Tangled Up (Bachelors of Buttermilk Falls #2)

by Robyn Neeley

  “Doubt it. Not when she’s making out with pretty boy reporter even as we speak.”

  Abby froze. There were only two pretty boy reporters in this town, and she was all but sure Adam wasn’t talking about Jason. “She’s with Brandon?”

  “Saw them in the park on my way here.”

  “And they were kissing?”

  “Yep. Apparently they were challenged to break Tom and Bridget’s record.”

  “Record,” Abby repeated. “What record?”

  “For town’s longest kiss.” He looked down at this watch. “They’ve been going at it for a little over an hour.”

  Abby’s heart squeezed at that news. Why did this town have to encourage this type of behavior? One thing was for sure, she needed to see the main attraction with her own eyes.

  Ripping off her pink apron, she stuffed it underneath the counter. “Okay, everyone out. Emma, throw the leftover batter in the refrigerator. We’re going for a walk.”

  Emma said good-bye to the bachelors before turning to Abby. “What has got you so rattled?”

  “Brandon is kissing Rachel Foster in the park.”

  “And how do you know this?”

  “Adam told me.” Apparently, Rachel was the blind date he’d raced out of the inn to go get ready for. How did a casual drink turn into attempting to break Buttermilk Falls’s record for longest lip lock in front of the entire town?

  Twenty minutes later, she still tried to answer that question while standing amongst the crowd. Brandon and Rachel were in a full lip lock in the gazebo. The way they were meshed together, neither would be breaking contact anytime soon.

  “Are you okay?” Emma gave her a supportive nudge.

  “Why is he kissing her, and who is that guy filming it?” Abby pointed to the cameraman hovering around the pair.

  Adam came up next to them. “Now can you both understand why I don’t want to see Rachel’s name in my batter? Emma, I’m going to pass on next week, but thanks.”

  “You sure?” Emma asked.

  “Yeah. Give the opportunity to some other bachelor.”

  Abby gave Adam a supportive squeeze but then crossed her arms. She wanted to turn and run, but she couldn’t pry her gaze from Brandon. He appeared to be enjoying his make out session with Rachel, his hands around her as their lips continued to press into each other. “Why is he doing this?” she asked really no one.

  Bridget and Tom came up beside them holding hands. “Brandon’s doing some dating game for a blog. He has to go on a series of dates over the next two weeks that involve stunts like this,” Bridget said.

  As that news set in, Abby’s heart sank. That’s what Brandon must have been talking about Friday night. Was kissing some random woman he just met really his way of going after his personal goals? “What’s the record?”

  “Four hours and twenty-four minutes,” Tom said and high-fived Bridget. “The way they are going at it, he’s not going to make it. A man’s got to pace himself.”

  “Tom Reed!” Bridget gave him a playful shove with her hip.

  “What? It’s the truth.”

  Betty joined them a few minutes later with a large paper cup in her hand. “Oh, dear. I don’t think Brandon will want this.”

  “Want what?” Abby asked.

  “His shake. He didn’t stop by earlier, so I thought I’d bring it to him.”

  Abby glanced down at the cup in Betty’s hands. She was starving, but a shake would hit the spot, too, especially since she bet Betty had topped it off with whipped cream. “I’ll take it.”

  “It’s all yours.” Betty handed her the milkshake. “When Hot Lips gets done, tell him he can swing by the Star Lite for his regular.”

  “Regular?” Abby peeled the paper off the straw and stuck it in.

  Betty nodded. “He’s had one every day since last Wednesday. Over the weekend, he came in three times.”

  “Must be delicious.” Abby took a sip, and her eyes narrowed. Strawberry. So Brandon suddenly had a craving for strawberries, which just happened to be her favorite fruit. No wonder he bid on her dessert. This had her cousin’s magical meddling written all over it.

  “Excuse me, I need to speak to Emma.” Abby grabbed Emma’s arm and pulled her aside while the crowd continued to cheer Brandon and Rachel on. “You wouldn’t happen to know why Brandon has a newfound craving for strawberries, would you?”

  “Whatever do you mean?” Emma asked.

