Once Hunted, Twice Shy: A Cozy Paranormal Mystery (The Happily Everlasting Series Book 2)

by Mandy M. Roth

  Sigmund’s expression lightened, and Penelope thought he’d laugh at Petey’s ramblings. He didn’t. “A wristwatch, huh?”

  “Yep. Reminded me of the one your father had that he passed down to you before he died,” said Petey, his features softening. “Strangest thing.”

  Sigmund perked, his attention held. “My watch went missing within the last week. I’ve looked all over town for it, but haven’t been able to find it. And for the life of me I don’t recall where I had it on at last. That is why I was reaching out to Jake this morning. I wanted to see if anyone had turned it in to the local lost and found.”

  Petey rubbed his arms absently. “This town is going to hell in a handbag. We should talk to Sheriff Bull about the rise in crime. Next you know, we’ll be needing bars on all our windows and to hire ninjas to guard the town.”

  “Ninjas?” asked Penelope. Everlasting’s surprises never seemed to end. “Are they real too?”

  Petey gave her a side-eyed look. “Of course ninjas are real. Didn’t they teach you anything in history class? Ninjas helped us win the American Revolution.”

  “Petey, there were no ninjas in the American Revolution,” returned Penelope.

  The older man stamped his foot much like a child having a tantrum. “Was so!”

  She did her best to keep her face calm and her voice even. “Then why aren’t they recorded in history books?”

  “Pfft, because you can’t see a ninja. If you see a ninja, then they’re not very good at being stealthy, and that would mean they’re not a real ninja. They tell me you’re some big-city antiques seller. I figured you’d be smart enough to know ninjas are never seen.”

  Sigmund offered a warm smile, and Penelope was struck again with how handsome the man was. Everlasting sure didn’t suffer from a shortage of good-looking men. “Sorry for him. It sounds like you’ve been made aware of Everlasting’s secret. Let me guess, your grandfather told you everything.”

  “Hugh spilled the beans,” said Petey. “Told her everything. He’s in love. It will make you do foolish things. Trust me, I know. I’m an expert on the subject.”

  Sigmund and Penelope shared a look and each did their best to avoid laughing at the man.

  “I hope you’re here for longer than just a visit, Penelope,” said Sigmund, lifting his book. “You’re good for Hugh.”

  Grinning, she stepped closer to hug him. The minute she put her arms around him, the crystal Polly had given her began to glow and then heat.

  One second she was hugging Sigmund, and the next, she and Sigmund were flat on their backsides on the sidewalk. It had felt like someone had taken a bat to her chest. Rubbing it, she looked to find Sigmund doing the same, his eyes wide.

  “What was that?” he asked as he winced.

  She shook her head, unsure what had happened. “The necklace Polly gave me started to glow, got hot, and then bam, it knocked us apart.”

  Groaning, Sigmund got to his feet as Petey helped her to hers. Sigmund touched his chest once more. “Packs a wallop, doesn’t it?”

  It sure did.

  She lifted the necklace away from her and held it out as far as it would go while still around her neck. “Why on earth did it do that?”

  “It didn’t want you hugging Sigmund. Hugh is going to want you wearing that all the time if it comes in a Curt-repellent form,” said Petey, as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. Maybe, in his world, this was a totally normal occurrence.

  “I hope it’s not Petey repellent,” she said with a wink.

  Petey turned and grabbed Penelope, giving her a giant hug that smelled like whiskey. The necklace didn’t respond in any way. “Yep. It’s just Sigmund.”

  She sighed, confused as to what had occurred. “Or whatever happened was a fluke.”

  Petey eased the necklace from her neck and then thrust it at Sigmund. “One way to find out.”

  The necklace began to glow again and it pushed the two men apart with a force that stunned Penelope. Rushing forward, she snatched the necklace from Petey’s hand and held it behind her back.

  Petey smiled. “See. It’s just Sigmund.”

  “No more tests,” she said sternly.

  Sigmund’s eyes were wide. “I agree. I wonder why it has issue with me.”

