The Feminine Mesquite: The Complete Series

by Sable Sylvan

  Clove’s hands were rougher than Abby remembered, and as he pulled his hands away, she saw the undersides of his palms. They were his marks, his shifter marks. Every shifter had two kinds of marks. One kind marked the species, the other, who their fated mate would be. The latter was called a mate mark. Abby had only ever seen a few before, and she’d never seen any of the Scoville mate marks. After all, bear shifter marks were on chests. This was true of all bears, from grizzlies to pandas, and polars were no exception.

  Clove put the desk back where it belonged.

  Abby looked at her study area. He was right. How had she not seen it earlier? That’s where the desk went.

  “Where do you want the rest of this stuff?” asked Clove.

  “You don’t have to rearrange everything for me, or assemble any of it,” said Abby. “I can handle it myself.”

  “Or you can just let me help you, and we can get this done sooner,” said Clove.

  “Fine, but can we turn down the music? It’s giving me a headache,” said Abby.

  Clove shouted a command at his phone and the music went down to a lower volume. “That better?”

  “Much,” said Abby. “Where should I put the bigger bookshelf?”

  “On its side,” said Clove. “Over there. By that wall.”

  “On its side?” asked Abby.

  “Yeah, they’re cubbies, and that unit can stand vertically or lie down horizontally,” said Clove. “You can put the printer on top of this. That way, it won’t waste space on your desk.”

  “You’re right. I didn’t think of that,” said Abby. “You have a good eye for furniture.”

  “I’m Nordic. Of course I know my way around a flat pack,” said Clove, holding up his little hex key. “But you’re going to have to help me set up my furniture, too, you know.”

  “Because you totally need my help,” said Abby sarcastically.

  “Somebody has to hold the desk legs up while I screw them in,” said Clove. “Believe it or not, you’re not entirely useless.”

  “Ha-ha,” said Abby. “Let’s just try to get this done before dinner.”

  Abby and Clove stopped the small talk and helped each other assemble the furniture. Before long, all of Abby’s furniture had been constructed and was in place. Abby helped Clove assemble the big pieces of furniture that required extra hands and after that followed his instructions regarding placing things in certain places. They would be sharing a pair of trash cans, one for regular garbage, one for recycling. The printer was shared, too, with communal office supplies on top of the cubby unit, near the printer, and with extras stowed in the cubby unit.

  While Abby had helped Clove with his big pieces of furniture, she had to admit there was something almost endearing about Clove on his hands and knees putting together cheap furniture. She would’ve thought that he would’ve opted for one of the furniture assembly services that were offered by the flat-pack stores. Instead, he was doing it all himself, and she was learning a lot about how to assemble basic furniture. All they talked about was the furniture, though, and it was obvious what they weren’t talking about.

  Once Clove finished the last piece of furniture, a lamp, he plugged it in and turned it on.

  “And…let there be light,” said Clove. “We’re done. See you at dinner.”

  Like that, Clove was gone. He walked out the room and into his private room, which Abby hadn’t seen since…well, since that night.

  Abby went back to her room. What had just happened with Clove? They had gone from ignoring each other to putting stuff together like roommates, to…whatever this was. She had emotional whiplash. There were a few minutes for her to spend getting ready for dinner, so she changed into clean clothes, as her construction clothes were all sweaty and covered in dust and lint.

  Abby got undressed and slipped on a loose but nice dress. She always felt underdressed in the manor, but her sister had insisted that she didn’t need to dress up. Still, she felt as if she had to look good and put in the extra effort, so Abby brushed her hair a bit and headed downstairs to dinner.

  At dinner, things were the same again. Clove only asked her polite questions, while Alice and Herb talked to the both of them about the goings-on in town. Abby ignored Clove. If he was going to ignore her, well, two could play at that game. She might have to share a room with him, but there was no frikkin’ way she was going to share her feelings with that man.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Four Days Later

  Abigail had spent three days in the study with Clove and was on day number four, but she was no closer to getting any work done than she had been before break. They had arrived on a Friday, shopped Saturday and Sunday, and put the items together on Monday. All she had done was reorganize her thesis outline, over and over, but there were only so many ways one could organize those arguments. She had tried everything, from caffeine to taking walks, to studying in her room and reading her books outside on the porch swing, wrapped in a big cashmere blanket, but nothing had helped. Clove’s taste in music didn’t help matters either.

