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from her bag.
    I h ad the feeling of being watched, and when I turned someone duck ed behind the wall to the main entrance . I caught a glimpse of a cap , which made me rule out Lilyan as she hadn’t been wearing one earlier . I guess she cou ld have put one on, but it didn’t look like her . Goldie inched in front of me and pressed against my knees.
    “Maggie , someone was spying on u s.” I pointed to ward the front edge of the building .
    “Are you sure?” Maggie ’s eyes scanned the length of the property.
    “Positive . ”
    “ Good thing Logan’s on his way.”
    One neat thing about a small town—twenty minutes will take you from one end to the other. Logan spe d into the lot less than five minutes later .
    “How doe s som eone get two flat tires at once? ” He walked around the car to check out the deflated tires .
    “ I d on’t know, maybe I thought it would add some excitement to the day .” Maggie raised her eyebrows and shot him look .
    “ D oesn’t matter. Arnol d’ s on his way w ith a tow truck. T ake my wheels and I’ll catch a ride with Arnold .”
    “Thanks for the rescue. ” Maggie held out her hand . “Keys?”
    “I n the ignition .” He glanced at me . “Hey, Sam, you doing okay? ”
    “ I am .”
    Logan reached down to greet Goldie and pulled his hand back. “S he has her vest on.” Goldie stayed right next to me, but she looked at Logan wildly wagging her tail.
    Logan smiled at Goldie and reached for me. “L et me help you get up into this cab . ” His hands went out around my waist and applied a slight pressure . I t seemed he meant to pick me up and place me in that passenger seat.
    “Seriously ? Y ou really think so ? ”
    His face reddened. “Why don’t I give you my arm?” He helped me onto the seat. F or some ridiculous reason , we both began laughing. “See you later. ” He shook his head as he closed the door .
    Maggie rolled her eyes, and maneuvered out of the lot. “You and my brother.”
    “What? ” I tried to look baffled . If I’d been checking o ff attributes I wanted in a man, ea ch i tem would hav e a huge check next to it . L ogan had a kind nature and not only with people. T he way h e treated Goldie spoke volumes—a t le ast it did to me. T he person Maggie called when she needed someone, a huge point in his favor . H e exude d warmth . And looks— he would’ve rated an exclamation point or three . I tried to suppress my smile and glan ced at Maggie .
    “Oh, I think you do know what I’m talking about . The dance has begun. ” S he parked in front of her shop .
    “Send me a text when you’re ready to go hom e.” I waved bye and headed to the bookshop. Goldie and I passed Julia’s house. Her home separated Magnolia Antiques and the Sea Glass B ookshop . T he bookstore had been divided and Julia rented the smaller po rtion for her cof fee and pastry creations . M any of the shops on Main Street displayed benches out front . Red hibiscus shaded it all and created perfect places to sit on summer days. These plants, bold and bursting wit h color , w ere plentiful through out S erenity Cove. Maybe hibiscus was the town’s official flower. I plucked a scarlet bloom and stuck it in the ribbon of my straw hat before going inside the bookshop. I flipped the switch , illuminating the overhead fluorescent lamps , and reminded myself of my mission to find answers.
    The letters remained on Anne’s desk where I’d left them . Unwilling t o revisit the deception and lies , I shoved them aside. With a move of th e m ouse , the computer came alive . Two new emails waited. I quickly scanned them both, and neither contained good news. At home , Allan Clifford , one of the board members for the school , would have called me through my video phone and we would have sign ed to each other. In this case , I preferred the email.
    Doors were closing behind me, and even if my aunt welcome d me back to Stone Valley , I may no longer have a life there . I could