“Huh.”
I glanced over. “Does that surprise you? That I’m not out for revenge?”
“A little. But then again, not really. You’re more level-headed than that.”
“Very adult of me, right?” I went back to my list. Doritos, Ruffles, large French onion dip. One bag baby carrots.
“Very.”
Smiling, I added a few more things to the list, then handed it to him.
He read it, then looked at me. “Is this for real? I mean, I know you love sugar and eat like a teenage boy about to go through a growth spurt, but—”
“Hey, there are baby carrots on there.”
Amusement bent his mouth. “Well, yes, that clearly balances out the vat of marshmallow fluff you’ve requested.”
“Ooo, that reminds me. I need graham crackers too.”
He stood, letting out a sound that was half laugh, half sigh. “I’ll get them. How about I text you on the way back so you can meet me at your apartment and I can just carry everything in?”
I went to the door with him. “Sounds perfect. Very kind of you to do this for me.”
He leaned in, his familiar scent of cinnamon filling my space. “Can’t have my favorite girl starving to death, now can I?”
I smiled and kissed him on the mouth. A quick one. I wasn’t looking to start anything while I was at work. “You’re the best, thank you.”
He sauntered out, the list clutched firmly in his hand. “Make sure you tell elf boy that.”
Speaking of elf boy, I mean, Cooper, I needed to call him. Not to tell him Greyson was the best (I still wasn’t anywhere close to deciding between them, and until they pushed me, I was happy with how things were), but to explain that I’d essentially given the Ellinghams the go-ahead to hire Lark.
I felt good about that. It was proof I was moving on. And while I hadn’t exactly vouched for Lark, I certainly hadn’t gotten in her way. I almost hoped she got the job. Was that weird? Maybe. I hoped Cooper would feel the same way. But I also understood he had harder feelings about the whole thing than I did.
He picked up as soon as I called, and I gave him the rundown on my conversation with Hugh.
“So that’s it, then,” he said. “She’ll be at the ball.”
The tone of his voice said it all. Resignation. Disappointment. And a little resentment. I sighed. “Are you mad at me? What else could I do? This is her livelihood. It wouldn’t be fair of me to get in the way of that.”
“No, you’re absolutely right. And I’m not at all mad at you. You did the right thing. This is my issue to get over. And I will. But hey, what does it matter? She’ll be there working, and we’ll be there to have fun.”
“Yes, exactly.” I smiled. I knew Cooper would come to terms with it.
“Does this mean you’ve forgiven her?”
“I don’t know. Not entirely. But I’m starting to get over it. Look, I can’t carry this weight for the rest of my life. That’s not healthy. And you and I are friends again now. That has to count for something.”
“True.” The resentment was gone, but a new longing filled his voice. “But if not for her interference, I can’t help but think you and I would be a lot further along in our relationship by now.”
I had no doubt he was right. In the future that never happened, we most likely would have been married and probably would have had some kids by now. A new, small ache opened up in my heart. “I’m so sorry, Coop,” I whispered. I felt for him. I cared for him deeply. And part of me very much regretted all that hadn’t happened between us.
But did I wish that I was his wife? That wasn’t a question I could easily answer. My life was so different now than it had been back when I thought marriage was the direction we’d been headed.
I’d practically counted on it. Even bought a few of those enormous bride magazines. Then Lark had happened. Now, my future—or at least the man in it—was no longer clear.
He sighed. “You’re right. I need to get over this too. It’s just going to take me some time. Don’t expect me to be chummy with her. It’s never going to happen.”
“I’m fine with that. I don’t see her and me braiding each other’s hair or swapping clothes any time soon. But to be civil at the ball? By next October, I should be able to swing that. And so should you.”
A grunt answered me. “I’ll let you know next October.”
“Fair enough.” He’d get over this soon enough. And I could humor him until that happened. “Hey, you want to get pizza tonight?”
“I can’t. I’m on shift for the next four nights.”
“I could get some pies and bring them to the station.” I was still worn out and not completely up for that, but if it would help Cooper’s mood, which it would, I was all in.
“That’s a nice offer, but you’re tired. Get some rest, babe.”
“Okay. But call me if you change your mind.”
He laughed, a sound that lifted my own mood. “I won’t. You need your sleep. But I love your determination. Later, babe.”
“Later.” We hung up, and while we’d ended on a happier note, I couldn’t help but feel that things seemed a bit off between us. Had Lark’s reappearance caused a new rift? Maybe I was reading too deeply into it. Or maybe I was right.
Only time would tell.
October (current month)
In the eleven months that had passed since Lark had first shown up (and thankfully, left again), life had pretty much gone back to normal. We survived the Christmas rush. I dated Cooper. I dated Greyson. I worked, hung out with Juni and Buttercup, talked to my parents, loved on Spider, ate way too much sugar, you know, all the regular stuff.
It was absolutely life as usual.
And I had thought eleven months would be plenty of time for Cooper to mellow out about Lark’s transgressions against us.
I was right. Even after she texted both of us a week after leaving to say she’d gotten the job of DJing the ball and how thankful she was that we hadn’t let the past affect her future. Or something like that.
