My Furry Valentine: "In Between" 1.5 (Peculiar Mysteries)
Author: George, Renee
Date: 2016-04-05

My Furry Valentine

The Misadventures of Sunny Haddock

An *In Between* Peculiar Mystery

Book 1.5

By Renee George

My Furry Valentine (Peculiar Mysteries Book 1.5)

Copyright © Renee George 2016 – All Rights Reserved

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the copyright holder.

Any trademarks, service marks, product names or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement by the author of this work.

This is a work of fiction. All characters and storylines in this book are inspired only by the author’s imagination. The characters are based solely in fiction and are in no relation inspired by anyone bearing the same name or names. Any similarities to real persons, situations, or incidents is purely coincidental.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Also by Renee George

About the Author

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Summary

Weeks away from having her first baby, human psychic Sunny Haddock wants to marry the father and love of her life, coyote shifter Babel Trimmel, on Valentine’s Day. Then disaster strikes. And keeps striking. Between the personal maintenance disasters and the theft of their weddings bands, it appears Sunny and Babel’s nuptials are doomed. Until their friends in the shifter community of Peculiar, Missouri come to the rescue, determined to give Sunny and Babel a happily-ever-after.

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You’ve Got Tail (Book 1)

Thank You For Not Shifting (Book 2)

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Chapter One

February 13th

Normally, I am not a defeatist. You’ll never hear anyone who knows me say, “Boy, that Sunny Haddock sure is a quitter.” On the contrary, I am an optimist by nature. However, as I lay on the cold concrete floor of Peculiar Paw-On, my wedding dress ripped and stained red, and my stomach cramping so hard I can barely breathe, I am truly ready to cry “uncle.”

At least now I know it is a who behind the sabotage of my Valentine’s Day nuptials, not a what. It doesn’t matter, though. As of now, the wedding is off.

****

Two weeks earlier - 14 days until the wedding...

“Oh. My. God.” Chavvah Trimmel, my business partner and my soon to be sister-in-law, gasped. Her dark brown hair, long and thick, spilled over her shoulders as she shook her head, her blue eyes wide with horror. “Oh, Sunny! Did you stick your head in the oven?”

“That would’ve turned out better.” I put my hands in front of my face to hide the ravaged skin. “Don’t look at me.” The tears stung as they rolled down my raw cheeks. “Ow.” I rubbed my swollen pregnant belly and hiccupped. I was five months along, which in the therian world was practically full term. Shifter babies only needed six months to cook, unlike their human counterparts who took a full nine. Even though I wasn’t a shifter, my baby certainly was.

Chavvah took my arm and led me to a chair in my small but wonderful kitchen. Babel had painted it a sage green with accents of gold and chocolate brown. On the wall above the coppery back splash, he’d stenciled the words, Above all else. Love.

Chav patted my thigh. “Tell me why you took a sandblaster to yourself.”

Despite my embarrassment, I managed a laugh. “Well, you know those miracle sponges? The ones that take stains off the wall?”

“You didn’t!”

I nodded, cringing at the look of pure disbelief in her eyes. “I’m getting married on Valentine’s Day. That’s in two weeks, Chav.” I held up my index and middle fingers. “Two! And this Missouri winter is killing my complexion. It’s bad enough I’m going to be fat in my pictures—”

“Pregnant.”

“Whatever! I want dewy skin, damn it.” I knew I was being cranky, but junior was putting a lot of pressure on the inside of my ribs, I had constant heartburn, and I couldn’t walk three feet without farting. It felt like every part of my body was rebelling against me.

“Sunny.” She put her arm around my shoulder. “You are—um, were—beautiful.”

I wailed. “I look like I’ve been kissing the sun’s ass.”

I saw her mouth twitch and her eyes crinkle at the corners.

“Don’t you dare laugh at me, Chavvah Trimmel!”

Chav made an obvious effort to swallow her giggles. She walked to the counter to grab the tissue box, her limp noticeable. I worked at hiding my sympathy. There was nothing she hated more than people feeling sorry for her. Her uneven gait was a result of being kidnapped and tortured by monsters—the human variety—and even though she was a therianthrope, or for simplification, an animal shifter, she would always carry the scars of what those men did to her.

I still felt guilty sometimes. You see, I’m a psychic. Obviously not a very good one, considering I didn’t foresee the miracle sponge ripping my face off, but when my ability works, it’s wicked accurate. I’d left San Diego, California and moved to Peculiar, Missouri in June, shortly after Chavvah had gone missing. My ability showed me nightmare images and clues to her whereabouts, but it still took several weeks to find and rescue her.

She handed me the tissue box. I pulled out several sheets and carefully dotted the tears from my face. It freaking hurt. “I can’t let Babe see me like this.”

My unsympathetic baby pummeled me right in the bladder. Even my own child thought I was a doofus. The little darling kicked again, this time even harder.

“Oof,” I said, holding my stomach and crossing my legs.

“Are you okay?”

I shook my head and felt my lower lip jut. “My face looks like a piece of aged steak, I can’t tell my ankles from my calves, and I’m pretty sure I just peed my stretchy, unflattering maternity pants. I am far from okay.”

“It’ll be all right, Sunny.” Chav hit a button on her phone and put it to her ear. After a short pause, she said, “Hey doc. No, I’m fine. Yes, the therapy is going well. Yes, I’m taking my meds. No, I’m not overdoing it. Yes, I’m doing my stretches. Jesus, Billy Bob, I’m good.” She paused again. “I called because Sunny needs you.”

Chav disliked Doctor Billy Bob Smith almost as much as she hated people feeling sorry for her. The aversion to all things Billy Bob seemed to run in the Trimmel family. Babel couldn’t stand him either. I think it had something to do with the doc being a lycanthrope, or a werewolf, and not a therian. Or maybe it had to do with Billy Bob being a shaman as well as an M.D. The Trimmels had been raised Christian, and mysticism was a hard pill for them to swallow. I didn’t get it. He was a nice man, a competent doctor, and super easy on the eyes.

When Chav disconnected the call, she said, “He’s on his way over.”

“Wow, he must be having a slow day.”

“It’s you, Sunny.” Obviously irritated, Chav went to the sink and filled a glass of water. “So, yeah, he’ll come running.”

“Are you mad at me?” More tears welled in my eyes, threatening to scorch my burning cheeks. Damn pregnancy hormones.

Chav’s gaze softened. “Of course not.”

“Oh, good. Will you make me lunch? I have yummy sweet potato gnudi in the fridge. Easy to reheat. Oh, and I’d like some spicy pickled beets on the side. Top shelf on the left,” I directed.

She shook her head, grinning as she opened the refrigerator.

“Thank you, Auntie Chav,” I sang. I kicked my legs like a happy toddler. “This niece or nephew of yours is hungry.” Thanks to my psychic powers, I knew the sex, but Babe wanted to be surprised, so I hadn’t told anyone that I’d had a vision of him throwing a football around with our daughter. She would be a hella-tomboy. I smiled, absently rubbing my stomach. She would be strong and fierce, just like Chavvah, and this knowledge pleased me to no end.

By the time the gnudi was hot and on a plate in front of me, the juice from the beets adding a vibrant shade of burgundy to the brown butter sauce, Billy Bob arrived.

When I’d first met him, he had waist-length dreadlocks, but in the past month he’d had his hair cut to his shoulders, and his thick, silvery hair framed his face in a tangle of lush curls. I sighed. A man shouldn’t be that beautiful.

His skin was a light shade of mocha, his eyes were a pale shade of gray, and his body... Oof. I grabbed my stomach as Baby Trimmel gave me another good kick.

Chavvah cast me a slightly judge-y gaze, and if my face hadn’t already been on fire, I’m sure I would have felt the heat rush to my cheeks.

“Hey, Billy Bob,” I said, trying to cut through the now awkward tension in the room.

He held a small tub in his right hand. He smiled, and his eyes lit up with humor. “I heard you decided to perform dermabrasion without a medical license.”

Chav snorted. “That’s one way to put it.”

“I’ve made you a mixture of salves and herbs, along with something to help with the pain.” He handed me the container.

I unscrewed the lid and sniffed. It smelled like sweet clover and honey. “Nice. How long will it take to heal my face?”

“A couple of days.” He must have seen my disappointment because he winked, and added, “I could always kiss it better.”

I didn’t even try to fight the grin. Lycanthropes had healing properties in their saliva, and once, after I’d had my jaw dislocated, Billy Bob had definitely kissed it better. Which is the exact moment I knew I’d fallen in love with Babel. The kiss had been all kinds of awesome, but all I could think about was Babe. Babe hadn’t appreciated the doc’s treatment protocol at the time and had made me promise to forgo healing by kissing in the future. “Nope.” I tapped the lid. “Better to heal up the old fashioned way.”

Billy Bob laughed. It was rich and melodious. “No worries, Sunny. I added some kisses to the ointment.”

Oh thank Heavens! It meant my face really would get better quickly. Slow healing was one of the many drawbacks of being human. “You’re the best.”

He walked over, tucked his finger under my chin and gave my face a once over. “You really did a thorough job.” He placed a brotherly kiss on the top of my head. “But nothing that can’t be fixed.”

“Thanks,” I said with genuine gratitude.

“Glad I could be of service.”

“I’ll bet you are,” Chav mumbled.

Billy Bob gave her a wry glance, but before he could rebut, my front door flew open, and Ruth Thompson rushed inside.

“Sunny!” she shouted.

I stood up, alarmed at her urgency. “What’s happened? Babe? Is he hurt?” Ruth had been helping Babel settle into his official job as mayor of Peculiar. He needed an assistant and she needed a break from Doe Run Automotive, the business owned by her husband, Ed.

“Jesus,” she whispered, her doe eyes (and I do mean doe) widened. “What happened to you? Did you fall into the fireplace?’

