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“So….” Ben said, then paused. During the meal, we’d talked about the goings-on of the past few days, and how it seemed as if the residents of Silver Hollow had managed an effective end run against the mayor and his ambitions to fill the city’s coffers — and possibly his own — by looking the other way when it came to illegal logging operations in the forest.

“So?” I echoed before I picked up my glass of cabernet and took another swallow. We’d already gone through two-thirds of it, so I had a feeling we were going to finish the whole thing.

He drank some wine as well, gaze speculative as he stared out at the forest. “I have a conference in Fountain Hills next week.”

There it was. I set down my wine glass, doing my best to look unconcerned. “Where’s that?”

“Just outside Scottsdale. There’s an indigenous-owned casino there with a big conference center, and they host a lot of the fringe-y stuff. Things like MUFON.”

I had no idea what MUFON even was, but I tried to nod as if I understood the reference. “It must be pretty hot there this time of year.”

“Oh, it is.” He also put down his glass of wine, and the hazel eyes that mine were deadly serious. “I have a feeling it’s going to make me want to come straight back to Silver Hollow.”

My heart started to beat a little faster, even though I told myself it was silly to let myself get excited by such a statement, not when Ben and I hadn’t exchanged a single word that could be construed as the two of us wanting to pursue a connection beyond the professional…

not when we hadn’t done much more than hold each other’s hands for support and comfort.

“You’re going to start researching Bigfoot?” I asked, only half-joking.

Now he smiled. “Probably not. I like the niche I’ve carved out for myself. But I can do a lot online, and if I need to investigate something in person, there’s no reason why it would be any harder to do that from a home base here rather than in Yucaipa.”

I thought that comment might be stretching the truth a little bit, just because everything I’d heard about chupacabras — which admittedly wasn’t much — seemed to indicate they were mostly creatures of the desert Southwest. His current home on the outskirts of San Bernardino County would be much more convenient if he needed to follow up on a sighting in person, or whatever else it was he did.

But if that’s what he needed to think to convince himself to stay, I wasn’t going to argue with him.

It had been a long time since someone had made my heart pound the way it did every time our eyes met.

“Well, you’ll definitely have a lower air conditioning bill here in Silver Hollow,” I joked feebly, and he grinned.

“That’s for sure. Also, Eliza told me that her friend Nancy’s guest house will be available starting on the first, so I’ll have someplace I can land right away.”

The first of June was only a couple of days off. I didn’t know how Ben would manage to move up here and still be in Fountain Hills for his conference, but if he thought he could handle the logistics, then I supposed it was his business.

And I knew the guest house in question, mostly because a friend of mine from high school had rented it for a time.

It was an adorable Victorian cottage behind Nancy Petterson’s home, set just far enough back from the main house that it offered some privacy.

Also, it had been fixed up within the past five years, so Ben wouldn’t have to worry about balky plumbing or unreliable heating the way he might have if it had remained untouched.

“Sounds like you’ve got everything set,” I told him.

“Well, almost everything,” he replied, and I raised an eyebrow.

“What’s left?” I asked. “Your job is pretty portable, and you just told me that you’ve found a place to land. Sounds like you’ve got the bases covered.”

His fingers played with the stem of his wine glass.

“I suppose what’s left is knowing whether all this is okay with you.

It feels like we have some kind of a connection, but I don’t want to come barging in here if you don’t feel the same way.

I know you’re dealing with a lot right now.

So if you don’t want me to move to Silver Hollow, just tell me.

I haven’t made any arrangements that can’t be canceled if necessary. ”

How was I supposed to argue with any of that? I knew I responded to him in a way I hadn’t with anyone else, even though I hadn’t allowed myself to indulge those feelings and had tried to keep things casual between us.

And I also knew I had a whole hell of a lot on my plate.

But getting that note from my mother had changed everything.

Now I knew she and my grandmother were alive, and I knew she expected me to watch over the forest and make sure it remained a safe refuge for not just its ordinary, earthly complement of flora and fauna, but also the otherworldly creatures who found their way into those deep pine expanses from time to time.

Holding that knowledge inside had made me feel oddly peaceful, as if I now understood that I wasn’t quite as alone as I’d feared.

And would be even less so if Ben Sanders actually settled in Silver Hollow.

I looked straight back at him and said, “I think it would be great if you moved here.”

The new moon had come ’round again the night before, and I found myself venturing out into the woods the next morning.

The past few weeks had felt like a blur, between the recall petition that had been circulating to oust Mayor Tillman from his post — it looked as if it was going to be successful, which meant we might have a new election before July — and Ben getting settled in Nancy Petterson’s back house after he returned from his trip to Arizona.

I had absolutely no idea how he’d been able to get out of his lease in Yucaipa, but I wasn’t going to pry.

We were friends, possibly something more if given enough time, but I didn’t feel comfortable asking personal questions about his finances.

Even with everything he had going on, he’d still managed the move in record time and was here permanently by the tenth of June.

We’d wandered the woods together several times once he was settled, although on this particular evening, I’d come out here by myself.

While I’d looked for evidence of legendary beasts roaming through the forest, I hadn’t seen a single sign that there was anything unusual about the place at all, unless you counted a little clump of fairy bells here and there, a subtle reminder that not everything in these woods was as it seemed.

For all I knew, the unicorn had warned his fellow creatures away, and there wouldn’t be any more incursions for quite a while. It was hard to say when I had no idea what might be happening on the other side of the portal.

But if my mother and grandmother were safe, then I needed to put my worries aside and focus on the here and now.

On making sure no one else would ever try to destroy these woods.

Beams of sunlight pierced the heavy canopy overhead. We’d had a steady, gentle rain the day before, so the ground was still a bit muddy, but the skies had cleared, and the air that touched my face was mild and friendly.

Even without the unicorn, this forest was still an enchanted place.

Something moved in my peripheral vision, and I turned.

My breath caught in my throat.

Standing on a rocky outcropping, sunlight streaming through the trees to perfectly illuminate its majestic form, was a griffin. The warm light made its golden feathers seem as if they were glowing from within.

For just a moment, its dark, unreadable gaze met mine. Then it launched, magnificent wings beating at the air, before it disappeared somewhere within the depths of the forest.

Even though it was gone, I stood where I was for a long moment, holding the reassurance of its presence within my heart.

No matter what else happened, this place would always be filled with magic.

Sidney and Ben’s adventures continue in Lion’s Share , releasing in October 2025!