Cornbread & Crossroads

by Bella Falls

Rayline’s sobs subsided into low sighs as she glanced down at the brownie. She stuck a finger in her mouth and gurgled as if answering the question.

  Bea nodded her head and spoke directly to the baby. “Yes, I know that new bump in your gums hurts. We can help with that.”

  I stared in awe at my house guest. “You can talk to babies?”

  The brownie giggled at the idea. “Not directly, no. But it’s not hard to figure out what was bothering her. Back in the day, I would have suggested some soft wood of the iris root for her to chew on. Or a cloth dipped in chamomile tea and frozen to get it cold enough to soothe. However, a clean finger in her mouth may go a long way to stop her fussing.”

  Matt crouched down so that his daughter was closer to Bea, taking advantage of the brownie’s ability to quiet Rayline. “Have you any experience in looking after children?”

  Enraptured by my niece, Bea stroked her head. “Oh, yes. I was the oldest in my clan and had many duties to help raise my siblings. When I struck out on my own, a kind farmer needed my help when his wife fell ill after giving birth. It took all of my skills plus learning some new ones to nurse her back to health while caring for a baby, a toddler, and a man. But I did it.” She tilted her chin up with dignity.

  My brother looked up at TJ, whose eyes shone with great excitement. Picking up on their unspoken wish, I winked at Matt to give him my approval.

  His face broke into a relieved smile. “Bea, I’d like to talk to you about your availability to help us take care of Rayline. With TJ needing to get back to full-time work, we’d be needing a lot of your time.”

  Bea beamed as bright as if the sun rose inside of her. “I would be more than happy to help with the bairn. At last, I can repay some of the kindness your sister has shown me and stop being a burden.”

  “I doubt my sister thinks you’re a burden. Would you like to hold my daughter?” he offered.

  “Oh, yes.” The brownie handed me her cup of lemonade and held out her arms, waiting for my niece to make up her own mind about her.

  Rayline popped her finger out of her mouth and leaned forward so Bea could reach her. They embraced each other as if they were old friends, and the brownie sung a tune unknown to me low and soft while rocking the baby.

  Matt stood up and watched in awe of the immediate bond. “It looks like you’ve made a fast friend.” He held out his arm for TJ to snuggle into him. “First the unicorn and now Bea. How does my daughter do it?”

  “I don’t know. You were never that sweet,” I teased, sticking out my tongue at him.

  My brother ruffled my hair and messed it up. “I helped take care of you, didn’t I?”

  “If you call noogies and name calling taking care of me, then yes.” I batted his hand away.

  TJ sighed and addressed the brownie. “Bea, if you’re amenable, I’d like to talk to you about possibly helping us care for Rayline on a full-time basis. I assure you, we’re willing to pay an acceptable fee for your services.”

  Bea stopped rocking my niece but rubbed her back to keep her quiet. “You mean, I would be making my own money?” She glanced up at me as if asking my permission.

  I shrugged. “It’s your choice. You get to decide what you want to do here.”

  A little tear formed in the corner of her eye and she sniffed hard. “Then, yes. I would like to enter negotiations to take care of your bairn. It would be my honor.”

  Before they walked off to talk, I pulled Matt back to give him advice based on the lesson I’d learned at the committee meeting. “Be sure to be specific with what you want and be sure to listen to what she negotiates in return. Clear expectations will be greatly appreciated and will show that you respect her.”

  He took in my advice with a slight frown. “There’s a lot to discover about our newcomers, isn’t there?”

  I tousled his hair. “Yeah, but you’re a fast learner. And hey, you might end up the envy of all the parents here. I think Bea is going to be a big help to you and TJ.”

  “I owe you one,” Matt admitted. He squeezed my hand three times and rushed off to join his wife and Bea.

  Alone for the first time today, I lifted my face to the sky streaked with pinks and oranges as the sun set lower. Closing my eyes, I took in a deep breath and enjoyed the pocket of peace in a day full of chaos.

  “You must be very enlightened to achieve such deep serenity,” a male voice said, cutting into my moment.