“Focus, Ruth.” The baby kicked again, and I leaned on the table. “Just tell me the news before I go into premature labor.”

Ruth inhaled deeply to slow her breathing. “Your almost in-laws are driving up here. They’ll be here this evening.”

“Mom and Dad are coming tonight?” Chavvah said. “They weren’t supposed to arrive until the tenth. Where they hell are they going to stay?”

Heart pounding, gut wrenching panic welled inside me. Bile burned my throat. I couldn’t entertain Babe’s folks for fourteen days, I was barely holding on to my sanity as it was. Besides, they’d already voiced their unhappiness about Babel marrying a human. I found those protests somewhat hypocritical because the Trimmels were integrators—therians who didn’t believe in isolating themselves in shifter-only communities. They believed the only way to survive in the modern world was to stay immersed in human culture. Ironically, they blamed me for their children’s choices. In their minds, it was my fault that Babel and Chavvah had decided to live in a shifter community.

“I am so screwed,” I whispered.

Billy Bob patted my shoulders. “Keep your chin up and your face greased.”

“What?”

“You have to layer the ointment on thick and leave it on your skin until it’s healed. The formula will make you look like you smeared on bacon fat, but it’ll be worth it.”

Crap! Panic twisted inside me. “Can’t you just lick it better?”

“Sunny!” Chav protested.

Billy Bob grinned. “Not unless I want to get into a dogfight with a coyote.”

“Fine,” I said grumpily. I opened the tub and grabbed a handful of the salve. Ruined face. Peed pants. Fat ankles.

What else could go wrong?

Chapter Two

To my relief, Babe had called me and promised his parents were coming for a short visit. Apparently, they wanted to meet their future daughter-in-law before the wedding. Go figure. My face felt better with Billy Bob’s healing salve layered on a quarter of an inch thick. I hated that my almost-in-laws first impression of Babe’s intended mate would be me looking like one of those Housewives of LaLaLand after a Botox and derma-peel party. At least, my lips weren’t bee stung and I could form expressions on my face.

I smiled and wiggled my brows. Ow.

Sorta form expressions.

Anyhow, I’d been stupid, and I’d deal with the consequences.

I rubbed my belly, took a breath, and opened my mind to visions. I wanted to know how the visit with Babe’s parents would go. Minutes passed. As usual, nothing came to me. I’d started doing readings down at the restaurant, and with some coaching from Billy Bob (in his shaman capacity), sometimes I could conjure visions related to specific questions. It didn’t always work. I’d sent away more than one unhappy customer. Unfortunately, my ability had become even more unpredictable since the pregnancy, especially when it came to my own future.

My face was a prime example.

In the late afternoon, Babel honked the horn of our SUV as he pulled into the driveway. Crap. In-law alert! I quickly removed my feet from the coffee table and sat up straighter, trying to assume an air of dignified grace.

I farted.

Oh, God. I stood up and waved the air around me. Why hadn’t I stocked up on Febreeze? I lumbered to the cabinet on the far side of the room where we kept the cleaning supplies. All I could find was the lemon-scented dusting spray. I grabbed it, slammed the cabinet shut, and awkwardly jogged back to the couch. I spewed copious amounts of duster into the air. Panicked, I lobbed the canister across the room. It rolled across the floor and disappeared into the kitchen.

My fiance walked in, all six foot two inches of broad muscles. His normally messy brown hair was styled professionally for his new job, but it didn’t take away from the roughness lumberjack vibe provided by his five o’clock shadow. I took one look at his gorgeous blue eyes and his beautiful bow lips and shivered from my head to my groin. Damn, that man did me in! He was so incredibly sexy.

I gulped as he walked into the room, trying to control my urge to throw myself at him. Something I did on a regular basis since getting pregnant. The extra hormones flooding my body had made me horny as hell.

“Babe,” I said, forgetting everything but him.

His smile faltered. “What happened to your face? Are you okay?”

It was as if someone had dumped ice water over my libido. “Fine. Good. Doing some skin maintenance.”

His nose twitched. “Why does it smell like lemon poop in here?”

Stupid shifters with their stupid sensitive noses.

“Babel, are you going to let us in?” said a woman behind my almost husband.

Babe joined me in front of the couch.

An older woman entered. She looked to be in her late forties, which meant she was probably in her sixties. Therianthropes weren’t immortal, but they were long-lived. Her light brown hair was twisted into a loose bun with curls falling around her face. The man behind her was the older version of Babel, and wow, I had a lot to look forward to in the future. Behind them was an elderly lady, and really, the fact that she looked old meant she was probably ancient.

“You all must be tired after driving all morning.” I put on my cheeriest smile and quickly stopped. Stretching my lips that far hurt. A lot.

Babe leaned close and kissed my ear. “Relax, sweetheart. They’re not going to eat you.”

The woman with the bun stepped forward and held out her hand to me. “I’m Celia,” she said. “The mom.”

We shook hands. Firm, but not too tight. “Hi, the mom.”

She laughed, which surprised me. Maybe my fears were unfounded. “This is my husband, Daniel.” She gestured to the older version of Babe. “And this is Great Aunt Erma Jean.”

Erma Jean peered at me. “Why do you have grease on your face?”

“Facial treatment,” I said. “Supposed to give me dewy skin.”

Erma Jean snorted. “In my day, a bride didn’t dip her head into a grease trap right before the groom’s family arrived.”

An awkward silence descended.

Finally, Babe cleared his throat. “Let’s sit down.”

The sofa seated three comfortably, but we also had a loveseat for two and a single recliner. Babe took my hand and led me to the comfy chair. He grinned at me as he pulled me onto his lap. I giggled.

Celia clearly disapproved.

Erma Jean took the love seat. Celia and Daniel sat down on the couch. Both of them grimaced. I knew why immediately. I had emptied almost an entire can of dusting solution onto it. I laughed weakly. “I Scotch-guarded the sofa. It feels a little different, doesn’t it?”

“I didn’t know they made Scotch-guard with scents,” said Celia.

“Uh, yeah. I love lemon. My favorite.”

“Where’s Chavvah?” asked Daniel, clearly uninterested in the house cleaning conversation.

Babel wrapped his arms around my waist, his hands resting over mine on my huge stomach. “She went into town to pick up dinner,” I said. “She’ll be back soon.”

“I thought you cooked,” said Aunt Erma Jean, disapproval in her voice.

“She does, Auntie.”

Aunt Erma Jean looked unconvinced.

“Babe says that you have the ability to see things. A psychic of some kind,” Celia said. “Is that true?”

“Yes.” My lips thinned. This was not the first conversation I thought I’d have with the in-laws.

Babe shrugged. “I told mom about how you helped find Chav, and about...”

Judah. I knew the loss of his older brother was still painful. I cupped his cheeks and kissed his warm lips, quick but tender. “I understand.”

“Is it true?” Celia asked again. I could read the skepticism in her face. “You saw Jude?”

Oh man. Of course, they would want to know about the final moments of their dead son. Judah had initially visited me as a coyote spirit, and only in his last moments before he passed over had I been able to talk to him. He’d conveyed his love and farewells to Babe and Chav, but he hadn’t mentioned his parents at all. He’d turned his back on integration nearly a decade before he’d disappeared, which strained his relationship with Celia and Daniel. Even so, a mother didn’t stop loving her child, even if that child was a disappointment.

“Yes, it’s true,” I told her. “Judah helped me to unravel the mystery behind his disappearance and helped us find Chavvah.”

“Didn’t you get kidnapped too?” asked Aunt Erma Jean. “Guess you didn’t see that coming.”

“Auntie,” Babel warned.

“We have a hard time believing in psychics,” said Celia.

“I’m sure a lot of people feel the same way about shapeshifters.” Bam. Score one for the human psychic. This was practically the same conversation I’d had with Babe when I first told him about my ability.

The older woman nodded. “Fair enough. Can you show us how it works?”

“My gift has been hit and miss lately,” I said honestly. “And really, it’s never been very reliable.” I took a deep breath. A full smile was out of the question, but I tried to lift my lips a little. I prayed I didn’t look like a feral rabbit. “But I’m happy to see if my ability is working today.”

Babel stroked my arm. “You don’t have to do this.”

I leaned forward and stretched out my hand to Celia. She grasped mine, her gaze expectant.

“Do you want me to try for your past, your present, or your future?”

“Past or present,” she said. “I have nothing to hide.”

Was she trying to prove me a fraud? Or just embarrass me in front of Babe? “And a future vision is harder to debunk.”

Celia said nothing, which only confirmed my suspicions. I wanted to like Celia, but we were off to a bad start. “Think of a specific instance in your past. Something with a strong emotion attached works best.”

“Okay.” I could hear the smile in her voice.

My peripheral vision dimmed as the vision slowly unfolded. Soon, I was sitting under an open sky.

A young mother holds her infant, singing softly as she strokes his cheek.

“All through the night.

Darkness is another light

That exposes true beauty

The Heavenly family in peace

All through the night.”

When the song ends, she kisses his forehead. He is swaddled in a pale green receiving blanket with a Christian cross embroidered in the corner. She folds back the blanket to tickle his tiny tummy. “You are loved, Jude.” Tears of joy crest her eyes. “Always.”

“All through the night,” I whispered.

“Mom,” Babel said. “Are you okay?”

I blinked, the room coming into focus again. Celia stared at me, her brown eyes haunted. “What did you see?”

I couldn’t imagine the pain and loss she suffered from Judah’s death. I couldn’t even think about how I’d react if something happened to our child. I didn’t want to make the pain more acute, so I opted for a half-truth. “A pale green receiving blanket. With an embroidered cross.”

Celia picked up her oversized purse from the floor. She pulled out a package. “This is for your baby.”