  “I don’t know,” said Penelope. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know it would do that. You’re banged up enough and here we are making matters worse. Please accept my apologies. When I see Polly again, I’ll try to get to the bottom of it. In the meantime, I won’t be wearing the necklace.”

  “No worries,” replied Sigmund as he bent to retrieve the book he’d been holding before getting knocked onto his backside. “I’ve got to be on my way. My allergy meds only last so long and then I’ll be sneezing too hard to read the morning announcements over the PA system at school. Have Hugh call me when you see him.”

  “Will do,” said Petey.

  They continued on their way, and Penelope felt as though she’d actually tumbled down the rabbit hole. “Everlasting is so bizarre.”

  “Nah,” argued Petey. “It’s just like every other town that is full of supernaturals.”

  “There are more than one?” she asked in stunned disbelief.

  “Of course. There are towns all over the world like Everlasting. It’s common for like to attract like. We flock to areas with other supernaturals. Pretty natural. Some big cities are filled to the brim with supernaturals and humans are none the wiser for it. For the best. Humans like to panic. Skittish bunch, aren’t they?”

  He kept walking and she followed. Soon they were at the marina. They walked past the fishing charter building, past Curt’s restaurant and then in the direction of a path that weaved through tall grass. Penelope drew to a stop as the path opened to show a magazine-worthy home near a rocky edge. The ocean was close and there was a small dock there. No boat was parked in the spot. The house itself was large, covered in medium-gray shaker-styled shingles and white trim. It looked as if someone had taken great pains to be sure it fit with the feel of New England’s architecture. There was a rustic charm to it that was undeniable, and everything on it looked pristine.

  Petey thumbed toward it. “Hugh’s place.”

  “Wait, he lives there?” she asked, completely swept up with the home. It had everything down to a small white picket fence. There was an English garden planted out front that appeared to have been tended regularly and a wraparound deck with four oversized, white Adirondack chairs. The decking was built against the large home in a way that would give anyone sitting on it a glorious view of the water, along with a breezy spot to sit and enjoy the day.

  The front door, which looked to lead to a sunporch, was bright red. Penelope couldn’t believe how adorable the home was. She’d always dreamt of living in a house just like the one before her. It was as if Hugh had read her mind, even down to the carefully placed stepping-stones leading to the deck stairs.

  It was truly breathtaking, and wasn’t what she expected when she thought of Hugh. There was a wildness to him. Something that seemed so untamable and slightly feral. Yet everything about the cottage screamed order, serenity, and attention to details.

  She thought about being on his sailboat. Nothing had been out of place. He was tidy and orderly. Nothing like her at all.

  Petey grinned at her. “Weren’t expecting this out of him, were you?”

  “No,” she breathed, still stunned the home belonged to Hugh. For some reason, she didn’t picture him having something such as the home before her. But the harder she looked at it, the more she could see him there. “Did he inherit this?”

  “Pft, no. Hugh built this place himself. The land was something he picked up when he bought out the previous owner of the fishing charter and boating tour place. This house was here, but it was rundown, about half the size you see now, and in complete disrepair. Hugh spent years renovating and expanding it, living at first off his boat before finally moving in here. Curt, Sigmund, and I helped where
he’d let us with the rebuild, but Hugh prefers working alone.”

  “It’s amazing,” she said in a hushed tone.

  “So is Hugh,” added Petey. “He takes me down to the Keys during the snowiest months here, but I know he doesn’t like leaving Everlasting. He runs a smaller fishing outfit down in the Keys during that time, and then has people running it for him the rest of the year while he’s back here in Everlasting. This town is in his bones. If he wasn’t always worried about me, he’d stay here year-round.”

  She grinned at the knowledge Hugh put Petey’s needs before his own. There was also the fact the man was clearly good with his hands and talented. She couldn’t even hang a picture and Hugh had managed to build a home that looked like it should be featured on the front of a home magazine. “Did he build those chairs on the porch?”

