Nina rested her chin on top of Murphy’s head and squeezed her upper arms in a firm grip. “What Marty said. Now, let’s go dig through that damn backpack. I need blood and a GD break from all this romance bullshit. It’s more girly than I can fucking digest in one pep talk.”
“Wait,” she said, grabbing Nina’s arm before driving her hands around the vampire’s waist and hugging her. She sniffled, looking at Marty and Wanda. “Get in here, you two.”
As Wanda and Marty joined the group hug, their perfume infusing her nose with vanilla and pears, tears stung Murphy’s eyes. It was nice to have people help you sort out feelings you didn’t know you were having.
It was nice to have people who were looking out for you even when you didn’t know you needed looking out for.
It was nice.
It was really nice.
“Troll?” Nina grunted.
“Uh-huh?” she said, her response muffled against the vampire’s chest.
“Get the fuck off me.”
And even that was nice.
They all sat in Serena’s backyard around a huge fire pit after an amazing dinner of spit-roasted meat, plump, juicy fruit like she’d never seen or tasted, hearty chunks of cheese, and plenty of wine.
The lights strung from the cottage to the fence surrounding her backyard illuminated the group of people who chatted amicably with each other. Scattered all over, the tiny dots of light, in beautifully bright colors, sat in clusters or hovered in the air, their wings whirring.
Despite Sten’s warning, they’d welcomed Murphy and the others with open arms. Though, who wouldn’t like Wanda and Marty? They were easy to like.
But Nina? They really liked Nina.
It was hysterical to see her sitting on a log, talking to a crowd of fairies all swarming around her head. But leave it to Nina to make friends with the people who were overly cautious of anyone new.
Sten had been busy making the rounds and attempting to gather any leads he might be able to find on his mother, asking everyone if they’d seen her, but to no avail.
No one had anything to offer, and the worry on his face grew as the evening passed.
Sipping at her wine, Murphy stretched her other arm upward and fought a yawn. Then she tucked the blanket under her arm that Serena had so kindly offered after they’d cleaned up dinner, and found a place to sit on a vacant log.
The blanket was soft and warm, and even though the night was tepid, Murphy couldn’t help but shiver, thinking about what the OOPS ladies had said about her life, what it had become, and the fear of what they’d face when they got to where they were going.
She was afraid. Afraid for Nova, afraid for Sten’s mother, afraid. Being afraid or unsure always made her retreat and watch from the sidelines, observing what was going on around her as she sorted her thoughts.
And as she watched Sten put on a good front while Anitra chatted like they were old friends, it gave Murphy a chance to dive deeper into her feelings.
Nova slid in next to her and bumped her hip and squeaked, “Move over, log-hog, and let your hobbit sister sit next to you.”
Chuckling, Murphy looked at her and shook her head in disbelief. “You’ve really come to a place of acceptance, haven’t you?”
Nova shrugged her small shoulders. “I’ve come to a place of I don’t have a choice.”
“I have to say, I don’t know who this Nova is.”
Nova snickered. “This Nova is your sister, Dina Umanski, and she’s had a lot of time to think about what’s happened to herself—to you—and how I basically did this to us. And I’ve discovered these past couple of days, maybe this wasn’t such a bad thing. Maybe I deserved Bellamy turning me into a troll.”
Murphy’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Sorry? Send my sister Nova back this instant.”
She laughed, but it had a hint of sadness to its ring. “I’m serious. I’ve been watching these people all trying to help us, me specifically, and doing it so selflessly, hardly knowing a thing about us, and it’s accentuating what an asshole I am. I’m an asshole. An entitled, selfish asshole.”
When Murphy sat silent, mostly because she was stunned and couldn’t find the words to deny her sister’s claim, Nova reached for her hand.
“Your silence says it all.”
When Murphy tried to deny what her silence meant, Nova held up her hand. “No. Don’t do that. Don’t make up a narrative to pacify me. I’ve done some shitty stuff. Namely, following Bellamy around the Internet and trolling her, but I’ve also been an asshole to you. The one person who supports me no matter what.”
