Page 8 of Never Been Witched (Starfall Point #3)

“He was, and he was a man who appreciated Regina’s frozen-treat artistry,” Collin said, the corner of his mouth lifting.

Like most of the Bancrofts, Collin’s father had been good at making money.

He’d spent his life amassing and selling commercial real estate across the country, and he believed that spreading that money around was a great way to spend his time.

It was why Collin chose to believe his parents would approve of his buying the Duchess.

They’d wanted their son to be happy, productive.

Collin chose his next words very carefully. “Alice Seastairs didn’t seem…put off by having me walk into her store.”

“Well, she did sell you that extremely ugly knife, which does demonstrate a certain amount of hostility,” Julie replied, making him snicker.

“Besides, Alice wouldn’t dream of being rude to a customer.

She’s too…civilized, I guess, is the word.

Even if you’d set fire to one of those god-awful credenzas her grandparents stock, she’d just show you politely to the door.

And she’d probably ask you to come back when your arson phase was over. ”

Collin nodded. It was an exercise in his hard-earned self-control to not demand a dozen answers from Julie about Alice: what she liked, where she spent her time, why they’d never met before. Instead, he just asked, “Do you know her well?”

“No, no one does,” Julie scoffed. “Well, that’s not true now, I suppose. She spends a lot of time with her friends Caroline and Riley. And their partners, Ben and Edison, by extension. And Ben’s kids.”

“Why wouldn’t anyone spend time with Alice?” Collin asked.

“Oh, not because of Alice. She’s really nice.

Her grandparents are, well, difficult is the nice way of putting it,” Julie said.

“Alice’s parents met when they were in college, had her a little too young, got married, and then both died, also way too young, leaving her to live with her maternal grandparents.

The Proctors kept her at the store all the time, from the minute she was old enough to work there—probably a bit before, legally speaking.

They’re just mean people, spiteful. They always gave my mom a bad feeling, especially when they started homeschooling Alice—like they were afraid to let people talk to her.

They told everybody Alice was too smart for regular school with the rest of us kids and needed special attention.

And it’s obvious that Alice is really smart, so it was believable. ”

Julie frowned then and swallowed heavily.

Collin wondered exactly how bad things had been for Alice when she was young, to make Julie look so sad.

There was a sweetness to Alice, an honesty that he found intriguing.

When people found out who his family was, he could usually almost see the calculations behind their eyes, but Alice had just smiled at him as if she understood what it was like to come from complicated people.

And her eyes, the endless, fathomless sea green of them—

No. After the pointless, frustrating saga of his last relationship, he didn’t have the right to think about Alice like that.

“But she seems to have made some good friends now,” Julie said, brightening considerably. “I’m really happy for her.”

“I met Riley earlier. She seems very friendly,” Collin replied, contenting himself with what Julie had revealed about Alice so far, because pushing felt…wrong.

Julie considered it for a moment. “She’s interesting. Not what I expected.”

Collin put his water bottle aside. “How so?”

“Well, for one, Riley had no idea she was even from Starfall Point,” Julie said.

“You know the Dentons have always lived here, since, like, the 1700s. Her mom took off, never to return. It was a big deal because there have always been Dentons watching over Shaddow House. But I guess her mom never even talked about the island or her family or anything. Riley only found out she had family here when her Aunt Nora died and Clark’s office contacted her about the will. And now she runs Shaddow House.”

Collin grimaced. He’d met Clark Graves in passing over the years. The guy seemed like the kind of smarmy douche who would hit on your date while you were in the men’s room just to prove he could get her number if he wanted to.

“Everybody kind of expected Riley to be like Nora—you know, reclusive, protective of Shaddow House, a loner—but she’s super friendly. Caroline and Alice are over at the house all the time. Hell, Riley’s boyfriend Edison moved in earlier this year.”

“The librarian?” Collin’s brows rose. “She hasn’t opened up Shaddow House to the public, has she?”

“Nope, only a select few get past Riley. The Shaddow family’s incredibly restrictive visitor policy remains intact, which is fine with me. Place still gives me the creeps,” Julie said with a shudder.

“And I don’t suppose any member of the Shaddow family has actually shown up on the island in the years I’ve been gone?” he asked.

“Nope.” Julie folded her orange linen napkin and put it on her tray. “The Shaddows are still jet-setting across who knows where, far too busy and important to visit little old Starfall Point.”

“Hmmm,” he said. Then there was an awkward silence. “So, the naked-tourist thing—that’s still going on?”

“Every year.” She nodded.

He sighed, his gaze landing on the ship in a bottle again.

Collin could have taken a position at his father’s company.

He could have made more money, increasing the already substantial family fortune, but there were other, better-qualified people on the board who could do that.

The Duchess was something he could build, something he could save .

He wanted a life here. Starfall Point represented what he hadn’t had in his life since his parents died: a home.

He could have peace, contentment, and acceptance here.

Now he just had to figure out how the hell he was going to accomplish that.