by Sam Mariano
“I’m leaving,” I tell her, shaking my head and moving toward her door.
“Rafe,” she calls out.
She sounds serious, so I turn back to see what she wants.
“I’m not going anywhere. Stop looking for reasons to push me away,” she says, softly.
“That’s not what I’m doing,” I tell her again. “I just… don’t want to hurt you.”
“Then don’t,” she says, like it’s that simple.
28
Virginia
Since kitchen work is kind of my thing, it’s no surprise I end up on food duty when I show up at Laurel’s early to help with Skylar’s birthday.
Thankfully, Mother Nature is being kind and it’s a nice, warm day—as opposed to a scorching, melting, miserable day—with clear skies and a gentle breeze. The sun keeps popping out though, so I’m still a little skeptical about putting this seashell plate full of “gold doubloons” on the food table.
I hear someone enter the kitchen, so as I move aside the tray and ball up the netting the chocolate-filled coins were wrapped in so I can throw it away, I say, “Hey, I’m not sure these should go outside yet. I know it’s not too hot, but the sun might melt the candy. We should wait until we take the cake out.”
I figured it was Vince or Sin, since their pace wasn’t as hurried as Laurel or Carly, who are both rushing around today wearing seashell headbands and mermaid shirts. Instead, Rafe Morelli leans his hip against the counter and smirks at me.
“I don’t believe I’m in charge of the candy.”
Shooting him a playfully annoyed look, I tell him, “You’re not in charge of anything; you didn’t come early to help us set up.”
“Hey, I’m here now,” he offers.
“To help?”
“Nah. I’ll supervise. Virginia, don’t put those gold coins outside, they might melt.” He pauses. “See, I helped already.”
“You are enormously helpful, thank you,” I tell him.
“Anytime.”
Handing him the fistful of yellow netting from the candy coins, I say, “Can you at least throw this away so I can whip up some dip?”
“Sure can.” He takes the netting and throws it away, then saunters back. I feel his eyes on me, so I glance up and see him smirking. “This is some shirt,” he tells me, looking at the purple seashells stamped over my breasts. In lieu of clamshell bras, we have teal tank tops with a printed design. Carly was willing to go full clamshell, but Laurel said it was a bad idea.
I open the refrigerator and grab sour cream. “It’s a mermaid-themed party. Carly and Laurel bought us matching shirts.”
“Isn’t that adorable,” he deadpans.
“It’s a good idea. I figure the shirts are like uniforms so party guests can pick us out in the crowd. If anyone has questions, they’ll know we’re the ladies in charge.”
“Look at you, on mom duty.”
“I’m also on storytelling duty later. Tell your friends.”
“Oh, I will.” Pushing off the counter, he comes around to stand behind me.
My heart kicks up a couple speeds at his closeness, but I focus on my task. “You should go outside and see if the men need help.”
“Vince and Sin have it under control,” he assures me, placing his hands on my hips.
“Hey, buddy,” I say, to remind him of his place. “Hands off the help.”
Instead, he slides a hand into my back pocket. “I know Laurel and Carly made you wear the tank top, but did they make you wear these shorts? You should have worn pants.”
“Don’t want all your relatives looking at my gams, huh?” I tease.
“Don’t want me looking at them,” he says, lightly amused.
Before I can do more than smile to myself, I hear the footfall of someone else entering the kitchen. Rafe glances back to see who it is, but he doesn’t remove his hand from my back pocket, so it must not be anyone important.
Or, I think so until I hear Vince mutter, “Stop mauling the guests, asshole.”
Since he’s Carly’s husband and I don’t want her to hate me, I reach back and remove Rafe’s hand, explaining to Vince, “He was just making fun of my shirt.”
“There’s no seashell print on your ass,” Vince states, opening a drawer and grabbing the tape. Then, to Rafe, he says, “Why don’t you come outside and help us hang all these fucking balloons?”
“Below my pay grade,” Rafe states.