I opened the gift. Inside was the blanket I’d seen in the vision. She was passing down an heirloom for our child. Mine and Babe’s. The blanket was proof of their acceptance, however reluctant they might be to welcome me into their family. I sniffled as all the feels swept over me. Babel pulled me back into his embrace and kissed the side of my neck.

“Thank you,” I said softly.

“The stress can’t be good for the baby,” Aunt Erma Jean said. Her voice was raspy with age. For a therianthrope to look as geriatric as she did, she had to be at least a century old. “Humans aren’t meant to carry shifter offspring.”

“Erma Jean!” said Daniel, looking embarrassed. He looked at me. “Humans and shifters have mated for centuries. You’ll be fine.”

The front door swung open and Chav arrived with the take-out. She put the food in the kitchen and returned, sitting next to Aunt Erma Jean on the love seat.

“You’re looking well,” said Erma Jean, patting her niece’s leg.

It was the first time I’d seen Erma Jean be nice. The gesture made it clear that not everyone in the Trimmel family approved of me.

“I’m okay, Auntie.” Chav crossed her arms and stared at her mom. “So, why are you really here?”

Celia bristled. “To meet Sunny. Is that so difficult to believe?”

“Uhm, how do I say this…yes.”

“We’re early because Babe asked us to come,” said Daniel.

Chav turned a sharp gaze to Babe’s face. He had the good sense to look chagrined.

“We all know why Babe asked us here.” Erma Jean withdrew a small square box from her purse. The box was black with gold inlay. It looked regal and had an antique feel.

Babe stood us both up and took the box from his aunt. Then he turned and went down to one knee right in front of me. My legs started to shake.

“I know you said you didn’t need a real engagement ring, just a real engagement, but Sunny, you deserve it all.”

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach and my breath caught in my chest.

He opened the box. The inside was lined with velvet and held a diamond and emerald engagement ring with a braided band of yellow and white gold. Behind it was a wedding band made in the same fashion. A set.

My heart skipped a beat.

“Sunny, you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. The only thing more beautiful is your spirit. You are kind, gentle, fierce, and passionate. From the moment we met, I knew you were the other half of my soul. You are the only person I have ever wanted to share my life with. I love you with all my heart. I am asking you, in the presence of my family, if you will make me the happiest and luckiest man on earth by consenting to be my wife. My mate.”

I couldn’t stop the tears. They slid down my oily face as he looked up at me with such love and devotion. If he saw me as beautiful when I was covered in grease, swollen like a German sausage, and so hormonal I cried at the drop of a hat, it had to be true love.

I nodded. “Yes, Babe. Again and again, yes.”

He stood, wrapping his arms around me, and kissed me. When he pulled back, he had Billy Bob’s ointment smeared across his mouth and cheeks.

I cried harder.

“I love you so much,” he said.

I used the sleeve of my shirt to wipe his face clean. “I love you, Babel Trimmel.”

He took the engagement ring from the box. I held out my trembling left hand. He slid it on my ring finger, and even with my recent weight gain, it was too big. I pushed the band back, the tip of my finger stroking the diamond, not huge, but a generous half karat and all gorgeous. The emeralds were small and encircled the diamond. “It’s beautiful, Babel.”

“It was my Great Grandmother Doris’s,” he told me. “And now it’s yours.”

“I’m so happy...” My voice trailed off as my face began to tingle, another tell-tale sign of an incoming vision. “Babe.”

He eased me into the chair, and the world went dark.

I am free. Finally able to love. Finally able to put the past behind me. My secret is safe. We have agreed to live as humans. To not allow our natures to make us beasts. We have created a safe place for when the full moon turns us into animals against our will. A place where I can hide. He loves me.

“Her secret,” I mumbled. My eyesight cleared and once again I was in the living room surrounded by Babel’s family. “Her secret.”

“Are you okay, Sunny?” Babel wrapped his arm around my shoulder. The ring slid off my finger and bounced across the floor.

Aunt Erma Jean, moving faster than a person her age should, plucked the ring mid-roll and stood up.

“This will have to be resized.” She gripped it in her palm. As if suddenly aware she was being watched, the old woman said, “This is my sister’s ring. Losing it would send me to an early grave. I’m sure you don’t want that on your conscience.”

I rubbed my palms together as the private memory tried to resurface. “She really loved the man who gave her the ring.”

“Yes,” Erma Jean agreed. Her eyes narrowed on me. “She really did.” The hostile stare from the elderly therian raised the hackles on the back of my neck. If anyone could stand a little softening that came with human contact, I had a feeling it was Great Aunt Erma Jean.

“Can you tell me about Doris?” I knew from passing conversation that she’d died before he was born. Some kind of accident, but I’d never gotten the full story. “Babe said she died young.”

“Yes,” Erma Jean said. “After Celia was born.” She picked at some lint on her sweater. “She was killed by a rogue werewolf. They are unpredictable creatures. Dangerous and unstable.”

I thought about Billy Bob. While I believed he could be dangerous if he wanted to be, I also believe he was one of the most stable and compassionate people I’d ever met. Even more surprising than the old woman’s werewolf rant was Babe’s lack of protest against such prejudice. Billy Bob was the lone lycan in town, and I’d always assumed Babe’s dislike of the wolf shifter had more to do with a difference in philosophies, but now I wondered if the dislike had deeper roots. It was easy to see that Erma Jean blamed the entire lycanthrope species for her sister’s death.

“I’m sorry. I can tell how painful her loss is for you.” Impulsively, I reached out and touched Erma Jean’s hand.

Two animals hunt side-by-side, one wolf and one coyote, both in harmony. The moon is full, and they embrace their nature. Embrace their love...

Erma Jean snatched her hand away from me.

Had she been in love with a lycanthrope? Had he hurt her? Was that another reason she hated werewolves?

“Sunny,” Babe said, pulling me closer to him.

The vision had been innocuous, harmless, yet I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling in the pit of my gut. This sense of foreboding had me twisted in a million knots. “I think I need to lie down for a while.”

“Should I call Doc Smith?” Chavvah asked.

“No,” I said quickly. Maybe too quickly. I didn’t have to be clairvoyant to know that bringing a lycanthrope into our home now, while Erma Jean remained, was a really bad idea.

Chapter Three

12 days until the wedding...

Peculiar Paw-On smelled of gun oil, mildew, and rusted pennies. It was six in the evening, and our final stop after a long day of cake tasting at Becky’s Bakery, food selecting for the rehearsal dinner and reception at Blonde Bear Cafe, and a dress and tux fitting at The Formal Invitation, a dress shop across the street from the café and catty-corner to the pawnshop. Sally Michaels, another coyote shifter and the owner of the shop, sold dresses for all kinds of formal occasions. She’d ordered in an off-white shift dress overlaid with antique lace, and it had long sleeves and a hem that hit right above my knee. She’d had to make a few alterations because the half-coyote baby in my belly was growing fast (or maybe it was the half dozen donuts I’d eaten for breakfast).

The pawn store had been open for less than a year. The owner Jeremiah Bowers, who I’d found out, was a weresquirrel, (Don’t laugh. We have several squirrel shifters in Peculiar, including a deputy sheriff, who happens to be a really nice man) wasn’t at the register. I glanced around the shop. Display cases highlighted jewelry, guns, and small electronics. Knick-knacks and memorabilia lined the shelves. Over in the music corner, Delbert and Elbert Johnson, the twins who owned the general store, played with a guitar and a mandolin. Both men wore their standard overalls, their white hair short and their beards unkempt. Except Elbert’s face was a little fuller and he had a small blond freckle at the outer corner of his left eye.

They looked up as Babel and I walked further into the store.

“Hey, Sunny. You ready for the big day?” Delbert said as he patted his rounded stomach and wiggled his eyebrows.

“Are you?” I asked him with mock concern. “I think you’re about due any day now.”

Elbert started laughing so hard he wheezed. “She got you, brother. She got you good.”

Delbert joined in, his laugh turning into a coughing fit. “She sure did.”

The twins were opossum shifters, and they were both in the top ten of my all-time awesome people list. When they passed us on the way out, both men leaned down and I gave them both a peck on the cheeks.

“Should I be jealous?” Babel asked with a smile.

“Definitely.”

He squeezed my hand. Jeremiah Bowers, the new owner of the pawnshop, came out of the back. “Oh. I didn’t know you all were out here. Hope you weren’t waiting too long.”

“Nope,” Babe said. “We just got here.”

Jeremiah, his blond hair short and slicked back, shuffled nervously. He wouldn’t meet my eyes. I had that effect on some of the folks in town. While some loved that I might be able to see their past or foretell their future, some of the citizens weren’t keen on me knowing their business. I couldn’t blame them. I certainly wouldn’t want someone dredging up my past. My childhood had been odd, to say the least, especially growing up in a commune.

When Jeremiah finally looked at me, he gaped. “Uh, you should probably start using SPF fifty.”

“What?”

“That’s one hell of a sunburn on your face.”

“Oh. Right. I should’ve used more sunscreen.” I fanned myself. The miracle sponge damage had nearly cleared up, but my face had a shiny pink glow about it. I’d used some foundation, but apparently not enough.

Babel set the ring box on the counter and ignored the current topic of conversation. Smart man. “We need these resized for the fourteenth. Is that doable?”

Jeremiah opened the box. “Wow, that’s some really great craftsmanship.”

Peculiar Paw-On was the closest thing our small town had to a real jewelry store. Jeremiah had put a new setting on Ruth Thompson’s anniversary ring, so I knew he had some experience with adjusting rings. Aunt Erma Jean had insisted we go to a Lake Ozarks jeweler, but people in Peculiar took care of their own.

Jeremiah pulled out what looked like a set of keys from beneath the counter and pushed it across to me. “Ms. Haddock, see which band fits your finger so I can get your size.”

