t leaving them out when there are predators around. The state forests are literally outside of the fence.”

  “Your children will probably be inundated with dog hair and you’ll have to get rid of them after the baby, anyway.”

  “So better to have them picked off?” Marvin cursed and then said, “Don’t alienate our daughter-in-law like you alienated Roberta.”

  I shot Simon a look and he flushed. Oh we’d be talking soon. Roberta was his ex, the mayor, who hated me. The fact that there was untold history between his ex and his mother, and I hadn’t known about it? Mmmm. Nope. That was a big nope.

  “Let me get changed,” Simon said attempting to smile at me, but knowing I was irritated with him. “We’ll go to dinner. Tomorrow night is the bachelorette and bachelor parties, so this will be our chance to have a little quiet family time.”

  “Now is your mom here yet, Rose?” Joyce’s high-pitched voice was starting to drill into my head, and I had to remind myself that this was Simon’s mother, and I needed to be nice.

  “She’s been back and forth,” I said, “But she won’t be in town for the wedding until Friday afternoon.”

  “Oh hmmm,” Joyce said, smiling happily.

  I clucked to the dogs and brought them with me into the bedroom.

  “What the hell?” I asked Simon as soon as the door closed.

  He winced and said, “She’s feeling a little…worried.”

  I sat down on the bed, and Goliath came over and laid his head in my lap while Daisy took the steps up to the bed and curled herself around my back.

  “Worried about what?”

  “Well, she was freaking out about meeting you and you hating her,” Simon threw off his shirt and exchanged it for a button-up, collared shirt. “Especially because you’re so brilliant. I was telling her about the last case and how you had this intuitive understanding of people, and suddenly Mom was in her head, imagining how it would be. That you’d just read her and see something in Mom that wasn’t there. Then you’d hate her, and you wouldn’t want her around, and then I’d call her less, and she’d have nothing.”

  I winced for Joyce. The amount of empathy I had was off-the-charts given how freaked out I’d been all day long about meeting her. Here we were both stressed about liking the other one and ruining things.

  “So, I told her about how we were talking about having kids to cheer her up.” Simon shook his head and said, “I know I should have talked to you about it first. Only, I couldn’t stand how upset she was. I just wanted her to be happy.”

  “And the face that we decided to try for a baby made her happy?”

  “Oh yeah, a lot.”

  “Then my dad, the idiot, talked about how grandchildren were always closer to the mother’s parents than the father’s. He told her to prepare herself to be the second-place grandma.”

  “Oh geez,” I muttered. I flopped back onto the bed and made Daisy grunt at me, but she just moved around until her face was pressed next to mine, and she could give me those big loving eyes.

  Simon checked out his stubble in the mirror, grinned at me, and picked up his razor only to stick it in the drawer.

  “So, Mom spent the rest of the ride talking about grandchildren and the joy they’d bring and then worrying that our kids wouldn’t like her.”

  “So the way she’s acting is stress?” I really needed the answer to be yes. I needed Joyce to not be this passive-aggressive crazy person who attacked me and the dogs for the rest of our lives.

  He nodded, crossing to me as he said, “She’ll calm down and then you two will like each other.”

  “I might know something about how she feels.” Goliath licked my hand and I leaned down to nuzzle my chin on the top of his head.

  “I’m going to take the dogs out before we go,” I said.

  We had rented Simon’s parents a really nice suite with an ocean view. I hoped they knew it was intended to help them be comfortable not to make them feel less welcome. My mom was going to be staying in the same hotel, so it wasn’t a preference thing. I was worried that Joyce would read into the hotel.

  “Joyce,” I said, “I’m so glad you’re here.” I was only lying a little, but I put a smile on my face and said, “I’m taking the furry fellas out. Would you like to go for a short walk?”

  She actually teared up and I knew I’d done the right thing. We went out through the back door and then up to the state park trail that Simon and I had widened in our rambles. The dogs trotted alongside, and for a while it was quiet.

  I realized that neither of us was quite sure how to broach the awkward divide we’d created.

  Joyce suddenly said, “Marvin says I’m being crazy. I just…”

  I grinned, glanced her way, and then whispered dramatically, “I was pacing the diner this morning wo
rrying about you hating me.”

  “You were?” Joyce breathed the question out, the sound of hope tinging her words.

  “Bobby, Simon’s friend, told me you wouldn’t love me all that much and that it would be weird, and I have been hearing those words echo through my head all day.”

  “Bobby! That kid. It’s good he’s in another country, you know? I assume he does ok because they think there’s a language barrier as to why his foot is in his mouth all the time rather than he’s a jerk. He is a jerk though. A big one.”

  “Oh good!” I muttered. “I like Hank and Justin seemed nice. I’m not too sure about Liam yet. Bobby though, he takes the cake. I don’t want to tell Simon that I think his friends are jerks.”

  Joyce laughed and said, “Liam was always sour. He doesn’t look so good now if his Facebook page is any indication of his state. In high school, he was as good as the rest of the boys at the things they did. You know, climbing, surfing and what not. Endless video game marathons. Only, Liam was always a bit of a prick about it.”

  I laughed and then scooped up Mama Dog when she barked at me. I told Joyce about them peer pressuring Liam into a burger earlier that day.

  She shook her head and looked around. I directed her gaze to the owl in the tree overhead, and she grinned at me. “It really is so lovely here. The trees are so gorgeous all year round. Even when it’s gray here, it is still lovely.”

  “I love living on the coast so much. I never want to go back to city living. Not even Portland though it really is a beautiful city.”

  Joyce nodded and then said, “You know it isn’t surprising that those boys are still pushing each other around. They have done stuff like that to each other since they first started being friends. It never stopped, not even as adults, after gaps in between their visits. Every time they came back to Silver Falls, they’d just fall into their old, mean ways.”