Now that he has his tape, Vince goes to help Sin, making disparaging remarks about Rafe’s character under his breath.
I smile at Rafe, leaning against the counter again and watching me. “He really likes you.”
“A lot.” He misses a beat, glances off toward the arch his cousin disappeared through, then says, “I should go pull up a seat and watch those assholes hang balloons, really piss Vince off.”
I shake my head at him. “This is why people want to poison you,” I call after him as he leaves the kitchen.
The guests have all arrived and the party is off to a great start. Nicholas fell asleep when we were setting up, but as I glance up from my cup of rainbow punch, I see Laurel closing the sliding door and hauling him outside. She has been running around, trying to make everything perfect for Skylar’s party, so I decide to go over and offer my babysitting services. I haven’t had a chance to cuddle Nicky all day, anyway.
Leaving my punch on the table, I approach Laurel. Most of the guests remain at one set table, but Laurel is bouncing around, trying to visit everyone. Right now Sin is talking to Adrian, so Laurel is showing Nicky off to his wife, Elise.
Adrian glances up at me first, Sin follows, and finally Laurel looks up. “Hey, Virginia. Having fun?”
“Oh, yeah. They can barely keep me out of the bounce castle.” I crouch down, waving at Nicky. He offers me a gummy smile in return. “I wanted to see if you needed help with anything,” I tell her. “Especially this little cutie. If you need someone on cuddle duty, I would like to formally call dibs.”
Chuckling, she leans down and kisses his forehead. “Cuddle duty is certainly the most fun. You can take him for a little bit, if you want.”
“I definitely want,” I offer, reaching out grabby hands at him and making him smile again.
As she hands him off to me, she seems to remember something. “Oh, you know what? I actually did want to ask you for help with something. You know how someone usually keeps track of which gift comes from which person and records it all for thank you cards? I don’t want to treat your mind like a party trick, I’m not even sure if it works that way, but I was wondering if you might take that job?”
I shift Nicky to hold him more comfortably. “Oh, yeah, no sweat.”
“Great, thank you. I’ll get you a notebook and everything, just to be safe.”
I shake my head. “Don’t need one. I’ll watch and keep track. If you need me to write it down for you later, I can.”
Flashing me a smile, she says, “You’re the best. Thank you.”
“From memory?”
I glance up at Adrian, who just asked the question. “Huh?”
“You can write down a list like that from memory?” he questions.
I nod, tilting my head away from Nicholas as he grabs a fistful of my hair and yanks. “Waitress skills for the win.”
Laurel expands on my explanation, telling Adrian, “She has an eidetic memory. How cool is that? I wish I did. It sure would make studying less time-consuming.”
I don’t like the way he’s watching me, so I snuggle Nicholas and tell Laurel, “We’re gonna go watch the kids in the bouncy castle, if you need us.”
“Okay. Thanks, Virginia.”
29
Virginia
I sit on the ground in the middle of purple and teal pillows and look out at the children assembled in front of me. They’re all sitting here waiting for cake, but before the cake comes storytime.
So, I begin my tale.
“Once upon a time, there was a handsome prince, th
e handsomest prince in all the land. In a lot of ways, the prince was lucky beyond measure. He had a strong family, feared and respected throughout the land, plentiful riches so he never wanted for anything gold coins could buy, and he was blessed with such beautiful looks that the ladies in the kingdom sought him out so he never had to be alone. The prince was also intelligent and generally observant, but he had one weakness.”
“What’s his weakness? Is it chocolate? Or poisoned apples?” a boisterous brunette girl demands from the row of Morelli children in front of me.
The older, dark-haired girl whose lap the little one is sitting in shushes her. “Quiet, Rosalie, let her tell her story.”