  Knowing the main purpose of tonight’s potluck was to welcome newcomers, I smiled first before I took in the appearance of the stranger. Black and gray lines snaked around his forearms in intricate designs and disappeared under the short sleeves of his shirt.

  “Cool tats,” I commented. “You don’t see many of those around here.”

  He rubbed his arm as if he could scrub them off. “Yeah, I thought about covering them up in case I scandalized anyone.”

  “But then you realized that you’d die in this heat if you wore long sleeves?” I teased, offering him my hand. “I don’t believe we’ve met before. I’m Charli Goodwin. Welcome to Honeysuckle Hollow.”

  “Thanks. I’m Nick. Nick Draven.” He pumped my hand up and down. “I haven’t had a chance to meet a whole lot of people yet since I’ve been pretty busy renovating.”

  In our small town, news about someone sneezing made the rounds. How had I not heard about a good-looking guy doing renovations? “Really? What property?”

  “The white two-story with green shutters about two blocks away from the stores on Main Street.”

  My eyebrows shot up into my hairline. “The Abernathy place? I didn’t even know someone bought it. And how have you managed to keep it a complete secret? I gotta tell ya, that’s pretty unusual in Honeysuckle.”

  Nick flashed a crooked mischievous smile that suggested amusement that he had gotten away with something. “There actually wasn’t much work needed on the property. A little TLC but mostly cosmetic stuff like painting. I’m converting the downstairs for my business and the upstairs for my office and living space.”

  Although he kept dropping more clues about himself, he still maintained an air of mystery that intrigued me. “And what business will you be offering to the good townsfolk?”

  Fishing into his back pocket, he drew out a card and held it out for me to take. Lines similar to those he sported on his arms flowed across the heavy stock paper but in gold instead of stark black. They connected to create a lotus flower and in the middle of the blossom were the words Serenity Oasis.

  “Revive your soul for a little spell. The word play’s clever,” I complimented. “So, what exactly will you be doing at Serenity Oasis?”

  Nick shifted his feet and stood a little taller, launching into a more detached tone. “I’ll be offering treatments such as chakra realignment, meditation, and of course my specialty, massage therapy. If you want to come by and check it out, I’d be glad to gift you a free thirty-minute session and you can see how taking care of yourself in a short time will rejuvenate you.”

  I studied the card with interest. When I’d traveled, I knew that spas were common. However, our town wasn’t quite caught up with the rest of the world.

  “A tall glass of sweet tea and some good food tends to rejuvenate most of us just fine here.” I thanked him for the card and slipped it into my pocket.

  Unwilling to give up, Nick took a step closer, a devilish grin spreading on his lips. ”Feeding one’s stomach definitely can be healing, but what are you feeding your soul?” He reached out to grasp my arm, and a warm sensation flowed through me. When I glanced down to see him holding me, I swore I saw his tattoos moving.

  “Charli, there you are,” my vampire roommate called out, waving at me while he approached. “There’s somebody that wanted to say hello to you in particular.”

  My head snapped up and I blinked as if coming out of a dream. “Hey, Beau. I’d like to introduce you to Nick Draven. He’s opening up a business in the old Abernathy house. Nick, this is my roommate, Beauregard Pepperp
ot.”

  “How do you do, sir,” my roommate said with antiquated politeness, bowing instead of shaking hands.

  Something not so serene flashed in Nick’s eyes but disappeared before I could register it. He nodded his head in greeting. “It’s nice to meet more of Honeysuckle’s residents.

  “Then there’s one more to introduce. Now, where did she get to. Ah, here she is.” Beau waved for a small figure to come join us. “Charli, I believe you already know Fenwen.”

  The last time I’d seen the sprite, she’d been a part of the army of fae David had drummed up at the hotel to help fight the injustice of the witches’ council in Charleston. Instead of brandishing a toilet brush like a sword, she gripped a large bouquet of all different flowers.

  Gazing up at me, she tilted her head in thought before searching through the blooms and pulling out a sprig that had four flowers that looked like yellow and orange tiny lilies. “This alstroemeria is for you. It symbolizes friendship. You helped and then invited us here. I want to be your friend.”

  I accepted the blossom with pleasure. “Thanks, Fenwen.”

