Lighthouse Way (Huckleberry Bay 1)

What large teeth you have, Grandmother!

I smirk down at Luna.

“Look at you!” June exclaims as she hurries over, gazing at us with yellow eyes. Her cheekbones could cut glass, and she’s leaning on a staff with a crystal ball. “Well, how perfect is this? Red Riding Hood and—”

“The big, bad Wolfe,” I reply and wink.

“So appropriate,” June says with a grin. “Come on. There’s food and all kinds of fun things—games and trivia and prizes. Grandma isn’t cheap when it comes to the prizes. I have my eye on the Yeti cooler. Also? Sarah’s already here. She’s over by the punch table. Go check her out, and I’ll find you guys later.”

“I could use some punch,” I say as I lead Luna over to where a small group stands near the table. As the crowd parts, I hear Luna gasp beside me.

“Sarah?” Luna says as the woman turns around and grins.

Her blond hair is so long it trails not just to the floor but across the room.

“People are going to trip over your luscious hair,” I say with a laugh.

“So far, so good,” Sarah replies. “It’s my first Halloween party in a long time. I wanted to make a statement.”

“Statement made,” Luna says.

“And you two look fantastic,” Sarah says. “I love that Wolfe’s a wolf. Very appropriate.”

“See? Told you,” Luna says to me and bumps me with her hip. “You look good with some fur and fangs.”

“Did you see June?” Sarah asks. “She’s Maleficent.”

“We did,” I say. “Everyone looks great.”

“Hello, dearie.” Sarah looks up into Tanner’s eyes and blushes.

It’s damn adorable.

“You’re Rumpelstiltskin,” Sarah says to Tanner.

“Yeah, but now I wish I’d dressed as the prince who saves Rapunzel instead.”

“I don’t think you could beat this costume,” Sarah replies. “Besides, this Rapunzel doesn’t need saving.”

“No,” Tanner agrees. “She certainly doesn’t. Save a dance for me, yeah?”

“Sure.”

Half the town has to be crammed into this house. It’s a big house, but it’s packed with people, laughing and talking, all dressed like something from a fairy tale.

There are even mice and a pumpkin hanging out with Cinderella.

“People take this very seriously,” I observe as I pass Luna some punch.

“Absolutely,” she agrees. “Also, I’m just saying that I don’t think I can bob for apples. Not with this makeup.”

“We’ll skip that, then. I’m pretty good at trivia, you know.”

Luna sips her punch. “I had no idea. Now, we have to give that a go. First, let’s find Annabelle and gush over this party. She loves that.”

We make our way through the crowd, keeping an eye out for Annabelle but also taking in all the fun costumes.

The three sisters who own Three Sisters Kitchen are dressed as the three fairies from Sleeping Beauty. They have a fake fight with Maleficent that ends in laughter and high-fives.

I have to admit, it’s pretty fun.

“There you are,” Annabelle says, and I have to blink to take her in. This is the small, warted person who let us in the front door.

“I didn’t even recognize you.”

Her smile is wide and happy and shows off a toothless mouth. I don’t know if that’s the magic of makeup or if she really does wear dentures. “That’s the best compliment you could have paid me, Wolfe. You two did not disappoint me with your costume choices. Are you having fun?”

“You’ve put on the best party I’ve ever been to,” I inform her. “And I’ve been to parties literally all over the world. No one holds a candle to this.”

“Well, you’re a charmer as well as handsome, Wolfe Conrad. Now I won’t feel so crabby about paying for my oil changes.”

I laugh and lean over to kiss her cheek. “Next one’s on me.”

She’s lit up like the Fourth of July as she walks away into the crowd to mingle with her other guests.

“Trivia time,” June announces as she strolls by. “Come on, we’re holding it in the library.”

I wink at Luna as we follow June into a room that looks as if it were plucked out of Beauty and the Beast, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and the sliding ladder that goes with them.

Belle herself is standing behind a podium, holding cards.

“Hello, friends,” Belle—aka Dotty Harmon, the owner of Books on the Bay—says with a wide smile. “I’m your trivia host this evening. Now, gather ‘round, and we’ll get started. The winner will receive this beautiful cooler to store all your porridge and gray stuff in.”

She winks as everyone chuckles and then pulls a card.

“Okay, question number one…Which one of these is not one of the seven dwarves?”

“I can’t believe you beat June at the trivia,” Luna says beside me as we drive up Huckleberry Way. The sky opened while we were at the party, and rain falls almost sideways with the howling wind, battering my SUV. “You two were so competitive! I thought it was going to become a fistfight.”