Blythe and Veronica kissed hello before Blythe was back at full attention scanning the area.
“Hello, dear,” Dani greeted Stella before hugging Jace. “Zain and Mila brought Zaria to play with the girls. She’s just a baby, but she loves seeing other children.”
Stella watched Zain sit down in the dirt with Cricket and April while he held his daughter. It didn’t matter that he wore a suit that was worth more than many used cars. He was just having fun playing with the girls.
Speaking of dirt . . . a massive dirt cloud was now racing toward them. Stella began nervously looking around as she wondered if she was in danger.
Veronica took one of her hands and smiled at her. “Let’s move this way so we don’t get run over.”
Jace nudged her along as everyone calmly cleared the parking area. Stella worriedly looked for April and found Zain running with her, laughing loudly from her perch on his shoulders. Her hands were gripping his hair as if they were reins. Zain didn’t seem to mind as he ran with April on his shoulders and Cricket and Zaria in each arm.
“Let’s pick it up, Stella.” Veronica was still calm, cool, and collected, but her high-heeled feet were moving like ducks’ feet underwater. Jace tightened his grip on Stella’s other hand and quickly pulled her forward.
Stella was amazed at how quickly the entire area cleared out as the dust cloud roared forward and nearly overtook them. The cloud was led by a black demon. The sports car was low to the ground and black as night. The engine roared as the driver accelerated instead of slowed. The sound moved up her body and gave her an appreciative shiver.
“He’s going to kill someone,” Stella screamed as Jace shoved her behind a massive tree.
“Nah, he’ll stop, most likely,” Ariana said, joining them. She was just as calm as Jace and Veronica were, but Stella was beginning to freak out. Whoever this was, was trying to kill her.
The Audi R8’s brakes engaged at the last minute as the driver turned the steering wheel hard. The car spun one hundred eighty degrees and slid to a stop in a parking spot next to the SUV Veronica and the royal family had exited.
“Someone has a new toy,” Ariana said with a roll of her eyes.
The man who stepped from the sports car was young and powerful. He was in jeans and a tight black T-shirt that showed off his muscular physique. He smirked as if something was funny, and among all the darkness of his outfit, the tanned skin, and jet-black hair, his bright blue eyes sparkled with amusement.
“Hey, y’all. I sure did miss you!”
People were smiling as they all rushed toward Mr. Tall, Dark, and Dangerous.
Miss Violet pulled the man down for a hug. His face was lost in her fluffy bosom for a moment before he resurfaced for some air.
“That’s because you haven’t been home in ages,” Miss Lily chided.
“Who is that?” Stella finally asked.
“The man who’s going to help you,” Veronica told her before striding off toward the new arrival.
The passenger door opened and another man in black appeared. Only this time he fell out of the car and sprawled on the ground. “Thank God!” he cried as he kissed the gravel.
The driver laughed. “I told you that you’d see God.”
“I definitely saw Peter at the Pearly Gates and he was running for his life.”
The man on the ground pushed up to his knees and bowed his head. All Stella could see from his back was that he was praying.
“Father Ben! I’m so glad you’re here. I want you to meet Stella,” Tammy said happily as she rushed to him. Jace groaned as little Tammy told the praying man to suck it up and practically yanked him from the ground. Stella cringed when he turned around and she saw the priest’s collar.
“Why is your mother dragging a priest our way?”
“She has a hundred dollar bet on us getting married in June.”
Stella blinked. She didn’t have a response for that as the poor priest was dragged toward her, his face still pale with a slight green tinge to it. Looking as if he’d hurl any minute, the man certainly didn’t look like any priest she’d ever seen. He was in his thirties and built like an athlete or military man. “I’m not Catholic.”
“Sugar, half the town isn’t, but Father Ben is a good one. He captured a terrorist at my wedding. Yanked him right from a tree.”
Stella turned her head slowly to see Aniyah standing next to her in tight jeans that showed off her curves and big platform wedge sandals. “What?”
Aniyah looked pityingly at her. “Oh, sugar. Don’t you worry about your little problem. We’ve faced far worse. If Pam hasn’t run someone over with her Hummer yet, it just ain’t that big of a deal.”
Ariana nodded in agreement. “And Aniyah hasn’t even pulled her gun yet.”
Stella decided she was hallucinating. A priest, a demon, a gun-toting beauty, and a hit-and-run momma. Yup, she had to be hallucinating.
“Stella, this is Father Ben. He’s the rector of St. Francis Catholic Church. He performs the most beautiful marriage ceremonies,” Tammy told her with a serene smile as Jace groaned.
“And takes down terrorists, I hear,” Stella said with a slightly hysterical pitch to her voice.
“Only those two, or was it three times?” Was he joking? Stella just stared. She didn’t know what to say. “Anyway, it’s lovely to meet you. Welcome to Keeneston. If you need anything at all, I’m always available to listen, help, or marry you. June tenth would be lovely.”
“Father Ben,” Jace said through clenched teeth.
Father Ben shrugged. “The church needs new pew cushions.” As if that made any sense to Stella.
“Is this the beautiful woman who has taken our most eligible bachelor off the market?” Mr. Tall, Dark, and Dangerous asked. Heaven and hell now stood side by side. Maybe pigs would fly next.
“Kale, how are you?” Jace shook his hand and then turned to Stella. “This is Stella Winters. Stella, this is Ahmed and Bridget’s son, Kale.”
“Want to go for a drive and tell me about this problem you’re having?” Kale grinned and every single woman in the vicinity immediately thought some very dirty thoughts. The sigh she heard from Molly all the way across the parking lot proved it.
Father Ben blessed himself at the mention of a car ride.
“I think I’ll pass. How are you going to help me?”
“Just give me your phone and I’ll find out who sent the text.”
“The sheriff’s department already tried.”
Kale laughed. Ten women practically fainted.
“That’s like asking a toddler to explain Kafka’s Metamorphosis in the original German. Trust me, I got this.”
“Sweetheart,” Jace whispered to her. “Kale works for people we don’t even know the names of. He’s a genius.”
Stella reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. “My code is—”
Kale laughed again. “That’s cute.” He put her phone in his back pocket as his eyes traveled over her. “Nice watch,” he told her and she lifted her wrist to look at it.
“Thanks.”
“You run?” Kale asked.
“Yeah. This maps my run and offers suggested routes.”