  She blushed. “You can call me Fen or Fenny. I don’t mind.”

  “It’s good to meet you, Fen,” Nick said.

  The sprite, who stood as tall as Gossamer or Juniper but lacked wings, stared at the man with a frown. “You can call me Fenwen,” she insisted, hugging her bouquet close to her and away from him.

  Instead of taking offense, Nick laughed it off. “I hope you’ll take a chance and get to know me sometime. Drop by here if you’d like.” He handed her his card. “Nice to meet all of you.” With a small salute to us, he walked toward the drink tables.

  Fenwen glared at him. “Should have given him a yellow carnation,” she uttered with displeasure.

  “What does that flower mean?” I asked.

  My question shook her out of her examination of Nick, and she smiled a little too wide. “Better not say.”

  Making a mental note to ask Lavender and Lily if their flower shop could use a knowledgeable helper, I started to ask if she’d like to work with flowers, but Fen cut me off.

  “Here comes that nice man who was with you at the hotel. David says he’s your boyfriend. You should give him lots of red roses so you can keep him as yours.” She tugged on Beau’s hand. “Come. Let us give them space.”

  My roommate enjoyed being pulled away by such a tiny being. He waved at Mason and me as he followed Fenwen.

  Mason came over and, after a quick kiss on the cheek, massaged my tight shoulders. “Been a rough day?” he whispered in my ear, tickling me with the scruff on his face.

  His skillful hands revealed how much tension I’d been holding. “Frosted fairy wings, that feels good,” I groaned a little too loud for public and thought that Nick might be onto something after all. “It feels like there’s so much going on that there’s no way to solve everything. When one problem gets fixed, another five pop up. Playing whack-a-mole isn’t going to work much longer.”

  Mason’s thumb dug in hard under my right shoulder blade, and I winced from the initial pain until he worked out the kink in my muscle. “But you can’t take on all the responsibility yourself. You’re a good person, Charli, but so are a lot of the rest of us here in Honeysuckle.”

  “I know. But I don’t think we were really prepared for what would happen when we invited the fae from Charleston to come here.” I rested against his strong chest. “It’s a little overwhelming,” I admitted after a long sigh.

  He placed his lips on my temple. “I know. But you’re welcome to lean on me anytime.”

  A couple of shrill whistles and some familiar whoops alerted me to the arrival of others I needed in my life to support me. Lee winked at me while he and Ben teased Mason and me about our display of affection.

  “Oh, please, Lee” Lily scoffed with a dramatic eye roll. “As if you and your wife haven’t been all disgustingly lovey-dovey since the two of you started dating. Snookums this and Poopsy Whoopsy that.” She stuck a finger in her mouth and gagged.

  Lee stepped up beside his approaching wife. “And the two of us have taken a lot of ribbing from every last one of you. I’m offering up Charli and Mason as the new target of your ridicule.”

  I turned to face my boyfriend and placed a hand on the side of his face. “That doesn’t bother us one bit, does it, Honey Bunny?”

  Mason stifled his laughs and played along. “Not at all, Snooky Wooky Kitty—”

  I moved my hand over his mouth. “Nope. Can’t do it.”

  The rest of my friends burst into teasing guffaws and more conversation while we approached the tables covered with food. I made sure to put some of Mason’s lasagna on my plate, ribbing him a little about the first time he’d tried to bring some to a town potluck. It had been so charred that I’d told him to throw it out. But over time, he’d perfected his recipe and found the dish he could bring with pride to any gathering.

  Beside the lasagna I piled a fried chicken leg, some sliced pork with a roasted peach glaze, and some fried catfish. With my first round of mains picked out, I shoved some coleslaw, baked beans, and collards into the available crevices on my plate. By the time I made it to the breads, I found mostly golden crumbs left on my plates of cornbread, so I snagged a buttermilk biscuit instead to sop up the leftover juices of my choices and some hush puppies.