  “He built everything, even down to his bed. He has a lot of energy and doesn’t much like running with the local pack, so he channels that into something else,” said Petey with a steadfast nod. “I tell him all the time that he should consider opening a shop in town to sell his furniture, or even talk to your grandfather about putting some pieces up there at his place. He doesn’t think he’s good enough to do that, and until you, he wouldn’t even get near the antiques shop.”

  “His craftsmanship is amazing, and I’ve only seen a small sample of his work. I know that people in Chicago would pay big money for pieces like those,” she said, pointing to the chairs on the porch. It was true. The chairs would easily go for three hundred each. Maybe more with the right buyers. It was hard to find pieces made that sturdy that looked that great. Hugh was exceptionally gifted.

  Petey put his thumbs in his front pockets and rocked in place. “Hugh doesn’t believe me when I tell him he’s talented. I blame that on his father. The man is one of those types that rarely has an encouraging word for another. Hugh spent his life being subjected to that. Tends to make one question their worth.”

  “Is Hugh close to his parents?” she inquired, feeling like she was intruding on Hugh’s privacy, but curious all the same. She couldn’t remember much of him from when they were younger.

  “His father still lives in town, but on the other side, out near the forest. He bought up a bunch of land when Hugh was young. His mother passed when he was little. That was when his father moved him out to all that land. Hugh used to ride his bike into town and down here to the marina when he was in junior high so he could work on the docks, helping clean fish that tourists caught. He saved every penny and by the time he was in high school, he was running fishing charters for the previous owner. Hugh was a natural with customers and has always been able to read the sea—finding the sweetest honey holes to fish from.”

  Penelope let the man’s words sink in. Hugh’s mother had passed when he was young too? He understood her pain better than most. And she felt for him, wishing he was before her so she could wrap her arms around him and tell him he was important, talented, and worth something.

  Shame on his father for not making sure the man knew as much.

  Petey stared at her, sorrow coating his face. “Hugh and his momma were close. He loved her and would have done anything for her. Her passing hit him hard, and it drove an even bigger wedge between him and his father. There are rumors floating about town that some extended family to the Messings were responsible for her death. I don’t how much truth is in that. I was near the market after lunch and heard some folks talking about how you hit Hugh with a semi on the highway this morning, so take everything you hear with a grain of salt. So I don’t know if the Messings had anything to do with Hugh’s mother’s death or not. His momma and yours were friends and your mother wouldn’t have let anyone hurt her.”

  “He didn’t tell me that.” Penelope’s heart wrenched at the thought that anyone related to her, distant or not, could have harmed Hugh’s mother. It made sense why Hugh seemed to harbor so much anger at her grandfather, and why he’d been reluctant to enter the antiques shop to begin with. He’d probably spent his life being told Grandpa Wil was the boogieman. Part of her began to wonder if it was true. Was the sweet, gentle soul who took the utmost care with precious antiques capable of great darkness?

  Everything she’d thought she’d known about the world had tipped upside down in a short period of time. She wasn’t sure of anything anymore.

  “Wouldn’t think he would share that about his past,” said Petey with a sigh. “He doesn’t much like talking about it.”

  “Is he close with his father at all?” she asked, still soaking in the beauty of the home before her.

  “No. Not a bit. His father is big into pack politics and Hugh couldn’t care less about all that hogwash,” supplied Petey, going to the gate of the fence. He opened it. “Hugh’s father wanted him to be a lawyer like him, but Hugh had a love of the sea, like his momma did. The fishing charter was something he opened in memory of her. His father said he’d fail before the end of his first year—like so many start-up businesses do. Hugh proved him wrong. He makes a ton with his fishing charters and boat tours. Tourists eat it up. And he never stopped thinking of his mother. The sailboat he took you out on is named the Mary Marie. That was his mother’s name.”

  Penelope teared up, and had to fight to keep from outright crying. Her alpha wolf-shifter really was a big softy, and she loved that about him.

  Mine? Love?

  Gasping, she took a small step back, her hand going to her chest as she realized just how deep her feelings ran for Hugh. She was in love with him. How was that possible?

