Perfect Night (Mason Creek #4) - Terri E. Laine Page 0,54

That shouldn’t stop justice being served.”

“You do nothing until those autopsy results are in and stay away from Evan. He’s made a formal complaint about you.”

I gave him a curt nod. “I have my dash and body cams to show I followed procedure,” I said.

Though I had no intentions of not following up on leads where I could. Especially as I decided what to do with the new information Darcy had given me.

“Dismissed,” he said.

When I left his office, I headed to my own. I had a call I needed to make. The sooner the better.

Chapter 25

Emma

I felt lighter after leaving the salon and it wasn’t because of the trim. Faith had only cut an inch or so off. What had me smiling was her advice which was how I ended up at Queen's Unmentionables.

Olivia’s smiling face greeted me when I entered. “How can I help you on this bright morning?”

“Faith sent me by,” I said.

Her eyes twinkled with mirth. “She did, did she?”

I nodded. “I’m taking her advice.”

“Do you want something for your upcoming honeymoon?” she asked.

Could it possibly be true that she hadn’t heard? “Actually, no. The wedding is off.”

She arched her eyebrow. “Well, then. Should I guess who the lucky guy is?”

What harm did it cause in telling her? I gave it twenty-four hours before the entire town knew that Aiden and I were together.

“No judgment here,” she added.

“Aiden,” I said.

Her grin widened. “Good for you. I have the perfect thing,” she said, and then I was immersed in the world of seduction, something I didn’t know a lot about.

I left with a little black bag, proud of myself. Aiden wanted to wait. I was banking he’d change his mind when he saw me in the little number I’d picked up.

My next stop was the grocery store. I wanted to pick up a bottle of wine and hoped I would run into Alana. To my luck, she was at the register, serving customers. When it was my turn at checkout, I tossed out what I wanted to tell her.

“It’s official, I’m seeing your brother.”

She rolled her eyes. “Like I didn’t see that coming. It’s been in the making since high school.”

“We didn’t date in high school.”

“Exactly, but those long lingering gazes were hard to miss. Just don’t call me with your relationship drama. I don’t want to be in the middle of that.” She held up a hand. “And don’t tell me about sex with him either. Gross.”

I laughed, as I took my wine and teasingly promised to give her all the details anyway. By the time I made it to the bar, I was practically hovering on air. My phone buzzed.

“Hello?” I didn’t recognize the number.

“Emma Hawkins?”

“This is she.”

“Hi, this is Grady Jackson with Dream BIG travel agency.”

“Yeah, hey.” I had no idea why he’d be calling me.

“I’m sorry to call you about this. Your father bought tickets for you and Evan.”

“Honeymoon,” I said to myself.

“Yes.”

It was like a lance through my heart. Dad hated Evan, yet he’d gotten me a thoughtful gift for a wedding that was no longer going to happen. “Can it be canceled?”

“He did buy the trip insurance—”

“But?” I asked.

“But, that insurance relates to you and Evan, not your dad.”

“I’m stuck with it?”

“Kind of. I can probably switch Evan’s tickets to another name or cancel if we can get credits.”

“I’m not marrying Evan. So cancel it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, and thank you.”

“One more thing,” he began. “I run a real estate agency as well if you’d like to sell or buy anything.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Jack called me to the front to help. Apparently, two of our waitresses called out sick. Just as I was ushering the last of our lunch patrons, Darcy walked in and took a seat at the bar.

I forced a smile because I did have to live here. We would run into each other and I didn’t want it to be awkward.

“Emma,” she said when I returned behind the counter.

“Yes, Darcy.”

“I thought we should talk.”

I glanced around and there was no one in the area. My bartender had gone on their break.

“Say what you have to say,” I said.

“I wanted you to hear it from me. I hooked up with Evan.”

I folded my arms. “I guessed. Did you want to rub it in my face?”

“He swore things were over between the two of you.”

“Of course, he did. You’re welcome to him, or is pain a hard limit for you?” Okay, that had been mean, but it was too late