Murphy swallowed hard. “Can I ask you something, Nova?”
Nova cocked her overly large head at her and nodded. “Uh-huh.”
“Did you sleep with Bellamy’s assistant’s boyfriend? Was that really true?”
She’d of course asked when the whole debacle had gone down, but Nova had denied it. Yet, there’d always been a piece of her that didn’t totally believe her sister.
“No way. He was a douche. I swear, that’s true, Murphy. I mean, what do I have to lose now by lying? And I tried to tell her assistant that. I tried to tell Bellamy that, but she wouldn’t listen. She said I was a lying whore, and then she told her ‘friends’ at the convention who, of course, told all of the hot tea bloggers. There was no stopping it after that. She tried to ruin me. She humiliated me. So, I fought back.”
“But you guys had been going at it for a while by that point, Nova. I mean, as I recall, you started the rumor that she stole that energy drink deal from Loralye Love. You started it by baiting her under a fake user ID.”
A solid week of damage control and a total of maybe ten hours of sleep was something she wasn’t going to forget so easily.
“To be honest, we’ve talked about it how this all began, and neither one of us knows who started the original flame war. But it doesn’t matter. What matters is, I know what I posted the other night was shitty, Murphy—”
“You know, what did you say, anyway? I’ve been so caught up, I never even looked, but I assume it’s pretty bad.”
Nova’s small shoulders sagged. “I said she was a fake and then I posted a couple of Photoshopped pictures, like, really good Photoshopped pictures of her, and said it was proof she’d had work done on her face.”
“Nova,” Murphy murmured with crushing disappointment. “That’s so…”
She scrunched up her craggy face. “Cruel? You can say it. It was awful. But when Bellamy told everyone about this alleged night I’d spent with her assistant’s boyfriend on her Insta-stories, I decided it was war.”
“And so you started trolling with fake user IDs.”
“Yep. I took out more accounts than I can count. I knew she’d spend a lot of time having to block me, and that almost satisfied my lust for revenge. Shitty, right?”
Disappointment settled deep in her bones. “Oh, Nova. I don’t know what to say. I just know things have to change. They have to. You need to understand why you do things that not only hurt people, but impact your career,” Murphy said quietly, setting her wine glass down on the log to turn and face Nova.
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Having this happen to me, looking like this, yet still being accepted, has been really eye-opening. Okay, Nina’s called me a few names, but she calls her closest friends names, too. What I mean is, because I’m pretty, I always feel like I have to be the prettiest, the most fashionable, the first person to start a trend to be accepted. I know that sounds so stupid. Poor pretty Nova. But it’s how I feel.”
Murphy squeezed her hand. “Not stupid, just foreign, I guess. I think I get what you’re saying. Though I’ve never experienced it.”
“What I’m saying is, in order to stay relevant to my Instagram fans, I’d go to any extreme. All the likes and praise were what I lived for. But pretty’s the only thing I have going for me. So I use it.”
“You do have a brain, Nova,” she reminded her.
“But I don’t ha
ve one like you, Murph. I get fashion, I don’t get web design.” Then she shook her head. “It doesn’t matter, because I don’t want to do that anymore. Being glamorous all the time is exhausting when there are much bigger things going on in the world. I mean, I love clothes and hair and makeup and all that junk, but I practically sleep in my makeup so I won’t miss a selfie, and I’m coming to see how, in the scheme of things, it’s meaningless.”
Murphy sucked in some air. “It’s not meaningless, Nova—”
“It is. Compared to what these women do, Murph? What Sten does? Did you know back in Brooklyn, he works with the homeless? And Meals on Wheels? He’s a good guy.”
She didn’t know that, but she’d like to learn more about anything that had to do with Sten. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t have both, Nova. You can be pretty and be kind.”
“C’mon, Murphy, stop sticking up for your baby sister and see me for who I am. I’m shallow and vain. You said it yourself.”
She shook her head. “But I was angry. I didn’t really…” That was a lie. She had meant it, but she regretted how she’d said it.
