My Furry Valentine: "In Between" 1.5 (Peculiar Mysteries) Read Online Free

Formal Invitation, a dress shop across the street from the café and catty-corner to the pawnshop. Sally Michaels, another coyote shifter and the owner of the shop, sold dresses for all kinds of formal occasions. She’d ordered in an off-white shift dress overlaid with antique lace, and it had long sleeves and a hem that hit right above my knee. She’d had to make a few alterations because the half-coyote baby in my belly was growing fast (or maybe it was the half dozen donuts I’d eaten for breakfast).
    The pawn store had been open for less than a year. The owner Jeremiah Bowers, who I’d found out, was a weresquirrel, (Don’t laugh. We have several squirrel shifters in Peculiar, including a deputy sheriff, who happens to be a really nice man) wasn’t at the register. I glanced around the shop. Display cases highlighted jewelry, guns, and small electronics. Knick-knacks and memorabilia lined the shelves. Over in the music corner, Delbert and Elbert Johnson, the twins who owned the general store, played with a guitar and a mandolin. Both men wore their standard overalls, their white hair short and their beards unkempt. Except Elbert’s face was a little fuller and he had a small blond freckle at the outer corner of his left eye.
    They looked up as Babel and I walked further into the store.
    “Hey, Sunny. You ready for the big day?” Delbert said as he patted his rounded stomach and wiggled his eyebrows.
    “Are you?” I asked him with mock concern. “I think you’re about due any day now.”
    Elbert started laughing so hard he wheezed. “She got you, brother. She got you good.”
    Delbert joined in, his laugh turning into a coughing fit. “She sure did.”
    The twins were opossum shifters, and they were both in the top ten of my all-time awesome people list. When they passed us on the way out, both men leaned down and I gave them both a peck on the cheeks.
    “Should I be jealous?” Babel asked with a smile.
    “Definitely.”
    He squeezed my hand. Jeremiah Bowers, the new owner of the pawnshop, came out of the back. “Oh. I didn’t know you all were out here. Hope you weren’t waiting too long.”
    “Nope,” Babe said. “We just got here.”
    Jeremiah, his blond hair short and slicked back, shuffled nervously. He wouldn’t meet my eyes. I had that effect on some of the folks in town. While some loved that I might be able to see their past or foretell their future, some of the citizens weren’t keen on me knowing their business. I couldn’t blame them. I certainly wouldn’t want someone dredging up my past. My childhood had been odd, to say the least, especially growing up in a commune.
    When Jeremiah finally looked at me, he gaped. “Uh, you should probably start using SPF fifty.”
    “What?”
    “That’s one hell of a sunburn on your face.”
    “Oh. Right. I should’ve used more sunscreen.” I fanned myself. The miracle sponge damage had nearly cleared up, but my face had a shiny pink glow about it. I’d used some foundation, but apparently not enough.
    Babel set the ring box on the counter and ignored the current topic of conversation. Smart man. “We need these resized for the fourteenth. Is that doable?”
    Jeremiah opened the box. “Wow, that’s some really great craftsmanship.”
    Peculiar Paw-On was the closest thing our small town had to a real jewelry store. Jeremiah had put a new setting on Ruth Thompson’s anniversary ring, so I knew he had some experience with adjusting rings. Aunt Erma Jean had insisted we go to a Lake Ozarks jeweler, but people in Peculiar took care of their own.
    Jeremiah pulled out what looked like a set of keys from beneath the counter and pushed it across to me. “Ms. Haddock, see which band fits your finger so I can get your size.”
    “I’m a seven,” I said. “I’ve always been a seven.” I slid the size seven metal ring down my finger and it stuck on my knuckle. I tried again. Same result. Jeremiah turned around and pretended he was busy with