“I think I’m still allowed to frequent the Honey Bear. It’s breakfast for lunch special day.”

“Score.”

“Hey you.”

Caroline looked up to find Anne Murphy standing there. “Hey, Anne. What are you up to?”

“Decided to come have Belgian waffles for my lunch. With strawberries and whipped cream.”

Caroline took a risk and scooted over. “We were just about to order too. Care to join us or are you meeting someone?”

Anne slid into the booth next to Caroline, across from Justin.

Anne and Justin exchanged hellos as their drinks came out. Caroline had ordered her usual, and Anne paused in her chat with Justin to look at Caroline’s drink. “What’s that?”

“Cherry vanilla coke. Best thing ever. Mrs. Proffit has the hand of God at the fountain, I swear.”

“Oh yes, that’s it. I need that in my life along with the strawberry waffles.” Anne gave her order. Justin and Caroline ordered food as well.

“How are you today anyway? Did you talk to Shane?”

“Yeah. We were just at the police station.” She and Royal had gone over to the Chases’s home the night before for a freakishly huge and yet oddly intimate gathering. There had to have been at least thirty people there, and yet they all seemed to like each other and have a close relationship.

Edward had come to stand next to her as she looked out over all the kids playing in the back yard.

“I just wanted to tell you how much I admire you. I know things are unpleasant right now. And scary. But I wanted to say this is your home. You are Petal born and raised. That you were elsewhere for fifteen years doesn’t matter. Petal’s in your blood. You think I’m being sentimental and old right now, but in about ten years, after you and Royal have had your wedding and your babies and you’re dropping them off at school, you’re going to remember this moment and you’ll understand exactly what I mean.

“It takes courage to believe in something when everyone else doesn’t. You have a steadfastness of spirit that I am in awe of. It makes you a wonderful attorney. You have a persistence of affection and loyalty to your parents. They’d be very proud of you today, I promise you that.”

Caroline had blinked back tears, and Edward had continued to stand there with her. Not saying anything else or needing her to respond. He knew she was getting herself back together and he let her do it.

Finally she sucked in a breath. “Thank you. I needed that.”

Shaking that memory, she focused on Anne. “Anyway, they’re looking into the threat and one of the tips.”

“Why don’t you and Melissa come out on Friday? We thought Margarita Friday needed to be brought back. So Beth’s hosting. Bring something to eat, but we won’t shame you if you bring chips and dip. Accept that Tate will always make something way better than whatever you bring or you’ll get a complex. Maggie is also a great cook. I call dibs on dessert.”

“Oh you sneaky bitch!”

Anne paused and then laughed, bumping her shoulder against Caroline’s. “You just called me a bad name in an affectionate way. I’m sorry to tell you that we’ve become friends.”

“I know. You’re not too bad once someone gets to know you a little.”

Justin choked and Anne winked.

Caroline drizzled berry syrup over her pancakes. “I’ll talk to Melissa. I think she’ll be up for it. I’ll also let her know about the food thing.”

Considering how insane her life had gotten this lunch was so remarkably normal and nice. She’d missed that.

After a nice carb immersion they all headed out, Anne going one way with Caroline and Justin going the other.

The rest of her day was awesomely absent any kind of drama, and when she got home it was to find Royal in the kitchen, making dinner.

He smiled at the sight of her. “Thanks for calling to let me know when you were leaving.” He put a spoon down and moved to pull her into a hug. “I like it. You being here with me, I mean. Knowing you’re on your way to me. When I heard you come in, it made my day.”

“You’re being very sweet. Did you accidentally leave the door open and Spike got his claws on my boots?”

“A guy makes a mistake once!”

She gave him a raised brow and he snorted. “Whatever. My cat has not ingested any of your items of clothing. It just occurred to me that I was happy and I wanted to tell you.”

And then he showed her right after dinner. Twice.

On Friday she’d driven in because she’d needed to attend a deposition held in Riverton. She’d parked a block away from Main so she could come and go quietly. There were spaces out front but the firm liked to leave them for clients. She ran to grab some lunch for later that day before heading in.

Lunch she’d been eating two hours later at her desk when Holly came in. The look on her face brought Caroline to full attention.

“Sit down. What’s wrong?”

“Your car was vandalized. I saw it as I was coming back in from lunch. I’ve called the police too.”

Alarm. Fear and dread. Anger. All married in her gut. “Okay. Jesus. What all happened?”

“Paint splashed everywhere. Tires looked trashed. I didn’t look a whole lot closer. I called the cops and got back here.”

Caroline put her pickle down and wiped her hands. Unflappable Holly was most definitely flapped.

Caroline sat there and knew someone was out there who wanted to scare her, and she was not a fan of that at all. But it had to be dealt with so she got herself together and took a deep breath.