“You really did mean it, Murph, and you were right. But I want that to change. I want to be a better person. Having all this attention for all the wrong reasons, knowing whoever this person is doesn’t care if I end up dead, has sort of given me the kick in the ass I needed. And that brings me to my apology.”
Staring down at her sister, looking at her squat body, her straw-like hair, her elongated nose, and hearing she wanted to apologize made her feel as though she’d wandered into another dimension.
Nova tightened her grip on her sister’s hand, pulling it to her cheek. “Listen, Murphy. I love you. I don’t show you in the right way. You took care of me, and I’ve done nothing but take advantage of you since. I’ve thrown you under the bus to save my skin, I’ve worked you to the bone. I don’t say it nearly enough, but you saved me when Mom and Dad died, and I’ll never forget that.”
Murphy swallowed and looked down at her fingers. God, right now, at this very second, she missed her mom and dad more than ever. “I was just doing what I thought they’d want me to do.”
Nova nodded and bounced her head. “I know, and I love you for it, but it didn’t exactly give you any time for a life of your own, did it? You’re thirty, and all of your twenties were wasted parenting, or maybe more accurately, chasing after me. But I want you to know that’s going to change. If we can just get this curse off me, it’s going to change. I promise. And if we can’t, it’s still going to change.”
“Wait, you’ve actually thought about what it would mean to live your life as a…a treasure troll? Seriously?”
What the hell was going on? First, Bellamy’s intuitive kindness, now apologies and promises from Nova?
Letting go of Murphy’s hand, she shrugged. “What choice do I have? If we can’t make this go away, I have to think about what happens moving forward. I can’t just pretend it might not happen, can I?”
“Well, no, but that’s the responsible thing to do—the smart thing to do, and—”
“And that’s not my usual MO,” she said on a sigh. “That’s more than fair, but it’s my MO now. I’m not saying I want to stay like this, Murph. I’m saying I accept having to stay like this if it comes to it. It’s no less than I deserve.”
Murphy puffed out her cheeks, letting the air escape her lungs. “Wow. Wow-wow. I’m a little speechless right now. But there’s one thing I want you to know. I’m really proud of you, Dina Umanski. I’m proud that you’ve grown so much these last few days, that you’re becoming more self-aware, that you want to be a better person, and I can’t wait to see the person you become.”
Nova wrapped her arms around Murphy’s waist and hugged her tight. “Let’s just hope I don’t have to do it looking like this while I work in some mine, digging for jewels, because I don’t mind telling you, it’s hell on your hands.”
Murphy let out a hearty laugh, giving her sister a squeeze. “I love you, Nova.”
Hopping off the log, Nova eyed her and then she smiled. “I love you, too, Murphy Umanski. Go be awesome.” She scurried off, her tiny legs carrying her through the crowd of buzzing lights until she found Bellamy, making Murphy sigh.
She knew there was more to come, and it was probably going to get ugly, but for right now, everything was okay with Nova.
It was all okay.
Chapter 19
Everyone clapped for the handsome troll who, when a piano was brought out to the backyard, played an amazing set of Frank Sinatra songs. Including Murphy, who loved the familiar sound of the instrument.
When he took his leave, she found her way to the bench. Warm from the wine and her chat with Nova, she put her fingers on the keys, loving the smooth, cool feel on her fingertips as she pressed them lightly.
And it was like being home again. All those hours she’d practiced, not because she was forced, but because she loved it, came back to her.
“Play something, Murph!” Nova yelled, banging her fork against her tin cup.
Murphy shook her head, embarrassed. She hadn’t played in years, but there was a time when she’d really loved nothing more than to while away a few hours with her father, also a good piano player, tickling the ivories and playing their silly version of Name That Tune.
She missed those moments with her father now more than ever, and she cringed at what he’d think of how their lives had turned out.
“Murphy! Murphy! Murphy!” Nova yelled her encouragement again, and that made everyone yell her name—even Sten, who slid onto the bench next to her.
