Page 49 of Royal Games (The Royals of Monterra)

Safe.

And John-Paul was not going to change that.

Chapter 15

I really was trying to be positive, but the universe seemed determined to mess with me. First, I lost my keys. I searched for about half an hour until Rafe pointed them out on the key rack. Which was weird, because I swear I’d checked there like three times.

Then I had to tell Sylvia about the postcard, and she insisted, as I thought she would, that we tell Sheriff Stidd the entire story. He sat stone-faced and listened to the whole tale. He promised to increase patrols near our home and to keep an eye out for any strangers.

Rafe insisted on coming with me to the church bazaar meeting, which was scheduled for before my shift at the diner. I told him he’d have to take his own car because, one, I didn’t want to keep being in confined spaces with him considering how hard of a time I was having keeping my hands to myself, and two, I didn’t want him to drive me to the diner and then have to come pick me up later. I didn’t want a bodyguard, and that included him.

When we got to the church, the current committee was waiting for us—Nicole, Pastor Dave, Whitney, Mrs.Mathison, Mrs.Ramirez, and for some reason, Brooke Cooper.

I raised an eyebrow at Whitney, glancing at Brooke, but Whit just shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t know why either.

We went through the agenda quickly, and when we got to the bachelor auction, Nicole told us about how well that was going. “And it would go even better if we had the most eligible bachelor included. What do you say, Rafe?”

I did not miss the way Brooke’s eyes lit up. “Yes, it’s for a great cause.”

“I would love to help out,” Rafe said. That shouldn’t have bothered me. It did.

Mrs.Mathison and Mrs.Ramirez were in charge of the dinner and organizing food items for the silent auction, and they gave us an update on that front. Just as I planned to close the meeting, Brooke interjected. “Do we have enough to attract a lot of attention? Should we be adding something more kid-friendly? Like a petting zoo?”

“Since we have to hold it inside, space is an issue,” I said.

“Hamsters and rabbits are small. We could just throw them all in cages together.”

My guess was that Brooke had never owned a hamster or a rabbit, let alone a lot of them. They might hurt each other. Or ruin the flooring. Or worse. “We don’t want to end up with a bunch of pregnant animals,” I said. “They’d multiply like Tribbles.”

“Like what?” she said.

“Tribbles? FromStar Trek? Those furry little aliens? Remember?”

She looked at me blankly. “No. As you’ll recall, I actually went to my prom.”

I opened my mouth to say something back, but caught Pastor Dave watching me. I could refrain in a church. I just smiled sweetly instead, and she didn’t seem to know how to respond to that. She glared at me and turned away.

Brooke could go Trek herself.

Even though she wasn’t in charge, she called the meeting to a close and then pulled on Rafe’s arm, asking to talk to him. Nicole and Whitney took seats on either side of me. “Why did she show up today?”

“Brooke’s just full of surprises,” Whitney said.

“I always thought she was full of something,” Nicole added, and I found myself wanting to smile, which was surprising given last night’s events.

“What do you think they’re saying?”

Whitney sat forward and with a breathy, singsong voice said, “Oh, Rafe. I know you’re in love with Genesis, but please forget about her and take me and my hair extensions and Botoxed forehead away to your castle.”

Nicole chimed, in, lowering her voice to mimic Rafe’s deep tones. “Thank you for the offer, Brooke. And while you have excellent Botox, I’m sorry. I can’t run away with you. I’d rather shove knitting needles into my eyeballs.”

Then I couldn’t help but snicker, and my two friends joined in. Nicole’s phone buzzed, and she turned it on and read the screen. The smile slid off her face. “Oh no. No, no, no, no ...” she kept repeating as she scrolled through something, reading quickly.

“What is it?” Whitney asked, rubbing her hand across her swollen belly and grimacing. “Sorry. Braxton-Hicks. So annoying. You were saying?”

“I ... last night I got a wee bit tipsy on peach schnapps and I drunk texted Duke.” Duke, her ex from college. He had been her most serious boyfriend until the Thanksgiving weekend she came back early to school and found him Resident Assisting one of the freshmen in his dorm. “He just texted me back and told me to leave him alone.”

“Delete his number,” I said. “Delete it right now so this never happens again.”

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