  She held up the evidence. “Betty says he’s been at the Star Lite every day since Wednesday ordering strawberry milkshakes.”

  “And you think I have something to do with his desire for a milkshake?”

  “That innocent act isn’t going to work on me, Glinda the Good Witch. You enchanted the cupcake I made for Brandon with your white chocolate strawberry slivers. Admit it.”

  Emma waved her hand. “I may have done a tiny little spell when I took the cupcake out to the counter. I didn’t know if it would actually work.”

  “Emma!”

  “I just thought maybe you were making a mistake.”

  “And you thought his eating strawberries would break the curse.”

  “No, but I thought it might help jog his memory.”

  “Well, it obviously didn’t work.” Abby pointed to the gazebo, shaking her head.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine.”

  Emma’s phone rang, and her face brightened. “It’s Jason.”

  “Tell him his best friend has lost his flippin’ mind.” Abby shook her head.

  “I’ll be right back.” Emma took off to take the call away from the crowd. This was the first time that she and Jason had been apart since they’d gotten together. Her cousin missed her boyfriend, so Abby didn’t blame her for heading to somewhere a little more private to catch up.

  Abby took another sip and watched Rachel run her fingers through Brandon’s hair as they kissed. She knew it was wrong to stew like she was. This is exactly what she thought would happen. He’d be chasing after someone else in no time. She just didn’t expect it would be such a public spectacle.

  What she wouldn’t give to break them up right now. If only it would rain. It wasn’t supposed to storm tonight . . . she tilted her head up at the star-filled sky . . . or was it?

  Magic had worked for her last time. Could she conjure up a spell to pull Brandon and Rachel apart?

  Maybe, but she’d already returned the spell book to her aunt. Fixing her gaze on one bright star, she wished for a storm to roll in, repeating a silly made up rhyme with the first words that popped in her head. Even though it probably wouldn’t work, it made her feel slightly better that at least she’d attempted to do something.

  “You enjoying the show?”

  Abby dropped her head to see Adam had joined her again. “The better question, are you?”

  “Not really. You know I’d love nothing more to run up there and punch that dude’s lights out, but truth be told, he’s a decent guy.”

  “Well, I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you with Rachel.”

  “Me, too.” He pointed up. “Looks like Mother Nature is about to put a kink in their plans.”

  She looked up where out of nowhere dark clouds began to roll in, covering the twinkling stars. Oh, my God. I did it! Abby smirked, feeling raindrops hit her face. Those drops became larger in no time, causing the crowd to disperse in every direction.

  “Do you need a ride, Abby?” Adam zipped up his coat.

  “I’m good. Emma’s here somewhere.”

  Adam took off, and Abby couldn’t help but sympathize with him. Here the love of his life was making out with a man that wasn’t him. Well, that would be coming to an end soon.

  Abby waited triumphantly for Brandon and Rachel to stop kissing, but that wasn’t happening. If anything, the rain drenching their hair and clothes made whatever was going on between them intensify.

  Why weren’t they stopping? Of course, you idiot. Kissing in the rain has to be one of the mos
t romantic things to do.

  Emma came over and grabbed Abby’s hand. “Show’s over.”

  “No, it’s not.” Abby tried to yank free, but Emma had a good grip on her.

  “It is for you.” Emma pulled her toward the park entrance.

  “I’m not ready to go home.” That was the truth. She finally broke away from Emma. The last thing she wanted to do was sit alone in her bedroom, wondering if Brandon was still in the gazebo with Rachel.

  “I’m not taking you home.”

  “You’re not. Where are we going?”

  “To make some sense of this new gift of yours. How else can you explain how a gorgeous fall evening turned into a downpour in minutes?”

  Abby blinked while large droplets ran down her face. Emma was right. This was the second spell she’d been able to conjure up in one week. This time, without any help from a magic book. She should be overjoyed that her witch roots were finally sprouting, but the passionate embrace still going on behind her gave her no reason to celebrate.

