Magic Hour

I believe in you.

The irony was that there, in that room with the soft music playing and the stairs that undoubtedly led to a huge bed, his words were what had seduced her.

TWELVE

ELLIE WAS SIPPING HER NOW WARM BEER AND PORING OVER stacks of police reports when she heard Julia come home. Ellie looked up. “Hey.”

Julia closed the door behind her. “Hey.” Tossing her briefcase on the kitchen table, she headed for the refrigerator and got herself a beer. “Where are Jake and Elwood?”

“See? You miss it when they don’t go for your crotch. They’re camped outside your bedroom. They almost never move from there anymore. I think it’s the girl. They’re crazy for her.” She smiled. “So you went to see Max.”

Julia sat down on the sofa beside Ellie. “I’m hardly surprised to hear his name in the same sentence as the words ‘go straight for your crotch.’ So, what’s the deal with him?”

“That’s a question every single woman in town has asked.”

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“I’ll bet he’s slept with every one of them.”

“Not really.”

Julia frowned. “But he acts like—”

“I know. He flirts like crazy but that’s as far as it usually goes. Don’t get me wrong—he’s slept with plenty of women in town, but he’s never really been with any of them. Not for long, anyway.”

“What about you?”

Ellie laughed. “When he first moved here, I was all over him. It’s my way—as you know. No subtlety here . . . and no waiting around. If a good-looking man comes to town, I pounce.” She finished her beer and set the bottle down. “We had a blast. Tequila straight shots, dancing at The Pour House, necking by the bathrooms . . . by the time I got him home, we were pretty well toasted. The sex was . . . to be honest, I don’t remember it. What I do remember was telling him how easy it would be to fall in love.”

“On the first date?”

“You know me. I always fall in love, and men usually like it. But not Max. He pretty much killed himself in his hurry to leave. After that he treated me like I had a communicable disease.” Ellie glanced sideways, expecting to see censure in the green eyes that were so like her own. Julia couldn’t know about throwing yourself at the wrong guy, about how it felt to be so desperate for love that you’d reach for anyone who smiled at you. But what she saw in her sister’s eyes surprised her. Julia looked . . . fragile suddenly, as if the talk of love had upset her. “Are you okay?”

“Fine.”

But Ellie could see the lie on her sister’s face, and for the first time, she understood. Her sister had been broken by love, too. Maybe not as often as she had—or as publicly—but Julia had been hurt. “What happened with him . . . with Philip? You guys were together for a long time. I thought you’d get married.”

“I thought so, too. I was so in love with him I ignored the signs. I found out too late that he’d been screwing around for most of the last year we were together. Now he’s married to a dental hygienist and living in Pasadena. Last I heard he was screwing around on her, too. Some psychiatrist, huh? I miss the problems in my own relationship.”

“He sounds like a real asshole.”

“It would be easier if that were true.”

“I’m sorry.” For the first time, Ellie felt as if she understood her sister. Julia might be brilliant, but when it came to love, that was no protection. Every heart could be broken. “You better stay away from Max, you know.”

Julia sighed. “Believe me, I know. A guy like that . . .”

“Yeah. He could hurt a woman like you.”

“Like us,” Julia said softly.

So she felt it, too, this new connection. “Yeah,” Ellie agreed. “Like us.”

THE NEXT MORNING, ELLIE WAS PARKED IN FRONT OF THE ANCIENT Grounds coffee stand when her radio beeped. Static crackled through the old black speakers, followed by Cal’s voice.

“Chief? You there? Out.”

“I’m here, Cal. What’s up?”