I smile faintly at the interruption and go on. “For all his good qualities, the prince wasn’t infallible. He could be tricked, just like anyone else. One day, he was riding his steed through the forest and he happened upon a beautiful—but evil—enchantress. She wanted the prince’s kingdom for herself, so she pretended to be a harmless maiden. She tricked the prince into falling in love with her, and once she had his heart in her possession, she cast a spell on it so he could never fall out of love.”
“Poor Prince Charming,” a little blonde girl murmurs, shaking her head.
“The evil enchantress made the prince unhappy, but for reasons he didn’t even understand, he couldn’t stop loving her,” I tell them.
“It’s because of the spell,” Rosalie puts in helpfully.
“That’s right,” I agree, nodding. “But then one day a more powerful prince from a nearby kingdom took an interest in the enchantress. Thirsting for power, she left the handsome prince for her new suitor, but she took the prince’s heart with her!”
Rosalie’s hands fly over her mouth. “Oh no!”
“So, for many years, the handsome prince tried to move on with his life, but he couldn’t fall in love. He met a lot of new maidens, smart and talented and funny maidens, but as much as he liked them, he was still trapped under the spell of the evil enchantress. Time went on and the old king died, so the prince had to take over caring for the people of his kingdom. The handsome prince became a handsome king, and he became all-powerful in his little corner of the world. There were parties in the kingdom, for the prince was well-loved among his subjects.”
“Hey, we’re at a party!” Rosalie pipes in.
“Rosalie,” the dark-haired girl says again, shooting me an apologetic look. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I assure her, smiling. “You like the story, don’t you?” I ask Rosalie.
“Yeah,” she says, nodding vigorously.
“So, anyway, news that the handsome prince was now a powerful king traveled across all the kingdoms, and can you guess who heard about it?”
“Who?” Rosalie asks.
“The evil enchantress,” the blonde girl guesses.
“That’s right, the evil enchantress! Now the handsome prince she left behind had more power than the man she left him for. Seeing an opportunity to have even more power for herself, the mean-hearted woman came back to the kingdom of… Vegasia. She went straight to the castle to see the newly crowned king, to profess her love for him.”
“She loves him now?” Rosalie demands.
“No, not really. She’s just pretending to love him, hoping he will love her again, that way she can reign beside him as queen and abuse his power. She’s a piece of work, this enchantress.” I’m getting off on a tangent, so I wave it off. “Anyway, the strapping king rejects her advances and banishes her from the castle, but the enchantress doesn’t give up. She never gives up. Now that she has her sights set on the handsome king, nothing will stop her from having him. Meanwhile, the handsome king had to choose a future wife to rule beside him. He chose a beautiful princess from a nearby kingdom named Laurelia. She wasn’t super sure she wanted to be a queen, and even though she very much liked the king, she knew he didn’t love her and she couldn’t understand why.”
“Poor Laurelia,” the blonde girl offers.
“Yeah, but she was all right. She had a lot going on in her life. She wasn’t sobbing in her pillow over some guy, even if he was a king. Hobbies and interests are important. I’m digressing. Anyway, so Princess Laurelia and the handsome king had a beautiful baby boy—a new prince for kingdom! The people rejoiced… all except for the evil enchantress. Knowing that the king would never come back to her if he had a family with someone else, the conniving enchantress hatched a plot to steal their baby and take him away so the king would never see him again!”
Another child, not one of Mia and Mateo’s brood, raises a hand. “Wouldn’t Laurelia be the queen now? You said princess.”
Everyone’s a critic. I shake my head at him. “They’re not married.”
“But they have a baby,” he points out.
“Correct. Anyway, the enchantress sent her minions to infiltrate the castle, turning the king’s most trusted advisor against him. Like the handsome king had so long ago, the advisor fell in love with the evil enchantress.”
“She’s so mean. What’s so great about her?” the blonde girl demands. “These guys need to wake up. I hate the enchantress.”
“So do I,” I assure her. “What’s your name? I like the way you think.”
Her cheeks pinken and she says a little more shyly, “Lily.”
