“Alex Cruz. Do you know him?”

“Ooo, he’s a cutie. I know him a little. Why, you want me to do a little digging on him? Find out how available he is? Help you get to know him?”

“No, no. Nothing like that.” Roxy smiled. “He’s my neighbor. I think I’ll be getting to know him well enough pretty soon.”

Delaney ate the other half of her truffle. “You couldn’t do better for a neighbor. You’ll never have to worry about crime. Not that you would in this town anyway.”

Roxy looked at her watch. “I’d better go. I still have to get some groceries, and I really need to write a few pages today. Thanks for listening to me and my craziness.”

Delaney put her hand on Roxy’s arm. “I’m here any time you need to talk. I can only imagine how nuts this divorce must be making you. Please don’t hesitate to come by or call. I am so glad you’re here. If I wasn’t pregnant, I swear I’d be dragging you out every night.”

Roxy stood. “I’m glad to be here. Having a friend in town I can rely on is awesome.”

Delaney got up and gave Roxy a quick hug. As she pulled back, she said, “Hey, you want to come over for dinner some night this week?”

Roxy narrowed her eyes. “Is this one of those things where you secretly invite Alex too? Because I’m not looking to get involved. I’m really not. I need time to process this divorce.”

“Nothing like that, I swear. Just dinner, and then I’ll watch you and Hugh drink all the wine I can’t have.”

Roxy snorted. “Sounds good. Text me.”

“I will. You know what else we’re going to do soon?”

“What’s that?”

“A spa day. Maybe even before the dinner, because it sounds like you need it.”

“No argument there.”

“Excellent.” Delaney opened the door. “C’mon, I’ll walk you out.”

On their way back into the shop, Delaney grabbed a bottle of water from one of the big coolers. “Here, take this with you. This isn’t like Jersey. You have to stay hydrated in the South.”

“Thanks.” Roxy stuck the bottle in her purse. “Talk to you soon.”

Delaney waved as Roxy left. She walked back to her car feeling better. The divorce would be over soon, and her life would take on a new normal. It was just going to take time. And maybe in time, she’d give Alex a chance to be more than just a friend.

But for right now, Officer Hotness was going to have to settle for being Nocturne Falls’ sexiest neighbor. One Roxy was really glad she lived next to.

Alex’s radio came to life in a burst of noise. “Alex, this is Birdie. Pick up.”

He reached over and grabbed the handset. “Go ahead, Birdie. This is Alex.” Birdie wasn’t the department’s dispatcher, but she did sometimes radio with calls.

“Are you in town? You need to swing by Delaney’s shop, pronto.”

He changed directions to head that way immediately. “I’m on it. What’s the issue? Theft?”

“Not sure. Just get there.”

“ETA is four minutes.” He laid on the speed a little and made it in three and a half. Black Cat Boulevard was full, so he parked in the fire lane. Patrol cars could do that.

He strode into the shop on full alert, but it looked like business as usual to him. He took his sunglasses off and tucked them in his shirt pocket as Delaney came out from the back room. “Birdie said you needed me as soon as possible. What’s going on?”

Delaney shook her head. “That’s not what I said at all. But since you’re here, come into my office and we’ll talk.”

Curiosity piqued, he followed her back.

She closed her office door and pointed to the chair beside her desk. He sat there while she took the chair at her desk.

He leaned forward. “Employee problem? Embezzlement? Property theft?”

She sighed. “None of those things. I want to talk about Roxy St. James.”

He sat back. “What?”

“You went out to lunch with her today, right?”

“Yes. I’m not sure what that has to do with anything.”

“What did she drink at lunch?”

“A bottle of some fancy sparkling water.”

“Not the Nocturne Falls stuff?”

“Nope.”

“That makes sense, then. She must drink a lot of bottled water. That’s all I can figure out.” Delaney rubbed her chin like she was thinking.

“I’m not following.”

“She’s clearly not drinking the Nocturne Falls tap water, or not enough of it, because she thought she saw gills on Undrea and a black panther in her neighborhood.”

“She did ask me if someone in our area had a big black housecat. She never said panther, though.” No doubt Diego out and about. Alex would have a word with him on that subject this evening.

“Well, she said panther to me. And then she thought my teeth looked odd earlier when she stopped by. Fortunately, I drew my fangs up in time, but this isn’t good. It’s one thing for tourists to think they see supernaturals all around them, but if the human citizens don’t drink the water and they start seeing us for what we really are, we’re in deep trouble.”

The water from the natural springs at the falls had been enchanted by the Ellinghams’ personal witch, Alice Bishop. When humans drank the water, their reality blurred at the edges a bit, helping to keep human residents and tourists oblivious to the supernaturals around them. And because that water fed the reservoirs and was bottled and sold everywhere in town, getting tourists to drink it wasn’t a problem.