Page 76 of Devoured By the Forbidden Mountain Man

Georgia gave him a tired look. “That’s not what happened.”

A laugh escaped her, tired but genuine.

Case looked toward me after that, but he did not tell me to take care of her, and I appreciated him for knowing better.

Instead he said, “Her coat is in the employee room, and your cape is hanging behind the office door. I’m keeping the cape.”

“That was always your plan.”

Georgia retrieved her coat while I waited near the front entrance. By the time she came back, Case was already behind the bar, raising one hand in farewell while simultaneously opening a bottle for a customer.

Cold air met us beneath the awning.

The clouds had broken while we were inside, leaving deep patches of clear sky over the mountain and a moon bright enough to silver the wet pavement. Orange bulbs still framed the Lantern House windows, their reflections broken by puddles along the curb. Wind pushed damp leaves against the tires of parked cars and carried the mixed smell of wood smoke, cold rain, and the sweet cider that clung faintly to Georgia’s costume.

She stopped before we reached the truck.

The little gold crown was still in her hair, though it had shifted enough that one side sat lower than the other.

Georgia reached up and touched it as if she had forgotten she was wearing the thing.

“I just spent the last several hours dressed like this.”

I leaned closer to inspect the pins. “Hold still.”

She dropped her hand.

I worked the first pin loose and then the second, careful not to pull the chestnut waves tangled around them. The crown came free into my palm.

Georgia looked at it beneath the parking-lot light.

“My brother came home, Meredith confessed to killing Brad, Gavin got arrested, and I managed all of it wearing a tiny gold crown.”

“When you list it that way, the crown does seem like the least practical part.”

She laughed, and the sound eased something in me that had been tight since Gavin arrived.

Georgia slipped the crown into her coat pocket.

Then she stayed where she was.

The Lantern House door opened behind us and released music, laughter, and a warm burst of restaurant air before closing again. Out here, the town felt almost unnaturally quiet.

“I thought finding him would make everything stop hurting so much.”

Her voice had changed, losing the last trace of humor.

I leaned against the side of the truck rather than rushing her into it. “Did it?”

“Some of it.” Georgia looked toward the dark storefront across the street. “I know he’s alive. I know he didn’t kill Brad. I know why he left. Those were the questions I thought I needed answered.”

She slid her hands into her coat pockets.

“Now I’m furious because the answers created ten more things to be angry about.”

I nodded instead of trying to talk her out of it.

“I’m angry with Gavin for leaving. I’m angry with Meredith for waiting seven years. Then I think about her standing in that hallway trying to tell the truth with two kids at home and another one on the way, and I understand why she was afraid.” Georgia looked back at me. “I don’t want to understand all of them at once.”