Love at The Twilight: MacGregor Sisters, #1

By Teri Riggs

Sadie MacGregor owns her own coffee shop, The Twilight, and business is booming. She loves the small town she lives in. Her two wonderful sisters who live nearby, are her best friends. And now, it seems she is falling in love with her favorite customer. Life is good, well, except for the secret she is keeping. When Sadie decides to confide in Jay, will he accept her as she is? He wouldn't be the first man to dump her over the family curse she carries.

 

Detective Jay Redman has his heart set on making his favorite barista his. After six months of flirting over his morning cup of Twilight coffee, he's ready to make his move. Unfortunately, the serial killer he's after is murdering women who look like Sadie and has his eyes on her. Can Jay keep Sadie safe?

 

Between the big secret Sadie is keeping, and the serial killer Jay is chasing, their newfound love may not survive… that is, assuming they can manage to stay alive.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Teri Riggs
• Release date: Jan 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215273234

Book preview

1

Jay was late. Or maybe he wasn’t coming today. With three and a half weeks until Christmas, many people were fighting the crowds to do their shopping before the stores ran out of the so-called hot items, or the predicted snow kept people home. He probably had gifts to buy for his family. Then again, who shopped at six o’clock in the morning? Did her detective even have a family? A beautiful wife at home? A house full of children? Judging by the hungry way Jay looked at her whenever he stopped by, he was single and looking for female companionship… hopefully with her.

Lately, Jay’s normally yellow aura had gradually been replaced by a gray one, telling her he was exhausted. Of course, he’s tired. He’s the lead detective in charge of tracking down the serial killer terrorizing their city. The stress and responsibility of his position had to be enormous.

The first month or so he’d been coming in, his aura had been blue. Blue equaled sad. When it gradually changed to yellow—meaning he was happy—she’d hoped it had something to do with their morning chats. Yeah, she might be a dreamer, but he had started smiling around her, melting her heart. So why not take the credit?

She glanced at the counter, where two empty paper cups sat next to the cappuccino machine waiting to be filled. Every morning, for the last six months, she’d unlock the doors at six and find him waiting. He would walk in and order a vanilla latte, extra hot, and one black coffee to go. Three times a week, he added one of her famous cinnamon rolls to his order. Then he’d stay and chat until other customers began to drift in around six-thirty. He never drank his coffee at the shop, which admittedly, she found a bit odd.

Sadie checked the clock again. Six-fifteen. Perhaps the snow that had begun falling in the early morning hours was keeping him away. Which made no sense, considering the four to five inches the weatherman had predicted was not a big deal for the small town northwest of Chicago they lived in. The Lake Ellis residents could handle the snow. It was the cold and poor visibility that kept them home.

Maybe she should call the police department and check on him. Nope. Dumb idea.

That would make her look like a cop groupie. But what if Jay was hurt? As a homicide detective, he dealt with some pretty ugly criminal types day after day. Sadie dug her cell phone out of her pocket and set it on the counter. She’d give him five more minutes, then she was going to expose her inner stalker and make the call.

Besides, with frequently being called out about her unusual gift, being called a stalker would be child’s play.

Damn, Jay hated to be late. If he hauled ass, he might make it to the Twilight Coffee Shop before the morning rush. Even five minutes of Sadie’s undivided attention was better than nothing. He wasn’t sure exactly when she’d become the highlight of his day, but he couldn’t seem to function without his morning dose of Sadie.

The woman was pure perfection. Her body was long and lean, but she still rocked curves in all the right places. She had the deepest blue eyes he’d ever seen. The kind of eyes a man could get lost in. And her smile would melt the coldest human’s heart. She wore her long blonde hair in a ponytail. Jay envisioned releasing the hair tie and running his hands through what he knew had to be soft-as-silk locks. That, of course, led to more fantasies. He could easily spend endless hours daydreaming about his favorite barista.

Today, after six months of flirting, he’d decided to grow a pair and turn his visions of Sadie into reality. He was going to ask her on a date. He wanted more than a few stolen moments in a coffee shop talking around other customers, the weather, or the daily news. But murder had put his good intentions on hold. Why couldn’t killers be a bit more considerate of his plans?

He removed his skull cap and shook off the snow. After popping a mint, he pushed open the door. She stood near the register, wringing her hands. The worried look on her face morphed into a huge smile as he walked through the door. She was clearly happy to see him. His heartbeat sped up, and his step turned lighter.

Good morning, Sadie.

Hi, Jay. A rosy-red tint colored her cheeks, and her blue eyes seemed to practically twinkle. He’d made her blush the way he always did.

The usual?

Yes, please.

Let me get your coffees started, she said.

Thanks. Hopefully, he didn’t look totally captivated… even though he was. Damn, he had it bad for her. He was worse than a teenager with his first crush.

I was starting to wonder if you were going to make it in today. She picked up one of the cups from the counter and started making his latte. Is everything okay?

Caught a case around two this morning. With the snow, it took a little longer than normal to secure the murder scene and work it.

Was it the Washington Square Killer? Sadie asked, fear evident in her tone.