  Since the theme of the potluck was to welcome all who were new, my group of friends and I chose different tables to join so we could get to know some of the newer additions. Good food helped to lubricate conversation, and the air surrounding the park filled with noises of happy conversation. Every once in a while, I stopped chowing down long enough to check on Bea to make sure she was comfortable. She sat at a table not too far away with David and a few others I didn’t recognize. Her rapt expression while she fed herself eased my worry for her, and I relaxed to enjoy the company I was in.

  The sky darkened to a deep purple as the last of the sunset faded, and the floating lights twinkled and pulsed like the fireflies hovering closer to the ground. The band got back to playing while the tables were magicked out of the way to give us plenty of space to mill around while eating dessert.

  Lavender joined me, Mason, Ben, and Lily, and I gazed at her small plate with envy. “Pixie poop. I should have gotten some of your grandmother’s banana pudding. I’ll bet it’s all gone by now.”

  “I’ll go see.” Mason hurried off before I could add a request for a red velvet cupcake, too.

  I caught Lavender staring at my boyfriend as he walked away. She blushed when she saw me notice. “Sorry,” she apologized, lowering her head with a slight grin on her face.

  “You wanna tell me what you were looking at? Because you’re not one to covet someone else’s guy,” I joked.

  Lily nudged her cousin with her elbow. “I don’t think she was checking out the detective in the way you think. You saw something in his aura, didn’t you, Lav?”

  Lavender avoided the question by scooping up a full bite of banana pudding and whipped cream and stuffing it in her mouth. Her avoidance stoked the fires of my interest.

  “Hurry up and tell us before he returns,” Lily insisted. “What’s so fascinating about his aura that has you flustered?”

  Her cousin pointed her fork at me. “I’m pretty sure Charli doesn’t want to know.”

  Nothing made me want to know what she saw in Mason’s aura more than denying me the information. “Just spit it out. Whatever it is, it can’t be that bad.” I clutched my stomach in the hopes I was right.

  “Okay,” Lavender acquiesced. “But just remember, you begged me to tell you. If I’m right, the detective has something big he wants to say to you. Like, big big. Like, the last time I saw an aura that looked like that, it was before Lee asked Alison Kate to marry him.”

  I dropped my plate with the rest of my first round of desserts on it. “No!” I protested in a loud whisper. “There’s no way his aura is giving off any kind of hint of getting…pro
posing…no way. We’re nowhere near that in our relationship. Are we?” I fumbled with my words while the three of them took way too much delight in my reaction.

  “I said you wouldn’t want to know,” Lavender defended.

  I pointed at Ben and Lily. “But if anybody’s supposed to be the next ones to get engaged, it would be them.”

  Ben held up his hands. “Don’t try to flip this on us. It’ll be a while before we’re prepared for that. Since I’ve got everything invested in taking over the advocate’s office in town full time, I want to make sure my finances are more stable before taking the next step.”

  Lily kept her mouth shut, but her strained icy smile told a different story of her expectations. Not wanting to kick a hornet’s nest, I ignored her reaction and focused on my own. “I mean, we’ve only been on solid ground as a couple for a few months.”

  “But you’ve really been together longer if you count the time before he lost his memory,” Lavender added. “And you’ve told us girls that things are stronger than ever these days.”

  I gazed at the fourth finger on my left hand and tried to imagine a ring on it. While the idea didn’t disgust me, the nervous buzzing of the butterflies in my stomach let me know it was too quick. Too soon.

  “By your aura’s reaction, Mason would be really disappointed right now,” Lavender said, pointing at the space above my head.

  “Disappointed in what?” the detective asked as he rejoined us. “Here, I managed to beat Henry to the last scrapes of banana pudding. He told me that it’ll cost you two pieces of Sassy’s pie next week.” Handing me the plate of pudding, Mason looked around at our small group. “I missed something.”

  “No, you didn’t,” I replied a little too rapidly. Suddenly, the yellow pudding with whipped cream and wafer cookies didn’t look as appetizing, but I forced myself to eat it to escape anymore awkwardness.

  He narrowed his eyes at all of us with a slight smirk. “You guys know it’s my job to figure out when people are lying, right?”

  Nervous giggles burst out of Lavender. “It’s no big deal, Detective. I was just telling them about reading someone’s aura and what it meant.”