“Actually, no.”
Okay, that shocked her. He never admitted to any sort of weakness. At least, not to her.
“What is it? What’s wrong? Are you ill? Is it cancer? Your heart? I’ll get the first flight out there.” Her heart raced with panic. Her fear of leaving Wishingbone was nothing against her fear of losing him. She couldn’t live without him.
“Mini, I’m not ill.”
How would she get to the airport? What did she need to take? She’d never booked an airline ticket before, but it couldn’t be too hard, right?
“You never say you’re not all right. It’s the apocalypse. The zombies are coming.” Zombies were terrifying. Maybe she should get a gun. Did bullets work on zombies?
Reuben narrowed his gaze at her. “Have you been watching zombie movies again?”
“What makes you ask that?” She made her eyes go wide.
Look innocent. Look sweet.
“Juliet Susanne,” he said sternly. “What did I warn you about watching those movies?”
“That most rely on shock value to garner interest.”
“Well, yes, but I was actually talking about the fact that the last time you watched one, you didn’t sleep for three days.”
Yeah, well. She hadn’t slept for four days after the one she watched last week.
But she just couldn’t stop watching them. It was a strange addiction.
“Sorry,” she told him, knowing that was the quickest way to get out of a scolding.
He worked his jaw, his tension palpable through the phone.
“Reuben? What is it?” He was really starting to scare her.
“I’ve run into a bit of trouble here.”
Did that mean he was coming home? Back to Wishingbone? Excitement filled her. It had been ages since he’d come to visit. He’d kind of pissed off a few people in town, but Reuben was like blue cheese, you loved him or hated him. Most people just misunderstood him. He was simply, um, passionate.
“You’re coming home?”
He ran a hand over his face. “I wish I could, Mini.”
Mini was short for Mini-me because when she was a child, she’d always tried to imitate him.
“Oh.” She tried not to look too disappointed.
“I’m not sure anyone would appreciate me coming to visit.”
“Of course, they would.”
Liar.
Last time he was here, he’d threatened no less than four different people with lawsuits. He’d also bought the local hardware store and fired half the staff.
But everything he did was to protect her.
The manager of the hardware store was a complete dick. He’d been upset because she wouldn’t go on a date with him and he’d spread awful rumors about her. Somehow, Reuben heard about it, and he’d taken care of that asshole.
“Mini, I’ve been working on a case that has brought some bad attention.”