“Maybe you’re not so crazy after all, Crazy Fish,” Gemma said aloud.
“Are you talking to the fish?” Ross’s deep voice startled Gemma.
“I am...I was,” Gemma said.
“Your crazy fish have more sense than us, sometimes,” Ross said, sliding one arm around her shoulders. He kissed the top of her head.
“I agree,” Gemma said, letting him pull her to her feet.
“Gilmore went back to Harrisonburg this morning. Looks like I’m the Lone Wolf Detective here in town again,” Ross said. “Well, other than you.”
Gemma punched him playfully in the chest. “Feel good to be back in the saddle?”
Ross nodded. “Yeah.”
“Um, I wanted to talk to you about something, so I’m glad you’re out here alone,” Ross said softly.
Gemma looked up at him, startled again. “What?”
“Now, don’t be mad. I ran a background check on your Aunt Maisy. I was worried about her staying here with you and...” he finished with a shrug.
Gemma wasn’t sure she wanted to hear this but she motioned for him to go on.
“Well, the good news is, I think she really is your aunt. The dates and location of her birth, parents and so forth match up. Nothing definitive but nothing really wrong either.”
“And the bad news?”
“She’s been living in a homeless shelter for the past year in San Diego. It looks like she’s pretty much lost everything and everyone. Except you,” he finished.
Gemma wiped angrily at sudden tears. She didn’t want to hear another word about her aunt’s past what she’d done or where she’d been. “Then it’s a good thing she’s here.”
“Yes, it is,” he said. “I kinda liked being here, too,” he added.
Gemma had to admit that she liked having him around but she wasn’t about to give in to her feelings that easily. If he wanted her back, he was going to have to work for it.
“Why don’t you let me buy you dinner this evening? Maybe we can talk about it.”
Finally, Gemma nodded. “Okay - as long as you know we’re just talking.”
“Good. I’ll pick you up about seven,” Ross said, kissed the tip of her nose and walked away.
Gemma stood there in the sun, watching him go, and then she caught sight of her Aunt Maisy. Her aunt waved and smiled and Gemma realized that she hadn’t worn the witch hat in a while. Maybe Maisy had finally found a place where she felt she belonged, Gemma thought as she started down the bank toward the back door. They would be family...at least for a while.
Willow Monroe
Gemma Stone Series
Thanks for reading!
Did you love Home Sweet Homicide? Then you should read Convicted Witch: Jagged Grove Book One by Willow Monroe!
Trinket’s life is fantastic, until the moment when her mother screws up yet another magic spell and gets them banished from Earth. Now she’s in Jagged Grove, a town that doesn’t actually exist, to serve out her sentence by teaching a young witch named Maggie how to be a healer. It could be a piece of cake, except for the fact that Trinket once killed somebody trying to heal them and she vowed to never practice her magic again.
Oh, and when she gets there Maggie is dead. Now she has to find out what happened and figure out how to get home before her real life crumbles away to nothing.
***This is the first novel in the new three-part Jagged Grove series***
Home Sweet Homicide: A Cozy Mystery (A Gemma Stone Murder Mystery Book 5) Page 14