..

"It's a tiny town." Dray paced back and forth. "How can you not know who has gotten married?" She added to her list of nonsense she developed as soon as they got back to Wells' place.

Wells lounged on the couch in his living room. His arms stretched out along the back cushions. "I'm sorry, let me go grab my book on relationships in Hero."

"Well, maybe if you were on social media, you'd at least have a lead."

His eyes widened in slight surprise, but a silly smile landed on his lips.

Dray groaned and sunk into the couch next to him. She may have creeped on every platform to find him and she may be frustrated at the lack of Wells Walden content on the internet. "Look," she continued, choosing to ignore her slip, "how are we supposed to figure this out? It's not like we can go around asking. That's a sure fire way to get caught.

Wells shook his hair out. "We're not even sure the ring has anything to do with it."

She slowly turned her head, looking to the typically much more paranoid man. "That ring was found at the same exact spot as the body and the bones you found!"

He laughed. "Just kidding, suspicious until proven coincidence." He patted her knee, an action that went not at all unnoticed, though her heart still pounded from his humorless joke. "I have a plan, anyway."

"Wells!" She jerked her body to the side so she faced him entirely. His hand fell off the back cushions as hers flew into the air. "Why didn't you say something?"

He remained sprawled out on the couch and wore his crooked smile. "I was getting to know you and your detective tendencies."

Dray pulled her knees to her chest and dropped her head on top. "You mean me freaking out," she muttered, but Wells just chuckled again. She peeked over at him with a smile she couldn't hide.

They sat in that moment for only a few seconds, but it felt much longer to Dray. She laughed to herself and pushed down the stereotypical feeling of frozen time. This new distraction made her stomach twist and turn.

She shook the thoughts from her head and sat up straighter. "What's the plan?"

Wells raked his fingers over his hair before looking at Dray. "Because Hero is so small, there is a literal dedicated lost and found room at the police station. If you find something, that's where you check. If it's not in the log book, you leave it in the room."

Dray snorted and cocked her head to the side. "I should have expected that."

"Someone will most likely see you in there and we will just assume that they'll tell the sheriff, so you can't say anything about the ring."

"I can just say I found a watch or something in my backyard." She shrugged. "Easy peasy."

Wells nodded with his placid expression with focused on her.

Dray rolled her eyes and reached over to grab his hand. "I'll be careful. I promise. Besides, I'm new here. That gives me cause to be a little weird at first." She squeezed his hand once. "Also, tonight is the block party, so we can worry about the ring tomorrow."

"You actually want to go to it now?" His shoulders relaxed as he fell back into the cushions.

She grinned. "Why not? As long as I'm with you and not Porter, it should be fun."

Wells stood up and held out his hand. "Not sure if you'll be able to avoid Porter." He pulled her up to stand. "But yes, it should be fun with you." He returned her grin.

Light on her feet and in her heart, Dray grabbed his hand and moved to the front door. "Great, but first, I want to do something else." She hung her camera on her shoulder, lens facing towards her body. "I read about this really cool staircase garden on the other side of the lake. I'm thinking some sunset pictures would be nice."

"All right," he chuckled and plucked his keys from a hook on the wall. "I know where it is. We can take my car."

She opened the door, fanning her other arm up and around. "Lead the way."

The two jumped into his shiny, black, and extremely clean car, the vast opposite of Dray's jeep.

Residential area surrounded most of the lake with a few parks littered in between. The drive to the garden took mere minutes and at first the surprised Dray, but then she remembered she walked everywhere.

Wells pulled into a makeshift parking spot, where the grass was matted flat or gone altogether. The spot dug into a nook of trees next to a single path hidden in the leaves.

Dray got out of the car and snapped a picture. The path alone came straight out of a story book.

"It's not far," Wells said and led the way through the trees.

It took them much too long to get there.

Dray couldn't walk three steps without shoving her camera up to her face. Vines and flowers twisted into the branches that formed a sort of canopy above. The foliage held a bright green color that seeped into the browns of the trees and the pinks and purples of the flowers.

A long and angular spider web stretched between a particular fancy looking plant and some white, red, and yellow patterned petals. Dray kneeled down and held her breath. She really wanted the photo, but really didn't want the spider. A quick trio of snaps and she hoped for the best, hopping to her feet faster than she'd moved all day. It only made sense she bumped into Wells on the way up.

"Calm down there, Dray," he said and nudged her lightly in the arm.

Dray swept hair out of her face and gave him the look—the unimpressed, let's not play games look.

It didn't affect Wells at all and he pushed her forward into the part of the garden she was really looking for.

Her mouth formed a small circle and a quiet sound of amazement made its way out.