Sure, we’d gone out that night and overindulged in some Salvatore’s pizza and shared a massive sundae at I Scream, but we’d made peace with the fact that Lark was going to be at the ball with us. Working, obviously, but at the ball.
Cooper and I had matured. And we were pretty proud of ourselves. The invites had come for the ball, and we (Greyson included) had RSVP’d that we’d be there. Ice was this year’s theme, which seemed to jive with Lark’s hiring.
Even so, ice was a slightly left of center theme for a masked Halloween ball, but hey, it was Elenora’s party and she was footing the bill. She could have made the theme zombie Muppets for all people cared.
Cooper had decided to go as a melted snowman, which I thought was hilarious. (And based on his decision that melted snowman also meant shirtless, I thought it might be his way of showing Lark what she wasn’t getting.) Greyson was leaning toward frost giant, which apparently also involved shirtlessness. And blue body paint and a fur kilt.
No complaints.
Seeing as how I was already the Winter Princess, I was going as myself. Yeah, I know. Not very imaginative. But it was a chance for me to wear my snowflake tiara and my court gown. It was very pretty. Ice blue silk covered in hand-beaded silver snowflakes and edged in crystalline frost lace. Also, it had this high, stand-up collar that framed my face in a kind of fairy-tale way.
Completely over the top, but also utterly fabulous. And since my parents had decided things were too busy with Christmas prep for them to attend (as suspected), it was up to me to represent the North Pole in all its sparkly, frozen glory.
Life was good when the biggest burden you had to bear was wearing a custom-made gown and a ransom in jewels in the name of fun.
Based on past experience, I probably should have worried that things couldn’t stay smooth for long. But I pushed those thoughts aside to give my full attention to the gooey cheesesteak subs Cooper and I were devouring at Howler’s. “C’mon,
Coop. I know you don’t like sharing the evening with Greyson, but you guys have got to figure out if you’re going to split the evening or try for a full-on three-way date the entire evening. I realize the ball is still ten days away, but I’d like to know what you guys want to do now.”
He laughed as he ate his last fry. “I am not having a three-way with fang face.”
“You know what I mean.”
He winked. “Yeah, I do. As much as I’d like to have you to myself for a few hours, I’m too curious about Lark to want to leave the party. I’d rather be there all night.”
“Okay, I’ll let Greyson know.”
“He’s not going to like that.”
“He’s going to be fine with it, and you don’t care anyway, so hush.” I laughed.
“Well, you won’t be the only one there with two dates.”
“No? Who else?”
Coop snorted. “Who do you think? Birdie. And my boss is one of them.”
“Hah! Yeah, that makes sense. It’s also very sweet.” Birdie Caruthers was aunt to Titus, the fire chief; Hank, his brother and the sheriff; and their sister, Bridget, the lovely owner of this fine establishment. The Merrows were a swell bunch. The nicest (and only) werewolves I’d ever known. Maybe Birdie was taking both her nephews. Titus was single, and Hank was married, but Hank and his wife had a baby at home. She might be staying in with the little one.
“It is sweet. Although the chief told me Jack Van Zant also asked her.”
“Remind me who that is again?” I took a big bite of my sub while he answered.
“Cole Van Zant’s dad. Pandora’s future father-in-law.”
I nodded as I swallowed. “Why didn’t Birdie want to go with him?”
Cooper smirked. “She did. That is, she is. Jack is her second date. Apparently, she’s been hanging out with you too much, because she decided that she wanted to go with her nephew but also dance with Jack. So there you have it.”
I rolled my lips in. That did sound like something she might have picked up from me, but then again, Birdie wasn’t known for her restraint or inhibitions.
He leaned in, his face suddenly more serious. “I do hope Lark doesn’t do anything stupid.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know, but it’s Lark. She’ll probably try to make small talk. Or something.”
“Maybe, but she won’t really be around to do that for the most part. She’ll be in her DJ booth.”
He frowned. “No, she won’t. I looked her up on YouTube. She walks through the crowd a lot at her shows.”
“How is that possible?”
“She has a control panel about the size of an iPad. She can run her entire show off that, from what I’ve seen.”
Snowballs. I wasn’t really interested in getting chatty with her.
Cooper’s phone rang. He glanced down at the screen. He was on call, so the phone on the table was excusable. (The fact that he was sitting across from me in his uniform looking super hot more than made up for it.) He glanced at the screen and made a strange face.
“The station?”
He picked up the phone. “No. My dad.” He answered. “Hey, Dad, what’s up?”
I ate a few fries and tried to figure out if I was eavesdropping or not, but decided if Cooper needed privacy, he’d probably go outside.
“Since when? Yes. Of course. Take her anyway. Now. Let me know.” Cooper hung up. “My mom’s not feeling well. Having a hard time maintaining her temperature. My dad thinks it could be minor heatstroke, but she doesn’t want to go to the doctor. She’s pretty stubborn.”
“Oh, Cooper.” Heatstroke for a summer elf was the equivalent of a heart attack in a human. Or hypothermia in a winter elf. The body went haywire and stopped processing temperature the way it was supposed to. It generally didn’t happen until a person was older, but sometimes there wasn’t any real explanation either. “Is she okay?”
