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A slow day at Jade’s Goodies meant I had far too much time to think. I’d made candles, sold a few of them, and then couldn’t stop thinking about the impending doom with Gabriel.

He was thinking about it too. I saw it on his face.

It weighed on me heavily, and I wasn’t sure what to do about it.

I only got relief in the form of an angel walking through my door. And by angel, I meant Grace.

Since she’d had a baby and I’d gotten busy with my investigation, we hadn’t had a lot of time to hang out one-on-one. I missed her, and I nearly jumped over the counter when she walked in.

“Hi!” I said. “I’m so happy you came!”

“I wanted to get this one out of the house.” She tugged Sammy forward, who watched everything with wide eyes. “He shouldn’t destroy anything.”

“I don’t care if he does.” I waved my hand and leaned down. “He’s too cute to be mad at.”

Sammy gave me a smile and did his own version of waving. I gave him a crystal that was sealed and too big to swallow.

“How’s the elbow?” Grace asked me while Sammy was occupied.

I hummed and moved it around. “Not too bad. It hurts a little bit when I wake up, but nothing was broken, so I got lucky.”

“Good. I’m glad it wasn’t serious.”

“Me too. Henry would’ve lost it.”

“Gabriel too,” Grace said with a smile.

“Did he look heroic when he ran to me? I bet he looked heroic.”

“He looked panicked,” she said. “Which I bet you enjoyed.”

“Kind of. Could’ve done without the pain, though.”

“It was fun. Even if Henry almost passed out.”

“Right?” I checked on Sammy, who was still enjoying his crystal, before turning back to Grace. “Is this a social visit or do you want a candle?”

“I’ll buy that since Sammy loves it, but it’s kind of a social visit.”

“Please don’t lecture me about Gabriel.”

She put up her hands. “I’m not. I promise. But I do have something for you. I almost forgot about it. Are you still looking into the STM grant?”

“Not really.” I shook my head. “Why?”

“I found that paper with the handwritten note.”

I blinked. “You did?”

She nodded and brought out the piece of paper. It was slightly wrinkled from being stored, but I unfolded it. Just like she’d said, the handwriting was shaky, but it was definitely familiar.

I shouldn’t look into this anymore. But I also couldn’t deny how curious I was. Who’d been the one to save the town? Who’d been the one to take us from nothing to something?

Who cared that much?

My mind turned. I knew this handwriting.

“Jade? You okay?”