by Amy Boyles
Cookie’s gaze floated up and down Axel before finally settling on his…eyes. Yes, it took some time, but they eventually landed there.
“Well.” Cookie sniffed as if she were royalty. “I suppose it will be fine. The RV doesn’t have to be towed.”
Relief flooded me. Great.
“What in the cotton pickin’ blazes is going on here?”
Oh no. I whipped around to see Betty marching down the sidewalk in full Betty Craple mode. She wore a puffy jacket and pants, and looked more like she was about to skydive than amble about town.
Betty eyed the tow truck and locked the pieces together.
“Cookie Mobley, you and your messes! You are the worst person in this entire town. Once we got rid of Melbalean Mayes, I wasn’t sure who would take her place as the biggest witch in Magnolia Cove, but this beats all. Running around and causing evil at Christmas! What is wrong with you? These nice people are here to visit their son, and all you want to do is moan and groan about everything.”
I rushed up to Betty. “No, it’s not what you think.” I grabbed her elbow. She shook me off like I was a cobweb.
“Not now, Pepper. This woman needs to hear it, and she needs to hear it from me. For years we’ve put up with her snobbiness, but no more! You can’t always get what you want, Cookie Mobley, not without having to give in return!”
Cookie’s lower lip trembled. The deal was off. Every inch, every line of her face proved it. She pointed at the RV and then at the driver.
“Take it away! Get that thing out of here!”
The driver snapped his fingers and cables and pulleys unwound from his truck and snaked around the RV. Bubba hopped in the truck, fired the engine, and the RV groaned and jerked as it lumbered up the truck bed.
“Cookie Mobley, one day you’ll get what’s coming to you,” Betty yelled. “You are piss and vinegar in a town full of sunshine and cinnamon!”
Cookie crossed to Betty. “Is that a threat, Betty Craple? Because if it is, I’ll be happy to tell Sheriff Young what you just said.” She waved a hand. “I’ve got witnesses.”
As the tow truck pulled the RV down the road, Betty glared at Cookie. “It’s not a threat. It’s a promise.”
Cookie whirled around. The only sound as she walked off was Arsenal yipping away.
FOUR
It took a couple of hours, but Karen and Roger retrieved the RV from the witch towing company. Karen, who seemed like a genuine hippie spirit, was livid. It was one thing to make a hotheaded person mad, quite another to see a calm person lose their cool.
It wasn’t pretty.
“I’m going to spell her so that she speaks backward,” Karen announced at dinner.
Amelia, of course, had to say, “Is that possible?”
Karen assured her it was while I mumbled that Amelia might not want to find out.
Anyway, Karen and Roger left Betty’s house after dinner and drove back to Axel’s. Axel, meanwhile, stayed around to talk to me.
Ever since he’d returned to Magnolia Cove almost four weeks ago, he’d been super busy. His phone had been ringing off the hook for him to investigate out-of-town cases. We’d been trying to get together but just hadn’t managed to until now.
In order to escape both our families, we took a walk through town. Christmas carols floated in the air. Not folks caroling. It sounded more like your local light radio station drifting through the streets.
Apparently the town rigged it so that Christmas music could be heard whenever you were outside.
“I didn’t notice the music this morning.”
Axel threaded his warm fingers through mine. “That’s because our families were too busy trying to kill Cookie Mobley. Kind of killed the Christmas cheer, wouldn’t you say?”
“No. What’s a little threatening between townsfolk at Christmas?” I joked.
“In Magnolia Cove? Sounds like you’d be cruising for a bruising.”
I stopped. “Whoa. Did you just say, cruising for a bruising?”
“Am I carbon-dating myself?”
“Definitely.”
We laughed comfortably. After a few moments silence blanketed the space between us. “I missed you so much, Pepper. I never should’ve left.”
“We haven’t talked about it—not really.”
We stopped in front of the wishing snowman. “Ah yes, the dreaded conversation. How am I going to make sure I keep you safe from me? How do I do that when I can’t even keep myself safe from myself?”