Choppy, but beautiful stones stacked on top of each other reached up a hill farther than Dray could see. The vines from the path continued in generous twists, weaving together forming a roughly shaped arch over the first step.

Dray's smile stretched wide across her face and she spun around on her heels. "You," she pointed to Wells," go on the steps and don't look at me." She shuffled around him and shoved him forward.

Wells bounded a few steps up. He glanced at her and found a lens already pointed his way.

"I said don't look at me." Dray peered over top of her camera and wiggled her fingers. "Look at other things. Oh, and move a little bit, but not too much, just casual."

He chuckled, but did as she requested.

Dray snapped shots, shuffling back and forth for different angles. Wells studied the nature grown walls that encased the steps, so she studied him and snagged a few close ups. By the time she finished, her camera stored more shots of Wells than of the staircase.

Dray coughed. "Uh, okay. I think I got a lot of good ones." She smiled and held the camera to her chest.

Wells jogged down the steps. "Do I get to see them?" He gestured to the camera.

"Nope!" Dray hugged it tighter and turned around to the car. "I mean, not until they are edited and up on my website," she added in haste, looking over her shoulder and waiting for him.

He threw an arm around her shoulder. "All right." He wore his silly smile.

It made her blush. Maybe he did have some star detective qualities or she was incredibly obvious. She smiled to herself.

On the drive back, the soft hum of the radio drifted through the car. Dray's hand supported her chin as she stared out the window. Elaborate houses blended in with the trees and water surrounding them. She reflected on the new feeling that filled her stomach. One that hadn't found a home with her in some time. She didn't know where to let it go next.

"We're here," Wells said.

Dray perked up in her seat. The view of her house yanked her out of her daydream. She gripped the door handle. "The block party is in an hour." She met his eyes. "You want to meet me there or walk with me?"

Wells rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll meet you. It'll be good for you to mingle with others on your own."

She frowned and opened her mouth to object.

"Look, more people will talk to you without me there and then you might be able to get some clues." He brushed off her gaze and looked straight out the windshield. "You know I'm right about this."

Dray shook her head and opened the door. "Not sure it matters at this point, but fine. Just don't wait too long to come and save me."

They exchanged barely there smiles and he reassured her he'd be there before she knew it. She was pretty sure it'd seem longer than that.

Dray got out of the car and jogged around it. As much as she would have liked to stretch out that goodbye, she needed to make herself presentable for the party.

Once inside, an overwhelming desire to sit down and eat a bowl of popcorn hit her in the face and suddenly, rushing to get ready for the block party seeped into the back of her mind.

After a loaded bowl of air popped popcorn and a few laughs at the television, Dray was changed, full, and ready to take on downtown. Less nerves bombarded her showing up fashionably late, anyway.

Dray left her house with her little brown bag crossed over her body. She stayed to the side of the lone road that took her all the way downtown. She could have walked on the sidewalk, but she didn't want to interrupt the occasional kids playing or step through their colorful chalk art.

The noise of the block party hit her before the sight of it, but as soon as she made it to the top of the small incline just before the police station, it all came into view. A massive stage with live music in full blast stretched from sidewalk to sidewalk across main street. Typically, she would walk right by it, but people squished towards the stage and whatever area opened up to pass didn't stay that way for long.

So, she decided to cut through the grassy area between the police station and the park with the pretty flower garden and go around the block. The parallel stroll took her by cookie cutter houses with perfectly manicured lawns, but eventually she came out on the other end by Posies after cutting through their surprisingly well-kept side yard.

Immediately, she looked for Wells, a reaction that made her heart skip. He would be there later and she very well knew that.

The entrance for the town party set up in the middle of the street just after Posies. It blocked out anyone from entering with temporary gates lined up from curb to curb. A small line of people stretched out behind it. Dray raised her eyebrows that she'd have to wait at all, having come so late, but one look into the street and it all made sense.

The ticket lady smiled when Dray got to the front, checked her I.D., and gave her a wristband. With a quiet thank you, Dray darted to the first outdoor bar she found. Alcohol would be needed for this night. Once a plastic mug filled to the brim was in her hand, she wandered down the packed street, sipping the drink as she went.

Live music pulsed the entire few blocks of downtown and meshed with chatter and laughter, causing a pleasant feeling to erupt in Dray's stomach. So much joy burst through the air, she couldn't help but let it fill her up.

Bearing a wide grin, she continued throughout the bustle, sharing smiles with a handful of neighbors she recognized from the grocery store or the lake. Despite being mostly adults, Dray spotted a few high school kids weaving in and out. Some sported their very own stretched out wristband. In such a small town where everyone knew everyone, she wondered how long until those kids got caught.

"Hey, Dray! Over here!"

She looked over her shoulder. Porter waved her down from a bar called Heroine.

