I could see the magic of my words rippling over the tips of the wet grass.

The figure was almost at the tree line when—

—she tripped!

I let out a little shout of victory.

It was Liz. It had to be. She recovered almost immediately, disappearing into the cover of the forest, but I knew it was her.

I spun around to face my uncle, a huge smile on my face. “You did that, didn’t you? I felt that tingle up my arm.”

My uncle beamed back at me. “I may have given you a push, but, otherwise, that was all you, my dear. All you.”

• • •

Brynn!”

Was that someone calling my name? It was coming from so far away, and I was very tired.

“Brynn!”

I was dreaming it. No one was calling me.

I jolted at the sound of a bunch of little somethings hitting the window behind my chair. Pebbles? I straightened up, blinking in the sunlight filling the loft.

“Don’t make me climb these stairs. Rise and shine!”

I knew that voice.

I pulled the blanket from my lap. I must have fallen asleep in my armchair last night. After what happened in town, Gideon and I had headed home. Izzy and Nora had left a message on the B&B’s machine saying they were fine. Well, Izzy actually left the message while Nora muttered indecipherable threats in the background. The police hadn’t gotten around to questioning them, and while they were technically allowed to leave, their lawyer thought it would show good faith if they stayed. After that, I made myself a cup of tea, intending to puzzle out why Liz would be breaking into the records building, but all the excitement must have been too much for me.

I wrapped the blanket around my shoulders, and I pushed myself to my feet. It felt way too early for this. I stepped into my slippers, stumbled over to the door, and forced myself outside onto the landing. I grabbed the railing and looked down.

“There she is!”

I brought a hand up to shield the glaring sunlight from my eyes, but the brilliant sparkle coming from Roxie’s long boho jacket was nearly as blinding. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve got news! News that you’re going to want to hear.”

All the memories of the town hall came flooding back. I sighed. Roxie’s news had not been all that useful so far. In fact, it had hurt a lot more than it had helped.

“Just hear me out, Brynn. I feel terrible about last night. I’ve come to make good.”

I climbed down the stairs. “I don’t blame you, Roxie. You told me you were speculating. I knew it was all,” I paused, searching for the right word, “conjecture.”

“Listen to you sounding like Beatty. You wouldn’t believe the talking to he gave me last night. I think he’d cut me off entirely if we weren’t related. Turns out Constance had been by to talk about some permit issues she was having with the house. Those were the affairs she needed to get in order. Although given how she said it, I don’t see how I can be blamed.”