“I’m a seven,” I said. “I’ve always been a seven.” I slid the size seven metal ring down my finger and it stuck on my knuckle. I tried again. Same result. Jeremiah turned around and pretended he was busy with some paperwork. Frustrated, I tried the seven and a half. It was tight. Really tight. I sighed as the eight slipped down easily. Slightly snug, but enough wiggle room to get it on and off. “Well, that sucks,” I said.

“We’d like this sized to an eight,” Babe said.

Damn. If I was an eight, the ring was probably a ten. Great grandma must have had some huge hands.

“You got it, Mayor,” Jeremiah said. “I’ll have it ready by the tenth.”

Babel nodded, and I marveled at how comfortable the title had become for him. He pulled out his wallet.

“No, no.” Jeremiah shook his head. “On me. A wedding gift.”

Babel didn’t argue, so I gratefully accepted the goodwill gesture. I remembered how hard it was to be new in town. Of course, I had the added pressure of being the only human.

As we were leaving, Roger Parks pushed his way through the door. He and Kyle Avery had been Jo Jo Corman’s best friends. Jo Jo, an eighteen-year-old cougar-coyote shifter, had been one of my first connections in Peculiar. He’d worked for Chav and me in our restaurant since we opened our doors in September. Dirty from either farm work or mudding, Roger scowled at me...until he caught the “I’ll rip your eyes out and shove them down your throat look” from Babe.

In his mind, because Jo Jo worked for me, I’d taken him away. I guess it was easier to blame me than accept Jo Jo had moved on from his friends’ immature antics and infantile jokes.

“I have an appointment to see Dolly at Beastly Beauty,” I told Babel.

“You need a ride home later?”

“No. Chavvah will take me.” I felt guilty that Chavvah was managing the business every day without me, but she said it was her wedding present to me. I was grateful for the time off. One of those pre-wedding errands today would be hoo-ha maintenance. Since the pregnancy, I’d let my girly parts go wild. I usually did it myself using depilatory cream, but I wanted my lady-bits to look good for my groom. Besides, I couldn’t reach between my thighs because of my distended belly. So, I’d made an appointment for my first bikini wax.

“Getting your hair done?” Babe asked.

“Of a sort.” I batted my eyelashes.

“Is there something in your eye?”

“No.” I smacked him on the shoulder. “I’m trying to flirt with you, moron.”

He pulled me in close with a sudden quickness that took my breath away. He stared down at me as if he could capture my soul. And why not, he’d already captured my heart. I felt the rigid length of his shaft press against me as he stroked his hand through my hair.

“Looking at you, holding you close to me, knowing I get the share the rest of our lives together...that’s the only flirting I need, Sunshine Haddock.”

Oh Jeezus. My girly bits throbbed.

“I’m getting a bikini wax,” I said, breathless and feeling super warm even in thirty-six-degree weather. “Ho boy.”

Babe raised an eyebrow, a quirk of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Oh yeah?”

“Yep. It’s going to be really awkward though if you don’t ease up on your sexual mojo.”

“I do have mojo,” he agreed. His lips slid over mine, and he poured heat into my mouth, warming me up from the inside out. “I’m looking forward to tonight.”

“Me too,” I panted. He let me go and turned me toward the beauty shop. He gave me a tantalizing and decidedly unprofessional (for the mayor) slap my ass as his final farewell.

****

Two hours later, I tried not to cry on the ride home. Chavvah kept shaking her head, but she had the good sense to keep her comments to herself. I thanked all that was good and merciful that my maternity stretch pants were baggy in the crotch.

As I walked into the cabin (by myself, because no way was I inviting Chav in to witness my humiliation), Babel waited for me, stretched out on the couch in nothing but a pair of tented sweatpants. The smile on his face wavered then disappeared.

“How’d it go?”

Without saying a word, I pushed down my pants and underwear and pulled up my shirt. Red welts surrounded my fun bits, where Dolly had poured hot wax and ripped off errant hairs and the top layer of skin. After, she’d plucked out the really stubborn hairs, causing blood to ooze from the traumatized follicles. The pain, if possible, was worse than when I scrubbed my face off.

“Wow, I guess we’re not having sex tonight,” Babe said—the master of understatement. A grin threatened his lips.

I reached down—not an easy feat—and yanked my pants back up. “Laugh and you’ll never have sex again.”

His face immediately sobered. “Duly noted.”

In our bedroom, I stripped down, showered in cool water, and flopped onto the bedspread naked. The only comfortable position was spread eagle with the ceiling fan on full blast. Babe peeked his head in the door, and I threw a pillow, missing him by several feet.

I moved my forearm over my eyes. “Go away.”

Babel climbed next to me in bed. “Do you want to cuddle?”

“I want a time machine so I can go back and tell my idiot self not to get a bikini wax. Ever.”

He stretched next to me and gently brought me into his embrace. He kissed my neck then wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. He was the big comfy spoon to my hot-mess spoon.

“Love you,” he said.

“Love you.” If I didn’t know any better, I’d think Fate was trying to put the kibosh on my nuptials, but I was determined to stay positive about our wedding. Just because my face had a bad case of road rash, the rings didn’t fit, and my downstairs la-la looked like I’d thrown acid on it, didn’t mean anything. Right?

Chapter Four

10 days until the wedding...

I’d spent the better part of two days refusing to leave the cabin. On the third morning, I stared at myself in the mirror, thankful the normal color was returning to my cheeks. Pleasantly enough, the new skin was supple and glowy. So, while I wouldn’t recommend using a miracle sponge as a skincare product, all in all, the consequences could have been a lot worse.

Babel had left early for a meeting at the courthouse with the sheriff, the town council, and the Peculiar Chamber of Commerce about whether to approve some zoning or some such for Elton Brown’s furniture store. He wanted to build an extra room for inventory on the back of his shop. I really liked Elton, so I hope they all voted yes. Babe seemed pretty confident there wouldn’t be any issues.

The phone rang. The caller I.D. identified Jo Jo Corman. I answered it quickly. “Is everything okay?”

“I have some bad news.”

“Just tell me,” I said, steeling my resolve.

“The reception hall at the lodge flooded.”

Noooo! I tried for optimistic. “Surely they can fix the damage in ten days.”

“Nope. Sheri Smith says all the carpeted floors are ruined and the walls sustained water damage, too. It’ll take a month, maybe longer, to fix everything.”

“I swear to all that is homicidal and unholy, if another thing goes wrong, I will go ape-shit-crazy on someone’s ass!”

“Don’t kill the messenger,” Jo Jo said. The high pitch in his voice indicated his stress. “I didn’t want to tell you in the first place.”

“Lost the coin toss, did you?”

“Yeah.”

“Chavvah cheats.” I took a breath, sucking the air deep into my lungs. I wanted to blame how I felt on my hormones, but the truth was, I teetered on the edge of freaking out. Would nothing go right this week?

“If it weren't the middle of winter, we could do it outside,” said Jo Jo. “But I’m not sure where you’re going to find a place that seats most the town.”

This wasn’t Jo Jo’s problem. He should be worried about girls and school, not where I was going to hold my rehearsal dinner and wedding reception. “I’ll find a place, Jo Jo. You don’t concern yourself, okay?”

“Okay,” he said, sounding unconvinced.

“Thanks for calling.” After he said bye and hung up, I sank down onto the loveseat. “Well,” I said to Baby Trimmel. “This sucks.”

****

9 day until the wedding...

One day had passed with no luck on getting a new place for the rehearsal and reception. Valentine’s Day was only the busiest time of the year, next to Christmas, for most venues.

To take my mind off my wedding woes, Ruth had invited me to lunch. While I have been a vegetarian my whole life, for psychic reasons, the little half-therian inside me craved meat. The bloodier, the better. Yuck. I’d given in once to the craving and had a slaughter house vision that nearly sent me into premature labor. Since then, I tried to appease the wee one by eating a lot of meat substitutes. She wasn’t satisfied, which meant neither was I. Blondina Messer, the owner of Blonde Bear Cafe had called and said she might have a solution. I didn’t need any other enticement.

I detoured at the general store. My teeth needed some brightening, and I didn’t have any hydrogen peroxide at home. I’d also noticed a pimple coming out on my chin this morning. I worried it would take a miracle to look pretty for my wedding day… that or a deal with the…

Kyle Avery shoved past me on his way out of the general store, a shopping bag in hand. Speaking of the devil. He snarled at me, and I stopped, startled by his outright hostility. He sneered and laughed, and then head down the street without a second look back.

“Hey, Sunny,” Delbert shouted when he saw me enter the shop. “How you doing today?”

“Good, Del. How are you?”

“Same ole, same ole. You’re looking ready to go there,” he said, gesturing to my belly. “If you were an inch taller, you’d be round as a plum.”

I was too frazzled for a good comeback, so I just said, “That’s mean, Delbert. Even for you.”

“Oh, now, Sunny. You know I was just joshin’ you. You look good for an acorn.” He winked.

“You’re funny,” I said, “funny looking, that is.”

He laughed. “What can I do you for today?”

“I need some hydrogen peroxide.”

“Well, shoot. I just sold the last three bottles. Won’t get any more in until next week.”

“Next week will be too late,” I whined. “Oh well, baking soda is supposed to whiten teeth. You have it, or are you out of that too?”

Delbert came out from behind the register. He walked to the second aisle and pulled off an orange box. He handed it to me. “On the house,” he said. “For your pain and suffering.”

I gave his beard a friendly tug. “Thanks.” I looked at my watch. I’d told Ruth I’d meet her at one o’clock, and I was cutting it close. “Talk to you soon,” I told the opossum-shifter, and I raced (more like waddled) out the door.