“I’m with you, girl.” I give her a thumbs-up before continuing with my story. “Since the advisor fell in love with the enchantress and he believed all the lies she filled his head with, he began to dream even bigger. It wasn’t enough to kidnap the baby prince, kill the princess, and free up the king—then the enchantress would be with the handsome king instead of him. The advisor suggested they overthrow the king altogether! Then he and the evil enchantress could overtake the kingdom and rule it themselves.”
“Those snakes,” the older, dark-haired girl says, her eyes narrowed with dislike.
I nod my agreement. “They really suck. But the advisor made a terrible mistake,” I announce dramatically. “Thinking everyone had the same propensity toward disloyalty as he did, the advisor approached the king’s most trusted soldier, General Sinclair. He helped keep peace in the kingdom, patrolling Vegasia and stopping to have a stern chat with anyone who disrespected the king. He had power and influence in the kingdom and within the king’s men, so the advisor tried to turn him on the king. The advisor knew General Sinclair had a fondness for Princess Laurelia, so the advisor promised her to him if he would turn on the king and help overthrow him.”
“Oh, jeeze,” Sin mutters, turning and attempting to walk away, but Laurel grins and latches onto his arm, tugging him right back and leaning into his side.
“Stay put, general, I wanna hear the rest of the story,” she murmurs.
“I already know how it ends,” he mutters.
I ignore him and continue, a touch louder. “But General Sinclair was too smart to fall for any such tricks. He had always seen through the evil enchantress, and he saw through the advisor, too. He pretended to go along with their wayward plan, but really he was protecting the king. General Sinclair left the castle and found the evil enchantress in her lair. He battled her most valiantly, and he won! He vanquished the evil enchantress, and upon her death, her spell was broken. The king’s heart was no longer hers—he was free!”
“Yay!” Rosalie claps. “Now he can marry Princess Laurelia.”
“Well… no. I’m getting to that. So, General Sinclair goes back to the kingdom, expecting the enchantment to be broken and everyone to be back to normal. But the king’s advisor, as it turned out, hadn’t been under an enchantment at all. He had been acting of his own volition, so he still planned to betray the handsome king. General Sinclair went to his friend, the king, and told him about the advisor’s plans. So many people had turned on the king that it was going to be a big job to keep him on the throne. General Sinclair was a loyal soldier, but he was no saint. He told the king he would help him cleanse the kingdom of traitors, but in exchange for his help, he wanted to be
promoted to the position of advisor, and… he wanted to marry the intelligent, beautiful, kind-hearted Princess Laurelia.”
“What?” the little boy demands. “That’s crazy! She has a baby with the king.”
“It’s a messy kingdom; I don’t know what to tell you.”
Lily shrugs, like it all checks out to her. “It happens.”
“So, the king agreed to General Sinclair’s terms. His heart had only been free from the enchantment for a few hours, so he didn’t have time to fall in love with Princess Laurelia anyway.”
“Did the princess even want to marry this soldier guy?” Rosalie demands.
“She did. Unfortunately, since the king was under that bad spell, he didn’t give Princess Laurelia the attention she deserved, and left the door open for her to strike up a friendship with General Sinclair. They fell in love with each other, but Princess Laurelia thought they could never be together because she belonged to the king.”
The little boy smacks his palm against his forehead. “What a mess.”
I crack a smile. “Yep. But it all works out in the end, because now General Sinclair and Princess Laurelia are free to be together, and because the evil enchantress was vanquished, the king has his heart back. He can move on now, and if he so chooses, he can get married and have his own queen, one he’ll be able to give his heart to, that way they can make each other happy. The point is, they all lived happily ever after.”
“But the king didn’t get married,” the little boy objects.
“You are very adamant about your nuclear family end game, aren’t you, kiddo?”
He wrinkles his nose up. “Huh?”
“Never mind.”
“The king needs a queen,” the boy insists.
“Well, there is a certain scullery maid who caught his eye, but that’s a story for another time. This one’s over.”