  It’s fate.

  She knew it was true. She loved the fish-stick-swearing, wolf-shifting fisherman.

  Petey watched her and then winked. “Pretty sure he feels the same way about you. After what you told me about that kraken attack, my money is on him being out there hunting it. It’s not in his nature to leave this be. If I’m right, he’s doing so with your grandfather, and for Hugh to team up with Wilber for anything, it has to be for someone special.”

  A tear escaped and fell down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly.

  The next thing she knew, Petey was there, blubbering, pulling an old handkerchief from his pocket and blowing his nose. He sounded like a foghorn. He sucked up his tears and then offered her the used handkerchief.

  She cringed. There was no way she was touching that. “Um, thank you but I’m good.”

  He sniffled and then used the same handkerchief to wipe his eyes. “A good love story gets me every time. I’m a sympathetic crier. Drives Hugh nuts.”

  She laughed through her tears. “I bet it does. Don’t worry, Petey. When I’m around, you won’t be the only one crying.”

  He beamed. “That mean you’re planning on staying in town?”

  She hesitated. Was she? The idea of calling Everlasting home felt right, but did she dare give up everything she had worked so hard for? If she did, would it be for the right reasons or because she was on the rebound after having her heart broken?

  You never really loved Craig.

  “You look lost in thought,” said Petey.

  “I’m really confused.”

  “It is what it is,” offered the older man. “Fighting it is pointless. Go with what was destined, or forever swim against the current.”

  The man may use whiskey as cologne, but he was wise and he had a point. Life was short, and she’d wasted the last two years on a man who didn’t appreciate her and never fully understood her or her oddities. Chicago was nice, but outside of work, she didn’t socialize. Everlasting was charming, quaint, full of magic and wonder (just ask Polly), and her grandfather was here.

  She didn’t know if she had a future with Hugh. While she wanted to believe they were meant for one another, the skeptical side of herself wanted to protect her heart.

  Petey pointed in the other direction, pulling her attention to the area. “There is a small cabin just down a bit. I live there. It’s on Hugh’s property. He won’t let me pay any rent. Says that family takes car
e of family. I never had a family of my own. Hugh is the closest thing to a son I have. He’s got some rough edges but a big heart. He’ll do right by you, Penelope.”

  “This is all so sudden,” she whispered.

  Petey grunted. “Not for Everlasting. Normal rules don’t apply here. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you can get on with being happy.”

  Unable to help herself, she pulled the man into a hug and held him tight. She kissed his cheek, ignoring the heavy smell of whiskey. When she drew back, his eyes held unshed tears. If he cried, she’d join in and it would be an endless cycle of tears.

  He patted her arms and then stepped away from her, heading up the small walking path to the home. Penelope remained close at his heels. She glanced out at the water, wondering where Hugh was, and if he and her grandfather were really doing what Petey thought they were—hunting the kraken.

  Worry churned in her stomach.

  Petey stepped onto the deck and went for the wooden door. He opened it and let himself in as if he did so all the time. Reluctantly, Penelope followed. He chanced a glance back at her and grinned, showing off his missing tooth. “Come on in. Hugh won’t mind. He doesn’t even lock his doors.”

  She’d noticed as much.

  Guess when you’re able to shift into a wolf, you don’t really worry about safety. You can eat whoever bothers you.

  They entered onto a large three-season porch that had two of the many front-facing windows propped open, letting some air through, but not enough to make the porch too chilly in the October air. The entire porch area was painted white. There was an oversized porch swing hanging by thick ropes, suspended from the ceiling. The swing was so big that it took her a moment to realize a twin mattress was its cushion. Royal blue and light blue throw pillows lined the back of it, giving a soft spot to lean against when sitting there. White chairs flanked each side of the swing. A lone blue pillow rested on each chair. There was a baby-blue throw over one chair back. A white wood coffee table sat in the center of the porch area. On it was a book about sailing and a small stone statue of a seagull.