Page 110 of Wag More Bark Less

“Everything okay?” I asked her.

Opal reached into the pocket of her pumpkin-themed hoodie and pulled out a spice bottle.

I looked at Connor, but he was as confused as I was.

“Bert said to give this to you.” Opal handed the bottle to Maggie. She then looped her hand through Ellie’s leash and the two of them took off at a run into the patch.

“Who’s Bert?” I asked a suddenly quiet Maggie.

She looked up at me, her eyes shiny. “My grandpa.” She held up the bottle, revealing it was a container of cinnamon. “And I think this might be the missing ingredient.” She stared after Opal. “How⁠—”

Connor patted Maggie’s shoulder as he passed, and simply said, “We don’t really know how,” and followed his daughter into the patch.

Because I couldn’t explain the way my niece occasionally brought up the dead as though they had a message to share any better than my brother already had, I didn’t try. We never talked about this ability, but we never tried to dismiss it either. It was like an unspoken family secret. It was eerie at times. But also endearing.

“You okay?” I asked, slipping an arm around Maggie’s shoulders and tugging her into my side as we stepped off the trailer.

“I don’t know how to answer that,” she said on a wobbly laugh, revealing a watery smile. I held her for a beat, giving her time to process. “Mind if I step away to call my mom? I’m curious what she thinks about adding cinnamon to the chili.”

I pressed a kiss to her temple. “Want me to pick out your pumpkin?”

“The bigger the better,” she said, her smile now bright despite the stray tear rolling down her cheek.

I was three rows deep into the pumpkin patch, two plump pumpkins in my grip, when a familiar voice called my name. I turned to find Mayor Rosalyn Chambers decked out in a maroon blazer adorned in pumpkins, dark jeans, and hiking boots. A lanyard hung around her neck, announcing herself as an official Golden Days volunteer.

“Chief, I didn’t expect to see you out here.”

“Just helping my niece.”

“Is that why you’re carrying two pumpkins and she’s still searching for hers?”

I set the pumpkins down. “I thought I’d participate this year, too.”

“I knew it! I knew this time off would do you good. Are you . . .” She leaned closer, her eyes narrowing as though searching for a bug in my beard. “Are you smiling?”

“I smile,” I protested.

Rosalyn laughed loud and unapologetically.

I tried my typical glower, but it wouldn’t stick. I was too damn happy to be grumpy. Not a problem I ever thought I’d encounter. My gaze snagged on Maggie at the edge of the field, pacing and talking animatedly into the phone.

“She’s been good for you,” Rosalyn observed, following my sightline.

My objection lodged in my throat, because the mayor was right. Maggie was the breath of fresh air I didn’t know I needed. Without her, there’d still be glacial layers around my heart settling in for an apocalyptic Ice Age.

“She’s been good for this town, too,” she added.

“She has,” I agreed.

“I was hoping to catch you today, actually. Didn’t expect it to be here, but hey, I’m not complaining. Saves me hunting you down later.”

Rosalyn shifted to her official mayoral tone, and I gave her my full attention.

“Everything okay? Have any of my officers given you a hard time⁠—”

“Your department has been nothing but great, just as I predicted. And while we’re on that topic, I meant to commend you for stepping back and letting them show you and the town that they’re more than capable of handling things so the chief can take a break every once in a while.”

“If you’re worried I’m going to let my PTO stack up again, I can assure you, that won’t be the case.”