He shook his head, the pain in his eyes easily readable. “She says she is, but like my dad said, she won’t go to the doctor. He thinks if I come down there, I can talk her into it.”
“You have to go. You’re going, right?” My heart was breaking for him.
“We’ll see. My dad’s going to try to get her to the doctor one more time. If he can’t, I’ll head down.”
“They’re in Florida, right?”
He nodded distractedly. “Boca.”
“You should go, Coop. I mean, leave here and go to the station and tell Titus what’s going on and that you might need time off.”
He blinked and seemed to come back to me. “Yeah, that’s not a bad idea.” He threw his napkin on the table.
“What can I do to help? I could help you pack or make your travel arrangements or—”
“Not yet.” He smiled quickly. It didn’t reach his eyes, but it had been for my benefit. “I can handle it if it comes to that. Thank you, though.”
“She’s going to be all right. You’ll see.” I reached out and grabbed his hand. “Hey, I can come with you, if you want.”
“I don’t even know if I’m going yet.” He smiled a little more. “And that’s sweet, babe, but you have the store to run and the ball to go to. And one of us needs to be there. Otherwise, Lark will think we decided not to be adult.”
I laughed softly. “Yeah, I thought about that.”
“And you still offered to go with me?” He squeezed my hand. “Thanks.”
I shrugged. “You said yourself you don’t like the idea of me and Greyson alone for the evening.”
He blew out a breath. “I don’t. But you and I have something you and he will never have.”
I raised my brows in question.
“We have history.”
“True.”
He let go of my hand and grabbed his phone. “All right, I better go square things with the chief. Don’t worry about the bill. I already told Bridget to put it on my tab.”
“Thanks. Please keep me posted about your mom when you can.”
“I will.” He got up and kissed my cheek. “See you later.”
I held on to his arm for a moment. “She’s going to be okay.”
“Thanks.” He headed for the door.
“Princess Jayne!” Birdie’s effusive tone echoed through the restaurant.
Cooper was a few steps away. He turned back to me. “There you go, now you won’t have to finish your lunch alone.”
Birdie sidled up to him, giving him these big moony eyes. “Well, well, how’s the hottest fireman in town?”
“I’m good, Birdie.” He gave her a big smile. How he managed that with the news about his mom weighing on him, I had no idea, but Cooper was that kind of guy. Never wanted anyone to worry about him. “You look lovely as always.”
She clutched at nonexistent pearls. “Thank you, sweetheart. Are you leaving?”
“Yep. Have to head to the station. But you’re welcome to take my seat and keep Jayne company while she finishes her lunch.”
“Perfect. You have a good day now.”
“You too.” He gave me a quick, sad smile and left.
Birdie slid into his seat. “What’s that look on your face?”
I stopped staring after Cooper to face her. “Cooper’s mom is having some health issues. He might have to head out of town to see her, depending on how things go.”
“That poor man! He didn’t say a word.”
I shrugged. “That’s just how he is.”
Bridget walked up to the table. “Hi, Aunt Birdie.” She leaned in and kissed Birdie’s cheek.
“Hi, darling.”
“You in for lunch?”
“No, just cobbler and a sweet tea.”
“Ice cream?”
Birdie frowned. “Is there any other way?”
“It was silly to ask.” Bridget glanced at me. “And I’ll bring you a fresh Dr Pepper.”
“Thanks.” Mine was only half gone, but I wasn’t going to argue.
As soon as Bridget left, Birdie scooted forwa
rd. “I’m very sorry about Cooper’s mother, but I have news of my own. News you need to know.”
“What?” Birdie was a better source of info than the internet.
Her brows lifted conspiratorially. “She’s here.”
I looked around. “Who’s here?”
“Your arch-nemesis. The bird woman.”
I felt like I should know this one, but I didn’t. “Who?”
“Lark,” Birdie hissed through clenched teeth.
Oh, that bird woman. I stared at her. “Lark is in town?”
Birdie nodded so furiously I thought her earrings might come off.
“Why? It’s so early.” The ball was a week and a half away. Why did Lark need to be here already? I took another bite of my cheesesteak and pondered this new development.
Birdie shrugged. “Beats me, but she’s here.” She waggled her head back and forth. “Her and her lover, Lance.”
I almost snorted grilled onions through my nose. I swallowed and found some composure. “Lance? How do you know he’s her lover?” Not that I doubted Birdie. The woman was a font of information. And Lark had mentioned a boyfriend when we’d had dinner last year.
Birdie sat back, obviously pleased with herself. “I could tell just from the way they interacted. Also, they had to come in and get their temporary business license at the sheriff’s department. They both listed the same rental property address here in town. So there’s that.”
“Huh. I guess it makes sense that she brought her boyfriend. She said something about him being her assistant, but to be honest, I didn’t pay that much attention.
“He’s not just her boyfriend. He’s also her—”
“Here you go, ladies.” Bridget came over with our drinks in one hand and a ridiculously large piece of peach cobbler for Birdie in the other. It was matched in size only by the half gallon of vanilla bean ice cream melting over it.
Then I noticed there were two spoons.
Miss Frost Cracks A Caper Page 4