“I wasn’t asking so that you’d turn bitter.”
He shook his head. “I’m not. I’m only stating facts. Fact one, I turn into a werewolf. Fact two, I kill people whenever possible. Fact three, I almost killed you.”
I stared at the snowman. It was the easiest face to look at. “So many facts.”
“But.” Axel pivoted to me. “I have a plan. I’m building something that is so strong I can’t break through it. Once I’m in for the night, I’m in for good.”
He took both my hands. When his blue eyes met mine, my breath hitched. The absolute intensity in his gaze stole every ounce of oxygen I owned. Every bit of me was put on hold while I stared at Axel.
The energy around us was thick, heady. I could drown in it. Or maybe just swim in it. I could smell him, sense him, feel every inch of him as if Axel were made purely of energy.
He dipped his head and grazed his lips over my cheek. A pulse flashed in my core.
“I don’t ever want to hurt you.”
“Mmm?” Words slipped away as his lips traced my jaw.
“When I build this structure, I can’t get leave until the next day.”
“What if you need to?” Oh look, I had words. They were just hiding.
“When has it ever happened that I needed to be free?”
“When Rufus attacked me. I shot your chain and you ran after him. You saved me then. Oh, that feels good.”
His mouth grazed my throat. “That was one time. Pepper, I’m trying to keep you safe. If I don’t do this…”
His demeanor shifted. It threw me from enjoying his lips as they danced over my skin.
I reared back. “If you don’t do this, what?”
He shifted his focus to the snowman. “Does that one look particularly happy to you?”
“Axel,” I groaned, “don’t change the subject. What will happen?”
He punched his hands in his coat pockets. “If I don’t do this, the town will ask me to leave. Garrick will ask me to leave.”
“What?”
“He told me that after the last time, when I got out, there were complaints.”
Impossible. “You didn’t harm anyone.”
He dipped his head in an exaggerated nod. “Nevertheless there were those in the community who were worried for their lives. And rightly so, Pepper. I mean, if you didn’t care about me the way you do and you knew I was out there, running wild, wouldn’t you want me gone?”
“Never. Not in a hundred million years.”
He shot me a pointed look. “You’re only saying that because you know me.”
“No, I’m saying that because I love you.” I grimaced. “Crap. I hate saying that first.”
He wrapped his arms around me. “I would’ve said it eventually. I mean, in this conversation. Just because you said it first doesn’t make it any less so.”
I tipped my head back. His blue eyes snagged on mine. “I love you, Pepper Dunn.”
“Thank you.”
He laughed. “Oh, so because you said it first, you won’t say it again, is that it?”
“Yes,” I said. “No, I’m kidding. Listen, we were talking about something important. Who told Garrick that if you were allowed to get out and wreak havoc, they’d cause trouble?”
“Does it matter?”
“To me it does.”
“It’s in the past.” Axel grazed his lips over my jaw.
“No it isn’t.” I shimmied from his grasp. “It’s here and now. We’ve got to make sure you
stay locked up good and tight or else you’ll be on your rear end—kicked out of town, running around homeless. Just the thought makes me sad.”
“What I’m considering will work. I’ll be bricked, locked during the night. The house along with the chains should hold me.”
“What if it doesn’t? What if something happens to it?”
He shook his head.
“I spoke to your mother today.”
He groaned. I elbowed his ribs. “You’re the one who invited them for Christmas.”
His gaze speared my heart to my spine. “Because they wanted to meet you. ‘We’ve got to meet Pepper. You’ve told us so much about her.’ I swear my mom’s voice rose five octaves just fantasizing about it. How was the couples massage, by the way?”
I stared at him. A slow, creeping sensation rippled up my chest to my neck. “You! You gave her the idea! Oh my gosh! And this whole time I thought it was your mom’s kooky plan to do a couples massage.” I lightly punched his arm. “Oh, for that, mister, you are going to have to suffer through something.”