  * * *

  “You don’t think Brandon and Rachel are still kissing, do you?” Abby picked up a pile of Tarot cards off Aunt Sheila’s coffee table and began shuffling the deck. If any place screamed “witch’s den,” it was her aunt’s place. Though the living room was quite normal with a comfy burgundy sofa, country knickknacks, and a roaring fire, it had hints of magic including a black cauldron used as a plant pot and sparkly potion bottles lining the mantle.

  Emma looked down at her phone. “According to Bridget, they stopped about five minutes ago.”

  “Good.” Abby paused, straightening her wet ponytail. “Not that I care.”

  “Right.” Emma smirked. “Seeing Brandon make out with another woman had no effect on you whatsoever, but yet we’re both sitting here looking like drowned rats.”

  Aunt Sheila came in with a tray of brownies and two cups of warm apple cider. Before they dug into the plate of chocolate yumminess, she made them go upstairs and change into dry clothes. Luckily, Emma kept a drawer of comfortable yoga pants at her mom’s when she stayed over. After a quick change, both she and Emma rejoined Aunt Sheila in the living room. Curling her knees to her chest, Abby settled into the couch next to Emma and sipped on the delicious apple cider.

  “So, Abby . . .” Aunt Sheila took a seat in her recliner and pulled a navy blanket over her legs. “I hear you were able to do the reverse attraction spell last week on Jason’s friend.”

  Abby glanced over at Emma, wondering how much her cousin had told Aunt Sheila about Brandon. “I did, and I know it was a stupid, impulsive thing to do. We were just spending way too much time . . .” She stopped, not really wanting to talk about her sex life with her aunt. “. . . tangled up. I needed to put a stop to it.”

  “Tangled up . . . Hmm . . .” Aunt Sheila winked. “It was called having sex in my day.”

  Emma giggled at her mom’s knack for telling it like she saw it while Abby couldn’t help but feel slightly mortified that whom she’d been sleeping with was now out in the open. She set her cider down.

  “Well, what we were doing is over. I need to focus on finding my soul mate. Brandon Swift is not him. I know casting the spell was impulsive, but I promise from here on out to be more responsible with my talent.”

  “So it worked on him?” Aunt Sheila’s eyebrow shot up.

  Abby nodded, detecting skepticism in her aunt’s voice. She should have known. Was she always going to be perceived as a failure when it came to magic? Yes, she had a horrible track record of not being able to perform the Batter Up spell fully, but maybe she had other magical powers she’d never realized. “I not only did it, I did something tonight without a book. I made it rain by making up my own spell.”

  “She did, Mom.” Emma confirmed what had happened earlier. “It was quite something.”

  “Interesting.” Aunt Sheila’s gaze darted to Abby. “Why did you want to alter the weather?”

  “It was dumb, really. Brandon was making out with Rachel Foster in the gazebo, trying to break the town’s stupid record for longest kiss.” Abby sighed, ready to admit the truth. “I was jealous, which is totally ridiculous because he isn’t the guy for me.”

  “You sure about that?” Emma gave Abby a playful swat on the arm.

  “I didn’t think it would be so hard seeing him flirt with other women. I mean, first Christine and then Rachel.”

  “I think I might know what’s going on.” Aunt Sheila stood, her voice taking on a serious tone. “Let’s go into the kitchen, girls.”

  Abby and Emma joined her, both watching Aunt Sheila fly around the room, grabbing ingredients from cupboards and placing them next to a large black cauldron. “Abby, I need to see something.” She reached for a book wedged between a coffee pot and toaster oven and brought it over to the island. Flipping through its pages, she set it to the side of the cauldron. “Please do this spell on Emma.”

  Abby peered down at the book. “You want me to make Emma’s hair grow down to her butt?”

  “Yes, go ahead and perform the hair extension spell.”

  “Wait a second,” Emma piped in, pulling her locks to the side. “I like my current medium length.”

  Aunt Sheila gave her daughter’s arm a squeeze. “It will be okay. If it works, just think of all the fun Jason will have running his fingers through it.”

  “Mom!”

  “Or we’ll take you to the Spring Curls salon first thing in the morning.”

  Abby rolled up her sleeves. “Okay, I’ll show you two. I have more witch game than anyone in this family believes I do.” It was time to prove that her failed attempts at witchcraft were a thing of the past. She placed the ingredients in the cauldron and began to stir, chanting the spell.