Not connected at all. This one turned out to be a domestic dispute. The murder ended up being a no-brainer, but when he’d first been called, and heard there was a dead woman, Jay had also assumed the Washington Square Killer had struck again. He’d never been so happy to not find a ribbon wrapped around the dead woman’s neck or a rose next to her. "It appears the victim’s husband decided he no longer wanted to be married. Instead of filing for a divorce, he’d opted to murder his wife, and will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars. So much for wanting his freedom.

She gasped. The poor woman. Did they have children?

No kids. I guess that’s a small blessing. He ran a hand over his head, smoothing back the unruly hair he knew his stocking hat had left sticking up. I wish it had been the Washington Square Killer we’d taken into custody earlier.

That would’ve been nice. She barely spoke over a whisper. I keep hoping the Washington Square Killer will either be caught or just disappear from the city.

I’d rather put the bastard behind bars for the rest of his miserable life than see him move on and set up shop in another city.

I know you’re right. I just hate the thought of him killing another woman in our city. She shivered, and Jay wanted to jump over the counter and hold Sadie until all the fear left her. But chances were slim that she’d feel safe until he caught the killer. For that matter, most—if not all, the women in the Lake Ellis area weren’t going to feel safe until Jay did his damned job.

My task force team and I are working around the clock trying to stop him.

I know you are. I wasn’t laying blame on you. I just worry about how afraid everyone in the neighborhood must be. No one wants to be his next victim.

Which was exactly why Jay had begun following her to work every morning. He’d kept out of view and didn’t think there was a need to tell her he was keeping an eye on her. Plus, she might think he was a stalker. It had almost gutted him this morning when he was working the domestic murder and couldn’t shadow her. Relief had flooded his body when he’d finally arrived at the coffee shop and found her safe. If her facial expressions were any indication, she’d been both happy and relieved to see him when he’d walked through the door.

We’ll get him. It’s just a matter of time. Until then, you need to be extra careful and stay safe. Especially when he couldn’t be around to make sure she stayed unscathed.

I hope you’re right, Jay. She slipped a sleeve on the cup and handed him his latte. Next, she poured his black coffee and passed it to him. I’ve noticed about twice the normal number of Lake Ellis police have been stopping in for coffee lately. Oh, and my cops, who are regulars, show up more frequently. Is that your doing?

No point in lying when she’d asked the obvious. Yes. Are you okay with that?

I am, as long as you’re keeping the same close eye on all the women in the Washington Square area. I wouldn’t want you to play favorites.

Of course, Sadie would worry about all the other women in harm’s way. That’s the kind of caring woman she is. We’ve stepped up patrols all over the area. As you can imagine, we really want to stop this killer. I don’t want a fourth victim.

Good to hear. And thank you for sending the extra business my way. Sadie laid an elbow on the counter and leaned forward.

Extra business? The woman never let police officers pay. If they insisted, she just tucked the money into the jar on the counter that held the rec center fund.

You look tired, Jay. Are you getting any downtime while dealing with this case?

The warmth in her eyes touched something deep inside him. It was a feeling even his ex-fiancée, Leah, had never managed to stir inside him. I was on track to get five full hours of sleep last night until I got called to the scene. He took a sip of the black coffee. It’s all good. I can catch up on sleep after we take this serial killer down. After serving in the Marine Corps for twelve years, he’d grown use to not getting much sleep. Besides, sleep is highly overrated.

The door chimes tinkled, signaling the beginning of the morning rush. Undoubtedly, there’d be no alone time to ask Sadie to go out with him. It would have to wait until tomorrow. Jay put a ten-dollar bill on the counter and gathered his other coffee.

Sadie slid the cash back toward him. Didn’t we just discuss this yesterday? I don’t let cops pay in my shop, Detective. My shop, my rules.

And you know I prefer to pay. We’ve had this discussion nearly every day for six months, Sadie.

Sadie winked at him. Thank you. I’ll put it to good use.

As she did every morning, Sadie picked up the bill, folded it neatly, and tucked it into the jar next to the cash register labeled, Children’s Rec Center Fund.

You are a good person, Sadie. One in a million. He couldn’t wait until he had the chance to learn everything he could about this woman. Jay was sure there was more to Sadie McGregor than met the eye.

You’re the one who contributes to the jar, and now all your cop friends are donating to the fund. The credit goes to you, Jay. Not me.

He wasn’t surprised by her reply. She was the type to give others all the credit for her good deeds. Have a great day, Sadie. Be sure to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Damn, he hated her living and working in the same area a murdering bastard had decided to use as his killing field.

Don’t worry about me. I can spot a bad guy a mile away. If her smile was meant to reassure him, it wasn’t working.

Jay pulled on his knit hat and gloves and picked up the hot coffees. It would free up more than half of his brainpower if he could stop worrying about Sadie’s safety. Then he could turn his concentration fully on catching the killer.

2

Spotting a bad guy from a mile away had not been an exaggeration, Sadie thought as she began taking orders from her customers and filling them. She had been born with the ability to read people’s auras. Her mother called it a gift. Sadie was still on the fence. What good is a gift if no one listened to her warnings?

Sadie couldn’t begin to count how often she had come across people who were surrounded by brown auras, indicating they had a potentially serious health problem and were likely facing imminent death. In each instance, she wanted to reach out to those people and beg them to get checked out by their doctor as soon as possible. In many cases, their fate could be altered with proper, and timely, medical care. She’d tried on several occasions to help, only to be called