“What’s that?”
“Your mom thinks we can link our minds when you’re a werewolf.”
“No.” His face immediately darkened.
Pleading was worth a shot, right? “Axel—”
“No. Listen to me. Every time we’ve tried, it doesn’t work. The last time you did it, you almost died.” His jaw clenched. He looked away. Were tears misting in his big bad werewolf eyes?
“But Axel, don’t you think it’s worth a shot?”
“Pepper,” he said hoarsely, “I would go to the moon for you. I would wrestle the devil himself, but I will not subject you to the inner beast that lives in me. I won’t do it. You can connect with animals, communicate with them. You can reach me, but you can’t hold me. There’s too much inside. Too much turmoil. Beasts aren’t meant to be caged.”
I touched his cheek. He hadn’t shaved that morning. Stubble pricked my fingertips. It was like the inside of Axel. He was hard-edged, like a prickly pear, but the warmth that seeped from him reached all the way to my heart, heating me from the inside.
“You aren’t meant to be caged, I agree. But you also aren’t a beast at heart.”
He shook his head.
“You’re not, Axel. I don’t care what you think.” I poked his rib cage over his heart. “The beast doesn’t control you.” I closed my eyes in frustration. “Why is it we have the same conversation? Over and over this is what we argue about. You are more than the beast.”
“I am, but it controls my life. Before I go anywhere, I have to know what moon is setting that night. It controls where I go and when. That’s my life. It won’t change, Pepper. It will never change. Those are facts.”
I sighed and sank my head to his chest. He wrapped his powerful arms around me and hugged me tight.
“We will get through this.” He stroked my hair. “My parents did.”
I perked up. “Of course they did. How do they manage?”
He shrugged. “Easy. My mother magically restrains my father every full moon. Those two have it down to a science.”
I nudged him. “So they’ve got all the answers, huh?”
“Every single one. You want to know why cats meow instead of bark, they can tell you.”
I laughed. It felt good to be in his arms. Right. More than right. Perfect. That’s how I felt in this moment. Like we were the only two people in the world and I was forever grateful to the heavens that allowed Axel and me to collide.
Maybe I did need to talk to his mother about this. She could help. At least give me pearls about how to deal with the beast, what it was like living with his father and dealing with it.
Perhaps I should’ve used our couples massage time together more wisely. Oh well, I had all week. They weren’t leaving until after Christmas. There was still time.
Axel peeled me off him and pivoted me toward the trio of snowmen. “So. Have you decided what you’re going to wish for?”
I shot him a teasing smile. “Are you going to wish for something?”
“Of course. I do it every year.”
“That, Axel Reign, surprises me.”
“Why?”
I pressed my shoulder into him. “I don’t know. Maybe because you’re such a powerful wizard I figure you can have just about whatever you want. You don’t need a wishing snowman for that.”
He barked a laugh. “I might be a powerful wizard, but there are still plenty of things to wish for.”
I hitched a brow. He was teasing me, I was sure. “Like what?”
“Oh, I don’t know—the perfect can of Beanee Weenees. Maybe a handful of Vienna sausages when I’m hungry and on a stakeout.”
“You are so full of crap.”
He may have chuckled lightly, but the flare of intensity in his eyes said he was anything but joking. “Maybe I’m kidding about that, but I’m completely serious when it comes to us. There is no one else I want to be with.”
His tone caught me by surprise. “Me either,” I whispered. He was looking at me and it was all intense and my palms were sweating and my heart was racing and my head was feeling light and I needed to look away.
So I did. I pointed to the snowman. “I’m going to make a wish.”
He dragged his gaze from me to the hat atop the statue’s head. “Let’s get you some paper and a pen.”
He clapped his hands, and a notepad and feathered pen appeared.
“What did I ever do before magic entered my life?”
He handed them to me. “A question not worth asking.”
I tapped the end of the pen to my mouth and pretended to think about my wish, but I’d had it in my head all along. I jotted it down and folded the paper. I aimed it for the hat and threw.
