Anna J. - Safe In His Arms

“Good to know.” The last thing Hunter wanted today was for a cat to land on his face. “Paige over at the diner told us to be sure to look up when we came in.” He trailed his gaze around the room, shaking his head at the cats darting in and out of sight. “This is amazing. How many cats do you have?”

“Officially? One. Zacharia there.” As if the books weighed no more than a bag of feathers, he stopped beside them. “We’re fostering four others at the moment. My daughter, Mandy, and I rotate them so they don’t get bored at the shelter. Also gets them acclimated to interacting with people and each other. Sorry. I’m rambling. What brings you by? Anything in particular?” He headed to the new releases table, placed the books he was carrying on the nearest shelf and started reorganizing the selection. “Or just browsing?”

“Phoebe’s in need of some new books.” Hunter took a long moment to appreciate the larger-than-expected store that stood on the corner of Monarch Lane Whispering Wing three blocks from the diner. “And I suppose I am, too. Especially anything having to do with Butterfly Harbor and the surrounding areas. I’m doing research for a project.”

“You must be Hunter MacBride. I’m Sebastian Evans.” The man offered his hand to shake. “Gil said he thought you might be stopping by. Welcome to Butterfly Harbor. And hello to you, too, Phoebe.” He bent down just as Paige had to meet Hunter’s niece eye to eye. “What kind of stories do you like?”

“She reads widely,” Hunter said when Phoebe looked up at him. “And she’s...shy around strangers.”

“Totally understand. Wish my Mandy had been shy at that age. Would have made things a lot easier.” Sebastian laughed. “She’d talk nonstop to anyone and everyone. Still does. That said, she’s thirteen now, so you must be seven? Eight?” he asked Phoebe.

“Seven,” Hunter confirmed.

“Right. I have a special going today on children’s and YA books. Buy three books, get the fourth for free. How about you and your uncle look around for a bit and if you have any questions, you can let me or one of the cats know?”

Phoebe pointed up as a sleek black cat emerged from a cubby.

“That one’s Ruby,” Sebastian told them. “And over there we have Bella. My daughter named her that because she’s so poofy and pretty. Not the sharpest crayon in the box, though. I can’t tell you how many times she’s mistaken a fur ball for a mouse. But a kind soul nonetheless.”

Phoebe looked confused.

Hunter wasn’t sure he’d ever seen a cat with so much fur. Almost pure white with a collar of gray, Bella had bright blue eyes that almost glowed even in the daylight. “What is she, a Ragdoll?” His great-aunt Eunice had had a Ragdoll cat when he’d been growing up.

“We think so. Part, at least. Mandy’s been looking into it. She’s hoping to be a vet, which explains the menagerie around here. The ones you have to look out for are Chuck and Lilith. They’re barely a year old and love little girls especially. Careful or they might try to follow you home.”

Hunter recognized a barely restrained plea when he heard it. “I’m not sure a cat is in the cards for us right now. We aren’t staying very long, and being so close to the cliffs—”

“That’s right. You’re staying up at the Liberty, aren’t you? Mandy and I have been dying to see how it’s coming along, but we’re trying to be patient while Kendall finishes it.”

Phoebe wandered down the aisle toward the children’s section.

“So there’s only one person working on the lighthouse?” Hunter asked.

“Yep. Kendall’s a bit of a one-woman miracle construction crew. Not much she can’t do on her own, but when she needs help, she knows who to call.”

“You?” Hunter picked up a new mystery by one of his favorite authors he hadn’t realized was out yet.

“Oh, no. There’s a reason I own and operate a bookstore. Mandy’s more handy than I am. No, the deputies help Kendall out from time to time, as well. And some of the local teens. And Frankie Bettencourt, of course. You meet Frankie yet?”

“Afraid not. We only just got into town today.”

“Butterfly Harbor’s first female firefighter. Also been a pain in my backside for going on thirtysomething years.”

At Hunter’s curious look, Sebastian grinned. “She’s my best friend’s sister. Twin, actually. Older than Monty by three minutes, but you’d swear it was three years the way she talks. We grew up here together.”

“Then I’m definitely going to want to talk to you in the future. All of you,” he added. “For the book.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever you need.” Sebastian finished adding the new books to the display and moved behind the counter that had a selection of hand-carved wooden bookmarks, hand-turned pens and butterfly-topped pencils. The glass case beneath the register displayed a sign signifying locally made jewelry, some of which were miniature books with real leather bindings. “I know a lot of people haven’t been happy with some of the decisions Gil’s been making, but we can’t argue with results. The town’s coming back to life. Should make a good angle for your book.”

“How close was it to dying?”

“About as close as you’d want to get. A little over two years ago, I was considering leaving. Would have killed me to give up this place. Starting over with a new store in a new town wasn’t financially feasible, not with Mandy so close to college. Gil’s revitalization plans, the building of a new butterfly sanctuary, bringing a national TV crew out here to cover one of our food festivals—it’s all helped. It’s helped a lot. Given us store owners some breathing room.”

“Gil’s never been one to let protests or detractors get in his way.” Not that Hunter knew Gil that well. To say he’d been surprised to get Gil’s call a few weeks back was a massive understatement. He hadn’t seen or heard from his friend in almost a decade, but while Hunter had lost touch, obviously Gil had kept tabs on Hunter and his career.

“We’ll see what happens come election time. If things keep running smoothly, he should keep his job.”

“And if things don’t run smoothly?” Hunter asked.

“Good question.” Sebastian shrugged. “Other than politics or banking, not exactly sure what the Hamiltons are made for.”

Hunter felt a tug on his shirt. When he turned and looked down, he saw Phoebe, clutching a hardbound book against her chest as if it were gold. “What do you have, kiddo?” He bent down, held out his hands and felt his heart break a little more when she handed over a brand-new copy of Charlotte’s Web . Her eyes shone, and it wasn’t the first time he had a difficult time deciphering grief from hope. “Well, this is lovely.” His smile made his cheeks ache. “We can add this to the stack, okay? How about we go explore together? I bet there are some math puzzle books around here somewhere? We’ve been homeschooling,” he explained to Sebastian.

Unfazed, Sebastian tapped his hand on the counter. “Then I have just the thing. Follow me.”

A little over an hour later, the sorrow over Phoebe’s main choice of book had been tempered by the half dozen other books Sebastian had talked her into trying. A few were ones Hunter never would have considered, given they were far above a seven-year-old’s reading level, but Sebastian had sat on the floor with Phoebe and explained each one, encouraging her by letting her know his daughter had loved these books at her age.

The science and math workbooks were a pleasant surprise and included lots of fun experiments they could do together.

“Depending on how fast she goes through these,” Sebastian told Hunter as he accepted Hunter’s credit card, “you might want to start visiting the library. Phoebe’s old enough for her own card.”