****

The lunch rush was over by the time Ruth and I arrived at Blonde Bear Cafe. The burgers, tenderloins, and chicken fried steaks offered here made my mouth water. Baby Trimmel kicked me hard. “Don’t get too excited,” I whispered.

Blondina Messer lit up when she saw me. “I think I’ve got it, Sunny! I’ve solved the meat problem.”

I raised a skeptical brow.

“Now just hear me out.” She pulled out canned ham. I eyed the mystery meat suspiciously. “The fresher the meat, the fresher the vision. This stuff has been processed to a point that not even the company that makes it would know the origin. Plus it’s been sitting on a shelf for God knows how long. Thanks to the preservatives, it could probably sit on the shelf for another century and still be edible.”

“Debatable,” Ruth muttered. Blondina glared at her. Ruth shook her head but didn’t expound on her opinion.

“I know it’s not ideal, but...”

Baby Trimmel kicked me again. “Oof,” I said, holding my side. “Fix it up for me.”

“I’ll take a chicken salad,” Ruth said. When Blondina left, she leaned in close. “That stuff can’t be good for you or the baby.”

“The baby thinks different,” I said. “She is a carnivore through and through.” I had a dream once that she grew teeth in my womb and chewed her way out of me. In some part of my brain, even though Babe told me it was impossible, I secretly worried it might happen.

Blondina’s daughter Selena brought drinks to the table—iced tea for me and a diet cola with lemon for Ruth.

“How’s it going with Deputy Connelly?” I’d predicted their dating back in July.

She held out her hand. On her ring finger was a pretty little princess cut diamond in a platinum setting. “He just asked me last night!” she squealed.

“Oh, honey,” Ruth said. “I’m so happy for you.”

“That’s wonderful,” I said, taking her hand to get a closer look at the engagement ring. “It’s so pretty.”

A vision of Connelly rushing into the restaurant, his face pale and beaded with sweat, staggered me. I leaned back, suddenly alarmed.

“What is it?” Ruth asked.

“I don’t know. I really don’t. But it’s nothing good.”

Sheriff Taylor and his wife Jean came into the cafe. They sat at a table near Ruth and me.

“Hey, Sugar,” Jean said to me. She was a handsome woman with her long graying hair pulled into a loose bun. The slight dark circles around her eyes, like those on her husband, were more an indication of her animal side than a lack of sleep. Jean and the sheriff were both raccoon shifters.

“Hi, Jean.” I almost giggled, as I did every time I greeted her. Hi, Jean. Hygiene. My sophomoric humor aside, Jean was a nice woman, but she could cut you down with her sweetness like no one else I’d ever met. “Sheriff,” I said, nodding his way.

“Pleasant day,” he said, then turned his attention to the menu.

I spotted Blondina coming from the kitchen with something that looked like a burger and Ruth’s salad. I resisted rubbing my hands together in an eager yummy-yummy gesture. Baby Trimmel was a terrible influence on me.

The smell of smoked, salty meat wafted up at me from where she set the sandwich and sweet potato fries down on the table. My mouth watered. Gross. I swallowed. The “burger” was a large square hunk of pink meat grilled crispy on all sides, on top was a grilled pineapple, crisp iceberg lettuce, and some freshly pickled jalapenos.

I lifted the sandwich to my lips, opened wide, and sank in for a bite. I held my breath waiting for a horrid animal-killing vision. But there were no visions of blood, no squeals of dying pigs, no nothing.

I chewed and swallowed before my psychic-mojo could turn on me. A flutter in my belly told me my little darling was happy as well.

“Oh my gosh, Blondina,” I finally said after two more bites. “If I weren't already engaged, I’d marry you.”

Blondina’s broad smile lit her face. “I’m adding it to the rehearsal dinner menu.” She put her hand on my shoulder, her face suddenly full of pity. “I’m sorry to hear about The Glenn flooding. I hope you can find another venue on such short notice.”

“Thanks.”

The front door swished open and Deputy Connelly came barreling in. His face was white and sweaty. “Here it goes,” I whispered.

“Sheriff Taylor,” he shouted. “Come quick.”

The older man stood up. “Take a deep breath, Connelly. What’s the problem?”

Alarm bells sounded in my head.

“Jeremiah Bowers has been assaulted, and the pawnshop’s been robbed.”

An inky sickness brewed in my stomach.

“They took all the jewelry.”

I jumped to my feet knocking over the chair. Frustration boiled in me like water in an electric tea kettle—quickly and violently.

“All the jewelry?” I yelled.

Ruth looked at me askance, her mouth opened in shock.

“The rings,” I said to her. “Babel’s family heirlooms. Jeremiah was resizing them for me.” I grabbed my purse. “Sheriff, I’m coming with you.” I stared Sheriff Taylor dead in the eye, daring him to argue with me.

He lifted his hands in surrender. “Okay.”

****

Jeremiah wasn’t in the shop because he’d been taken to Billy Bob’s clinic. Connelly said that Jeremiah had been listening to his MP3 player and hadn’t heard the perpetrator. He’d been clocked from behind and fell to the floor, unconscious.

I wandered around, begging my psychic ability to kick in and give me some useful information. At one point, I nearly knocked over a shelf full of sewing and quilting supplies, including bolts of muslin and fabric dye. Unfortunately, the pawnshop had too many personal objects, and all those feelings and flashes of images overwhelmed me. My heart broke as I relived the desperation of folks’ parting with items that had sentimental or historical value.

After only a few minutes, I had to leave.

Sheriff Taylor joined me outside and confirmed my worst fear. “I’m sorry, Sunny. They got everything, including your wedding rings.”

I burst into tears.

Chapter Five

7 days until the wedding...

I met Babe for lunch at Sunny’s Outlook, the restaurant Chavvah and I owned together. It was small but cozy and only served vegetarian dishes. We had a great crowd today, and it warmed me to see we were really filling a niche in Peculiar.

Babel greeted me with a smile, and my mood instantly improved. He hadn’t really smiled since the rings had been stolen. “Good news,” he said.

“They found the wedding bands?”

He leaned down and kissed me. “Not that, but I do have a place for our rehearsal dinner.”

“Fantastic!”

“It’s not The Glenn, but there is plenty of room, and the lodge is renting us tables and chairs.”

“Well, don’t keep me in suspense.”

“The courthouse.”

“What?”

“The town council has approved the use of the basement auditorium.” He drew me in for a hug. “I know it’s not what you were hoping for.”

“It’s perfect,” I told him. “I’ll brainstorm with Chavvah and Ruth about the decorations and the set up.”

He smiled again, and I could tell it made him happy to solve one of our problems. Occasionally, men needed to solve a problem. Especially when it seemed like everything in their world was out of control.

“I am so pleased,” I told him. I leaned in close and put my hand on his upper thigh. “Tonight, I will show you just how much.”

A satisfying growl rumbled in his chest. “So, everything’s back to...normal?”

“I wouldn’t say normal, but close enough.”

****

6 days until the wedding...

The morning brought me more good news. The small package I’d ordered on Wonderzin.com awaited me on the porch. Excitedly, I took it inside and opened the box. Inside, the box contained a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and My Beautiful Bella’s Hair Depilatory kit. Usually, the hair on my upper lip was blonde and fine, but since the pregnancy, it had gotten hairier and darker. I needed to do something about the little mustache growing in, but there was no way in hell I was letting wax touch my upper lip.

I patted Baby Trimmel. “You better be worth it, peanut.” I was kidding, but only a little. I’d been in a state of perpetual heartburn since the mystery meat sandwich at Blondina’s, and the extra salt had added to my bloating exponentially.

I sat on the stool in the bathroom. My complexion looked pretty good now that it was completely healed, and my hair, which I’d always thought was a little on the thin side, had a fullness about it that I loved. I’d have to dye it soon, the roots were started to show, but it was a lovely shade of golden blonde, and it really complimented my green eyes.

It startled me to realize I was having a good day. It was the first in a long while that I didn’t feel like an ugly ogre.

“Hmm.” I smiled and unscrewed the lid on the remover. The depilatory smelled like roses and acetone, but not that unpleasant.

The directions said to leave it on for seven minutes, which seemed like a really random timeline. After, I would need to clean the area with a warm, wet washcloth and finish the process with the neutralizer.

The white cream burned on application, which meant it was working. Five minutes into the seven, and I saw blisters starting to form under the thick lotion.

“Oh crap.” I turned on the faucet and began dousing my face with copious amounts of water. My lip started tingling and numbness replaced the burning. I opened the second tube and slathered it on, realizing too late that the company had sent two tubes of depilatory and no neutralizer.

“Noooooo!” The word was muffled under the ever-increasing swell of my lips that now practically touched my nose. “Dis can’t ee appening.”

“Hey, darling,” I heard Babel call from the living room.

I ran to him, tears streaking my cheeks, and cried, “Aaaaah!”

I stopped cold.

He stood there with Great Aunt Erma Jean and Celia Trimmel.

Babel did a double-take. “Oh, dear Lord.”

“Babe, put some ice in a plastic baggie,” said Celia. I could only call her response total mom mode. “Where do you keep your antihistamines?”

While I didn’t find Celia the warmest of people, I was desperate for someone else to be in charge of my life in that very moment. She led me to the couch and helped me sit down. In short order, she handed me the cold compress, water with a straw, and a diphenhydramine tablet.

I sniffled. “Tank Oo.”

Babe sat next to me and put his arm around my shoulders. “Everything’s going to be all right.”

Hah.

****

An hour later, I was tired as hell, but at least the swelling hadn’t gotten worse and some of the feeling had returned to my upper lip. A quick call to Billy Bob reaffirmed Celia had done the right thing, and unfortunately, his miracle cream couldn’t cure this particular mess.

