Myths, Murder & Love

Chapter 19

Thallia had barely reached the main road when Jenna's name appeared on the Bronco's display.

She smiled and answered the call.

Her excitement escaped before she could manage a greeting. “I'm staying.”

Silence came through the speakers.

Thallia grinned and took another bite of the breakfast sandwich she'd brought from the house.

Jenna's voice rose with surprise. “You're staying in Olympia Springs?”

“At the Stone House.” Saying it aloud made the decision feel more real. “I looked around this morning and realized I can work from there. There's a garden, the library has everything I need to get online, and I found enough projects to keep me busy for the next decade.”

Jenna's pleasure came clearly through the speakers. “You sound happy.”

Thallia looked out at the red cliffs rising around her. “I think I am.”

Jenna's voice turned thoughtful. “I haven't heard you sound like this in a long time.”

That caught Thallia.

The last few days had been a mess of betrayal, anger, confusion and changes she hadn't seen coming. Yet beneath all of it, something had shifted that morning when she'd walked through the Stone House alone.

She wasn't thinking about what she'd lost in Chicago. She was thinking about what she could build here.

Jenna let her have the moment before curiosity crept back into her voice. “Now that we've established you're moving to a mysterious town in Utah, tell me about the sheriff.”

Thallia laughed. “I should have known we'd get there eventually.”

Jenna sounded entirely too pleased with herself. “Eventually? I've been very patient.”

“You've been waiting less than two days,” Thallia reminded her.

Jenna dismissed that detail. “Exactly. Now talk.”

Thallia took another bite of her sandwich. She wasn't entirely sure how she was going to explain this part. “We spent most of yesterday together.”

Jenna's sudden silence made Thallia smile.

Her friend recovered quickly. “Most of yesterday?”

Thallia navigated a bump in the road. “He showed me around town, showed me where to get the utilities back on, and then we went back to the house and made dinner together."

Jenna didn't bother hiding her interest. “And?”

Thallia kept her attention on the road. “He stayed.”

Jenna made a sound that nearly caused Thallia to choke.

Thallia hurried to correct whatever conclusion her friend had reached. “Not like that. He slept in the guest room.”

Jenna scoffed, disbelieving. “Sheriff Kisses-Very-Well spent the night in your house and didn't kiss you again?”

Thallia swallowed her food. “There were circumstances.”

Jenna dismissed the excuse . “There are always circumstances. That's what makes life interesting.”

Thallia shook her head as the road curved between the red cliffs. “I'm fine with slow.”

Even to her own ears, the answer came a little too quickly.

Jenna caught the defensiveness . “Are you?”

Thallia considered the question rather than giving Jenna the easy answer. “Mostly.”

Jenna sighed dramatically. “That's disappointing.”

Thallia narrowed her eyes at the road. “Jenna,” she warned.

Her friend's laughter filled the Bronco.

Thallia smiled despite herself. “I like him. Probably more than I should after two days, and that's exactly why slow is good.”

Jenna's tone turned serious. “Because of Trevor?”

Thallia thought about it before answering. “Because of me.”

Jenna stayed quiet, giving her room to continue.

Thallia tightened her hands slightly on the wheel. “I let Trevor become part of everything. My apartment, my work, my routines. I don't want to leave Chicago, start over here and start building my new life around another man just because he makes me feel good.”

Jenna's voice gentled. “Those aren't the same thing.”

Thallia agreed. “They're not, but I need to know I can build this life without attaching it to somebody else.”

Jenna answered with quiet certainty. “You've always been able to stand on your own.”

Thallia shifted in her seat. “I'm trying to prove that to myself.”

Jenna let that sit for a moment before gently pushing back. “You also like having someone beside you.”

Thallia frowned at the road. “That's not the same as needing someone.”

Jenna caught the distinction immediately. “I didn't say it was. You did.”

Thallia hated when Jenna did that.

She searched for the words that explained something she was only beginning to understand herself. “I like relationships. I like having someone to come home to. I like knowing there's someone beside me who cares about the ordinary parts of my day.”

Jenna's voice warmed. “There's nothing wrong with wanting that.”

“No, there isn’t.” Thallia relaxed her grip on the wheel. “I just don't want ‘wanting it' to make the decision for me.”

That quieted Jenna for a moment.

Thallia looked through the windshield at the road stretching toward Olympia Springs.

Jenna's amusement returned. “So where does Sheriff Kisses-Very-Well fit into this carefully constructed independent life?”

Thallia kept her voice deliberately casual. “For now, he's my friend.”

Jenna wasn't letting her escape that easily. “The one who kisses very well.”

Thallia laughed, grateful for the easier ground. “Friends can have benefits.”

“There she is.” Jenna's approval came through clearly. “That's my girl.”

Thallia smiled, but the seriousness beneath the conversation hadn't disappeared. “I'm not committing to anything. I want some time on my own.”

Jenna hesitated before asking, “And if he decides he doesn't want to wait?”

The question landed much deeper than Thallia wanted it to.

She tried to ignore the small part of her that wished Leon would ask for more. “He hasn't asked me for anything.”

Jenna's answer came with quiet certainty. “Yet.”

Thallia glanced at the phone display, then at the narrowing stretch of road ahead.

