Page 65 of In Every Chapter

Flo marched towards us, her glare shooting daggers. The image of an avenging angel was hampered by the bag of cat treats she still carried. “I’m calling the police,” she harrumphed. Snapping her fingers, she made a shooing motion. “To work, the both of you.”

“I thought you called the fire station for cat issues,” Ethan piped up.

I snickered behind my hand.

“Did I ask for your opinion, Mr. Jones?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Then I suggest to keep it to yourself and make yourself useful in other ways. I see a cart of romances in need of reshelving calling your name.”

Ethan shuddered. “Are you sure I can’t call the police for you? My cousin—”

“Move!” Flo barked, and Ethan scampered away. Shifting her attention to me, Flo eyed me from ballet flats to messy bun. “You’ll do. Behind the counter, missy.”

Then she was off again, marching like a drill sergeant having delivered her orders.

I shot Ethan a sympathetic grimace as he dragged a cart of books towards the romance section. And that was that.

Until the police lights flickered outside. Followed by the fire truck. And who should march through the doors but two of my brothers-in-law—Dallas in his bulletproof vest and Shane in his fire pants.

“Should have known you’d be the reason behind a call to the fire station,” Shane teased, strolling up to the counter, thumbs tucked under his suspenders.

Dallas hesitated a minute too long with the door open, and a streak of multicoloured fur flung itself past his legs.

“No!” Ethan and I shouted in unison.

But it was too late. The menace was in the building.

I glared at the newcomers. “Y’all are on Jerry duty. I was already attacked and saved, thanks to your brother. Ethan had to climb in a window. This is all you now.”

Dallas grunted. “Not my circus.”

“I don’t get paid enough for this,” Shane added.

I shrugged. “You’ll have to take that up with the mayor.”

Chapter twenty-seven

Greyson

“Let me get this straight,” I said, parking the truck in the driveway and turning to Paisley. “Dallas and Shane spent an hour trying to coerce that demon-cat out of the library.”

“Mm-hmm,” Paisley mused, a smile tugging her lips. “And Flo kept up a running commentary on their efforts the entire time.”

I tipped my head back and laughed. “Please tell me you got video proof.”

“Between Ethan and me, we got the best parts. And we uploaded a few snippets to The Vine.”

She’d already told me about Ethan and the window, and honestly, as much as I hated Jerry for all the trouble he caused, part of me was glad he’d added a humorous role to the day to ease Paisley’s nerves.

Her smile turned impish. “On a scale of one to ten, how hard did you panic when you saw the fire truck go past?”

I groaned. “You really gonna make me answer that?”

She arched an eyebrow, bright eyes dancing.

“Fine. Eleven. But Shane texted me and told me it was about a cat, not another of your fires.”