Celia and Erma Jean sat on the couch and stared at me. Celia looked concerned. The old lady practically vibrated with hostility. She pointed a gnarled finger at me.

“You are not meant to marry,” she said baldly. “Can’t you see the signs?”

Her words hung in the air as silence filled our living room. Babel’s face turned red, almost as red as mine had been days before. “I don’t believe in that nonsense,” he said with matter-of-fact determination.

The problem was, I did believe. I’d grown up with hippy-dippy mysticism crap during my formidable years, and I had an ability that could only be explained as something beyond this world. The fact that Babel was a shapeshifter, which pretty much screamed paranormal, didn’t seem to matter.

“Mom drove Auntie here so she could give the Sheriff a photograph of the rings,” explained Babel disrupting the tension. “They’re going to stay the night with us and return home tomorrow morning.”

“I’m sorry, Sunny,” Celia said. “We should have given you all more notice, but Auntie was really upset about her sister’s wedding bands.”

“They belong to Sunny now,” said Babel.

“Not until you speak the vows,” asserted Erma Jean. She grimaced. “My feet are tired and my back is sore. And I’m hungry.”

Exhaustion poured through me, but my inner hostess still surfaced. “I’ll throw something together for us.”

“No, you won’t,” said Babel firmly. “I’ll order take-out. You stay put and rest.”

He looked at his aunt. “Stop upsetting Sunny. Not another word about signs or canceling the wedding.”

Erma Jean waved him off. “Fine, fine.”

I appreciated Babel’s support and his determination. Yet, what if we were getting signs? What if there was some power beyond us that didn’t want Babe and I to wed? I could happily live with him in sin until we were old as dirt. It had worked for Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.

Why wouldn’t it work for us?

Chapter Six

5 days until the wedding...

Finally, it was the night of the rehearsal dinner. The women’s auxiliary along with the high school’s pep club had taken on the task of transforming a dreary basement—which Babel had optimistically called the auditorium—into a room fit for a princess and her Prince Charming. The tablecloths were deep chocolate in color with pale blue runners down the middle. The metal chairs had been camouflaged with navy blue slipcovers. Becky’s Bakery had coordinated with the florist in Lake Ozarks, and the centerpieces were lovely mixes of baby’s breath, silver accents, and velvet cake lollipops in the shape of hearts. Tea lights lit each setting and made it appear as if the tables had been blessed by fairies.

“It’s perfect,” I gasped. “Oh, Babe. I love this so much.”

He pulled me back against his chest, his long arms wrapping around me from behind. “You deserve perfect.” He kissed the edge of my ear, sending tingles through me.

I might be in my thirties, but this man made me feel like a giddy teenager, and every day I fell in love with him all over again. I can’t believe I’d worried about bad omens and ill-fated romance. The wedding rehearsal, with Ruth officiating, had gone off without a hitch, and the rehearsal dinner was turning into something even better than I’d imagined.

For dinner, Blondina had come up with a beef dish, a chicken dish, a vegetarian dish and a special canned meat dish just for me. Disgustingly so, my mouth had been watering for the mystery meat all day. Babe’s parents had arrived early in the day, and other than a few perfunctory but perfectly amiable words, they hadn’t talked to me much.

I saw Jo Jo across the room, his short, brown hair had grown out, and he’d lost the blond streaks that had spotted his scalp when we’d first met. He stood near a handsome man with amber eyes and a square jaw. I smiled. It was nice to see Brady out in the community. He’d spent too long in his self-imposed exile. The man who used to be the town drunk had truly turned his life around. Jo Jo waved, and Brady nodded at me. Not too far off from the Cormans was a table full of teenagers. I saw Kyle and Roger, along with two other boys and three very pretty young girls. I saw Jo Jo cast a glance their way, a strange look on his face as he watched them laughing and telling each other animated stories. Was he lonely? My heart ached for him. Between his work at the restaurant and offering emotional support for his dad’s sobriety, Jo Jo had had little time to be a kid.

Eldin Farraday, another deputy sheriff, and Taylor Thompson, one of Ruth’s oldest boys, leaned against the wall near the food warmers. Taylor was a nice man, unlike his twin Tyler, another deputy, who hadn’t been my biggest supporter when I first arrived in Peculiar. Tyler and Babe’s brother Judah had been BFFs for several years, but when you catch your best friend kissing your mom, it had a way of straining a relationship.

Soon, Blondina rang the dinner bell, and the wedding party and our immediate family lined up to be first at the buffet.

I headed straight for the special plate. The compressed fully-nitrated, salty, smoky cube of meat had been glazed to perfection with what smelled like an orange and honey sauce. “Oh my mercy,” I said putting the plate to my nose and inhaling deeply.

“That’s really gross,” Babe said.

I leveled my gaze at him. “Take it up with your progeny.”

He lifted his hands in surrender. “I think I’ll have the roast beef and caramelized carrots.”

I stuck out my tongue. I added steamed broccoli and garlic mash to my plate, then worked my way to the drink station. The choices were sparkling punch, iced tea, coffee, and water. With the amount of gas already bloating my intestines, I avoided the carbonated drinks and settled for a glass of sweet tea.

The glazed ham, which is what I settled on calling it, was mouthwatering. Literally, there was enough salt in the meal to dry out a desert. Baby Trimmel was happy, but I would have to go sodium free for the next couple of days if I wanted to squeeze my fat, swollen feet into my wedding shoes.

I downed the glass of iced tea with a very unladylike thirst and held the cup over Babe’s plate for him to fetch me more. It might have been a trick of the candlelight, but it almost looked like his skin had taken on a greenish cast. He was staring straight ahead, his hands clenched into fists, and his breathing was shallow.

I put my hand on his forearm. “Are you okay?”

He shook his head. Other than the chattering teenagers at the far table, an eerie silence fell over the rehearsal dinner. Ruth Thompson’s husband Ed was the first to break the quiet with what, in my opinion, was some of the loudest retching I’d ever heard.

Ed’s barfing started a chain reaction. People began throwing up on the tables, on the floor, and on each other.

“This isn’t happening,” I whispered. The smell of vomit soured the room. Those standing in line at the buffet put down their plates and bee-lined for the door. Oh, my God. Food poisoning? I sought Blondina out in the crowd. She was backed against the wall, her eyes wide with horror, her face as pale as the full moon.

Then she leaned over and vomited.

Babe’s hand went to his mouth and his cheeks puffed out.

Celia rose to her feet and grabbed me by the elbow. “I don’t know what’s going on, but you should get out of here. We can’t risk you getting sick.”

“I’ll stay with Babel,” said Daniel.

“I’m sorry,” I told my fiancé as Celia propelled me toward the exit. Great Aunt Erma Jean shuffled behind us.

As we headed up the stairs, Roger pushed past me hard enough that I had to grip the railing to keep from falling.

Kyle maneuvered past Erma Jean and Celia. I grabbed his arm, stopping his progress, and the world fell away.

“Jo Jo is under that stupid bitch’s spell,” Karina said.

“Let it go,” Roger told her. “He’s made his choice. If he wants out, he’s out.”

“The only way out of this pack is death,” Kyle said.

Karina’s eyes widened. “You don’t mean that, Kyle.”

Kyle’s piercing gaze made Karina shrink back.

Roger started laughing. Kyle’s expression softened and he started laughing too. “Of course, I don’t mean it. It’s not like I’m a psycho.” His smile widened. “Besides, we have a job to do. We won’t get the last half of the payment if we don’t finish what we started.”

I gasped and sank to my knees on the concrete steps. Kyle yanked his arm away, his expression furious. “Don’t touch me, freak.”

“What did you do?” roared Jo Jo.

Kyle turned and ran up the stairs. He barely made it past the doorway. Jo Jo rushed past us and pounced on his former friend.

I hurried up the rest of the steps as fast as I could, Celia and Erma Jean right behind me.

Jo Jo had Kyle pinned against the wall. My young friend’s face had partially shifted, and I could definitely see his mother’s mountain lion form in the shape of his nose and mouth.

“I didn’t do anything,” Kyle said. “She grabbed me.”

Jo Jo turned his green-eyed gaze on me. “Are you okay, Sunny?”

“Yes,” I told him, still catching my breath. “I’m fine. Really.”

Kyle pushed Jo Jo in the chest and broke free of Jo Jo’s grip. He scurried away and disappeared.

Brady came up the steps behind us. “Jo Jo, there’s no cell phone reception in the basement. Get outside and call Doc Smith, tell him we might have a widespread case of food poisoning here.”

Jo Jo nodded, his face returning to its human form, and took out his smartphone.

“So much for a perfect day,” I muttered.

“It’s just another sign,” said Erma Jean smugly, “that your marriage is doomed.”

****

2 days before the wedding…

“How are you feeling today?” I asked my groom who was lying on the couch with his forearm thrown over his face. He’d stopped throwing up within a few hours of the rehearsal dinner, but his stomach had been a little jacked since the incident.

“Better,” he grumbled.

“Do you think we should postpone the wedding?”

“No.”

“Babe…”

“No,” he said with more emphasis. He sat up and held his hand out to me.

I sighed but took it. I sat beside him, trying to act like a practical adult. I really wanted to hide under the covers with a pint of ice cream. “Blondina’s restaurant has been shut down for possible food mishandling, so we have no one to cater the reception, which isn’t a huge problem, considering we have no place to hold the reception.” The vomit smell hadn’t yet dissipated from the courthouse’s basement. “On top of that, your grandma’s rings are still missing. Our wedding is cursed.”

Babe took my hands and brought them to his lips. He kissed my knuckles tenderly, the look in his eyes full of love, and my heart skipped a beat. “You are the only woman in the world for me, Ambrosia Sunshine Haddock. If the whole town of Peculiar burned to the ground today, I would still find a way to marry you on Valentine’s Day. It’s your dream date, and because of that, I’ve made it mine. I will stand with you in a field of gophers and chipmunks, have a cow officiate, and we can celebrate with the wind for all I care. You are mine, and I am yours, and two days from now, I will make you my wife. Come hell or high water.”