  At lunch that day, Herb and Allie had come up to the manor to spend the meal with Clove and Abby. The couple had been working hard all week on their sauce, and that meant Clove and Abby were left alone for breakfast and lunch, which they chose to take separately. On the menu that day was burgers from the Burgerteria in Fallowedirt, with enough for the staff to help themselves to some of the greasy goodness. Abby tried their formulation of the habanero sauce. She had tried it every night with dinner, but the latest edition was the best. It was spicy, but also flavorful. The red habaneros were pungent and made her eyes water, as they should. The Quincy Sisters weren’t lightweights. They could take the heat…well, at least the heat of their hot sauce.

  Herb and Allie got back to work, and Abby tried to work, but unable to get anything done, decided to try and take a nap. She was woken up by her sister shaking her…and the smell of delicious food coming from outside.

  “Huh?” said Abby, rubbing her eyes. “What’s going on?”

  “Come outside,” said Alice. “We’re having a barbecue! A good, hearty Texas meal does the body good.”

  “A barbecue? Really?” asked Abby. “Okay, I’ll get changed into something warmer. It’s getting a bit chilly.”

  “A bit chilly? When was the last time you went outside?” asked Alice. “It’s frikkin’ freezing! Wear a hoodie, though, because the heat of the fire might melt your new synthetic jacket.”

  “Noted,” said Abby. “Don’t wait for me.”

  “Wasn’t planning on it,” said Alice. “There’s a hot dog down there that’s calling my name.”

  Alice left, and Abby got changed into some flannel lined jeans, loose, along with some fleece lined boots, a warm thermal top, and her warmest hoodie. Abby headed downstairs and walked out of the back exit of the manor and into the backyard.

  In the backyard, the fire pit had been set up. She hadn’t seen it set up in the longest time. Above the fire was a metal grill, and around that, there was a big wood structure with seats, complete with seat cushions. And sitting on those cushions?

  A curvy gal wearing a black shirt with a cartoon skull on it. A girl wearing a frilly blouse. A girl with a plain forest green cardigan.

  “Savina? Kai? Addy? Is that you three?” asked Abby, running over to her sisters.

  “Yes! We wanted to surprise you, and so Alice told you we’d be showing up next week,” said Kai, pulling Abby in close for a hug. The other sisters joined in the big bear hug that was practically Scoville polar-sized.

  “I can’t believe you all kept the secret so well,” admitted Abby. “This is the best early Christmas gift I could get. Did the Scovilles come?”

  “No, unfortunately, my brothers couldn’t make it,” said Clove, walking up to the group.

  “You can hear us from that far away?” asked Abby. “Way to eavesdrop.”

  “It’s a good thing you don’t talk about people behind their back, then, isn’t it?�
�� asked Clove rhetorically.

  Abby looked over Clove. He was in a pair of jeans, a plain gray shirt, and was wearing some new looking black sneakers, although none of what he was wearing looked designer. He almost looked like a homegrown Fallowedirt boy, except for his model good looks. His accent gave away his European status, as it was a high-class London accent with a tinge of Norwegian. After all, the Scovilles had been educated in England, as was the norm among wealthy European shifter families.

  “Hey, Clove!” said Kai, and she pulled Clove in close for a hug.

  Clove hesitated and then hugged Kai back.

  “Good to see you, too, Miss Cayenne,” said Clove.

  “Oh, please, you know it’s Kai,” said Cayenne. “Do you know what the happy couple has prepared for us tonight?”

  “Meat, and lots of it,” said Savina. “I can smell it…but I can’t see it.”

  “Did somebody say meat?” asked a booming deep voice. They all turned.

  Coming their way with big platters of grilled meat was Herbert and Alice, in their matching company aprons, carrying grilled meat that had been smothered in sauce.

  “Get ready to try the latest recipe of our ‘Awesome Sauce,’” said Alice.