“Mind if I join you?” he asked, his smile warm under the soft lights, making her stomach do somersaults.
“Not at all, Troll King.” She looked at him with concern in her eyes. “How are you, Sten? Did you find out anything about your mother?”
There was nothing to show he was upset but the small tic in his jaw. “Not a thing, it’s like she just disappeared with someone who looks like me. As to your other question, I’m okay. I’m trying like hell to stay optimistic.”
She nodded, her heart tight. “Because that’s the troll way.”
“Because that’s my way. I have to or I’ll lose my mind.”
“But you were the one who reminded me it’s okay not to be okay, Sten. It’s a good lesson for people like us.”
His eyebrow lifted. “People like us?”
“Fixers. We always want to fix everything, and sometimes we can’t, and when we can’t, we get frustrated.”
“You’re right. I can’t seem to fix this. I don’t understand any of it, and I sure as hell can’t figure out who’s pretending to be me. I don’t know what this person wants with my mother, or how it’s connected to Nova, or if it’s connected to Nova at all, but I’m not ashamed to admit, it scares the shit out of me. If someone hurts her, I’ll…”
He drifted off, his jaw tight. This was the first time she’d seen him really express his anger and fear, and it made her sit up and pay attention.
Putting her hand on his thigh, she asked, “So again, I’m going to repeat your words. It’s okay not to be okay—and what can I do to help ease some of the burden, Sten?”
As the warm, scented breeze picked up, he gazed at her. “Help me think of something else.”
Murphy smiled at him, inhaling his luscious scent, absorbing his body so near hers while she struggled for words. “Wanna talk music?”
“Sure…can you play? Or was that all just talk?” he whispered huskily.
She shrugged her shoulders, feeling crazy shy. “A little.”
Nina tapped on the piano’s shiny top to catch her attention, pulling Murphy from the warm cocoon of their conversation. “Hey! You got tunes, kiddo?”
Murphy flapped her hands dismissively. “Not really. I mean, sort of. Maybe.” Then she sighed. “It’s been a long, long time.”
“She’s amazing, Nina!” Nova shouted from her spot on a log. “C’mon, Murph, show ’em w
hat you got!”
Nina peered at her with eyes that sparkled. “You know any Barry?”
“Manilow?”
“Yeah,” she replied, her beautiful coal eyes going soft. “My mother loved him. I do, too.”
Her heart clenched. Obviously, it was a fond memory, and suddenly, Murphy wanted to make the vampire and Sten smile. Music always made her smile. Music soothed, healed, revitalized. They could all use some of that.
Smiling facetiously, she asked, “You mean like this?”
The moment she hit the first bars of “Mandy,” the crowd in Serena’s backyard collectively sighed. As her fingers flew over the keys, the notes coming back to her with little effort, she smiled, losing herself in the music.
When she looked up next, the crowd—and even Nina—were doing the conga to “Copacabana” without Murphy even realizing how long she’d been playing.
Marty, Nina, Wanda, Bellamy and Nova, along with a trail of tiny multicolored wings buzzing behind them, danced around the perimeter of the backyard, laughing and singing.
When she played the last note, anyone who was left sitting jumped up from their seats, clapping and whistling, making her squirm and cast her eyes down at her pink hands, embarrassed by the attention.
Sten jumped up, too, pulling her with him to scoop her up in a tight hug. “That was amazing! You didn’t tell me you could play like that!”
She let her cheek fall to her chest, clinging to Sten’s broad arms. “It’s been a long time,” she whispered, but damn, it felt good.
He tipped her chin up, his smile softer now. “You’re incredible, Murphy. I hope you go back to it.”
“If I can find the time, I think I will.”
“Make the time,” he insisted as he pulled her toward the center of the backyard. Someone had turned the music back on, the strains of “When Somebody Loves You” drifting to her ears. “Dance with me?”
“Sure,” she whispered softly, allowing him to pull her close.
She fought a sigh when their bodies molded together as though they were meant for one another, and forced herself to look up at him while her body had a million different reactions zinging through it.
The Accidental Troll Page 18