“First, let me just say, it’s too cold for an outdoor wedding. Secondly, you can’t seat gophers next to chipmunks. Third,” I curled up and snuggled into his side, “nothing would make me happier than to be your wife, no matter where or when we get married.”

“I want to marry you before the baby is born.” He stroked my hair and dipped his head to my beach ball belly. “Ain’t that right, little one?”

Baby Trimmel kicked at the sound of his voice. She was always active whenever he spoke to her.

He looked me in the eye with a gaze that brokered no argument. “We’re getting married in two days.”

“Fine.”

He smiled. “I knew you’d see it my way.”

Chapter Seven

1 day before the wedding…

Shortly before noon, Sally from The Formal Invitation called to tell me my dress was nearly ready. She wanted one final fitting, and I’d be able to take the dress home with me after. Once again, I started feeling hopeful, even excited, about the wedding. So we wouldn’t have a venue for the reception. Or food. Or rings. Whatever. I didn’t need everything to be perfect, I just needed Babe, and he was all in.

I made arrangements to meet up with Sally for a final fitting at two then headed into town for an early lunch. The sign on Sunny’s Outlook said, “Closed.” I got out my key, but when I slipped it in the lock, I discovered it was already open.

When I walked in, Chavvah, Ruth, Blondina, and Jo Jo stood in front of two tables they’d put together. They all sat down.

“What’s this?”

Chav smiled. “We have the food for the reception covered.” She held out her hands. “Blondina and her crew are going to use our kitchen to fix up the meals since theirs is closed.”

“I’m really sorry, Sunny. I don’t know what happened with the rehearsal dinner, but I promise it won’t happen again,” the bear-shifter said.

“Thank you all, but we don’t even have a place to have the wedding, let alone the reception. It might just be a quick and dirty courthouse nuptials, so I’m not sure having a meal is even going to be an issue.”

“Well,” Chavvah said. “We have another surprise for you.” The spark of excitement animated her features. I hadn’t seen her so happy in months, and her joy was contagious. Still, I was leery of getting my hopes up.

“What did you do, Chav?”

The door to the restaurant opened behind me. Delbert and Elbert Johnson walked in, nodding their heads to Chavvah.

She clapped her hands. “We have a venue!”

“Delbert and I cleaned out our barn over the last two days with the help of over half the town.” Elbert’s ears turned red as I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek.

“Hey, it’s my barn too,” said Delbert.

I let go of his brother and grinned. “I’m so blessed to have you both as friends.”

I tried hard not to let my hope overwhelm me. I’d learned over the last two weeks that caution was my friend. But incredibly, the dress was fixed and ready to go, and we had a place to hold the ceremony and house all our friends and neighbors for the reception.

“Are you happy?” Ruth asked.

“Ecstatic.”

****

Lunch with my friends eased my unsettled mind. Screw bad omens. The wedding was on, and I couldn’t be happier. Now I just needed the final alterations on the dress and then I’d be ready to walk down the aisle tomorrow.

The Formal Invitation was empty except for Sally and me. She’d blocked off a full hour to help me get my dress just right.

“I know you’ve had some real tough luck, sugar. Your wedding gown will fit you to perfection. This is one aspect of your nuptials that you won’t have to worry about.” Sally pinned the empire waistline.

“Thanks.” While Sally got her sew on, I fantasized about the wedding. Tomorrow was Valentine’s Day, and it was truly going to be the most romantic day of the year. Outside the shop, I spotted Babe’s Great Aunt Erma Jean going into Peculiar Paw-On.

I leaned forward for a better view and was rewarded with a pin in my side. “Ouch.”

“Sorry, Sunny, but you can’t move around while I work.”

“Is the pawnshop open again?”

“Oh, yes. Jeremiah went back to work yesterday,” said Sally. “Hold on, sweetie. I have to get my fabric marker from the back. We’re almost done.”

“Okay,” I said absently. Hmmm. What was Babe’s aunt doing at the pawnshop? Did she go to confront the owner about the theft? I decided a quick trip across the road wouldn’t do any harm. Right? I’d just peek in the window. It would only take a minute and I’d be back before Sally could blink.

I tried to ignore the frigid breeze as it pushed up my knee length dress. The antique lace seemed to capture the cold. Already, I regretted not throwing on my coat. In the window, I watched Erma Jean raise her finger to Jeremiah Bowers. She shook it at him, and surprisingly, the man shrunk at her admonishments.

What the hell was going on?

I ignored a cramping pulse in my lower abdomen as Bowers raised his hands in an “I don’t know” gesture, and Erma Jean began to change. I’d never seen a full shift into the half-beast before, and Babel had told me that it took a lot of strength as a shifter to manage the feat. So when the old lady suddenly sprouted six inches of height and a long snout with teeth built to rip someone apart, it staggered me. I’d seen Babe in his half-form, and Erma Jean was something very different. She was yelling at Jeremiah now, her voice low and booming. I could make out something about the rings, but it was hard to hear with a half inch of tempered glass between us. I eased my way to the door and cracked it open. Just a little. Just enough to hear them more clearly. Just enough to… set off the door alarm.

Fudge knuckles!

Erma Jean turned sharply to the door, her nose shortened, her teeth retracted, and she returned to her human form.

Jeremiah pulled a gun from beneath the counter and pointed it at Erma Jean. The old woman shivered, no longer a terrifying beast, only a pale and exhausted senior. Her crepe skin had taken on an almost translucent appearance. “I’ve found the rings.”

Jeremiah waved the gun. “Get inside, Sunny. Or I’ll put a bullet in her.”

I wondered how well someone Erma Jean’s age would heal from such a wound. If it was to the head, probably not at all. Hard to recover from death.

Another cramp doubled me over. “Oof.”

“I’m not falling for any of your tricks. Get inside now and close the door behind you.”

I nodded, wishing upon wish that the cramps had been a ruse. But they weren’t. “You don’t want to do his, Jeremiah.” I wanted him to feel connected. I wanted him to care whether he hurt me. “Please.” I gestured to my dress. “We can work this out. Tomorrow’s my wedding day. I’m willing to forgive and forget. Just put the gun down.”

Another spasm hit, and I clutched my stomach.

“Sunny,” Aunt Erma Jean said. “You need to sit down.”

“Something’s wrong.” I staggered forward.

“Hello,” Jeremiah said, waving the weapon around. “I have a gun!”

“And I’m having pain,” I snapped.

“You’re having a baby,” the old woman corrected.

Irritation flared my nostrils. “Don’t you think I know that? I’m five months pregnant for heaven’s sake.”

“I mean now.” She pointed at my feet.

On the smooth concrete floor beneath me a puddle had formed, it was only then I noticed that my thighs were damp, and my shoes were soaked. “Oh, jeezus.”

Jeremiah cussed a blue streak then said, “I don’t care if you’re giving birth to the Messiah himself, get your butt over here.”

When I stepped forward, the slick soles of the wedding shoes slipped on the amniotic fluid, and I fell backward. I reached out for a nearby shelf to stop my fall. Bowers still hadn’t anchored the damn thing, and it gave without warning. The pins in the hem of my dress caught on the uprights, and I went down like a hooker on five-dollar night. A large bottle of red dye number four shattered on the concrete. Its crimson liquid splashed my dress.

Erma Jean used my bumbling to her advantage and smacked the gun out his hand. It sailed toward me, skittering across the slick floor. I wanted to pick it up, but another contraction—because I realized these were contractions—curled me into a ball.

An angry shout, a roar, another roar, a piercing scream, and then deafening silence. Erma Jean scrambled to my side, once again, really spry for someone so ancient.

“Get Babel. He’s at the courthouse,” I said. “I need Babe.”

She tried to help me sit up, but it only made the pain worse. “Okay, Sunny,” she finally said. “Don’t move.”

A couple of minutes later, the door opened.

“Babe!” I screamed as another gut twisting contraction hit.

“Ms. Haddock?”

It wasn’t Babe. Cripes!

A tall, blond teenager knelt on the floor next me. Kyle Avery. I didn’t care if he hated me. He was the only one around, and I didn’t want to be alone.

“What can I do?” He stared at me, wide-eyed. “I should get help.”

Another sharp pain jabbed me. “No!” I grabbed his arm. “Stay with me. Please.” I slid my hand into his palm and made skin-to-skin contact. The vision struck fast.

I put the small round of bills in a coffee tin and slide it under my bed. I earned that money. No way in hell I’m letting the old man have it.

“Kyle!”

It’s Mom. I pull down the blanket to hide my stash and run down stairs. Mom’s in the kitchen with Pete, our blue tick hound. He’s a good dog, Pete. “What’s wrong?”

“I think he got into some antifreeze.”

Goddamn Jeremiah Bowers. He’d been living rent-free off my mom for over a year. Like she could afford to take care of a teenager and a grown man. It’s why I’d agreed to a few odd jobs. The stupid son-of-a-bitch must’ve left the antifreeze out when he was filling up Mom’s car. I rush to medicine cabinet. I hate Bowers. Did he do it on purpose? It wouldn’t be the first time Pete consumed something he shouldn’t have because of the man. I open the cabinet and spot what I need. If Pete dies, I swear I’ll kill him.

The world came back into sharp focus. Kyle was still holding my hand, panic written all over his face.

“You scared me. I thought you were having a seizure.” He gulped. “Did you have a seizure?”

And this is how I came to find myself sitting on the pawnshop floor in a torn wedding dress stained with red fabric dye, and now I knew exactly who sabotaged my rehearsal dinner. I just wasn’t sure why.