  “This is the roasted habanero sauce you’ve been brewing?” asked Addy.

  “The one and the same,” said Herbert. “We grilled these before we put sauce on them. We’ll see how you like the recipe. In the meantime, we can roast weenies on sticks.”

  “‘Weenies’?” asked Clove. “Really? ‘Weenies’?”

  “Would you prefer I call them frankfurters?” teased Herb. “Come on. Everyone grab a seat to keep warm. This is the traditional grillhus, which is Norwegian for ‘grill house.’ Different Scandinavian cultures have them.”

  “Yeah, every baby knows that,” said Clove.

  “Guess that makes me a baby,” said Abby. “Now, where’s my bottle? And by bottle, I mean beer. Where’s the beer?”

  Abby and her sisters grabbed some light beers to drink with their barbecue. However, when she got back to the grill house, there was only one seat left…the seat next to Clove. Everybody was already snuggled up under blankets, but everyone was sharing (Savina, who sat between Addy and Kai, was covered by two blankets). That meant that Abby could either be cold or share a blanket with Clove…and Abby picked cold.

  As Abby ate the habanero-flavored tri-tip, her favorite cut of steak, she let the heat of the sauce warm her. Who needed a stinkin’ blanket anyway? But then, to cool her mouth down, she had to sip the beer…which was cold, and sent a shiver down her spine.

  “Here,” said Clove, putting the blanket on her.

  “I don’t need that,” said Abby, shrugging it off before taking another sip of beer. She shivered again.

  “Don’t be silly, just use the blanket,” said Clove, and he wrapped the blanket around Abby’s shoulders. “There. Stay warm.”

  “What about you?” asked Abby. “Aren’t you gonna be cold?”

  “Aww, you’re suddenly concerned about me?” asked Clove.

  “Uh, I’m just pointing out that not using the blanket makes you a hypocrite,” said Abby.

  “I’m polar. This is warm for me. This hut’s making it even warmer,” said Clove. “Winter in Texas is like summer in Norway.”

  “Y’all full yet?” asked Alice.

  “Yeah,” said Abby. “You know how to feed us well.”

  “Then it’s time to work up an appetite because…we’re going to play a little game after you finish up,” said Alice.

  “A game?” asked Savina.

  “That’s right,” said Alice. “And the stakes are high, so high. The winners get to pick the punishment for the losers.”

  “Okay, I’m intrigued,” said Abby, shooting a glare at Clove.

  “The game is simple,” said Herbert. “We’re going to play a lock picking game. I read about it on the Internet. We’re all going to wear these handcuffs and then, try to get ourselves out of them.”

  “So whoever unlocks their cuffs is the winner?” asked Kai.

  “Nope, there are going to be winners,” said Herbert. “Everyone will be cuffed to one other person. One person will be cuffed to two people because we have an odd number and none of the staff want to play.”

  “Gee, I wonder why,” said Savina sarcastically. “What are the teams?”

  “These are the teams,” said Alice. “Look at who you are next to. Savina, because you love hogging those dang blankets so much, you’ll be with Kai and Addy. I’ll be with Herb, and that leaves Clove and Abby.”

  “Handcuffed?” said Clove.

  “To him?” said Abby.

  “What, you think you can’t win?” teased Kai.

  “Oh, I can win,” said Abby. “I just don’t think…”

  “All talk, no walk,” said Savina. “Typical!”

  “Oh, it’s on,” said Clove. “Trust me. Abby and I will win this. I guarantee.”

  “Then I guess it’s game on,” said Herb.

  Once they had finished cleaning up the food, leaving their weenie roasting pokers to cool in a bucket of ice water, it was time for the game to start. Although staff didn’t want to play, a member of the staff cuffed everyone together. Savina was cuffed to both Kai and Addy, while Herb and Alice got linked up, leaving Clove and Abby to be cuffed together.

  “We better win this,” said Abby. “You don’t know my sisters like I do. They’re going to give us some dumb punishment if we lose.”

  “What makes you so sure?” asked Clove.

  “Uh, I’m their sister,” said Abby. “Where do you think they got it from? Me and Alice, obviously.”