That was quite enough insight from her best friend for one morning.

She deliberately broke her voice. “Jen—I'm los—”

Jenna caught the trick. “Thallia Laskari, don't you dare pretend—”

Thallia talked over her. “Patchy cell service. I'll call you later.”

Jenna's teasing disappeared. “You'd better. And Thallia?”

The change in her friend's voice made Thallia stop playing. “What?”

Jenna's words came gently. “Slow doesn't mean standing still.”

Thallia stared through the windshield.

She wasn't sure she wanted to examine why that particular observation had landed so deeply.

Her affection for Jenna won out over her annoyance. “Very helpful. I'll call you when the landline is installed. Love you.”

Jenna's warmth returned. “Love you too. Talk soon.”

The call disconnected.

The silence in the Bronco gave Thallia room to consider Jenna's words.

Maybe Jenna had a point. Keeping Leon at a distance wasn't the same thing as standing on her own. Whatever place Leon found in it could be decided along the way.

And if her very attractive new friend happened to kiss her again, independence didn't require stupidity.

Thallia laughed at the windshield.

As she slowed the SUV and pulled into the small lot in front of the Crossing River Nursery, she spotted Leon walking toward her.

Her smile came before she could stop it. So much for keeping the man from influencing her day.

Then she noticed the county transport van parked near the fountain. Two men were securing a covered stretcher inside the back.

The sight wiped the smile from her face. For several minutes, talking to Jenna had almost allowed her to forget why Leon was here.

Thallia took a deep breath and climbed out.

Leon stood beside a man she hadn't seen before. He was somewhere in his late fifties, broad through the shoulders, with silver threaded through brown hair and a close-trimmed beard. Wire-rim glasses rested low on his nose as he looked over something on a clipboard.

Leon noticed her almost immediately. The change in his expression was small, but unmistakable.

He was happy to see her. Thallia felt an answering warmth.

She had just spent half the drive explaining why Leon wasn't going to become the center of her new life. Apparently, no one had informed her heart that there was a plan.

That didn't mean she couldn't enjoy the way he looked at her.

Leon finished whatever he was discussing with the other man before walking toward her.

His pleasure at seeing her warmed his voice. “I wasn't expecting to see you this morning.”

Thallia lifted her chin. “I'm buying plants.”

Amusement touched his eyes. “I didn't ask why you were here.”

Thallia gave him an accusing look. “You were going to.”

Leon held her gaze, letting himself enjoy the warmth that had settled through him the moment he'd seen her Bronco turn into the nursery.

He didn't bother denying it. “I was thinking about it.”

Thallia's smile grew. “That counts.”

Leon laughed, but he didn't look away.

Lydia had told him to listen, and for once he was trying to do exactly that. Not only to Thallia's words, but to whatever kept happening when she was near him.

Two centuries had given Leon plenty of time to understand his own heart. He knew what drew him to a woman and what usually faded once the first spark settled.

Thallia refused to fit anything he recognized.

Every time she came near him, that strange warmth returned, accompanied by a pull that seemed to reach beyond simple attraction.

After living as long as he had, Leon had grown accustomed to knowing what came next, but with Thallia, he had no idea.

He wanted to find out.

More than that, he wanted the chance to find out without anyone deciding the answer for them. Leon had never believed in fated mates, despite how fond some of his family could be of destiny. Whatever was growing between him and Thallia wasn't fate making a choice on their behalf.

If it became something more, it would be because they chose each other.

The older man joined them, carrying his clipboard beneath one arm.

Leon made the introductions. “Thallia, this is Dr Nate Jensen, the county coroner. Nate, Thallia Laskari.”

Nate offered his hand. His brown eyes were calm and observant behind his glasses. “The Evalyn Stavros?”

Thallia shook his hand, amused by how quickly her great-grandmother's name seemed to precede her own. “I'm beginning to think that's how I'm going to be identified around here.”

Nate smiled. “There are worse introductions.”

Thallia glanced around the nursery. “I'm starting to see that.”

Nate looked toward the transport van as the rear doors closed. “We're about finished here. I'll get the preliminary work done and call you when I have something useful.”

Leon gave him a grateful nod. “Thanks, Nate.”

The coroner gave Thallia a polite nod before heading toward his vehicle.

Thallia watched the transport van pull away before turning back to Leon. “Did you find out who he was?”

Leon's expression sobered. “Jake Mercer. He owned the nursery.”

The name landed harder now that she could attach it to the man she'd met yesterday.

Thallia looked toward the fountain. “I talked to him.”

Leon studied her face. “Yesterday?”

Thallia nodded. “Yeah, when I bought the plants. He helped me find what I needed.”

For a moment, the sound of the fountain filled the space between them.

Water spilling over stone caught against something in Thallia's memory.

The fountain was dark again. Jake's voice carried over the water, sharp with anger, while another voice answered him from beyond the edge of what she could see.

Thallia closed her eyes.

The image vanished almost as quickly as it came, leaving her standing beneath the morning sun with the same water falling behind her.

When she opened her eyes, Leon was watching her. Thallia started to tell him she was fine, but the words never came. The fountain was no longer the part of the dream holding her attention.

She remembered Jake's voice rising over the water. He hadn't been alone before he died.

He had been arguing with someone.