Chapter Eight

Kyle timed the contractions for me. There were coming less than a minute apart now. Thankfully, keeping track calmed both our nerves. “I’m sorry, Ms. Haddock. Really sorry,” he kept saying, but he didn’t elaborate and I had more important problems to worry about… like keeping a baby in my belly.

Finally, the door swished open again, and alarmed shouts let me know Babe had brought several people with him, including Billy Bob. Babe dropped to his knees and Kyle scrabbled backward. Babe took my hand. “It’s okay. I’m here,” he said. “I’m here.”

Billy Bob opened his house call bag, gloved up, and reached under my dress to pull my panties down. I didn’t even flinch

“What are you doing?” Babe growled.

“I’m checking her, you idiot.”

I barely felt Billy Bob’s fingers as another pain wrenched a scream from me. “She’s dilated to a seven.”

“What’s that mean, Doc?”

“She’s in full transition.” He patted my knee. “Hang in there, Sunny.”

“How is this possible? She’s weeks away from her due date.”

“Well, the baby isn’t going to wait.” The doctor gestured to me. “Talk to her, Babel. Keep her calm.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” Babe said. “You’re doing great. Just great. Breathe now.”

Another contraction nailed me, and this one was long and strong. “I can’t do this,” I panted.

“Breathe, baby. Breathe.”

“You breathe!” I shouted as another contraction wanged me. “Ohhh!”

Billy Bob checked me again. “Still a seven. This could take a few minutes or a few hours. I’ve seen women dilate from a six to a ten in a matter of seconds.”

I reached up and sank my clammy, hot fingers into Babel’s cool, dry hair and yanked. “I want to be married.”

“Me too, sweetheart. And we will be.”

“No,” I said. “Now. Before the baby arrives.”

“That might be difficult,” he said.

I turned to Kyle, who hadn’t moved. “Get Ruth.”

The blond kid rubbed his long fingers over his face. “Okay,” he said, nearly as breathless as I was. “I’ll be right back.”

Ten minutes and eight crippling contractions later, Billy Bob said, “The baby is starting to crown, Sunny. Your child isn’t going to wait long.”

I chanted a revised Fat Bastard line from Austin Powers and willed that kid to stay in my belly. “I want to push. I want to push so bad.”

“Not yet,” soothed Billy Bob. “I’ll tell you when.”

“Oh, Babe,” I cried. “I wanted to be your wife when our girl took her first breath.”

“Girl,” he said, his mouth slack with awe. “We’re having a girl?”

“I know you said you didn’t want to know…”

He grinned broadly and squeezed my hand painfully tight. “A little princess.”

I remembered them throwing the football around and smiled. “Yep.”

“She’s fully engaged now, Sunny.” Billy Bob had one hand between my legs and the other resting on my stomach. “Time to push.”

“I’m here,” Ruth shouted, Chavvah hot on her trail. Kyle didn’t come back with them. “Are we too late?”

“Ahhhhh!” I moaned as the pain ribboned across my belly.

“Push, Sunny,” demanded Billy Bob.

I bared down hard, screaming through the contraction, willing that child to get out of me, marriage or no marriage. When the pain eased, Billy Bob patted me. “Okay. Stop pushing. Wait for the next contraction.”

“Now,” I said to Ruth. “Marry us now.”

“Better make it quick,” Billy Bob added. “This child is eager to join the world.”

Erma Jean stooped down and pressed something cool into the palm of my free hand. “Your rings,” she said. “You can’t get married without the rings.”

Ruth knelt beside us. “Put the ring on her finger, Babe, and repeat after me.”

“Skip the repeats, Ruth. No time,” Chavvah said.

She sighed. “Okay. Damn it, I had a beautiful ceremony planned.”

“Get on with it!” I yelled as the next contraction began to build.

“Do you Babel Michael Trimmel promise to love this woman from sunrise to sunrise, under every full moon, taking her as your life partner, your mate, and do you choose her path as your own from now until eternity, and forsaking all others even unto death?”

“I do,” said Babe.

I yelled as the contraction hit full-swing.

“Push,” Billy Bob ordered.

Once again, I bared down hard, squeezing Babe’s hand until my fingers were numb.

“She’s crowning,” Billy Bob said. “One more push and she’ll be here.”

“Ruth,” I said, panting hard. “Hurry.”

“Do you Ambrosia Sunshine Haddock promise to love this man from sunset to sunset, under every sun, taking him as your life partner, your mate and choosing his path as your own from now until eternity, and forsaking all others even unto death?”

“I doooooo!”

“She’s coming,” Billy Bob said excitedly. “Her head is out. Keep pushing.”

“I now pronounce you man and wife,” Ruth said. “You may now have the groom’s baby.” She laughed, wiping tears from her large brown eyes.

I leaned forward, grabbing my knees for leverage, and pushed down with everything I had.

Babe craned his head so he could see what the Doc was doing. “So much hair,” he said.

“Here’s her shoulder. Give me one more good one.”

I bellowed, expending all the energy left I my body, and in seconds, I felt my child enter the world.

“Whoa,” Babe said, his expression suddenly surprised. The baby cried out, strong and loud.

“Good lungs,” Billy Bob noted.

“Does she have all her fingers and toes?” I wanted to see her. Hold her.

Billy Bob flipped her up on my stomach as he handled the cord that still tethered us together. “She,” he said with a smile, “is a he.”

“What?” I examined the baby’s dark pink, shriveled skin covered in a white cheesy substance. Sure enough, between his legs were boy parts.

When I held him to my chest, he suckled my finger. “He’s a hungry one.” In a flash, I saw him running and laughing, and right behind him, his little sister chased him around. I smiled, an overwhelming sense of love washing over me.

Babe kissed me soundly, his eyes bright with happiness. “We have a son, Mrs. Trimmel.”

“We sure do,” I told him. “We sure do.”

Chapter Nine

Valentine’s Day…

Half the town had been traipsing in and out of our cabin for most of the day. I was exhausted. The cabin was full of baby gifts, including diapers, wipes, onesies, and other essentials. I was grateful. I’d been so focused on the wedding, I hadn’t prepared for the baby. I held him in my arms. We’d decided on a name, but we wanted to wait until Babe’s parents arrived. They’d taken Erma Jean to make her statement at the sheriff’s department.

She’d killed Jeremiah Bowers. It had been self-defense. As the witness, I corroborated her story. However, I didn’t mention that she’d been threatening him before I’d walked in. She’d sniffed out the rings. It turned out, Aunt Erma Jean, had been keeping her distance because she didn’t want me to find out that her mother, Babe and Chavvah’s great, great grandmother, had been a full-blooded lycanthrope. Which meant, she and her sister Doris had been born half lycan, half coyote, during a time when half-breeds were considered mongrels and reviled. Integrating with humans had been a way to protect her family’s secrets. The prejudice, which had started as a way to fool other coyotes, had become real over the years. And Doris and her husband had been killed by a rogue lycan.

I felt bad for Babe’s family. In the light of this revelation, Babe and Chavvah, along with their parents, decided to reassess what they thought they knew about werewolves. I glanced at Chavvah and smiled. I’d had a vision when Billy Bob came to check on the baby and me. She’d definitely be doing a lot of reassessing in the near future.

The rehearsal dinner incident hadn’t been food poisoning, much to Blondina’s relief. It had been hydrogen peroxide poisoning. The vision I’d had of Kyle with his dog, Pete, had helped me figure out that mystery. He’d given Pete hydrogen peroxide to get him to throw up the antifreeze. A quick call to Delbert Johnson confirmed that Kyle had purchased the last three bottles on his shelf.

Kyle was an angry teenager. He’d been stealing for Jeremiah Bowers and had been responsible for several of the area heists. He wasn’t completely a bad kid, though. After seeing me on the floor of the pawnshop, he’d thought his prank, and it had been meant as a prank, with the hydrogen peroxide in the punch had sent me into early labor. After he’d run for Ruth, he went straight to the police station and turned himself in to the sheriff. I didn’t tell him that I hadn’t had the punch. His epiphany was a turning point for Kyle, and I didn’t want to give him an excuse to act out again. He had potential if he could keep his head on straight. Mommy guilt powers activate!

At four in the afternoon, the Trimmels finally arrived. Babe and I sat on the love seat with our little boy cradled close and swaddled in Judah’s pale green receiving blanket. He was such a good baby. Sleeping, eating, pooping, and very little crying.

Babe wrapped his arms around my shoulder. “We wanted to tell you all together that we’ve decided on a name for our son.”

I stood up, and walked across the room, still a little sore, but so happy. I handed Celia the baby, and she took him, happily cooing and tickling his chin.

“Celia. Daniel,” I said. “Meet your grandson. Judah Michael Trimmel.”

Celia’s hand went to her mouth. Her lips trembled as she held her breath, barely able to speak. “Oh, Sunny.” Her voice quivered. “Thank you.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” I said.

Want to find out HOW Sunny and Babe got together?

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Also by Renee George

More Peculiar Mysteries

You’ve Got Tail (Peculiar Mysteries Book One)

Thank You For Not Shifting (Peculiar Mysteries Book Two)

www.peculiarmysteries.com

Barkside of the Moon Mysteries (Coming Soon!)

www.barksideofthemoonmysteries.com

Midnight Shifters Series (Urban Fantasy)

www.midnightshifters.com

The Cull Series (Paranormal Romance)

www.ozarkshifters.com

The Lion King Series (Paranormal Romance)

www.lionkingshifters.com

About the Author

Renee George is a USA Today Bestselling author of urban fantasy, paranormal romance, erotic romance, contemporary romance, and romantic comedies that highlight varying themes. She lives in the Midwest with her husband, man-child son, two sweet dogs, and a senile cat.

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