  The staff member briefed them on the rules. The only rule was that the winners had to use the lock picking tools that were on a long table to undo their cuffs. First place got to punish last place. That was it. There would be no bonus points going to the three sisters for having an extra pair of cuffs to unlock, but they counted as one team. Then, it was game on.

  Clove and Abby argued about what to do, which gave the other groups a lead on uncuffing themselves. By the time that Abby had picked up a lock pick, as Clove hadn’t been able to get them out of the cuffs, Abby had expected Alice and Herb to win. However, Alice and Herb had had more to drink than Abby had realized! They were a giggly mess and were not anywhere closer to getting themselves out of the cuffs than they had been before.

  There was a metallic click, but it didn’t come from Abby and Clove’s cuffs. The sisters Quincy had gotten the cuffs linking Kai and Savina off their wrists, and now, Kai and Savina were working on freeing Savina and Addy. Would too many cooks spoil the soup?

  The last pair of cuffs came off within a minute, and Abby sighed. Of course, she and Clove couldn’t work together. They’d bickered the entire time and were still locked together. If they didn’t win, well, they didn’t have to lose, right? If Alice and Herb lost, then Abby and Clove could evade punishment like a corporation that was too big to fall.

  There was another click. Apparently, Fate was having a threesome with Alice and Herb, because they had to be banging somebody for special favors. The cuffs came off of Alice’s wrist and then, off of Herb’s wrist. They were free, which meant…

  “Sav, Kai, Addy, you three are the winners,” said Alice. “Which means you get to punish those two!”

  “Do you need time to think about it?” asked Herb with a big drunk goofy smile on his face, as he pulled Alice close to smooch her forehead.

  “Oh, we know what the punishment is we want to dole out,” said Addy.

  “You do?” asked Herb. “Well…out with it!”

  “Because Abby and Clove couldn’t escape their cuffs…” started Kai.

  “…They’ll have to be cuffed together for the rest of the night!” finished Savina.

  “What?” said Abby. “No, no way!” She reached for the lock picking tools but missed.

  “Hey, fair’s fair,” said Alice, pulling the toolkit away and passing it to
a staff member. “You can get unlocked at the end of the night. The keys will be kept in my pocket.” Alice put a pair of keys in her cardigan pocket.

  “There were keys this whole time?” said Abby.

  “Yup! But don’t worry, we didn’t cheat,” said Alice. “Well, Abby…Clove…you two are stuck together for the night. I’m sure you two will have tons of fun.” Alice’s eyebrows raised and she couldn’t help but give a big smile to the two people in front of her. Maybe this was the little push that this pair needed.

  “The end of the night, what would that be?” asked Clove.

  “Mmm…midnight!” said Alice at random. “I’ll be nice and say midnight. Well, come on, let’s go eat some more hot dogs.”

  “Fine, fine,” said Abby. Clove was linked to her right wrist, his left wrist against her right wrist. His hands were so big next to hers.

  Abby grabbed a poker from the bucket and put a hot dog on the end, trying to hold it over the fire with her left hand, but it was weird to hold the poker that way as she was right-handed. She couldn’t figure out the right angle.

  “You having a problem over there?” asked Clove.

  “No, I’m fine,” insisted Abby.

  “Watch this,” said Clove. He used his poker to steal the hot dog off of Abby’s poker.

  “Hey, what’s the big idea?” said Abby. She went to put her hand on her waist, but Clove’s hand came with her right hand.

  “We’re both right handed, so I’ll roast your hot dog for you,” said Clove.

  “I don’t need your help,” said Abby, passing her poker to a staff member who, noticing her poker was sausage free, came to take it away.

  “Yeah, well, I don’t need you waving around a sharp stick and a boiling hot piece of oily meat near my face,” said Clove. “Just let me cook this for you. I promise I know what I’m doing.”

  “Ugh, all right,” said Abby.

  Clove cooked their hot dogs while Abby watched him work. She noticed from across the grill house that Alice and Herb were looking at her and Clove and smiling. What the heck were they up to? They better not have been playing matchmaker.