Page 5 of Magical Melee

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Between the mood-ring tea and the man standing less than twenty feet away, I felt I might be losing it.

Finally.

The stress of the divorce must be hitting me all at once.

Make-believe merged with reality into a mess of impossibilities.

Frank, the bulldog, stood and stretched before waddling over to greet the customer.

Stella and the man whispered a few things, and she nodded in my direction.

“You don’t look so good,” Skye hissed. “You doing okay?”

The man turned to look at me, and my heart almost stopped. I’d recognize those hazel eyes anywhere.

“What’s wrong?” Skye asked, following my gaze to the counter. “Oh, he’s good-looking. You know, there’s really no set time limit before you get out in the dating pool again. I mean, for some people, it might be a year; for others, it might be a week. Who’s to say? I’m not one to judge.”

“I love you so much.” I chuckled and shook my head. “It’s not like that. It’s just…”

“He’s hot. What happens in Stonewick, stays in Stonewick.” She quirked her brows up and down.

I nodded with a grin, watching the man push an envelope into his back pocket and turn to walk to our table.

He towered over us.

His eyes connected with mine, and a charge of electricity shot through me.

“It’s been a long time, Maeve.” The deep timbre of his voice vibrated through me.

I nodded. “It’s good to see you again, Keegan.”

It was hard to reconcile the man that he had become.

I remembered him as the boy who’d hugged me at my dad’s memorial.

Kind. Comforting.

His hazel eyes stayed on mine for a beat too long before he pulled out an envelope and placed it next to my tea.

“Welcome to Stonewick. It’s nice to have you back.” He smiled and turned around to leave as more customers entered the shop.

“I thought you hadn’t been here before,” Skye whispered.

I shook my head and shrugged. “I haven’t. I don’t think…”

My fingers traced over my maiden name—my full name—which I hadn’t used in nineteen years.

Maeve Una Bellemore

“I haven’t seen Keegan since my dad’s service,” I said softly, shocked that I’d even recognized him.

“Weren’t you only seven?”

I nodded, swallowing down the odd sensations swimming through me. Closing my eyes, I inhaled the sweetness of the tea, feeling the steam enter my nose and relax me.

“It’s his eyes,” Skye informed me. “They’re beautiful and so unique.”

I blinked my own open and grinned, pulling myself out of a trance I didn’t understand.