Page 104 of The Sasquatch and the Hairdresser

“Yoo-hoo, friends!” he calls out gaily as he climbs off.

Today he’s clad in rainbow leopard-print leggings, black sparkly ankle boots, and an oversized purple tunic sweater with the word DIVA spelled out in gold sequins.

He sashays over with Princess Peach in the crook of one arm and the other one flapping in the air. “I’m so excited to see Yara and Harn performing with their classmates. They’ve been practicing their little behinds off for the last few weeks. I’m so proud of them.”

“All the kids in Mr. Bell’s class are going to be phenomenal. I’m pleased as punch we were able to have them open the festival,” I say.

“Brilliant work on the part of the planning committee, if I do say so myself,” Max says with a wink, and then turns a gimlet gaze on Rowan. “Good to see you again, Mr. Mage. You kind of left us hanging earlier this week and I have a boatload of questions to ask you.”

Rowan arches an amused eyebrow. “What about?”

“About your once torrid love affair with the town’s hunkiest minotaur,” Max stage-whispers. “Duh.”

That makes Rowan throw his head back and laugh. “By the Light, you must be hard up for gossip in this small town. I think what you heard covered the basics. Besides, it was ages ago. Ancient history.” He eyes Max up and down. “Probably before you were even born.”

I have to wonder about the ancient history part. The tension in the air between those two felt awfully fresh to me.

Max preens. “I do look amazing for my age, don’t I? Ahem. But more to the point, why does Baxter start looking like a bull ready to charge whenever you’re around? And that’s not a diss on minotaurs, by the way.”

Ryder materializes beside me, and I nearly jump. I didn’t notice him joining us.

“Who’s this?” he asks, pointing at Rowan.

“The mage we hired to get the town’s magic under control,” I say. “Ryder Thomas, this is Rowan Kelly.”

“And we’re supremely grateful Rowan’s here,” Astraea chimes in, then narrows her eyes in warning to us all. “So no one better piss him off or else they’ll have me to talk to. We need his brilliant little behind parked in town for a while.”

Ryder whips out his ever-present notebook and eyes the man with keen interest. “You’re a mage? That’s fascinating. I’ve only met one other mage before, so I have a lot of questions.” He glances at Angelica and his eyes light up. “And ohmyfreakinggods, you have a familiar! This is my lucky day.”

“Get in line, Ryder. My questions are more important,” Max says dismissively. “Inquiring minds want to know more about Rowan’s relationship with Baxter.”

“They dated?” Ryder asks, looking even more intrigued.

“From what we’ve heard.” Max then grins coquettishly. “But the details remain vague.”

“The minotaur and the mage,” Ryder muses, stroking his chin. “That has the makings of a great title for a romance.” He immediately jots this down in his notebook.

Rowan crosses his arms and sighs. “Look, it’s no big secret. Bax and I met in college and dated for about a year. I spent a summer here with him. After graduation, we went our separate ways. He took a job at the police station here in Mystic Hollow, and I joined BROOM.”

Ryder squints at him. “What is BROOM?”

“Bureau of Relics, Omens, Occultism, and Magic,” he replies nonchalantly. “Anyway, my work for the org is interdimensional and takes me all over this and other realms. Bax wanted small-town life, I wanted excitement and adventure.”

“Right, but that was forty years ago,” Max retorts lightly. “What do you want now? Are you still looking for the same thing? Sweetie, the questions are endless.”

Rowan’s expression flickers for an instant but then he plasters on a smile. “Who knows? For now, I’m treating this as a paid vacation with some low-key work on the side.”

I can tell Max wants to press him for more, but he restrains himself.

“Hal!”

I whip around at the sound of Skylar’s voice and see him jogging toward me and panting. When he reaches my side, he holds on to my arm, gasping in air.

“Phew. I barely made it. Things were so busy at the salon that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get here in time.”

I’m full to bursting with pride.

“See, I told you. Your salon is already a hit here in town.”