just is.
The phone beside the bed rang. The dog sprang to his feet and Taryn leaped across the room in a single bound, landing on top of the bed light-footed as a cat. Bow drawn and arrow at the ready, Taryn faced the door, poised to do battle on Sassy’s behalf.
“A warning bell.” Taryn’s slim body quivered with tension. “Know you who attacks?”
“No one.” Sassy struggled not to smile. “The telephone is ringing.”
Taryn’s lovely gray eyes went unfocused.
“I see,” she said after a moment’s pause. “It is a communication device of some sort.” She gave the Dalmatian an accusatory glare. “You could have told me.”
The dog barked and disappeared.
Lowering her weapon, the huntress jumped lightly to the floor. She whirled around as the phone trilled again.
“Must it make that annoying noise?”
“That’s how you know someone is calling.” Sassy reached for the receiver. “Probably that nice repairman checking to make sure the phone is working.”
The phone rang again and Sassy picked up. “Hello?”
“Sassy, why aren’t you home?”
Sassy bobbled the phone in surprise. “Mama, how did you know where to find me?”
“Your stepfather called Sheriff What’s-His-Name. I’m disappointed in you, Sassy. Your stepfather and I have been out of our minds. How could you be so thoughtless and selfish?”
Mama was using the Tone. The one that screamed displeasure and reproach. The tone that made Sassy cringe. Rattled, Sassy popped a berry in her mouth and chewed.
At once, the imp with the jackhammer stopped drilling a hole in her brain, and Sassy’s nausea eased. She felt more like her old self.
Better than her old self. She felt stronger; sassier.
Wow. Sildhjort’s wellberries were the best.
“I’m sorry you were worried, Mama.” Sassy’s tone was crisp. “I had car trouble.”
“I should never have let you go to Hannah alone. Wes is on his way to bring you home now.”
Sassy’s hand tightened around the receiver. “Let me go, Mama. Goodness gracious grandma, I’m twenty-five years old, not a runaway, recalcitrant teenager.”
“Then stop acting like one. You have responsibilities to the gift shop and your family.”
“I have responsibilities here.” Taking a fortifying breath, Sassy dropped the bombshell. “I’ve decided not to sell the mill. I’m staying in Hannah.”
There, she’d said it. Evan was right. She did have balls, big sparkly ones.
“Out of the question,” Mama said. “I need you at the gift shop.”
“The gift shop can practically run itself. Mary Ellen is well trained.”
“I won’t allow you to stay in that dreadful place.”
“I like Hannah. It’s time I lived my own life.”
“Your life is in Fairhope with us and Wesley. You can’t expect him to give up his job, his connections, and his family to live in a backwoods town.”
Wesley. Oh, dear, Mama was going to have a kitten. Sassy ate the last two berries for courage.
“There’s not going to be a wedding. I’ve decided Wesley and I don’t suit.”
Mama gasped. “Sarah Elizabeth Peterson, have you lost your mind?”
“Maybe.” Everyone in Fairhope would certainly think so. Wesley came from an old, moneyed family. He was considered a catch. “If I have, bring on the crazy.”
“I can’t talk to you when you’re like this.”
“I can’t talk, either. I’ve got to go shopping. What does one wear to a mill anyway? I’m thinking businesslike but not too stuffy.”
“Sassy, my nerves.” Mama’s voice grew thin. “I feel one of my headaches coming on.”
Mama’s migraines were the reason Sassy hadn’t dated much in high school. Or gone to spend-the-night parties, bonfires, or football games.
Mama’s headaches were the reason Sassy still lived at home.
“Poor Mama. Take two Anacin and lie down in a dark room.”
“I can’t believe you’re behaving like this.” Mama’s voice sounded surprisingly stronger. “It’s to be hoped Wesley can talk some sense into you. He’s a steady young man.”
“Bye, Mama. I love you to the moon and back. Tell Daddy Joel I love him, too.”
Sassy hung up the phone. She was shocked by her temerity. Holy smokaroonies, what had happened?
“Sassy, are you well?”
Taryn’s brows were knitted in concern. Her bow and arrow were gone. Where did she keep them, Sassy wondered, an invisible zip lock?
“I told my mom I’m not coming home.”
“I heard.”
“And that I’m not marrying Wesley.”
“This I also heard.”
“I said no to my mother.” Sassy gazed at her empty palm. “It was the berries. They were magic.”
“Your mettle came from within, not from without.”
Sassy gave the huntress a shy smile. “You think so?”
“I know so.”
“I almost didn’t eat them because—you know—Sildhjort is a god. Mose is a darling little man, but I hardly know him.”
“ ‘Darling’ is not