His voice was still a bit gravelly, so maybe he did have a tiny chink in his all-too-perfect armor. Good to know.

“You don’t want to know,” I murmured, taking a bite of toast.

“You’re probably right.” He sat down next to me, caught my chin, and angled my face so he could kiss me soundly. “Good morning, love.”

“Good morning,” I whispered.

Mom walked back into the room and set another plate in front of Derek.

“You don’t have to cook for us, Rebecca,” he said.

“Don’t be silly. I love cooking for you.” She sat down across from us and sipped from a cup of tea. “Let’s hear the plan.”

“Yes, let’s do hear all about it,” Derek said with a touch of sarcasm.

Flipping him a supercilious look, I said, “The thing is, Dharma’s a small town. Small-town people pay attention to things going on around them. They see things. They worry. They talk. This is the perfect place to ask questions.”

He shook his head but said nothing, so I continued. “I figured I’d walk around town, talk to people. My sisters might know something. They both took classes at the institute. We’ll noodle around, ask a few questions, and find out what’s going on with Solomon and Angelica.”

Derek leaned his elbow on the table—a very un-British thing to do—and stared at me.

“What?” I asked finally.

He rubbed his jaw in frustration. “You do realize these are the sorts of conversation that scare the hell out of me?”

“But this isn’t dangerous,” I said, grabbing my mug and taking a long sip of coffee. “It’s going to be easy. And we need to find out who was shooting at us yesterday.”

“Somebody was shooting at you?” Mom cried.

I clamped my mouth shut. Crap! I am a loose-lipped nincompoop! Glancing sideways at Derek, I could see he agreed.

“Nobody, Mom,” I said quickly. “It was a hunter who was in the wrong…um…”

“Oh, stop trying to lie,” she said. “You’ve got to be the worst liar in the world.”

“I get that a lot,” I muttered.

“This is why I don’t want you asking questions around town,” Derek said. “It’s dangerous, and now you’ve upset your mother.”

“Darn tootin’, I’m upset,” Mom said. She pressed her hands together in a yoga mudra, closed her eyes, and began to breathe deeply.

“I’m sorry, Mom,” I said. “Okay, yes, someone did take a shot at us out at Max’s farm. Derek’s right. It’s too dangerous to have you asking questions around town. You could get hurt, and I would never forgive myself.”

She popped one eye open. “What kinds of questions are you talking about?”

“Um, well, I was thinking we could ask if there’s anyone in the area who reloads their own ammunition. I’ll pretend I want to learn how.”

“But that’s a lie,” Mom said, opening both eyes and reaching for her teacup.

“Of course it is.”

“You’re no good at lying, remember?”

“I’m working on it, Mom.”

She thought for a moment. “Maybe we should all learn how to reload.”

“Better if you don’t,” Derek said.

“Anyway,” I continued, “if someone gives us a name or two, I thought I would then mention casually that I seem to recall that one of the teachers out at the Art Institute used to do his own reloading.”

“Who’s that?” Mom asked.

I hesitated. Did I really want to get my mother involved in this whole nasty situation?

“She might as well know what she’s getting herself into,” Derek said, taking the decision away from me. “His name is Solomon. He goes by the one name only. He’s dangerous. Do not mention his name to anyone you speak with.”

Mom frowned. “Is he the one who took a shot at you?”

“Possibly.”

She raised her fist in the air. “Then let’s get him.”

“Rebecca, I’m not sure—”

“Don’t you worry about me, sweetie,” Mom said, waving away Derek’s fears. “I’ll just be my friendly old self, nattering up my neighbors. You know, people in small towns do like to talk. And you wouldn’t believe the things they know about their neighbors.”

“I would believe anything at this point,” he said. “I just wish you both would opt for more caution.”

“But we need to move fast,” I said.

“Yes, I agree. But I’m concerned for your safety. The fact is, someone with extremely evil intentions is behind this operation. Don’t forget that they’ve already killed one person and tried to kill one of us.”

“That’s right,” Mom said. “Your bookseller friend was killed.”

Derek nodded. “Yes.”

“Then we need to get on with it,” she said with a determined nod.

I squeezed Derek’s arm. “Besides, you’ll be around to keep watch on things.”

“But I won’t be, darling,” he murmured, touching my cheek. “I have to go back to the city.”

“Oh. Right.” I tried not to show my disappointment, but it was impossible. I hadn’t forgotten, exactly, but I’d hoped…But of course he had to go back to the city. It was Monday, a workday. My sense of time had flown out the window with my phone’s dead battery. I used the phone as both a clock and a calendar.

“I’m sorry, love. I’ll be back as soon as I can get away.”

“Maybe I should go back with you,” I said without enthusiasm.

“No, you stay here with your family and Max. I’ll drive back tonight and bring your phone charger with me.”

“You’ll drive all the way out here to do that?”

He chuckled but didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to. His look said he’d drive to the moon for me. At least, that was my interpretation.

“Thank you,” I said. “And please don’t worry. We’ll be fine. I’ll call Gabriel to let him know what we’re doing.”

“Yes, do call him,” Derek said, then checked his wristwatch. “He’s already left for Point Reyes, but he expected to be back by noon.”

“I forgot he was driving out there.” I sighed. I guess I’d forgotten all sorts of things. “Well, then it’ll just be me and Mom.”

“Take extra care while I’m gone, darling,” Derek said, pushing away from the dining table. “You may be stirring up more trouble than you know.”

I smiled and hugged him. “I’ll be surrounded by my family and friends. This is my town. Nothing bad could ever happen to me here.”

“Whoa, sweetie, don’t push your luck.” Mom’s eyes were wide as she quickly rapped her knuckles on the tabletop. “Knock on wood.”

Chapter 13

Derek and I held hands as we walked out to his car. It was still early so the sun hadn’t cleared the hill. The sky was blue and cloudless, but the air was still nippy, though it promised to warm up later. It was so quiet out here, not like the city at all, and we both seemed to notice it at the same time.

The scene was tranquil, uncomplicated, sweet. Naturally anxiety began to dribble through me like an IV drip. Was it my fault that Derek was on the verge of becoming completely domesticated, as my friend Robin had recently observed?

We chatted about the weather and what he planned to accomplish at the office today. He intended to look deeply into Solomon’s and Angelica’s backgrounds to see if there were any red flags. Even though the local sheriff had considered Solomon a pillar of society a few years back, Derek wasn’t convinced—especially in light of what Max had told us about Solomon’s wild parties. Was it possible that the man had escaped arrest all this time?

As he spoke, I flashed back to the moment yesterday when he’d matter-of-factly pulled that serious-looking gun from his jacket on his way out to hunt down a killer.

So he wasn’t completely domesticated yet. I breathed a sigh of relief at the realization, then wondered how one man could be so normal and yet so dangerous at the same time. I didn’t know the answer, but I think it was that very dichotomy in Derek that most appealed to me. Was there something wrong with me that I loved his tough, dangerous side a lot? Was it wrong that I found it thrilling that this guy would go to any lengths, including carrying a gun and hunting down killers, to protect me and the people I loved?