Porter pulled up a metal chair next to him upon her arrival. "Sit, sit," he said and gestured to the guy on the other side of her. "This is my younger brother, Peter and his girl, Cassia."

Peter looked strikingly similar to his sibling. Brown hair, brown eyes, and an athletic build summed up them both. If she didn't already know, she would have assumed they were twins. Cassia, on the other hand, was quite the opposite of her friends with deep skin and bouncy curls that made Dray awfully jealous and a tad self-conscious of the limp, inconsistent waves that fell down her back. The couple shared rounder features left over from childhood, but non-stretched wristbands reassured Dray the drinks in their hands were legal.

"And this is Mikki." Porter put his hand on the woman who sat directly across from Dray. Her outfit reflected the trendiest, put-together fashion out there, while her dark red hair and makeup weren't a touch out of place. Dray would have felt a little embarrassed about her own plain appearance if it weren't for the fact they were at a small town block party. There was no dress code, of course, but at least Mikki stood out more than the new girl in town.

Dray smiled at the group. "Hi, it's nice to meet you guys."

A chorus of pleasantries followed before they hopped right back into conversation. Apparently, she had interrupted the hot topic of the group plans next weekend. Dray had no intention of joining in, let alone plans to participate in their weekend getaway, so sipped her beer and nodded when she deemed appropriate, thankful for the lack of new girl interrogation.

"You are a quiet one, aren't you?" Peter nudged her arm. A teasing smile filled his cheeks, but showed more politeness than she had ever seen from his brother.

Dray leaned back in her seat and swung one leg over the other, resting her drink in her lap. "I just don't have much to say, to be honest. New people, new things. I'm just listening."

The conversation across the table stopped, hearing her voice, and all eyes turned on her. Porter immediately agreed and started some odd story about going to work conferences by himself. Cassia and Peter, who Dray decided to be the normal ones of the group, smiled warmly at her before entertaining Porter's story with questions and laughter.

Mikki stuck to a different script. She tried to be discreet and turn her grimace into a smile, but Dray caught it and again, she found herself pulled back into school age with the stereotypical mean girl. Luckily for Dray, she liked herself so much better than she ever did back then—her confidence finally taking off in college—and grinned at Mikki before ignoring her all together.

"So Dray," Peter moved quick after his brother's tale, "have you gotten around town yet?"

Dray had her beer up to her lips and took a sip before answering. "A little bit." She squinted into the low sun that sat behind Peter. "Mostly the walking trails out in the woods, some parks, but I've walked downtown a few times and I've visited the police station," she rambled.

"The police station." Mikki's judgmental look hit everyone at the table.

"Yeah, I just thought I'd say hi." A pause in conversation warranted a scan of the table and the weird looks made Dray hastily continue. "Uh, yeah, its probably a good thing I did, though. I found a nice watch in my backyard and I had noticed the lost and found when I was there. I'll probably check that out later," she finished with a mental cringe and looked over her shoulder at the crowd passing by. Sometimes she wished she knew when to shut up.

"Huh," Porter said, breaking the silence that had grown to an uncomfortable level. "I'll go with you, then. We can stop by when I walk you home." He played with a toothpick that hung out of his mouth.

Dray bit her tongue, not wanting to completely ruin Peter and Cassia's first impression of her. "Oh, sure," she said, though a very different answer went off in her head. It matched the expression on Mikki's face perfectly.

The awkwardness in the air grew and Dray panicked. "Great. Thanks, Porter. I'll be sure to find you later, but I need more beer." She stood up, the back of her knees pushing out the chair. It scraped against the concrete. In some sort of goodbye, she waved her empty mug, pushed the chair in with her hip, and scurried from the table, their goodbyes floating in the air after her.

Dray figured a rash exit wouldn't matter at this point. The damage had already been done, so she darted to the same outdoor bar she did when first arriving. The beer tasted good, costed almost nothing, and lived right next to Posies.

Waiting in line, Dray took a deep breath and shifted her weight between her feet. She stood a few people back in line and felt more restless than she would like to admit, but as her eyes wandered over to the bar at the end of the street, a flare of hope appeared. She spotted Wells in his usual spot and waved to get his attention.

Wells pointed in response. The motion made no sense to Dray, but she wasn't able to give him more than a furrowed brow because it was her turn to order. She quickly got her drink and placed her money on the bar, telling them to keep the change as she moved towards Posies.

The spot was empty. He left her hanging and Dray's smile slipped into annoyance. She thought back to where he pointed and rolled her eyes. He had to be so darn cryptic.

..

[EDITED OCTOBER 9, 2021]

Moving right along. Let me know what you think! Point out my mistakes, too, while you're at it.