Page 74 of The Shop on Royal Street
I laughed. Recalling the list of things to remember Jolene had given me while she’d been getting me ready, and how a girl should keep a boy guessing and never appear too eager, I said, “I don’t know—I’ll have to check. Why don’t you call me tomorrow and see?” I didn’t offer to call him, because that had been another part of Jolene’s tutelage—something about how her mama would have yanked her bald headed if she’d learned that Jolene had ever called a boy. Or texted. It was the same thing in her estimation.
“Do I have to wait that long?” he asked, the sides of his face creasing in the way I’d come to really like.
“Yes. Although tomorrow is just an hour away.”
“Until then,” he said. “I hope I can wait that long.”
He watched me while I fumbled for my key and let myself in. Then I pressed my back against the door and closed my eyes as I listened to his receding footsteps, the car door snapping shut, and then the sound of the car backing up and driving away.
I felt myself swaying and opened my eyes in the darkened stairwell. I flipped on the light, then grabbed onto the banister as I hauled myself upstairs, still hearing the incessantclack, clack, clackof the moth outside as it repeated the same damaging action again and again without learning a thing.
CHAPTER 23
I’d barely made it to the top of the steps before I heard the car returning and footsteps pounding up the walkway toward the door. I stumbled down the steps, missing the last two and twisting my ankle in my haste to reach the door before he did. I threw the door open, ready for the good-night kiss that Michael must have been wanting as much as I had been.
Beau stood in a circle of light on the bottom step, apparently as surprised to see me as I was to see him. “Nola?”
It came out as a question, so I stepped forward, out of the shadowed entranceway and onto the front step. “It’s me. I just borrowed Jolene’s dress.” A small giggle erupted from my mouth without permission.
“I can see that.” He gave me an odd look that might have had something to do with how I was swaying on my feet. “Are you all right?”
I gave him a vigorous nod, my hair moving despite Jolene’s magic hair spray. “Uh-huh. My feet hurt a bit ’cause I’m not used to wearing heels.”
His eyes traveled down the length of me to Jolene’s shoes, pausing for a moment at the stain in the middle of my dress before meeting my eyes again. “I hope Michael appreciated the effort.”
“He did.” A loopy grin I couldn’t seem to control settled on my mouth.
Beau’s attention moved above my head, toward the moth still flinging itself against the light. After a flash of inspiration, I reached inside to the wall and flipped off the light. “There. Problem solved.”
“You should probably turn off the inside light, too, or he’ll find that one, and probably bring his friends.”
“Good point.” I reached inside again and flipped off the second switch, throwing us into darkness except for the glow of the streetlights and the lights from other houses. A late-night crowd gathered at the corner bar across the street, a low murmur of conversation and laughter teasing our ears.
“I thought you were Michael.”
“He just left.” I pointed down the street as if Beau might need clarification.
“Good. This probably could wait until tomorrow, but I thought you’d want to know. I wasn’t going to ring the doorbell if your bedroom light was off.”
A flash of warmth went through me at the mental image of Beau looking up at my window at night. The loopy grin settled on my face again.
“Do you want me to tell you now or should it wait? You seem... tired.” Beau sounded uncertain and he was still looking at me with an odd expression, as if he hadn’t seen a woman wearing a dress and heels before.
“Might as well since you’re here.” I leaned against the doorframe because my ankle was starting to throb.
“There might have been a break-in at your house tonight. The neighbors across the street called me because they couldn’t reach you.”
“That’s terrible,” I said, still leaning against the doorframe, with my foot rubbing the sore ankle. “Unless it was just a ghost. There are two, you know. Well, at least two that I’ve seen, but I’m not a psycho.” I giggled. “I mean, a psychic. Like Melanie.”
He took a step closer. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“I’m fine. Fine. Did they take anything?”
“Not that I could tell. And there were no signs of a break-in at all, unless they used a key to the back door like they did last time—assuming it’s the same people. And assuming it happened at all, since nothing was taken. But all of the trim we’ve been keeping in the backyard was definitely rearranged. Like someone was looking for something in particular. I’m just not familiar enough with what was back there to determine if something is actually missing and call the police.”
“Let’s go, then,” I said, moving forward. I missed a step completely and would have landed flat on my face if Beau hadn’t caught me.
“I guess I don’t need these.” With a flick of each foot, I kicked the shoes off, listening as they landed somewhere in the bushes next to the front steps. I immediately regretted doing that to my sore ankle, but as soon as I put my bare foot on the ground it felt a little better.