Axel blew softly, his breath expelling in a tangle of magical wisps. They acted like air currents and sailed the slip up and into the top of the hat.
I clapped. “When will I know if it’s been granted?”
“On Christmas you’ll find out.”
“How?”
“The snowman reveals it.” He shrugged. “None of my wishes have ever been granted.”
I scoffed. “Time to put an end to that.” I pressed the pad into his palms. “Make a wish.”
As Axel bent down to kiss me, he whispered, “Mine’s already come true. I was kidding. I had no intention of making a wish.”
We left the snowman a few minutes later. Axel held my hand tightly, and I knew in my heart he would never let go.
FIVE
The next day began the Christmas homes showing.
“We try not to call it Christmas. You know some folks get offended.” Amelia sucked a spoonful of honey. It was breakfast, and she’s drizzled about half a bear of honey on her biscuit.
“Even though there are Christmas trees everywhere?” That seemed strange. “Christmas music is playing outside.”
“I know.” She rolled her eyes. “We just try to be PC.”
I sipped my coffee. “Then what do we call it? Holiday Home Tours?”
“You are so good,” Cordelia said. “You should win an award for most intuitive.” It came out with a glint of humor, but my cousin was no virgin to sarcasm, so I could’ve easily misunderstood what she meant.
“Do you think I could win an award for being intuitive, too?” Amelia fluffed the ends of her hair.
“Are you growing out the pixie cut?” I said.
Amelia shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Men like women with long hair,” Betty chirped. She stirred a pot at the hearth.
“What’s that? Smells like peppermint.”
Cordelia grabbed my hand. “Don’t ask.”
“I’m so glad my newest granddaughter has taken an interest in what I do.”
Amelia groaned.
I glanced at my cousins’ faces. They were a mix of horror and regret—sort of the expression I’d seen on lots of folks after a hard night drinking.
“It’s her Christmas candy
,” Cordelia said.
“I love all things Christmas, so I love candy,” I said. For goodness’ sake, I didn’t even know I had this family until a few months ago. If Betty made Christmas candy, I wanted to be the person to help her.
I was making memories here—memories that would last a lifetime.
“Yeah, well that candy will last you a lifetime, too,” Cordelia said.
“Did I think that out loud?”
Amelia sucked her spoon bald and patted my shoulder. “You did. It’s okay. We’re all a little crazy around here.”
I shot her a dark look and rose. I was not going to let a little prejudice keep me from experiencing Christmas the Magnolia Cove way. After all, I’d even made a wish in the snowman’s hat.
“I want to help.”
Betty lifted the spoon. A syrupy strip thick as my forearm broke off and slopped back into the pot. “It’ll be ready tonight or tomorrow. Hard to say. It’s done when it’s done. Then we can start decorating.”
Okay. “With the candy?” So strange. I tipped my head like a dog trying to figure out what his master is saying.
“She decorates the house in the stuff.” Cordelia kicked out her chair. “By the time she’s finished, the candy will look like peppermint canes. She uses it for garland.”
“Candy?”
“We tried to warn you.” Amelia headed for the door. “She decorates the whole place in candy, and it gets stuck in your hair.”
Cordelia patted my arm. “But now we get to suffer through it again, this time with a new victim.”
“Ha-ha, very funny.” I hesitated. I didn’t want to tick Betty off, but I did want to know the truth about the candy situation. “It won’t get in my hair, will it?”
“It’ll probably go down your bra, too.” Betty stirred the concoction.
Cordelia leaned in. “The best thing to do is destroy it.”
“I heard that,” Betty snapped. “No one is destroying my candy. It’s a Craple tradition.” She tapped the spoon and hung it above the hearth. “Now, y’all go on. Have a great day. Have fun at the house tours.”
Amelia smiled. “Don’t forget. We’ve got to be on our best behavior. Cookie Mobley’s house is on the roster.”