  A minute passed, and nothing. Emma’s hair remained the same length to the relief of her cousin. “Do you think I need the sugar spoon?” Abby asked.

  Aunt Sheila shook her head. “No, I think I know what’s going on.”

  Emma raised an eyebrow. “What is it, Mom?”

  “Abby is able to conjure magic that effects Jason’s friend.” She paused for a second. “What’s his name again?”

  “Kissing bandit,” Abby joked bitterly.

  “Brandon,” Emma corrected. “His name is Brandon.”

  “Well, it seems that Brandon is the direct recipient of the magic Abby is able to conjure. I suspect a part of him is helping with her spell casting.”

  Abby cocked her head. “A part of him? What do you mean?”

  Aunt Sheila reached out and placed a gentle hand on Abby’s stomach. “I think there might be a little one growing inside here having some fun.”

  Chapter 8

  “Hey, Abby.” Brandon waved from the inn’s lawn and continued to rake the colorful leaves that had dropped from the beautiful maple tree.

  Abby gave a short wave back and headed down the hill to meet him. What a crazy twenty-four hours!

  After Aunt Sheila had dropped the baby bomb, the three of them had rushed to a drug store three towns over to purchase a pregnancy test. The last thing Abby wanted was to run into anyone she knew, let alone Brandon, while purchasing the kit. Five minutes after returning back to the house, it was confirmed: Abby was pregnant and that little witch or wizard apparently had a sense of humor when it came to playing tricks on its daddy.

  How could she and Brandon have been so careless? Abby knew exactly how. It was the first night they slept together all those weeks ago. It was the only time they hadn’t used protection because falling into bed had been so spontaneous.

  Soon she’d be showing the ramification of that one impulsive act.

  Emma and Aunt Sheila encouraged her to take a couple of days to let the news sink in, but then agreed that she needed to tell Brandon the truth—all of it.

  “I wasn’t expecting you this morning.” He propped up the rake. She tried to ignore just how ruggedly handsome he looked today in his worn jeans and long-sleeved maroon crew neck. He must have worked
up a sweat because his flannel was chucked to the side.

  “I brought you something.” She handed him the strawberry milkshake she’d swung by the Star Lite for twenty minutes earlier. Maybe if he drank enough of them he’d remember some small part of their time together. She didn’t really believe that would happen, but she was willing to try.

  “Oh, my God. I love these. How did you know?”

  “I had a craving for a chocolate one, and Betty asked me to bring you your regular.” That wasn’t entirely true since she specifically requested they make Brandon’s usual, but he’d never know. She looked around at the various pile of leaves. “So, what are you doing?”

  “The paperwork is nearly done, but the realtor said I should hold off doing anything inside until it’s officially mine. I thought I’d get a head start on the lawn and deck before work. I’m thinking all the trees will stay, but I’ll build the deck out so it overlooks the water. Then, for any of your private events, we could probably pitch up a white party tent off to the side.”

  Glancing around, she could easily envision customers docking their boats, and then enjoying a summer cocktail next to the water. She also couldn’t help but smile at the fact that he’d thought about her business in his plans. “Great idea.”

  “Yeah, I don’t want to get too ahead of myself until Jason gets back and I can talk him into helping me out.”

  Jason. Abby knew it was only a matter of time before Emma’s boyfriend returned. He was the one person besides Emma who knew exactly what Abby and Brandon had been doing this fall.

  She bent down and picked up a leaf, twirling it with her hands. “Is he excited about your news?”

  “We haven’t actually talked. He’s been tied up with whatever freelance project he’s working on.” He took a sip of his shake. “Where’s yours?”

  “Mine?”

  “You said you stopped for a shake.”

  “Oh, I already drank it.” She tossed her leaf into the enormous pile he raked. Truth be told, her morning sickness—that she now knew was the pregnancy kind—extended into the afternoon, and she hadn’t been able to stomach more than a bland cheese sandwich and some ginger ale. “So, how was your evening? I saw you trying to break Tom and Bridget’s kissing record.”