Serafina: Isn’t it great when Prince Charming finally comes?
Her text put a huge smile on my face.
Dagny: Definitely.
Serafina: Just wait. It gets better every day.
The tinkle of a closing door filled the Frolicking Moose.
I glanced up, then grinned a second before a warm pair of thick arms wrapped all the way around me. Hernandez swallowed me into my favorite bear hug. The force of it slammed my back into the closest wall, but he cradled the jarring motion with his hands. Then he pushed the hair out of my eyes with one hand and kissed the breath out of me. Before I could give as good as I got, he nuzzled my neck, then sighed. His weight sagged against me like a bag of sand.
I set my hands on his back, grateful to feel his warm, reassuring heat against mine. “Bad day?” I asked against the rough skin of his neck. Happiness streaked through me as I drew in a deep breath from his shirt. Even though he’d just gotten off a shift, he still smelled like that spicy mix of outdoors that I loved.
“No.”
“T-tired?”
“Not really.”
“N-need a little love?”
He growled into the hollow of my neck. “From you? Always.” He leaned back, eyes bright. “Oh, abuela wants me to ask when you're going to be back. She's making her favorite tamales for you.”
“T-tomorrow?”
He shook his head. “Not soon enough. She wants you tonight.”
“I was j-just there l-last n-night!”
He shrugged. “Abuela gets what she wants.”
“I-I'll be th-there.”
“She likes you better than me,” he mumbled.
Laughing, I pulled away and shot him a you-better-behave glare as a customer approached the store from outside. He stayed behind the counter as two college-aged men strode inside. He moved a little closer and cast a stern gaze on them.
“They aren't g-going to eat m-me,” I muttered under my breath. “C-calm down.”
“Maybe,” he drawled. “Maybe not.”
When the two college students proved they wouldn't leap across the counter and endanger my life, Jayson backed away as I completed the orders. He sat at his usual table and watched me work. Once I finished, he beckoned me with a hand. I grabbed his favorite mug, already filled with black coffee just the way he liked it, and joined him. He pulled me into the bench next to him and linked our fingers together.
We talked about his day. My day. The way fall was giving way to winter, and snow flurries were expected tonight. The conversation was punctuated by bursts of chilly air outside when new customers slipped in.
“How's the last class going?” he asked as he finished off the last of his coffee.
“B-beautifully. On t-track to graduate in D-december.”
“We should have a party.”
“Oh?”
He fingered my left hand ring finger but said nothing. I stifled a smile. Hernandez liked to pretend he was so macho and quiet and secretive, but he sucked at it. He'd been eyeballing my ring size for weeks now.
I had no doubt that a graduation party might also end up being an engagement party.
Whenever it happened, the day that Jayson proposed to me was the day I would tell him about Anthony. Rage-fueled or not, I had made a promise to Anthony that I wouldn't betray. No one would know about my parentage. But neither would I keep a secret from my husband. So once Jayson tethered himself to me that way, I would tell him.
And I know he wouldn't care.
“Your Mom good?” he asked.
“Yeah. Got her new grinder in, so she's happy.”
“Still trying to source bee pollen?”
I tilted my head back and laughed. “She is. You wouldn't believe the weird conversations she's having with people.”
He grinned. “I'll call her tonight about the shelves in the garage. Just about done putting them up, then she can store some of that stuff in there.”
I smiled adoringly at him. “Thank you.”
“Oh, the Idiots are getting together next month. Going to start a yearly retreat.”
My ears perked up. Something had happened at the wedding to pull the Merry Idiots back together. Jayson didn't go into details, but I had a feeling he was responsible for it. Whatever it was.
“Yeah.” He grinned. “We'll take turns being in charge. Vik is starting it off. He wants to do an arctic expedition with sled dogs.”
I burst out laughing, then sobered when Jayson didn't follow suit.
“Is h-he s-serious?”
“D-dead serious.”
“W-will you g-go?”
“You bet I will.”
With a sigh, I laughed. “Of course you will, and I can't wait to see the pictures.”
Just as he stood up to leave, and I twined my arms around his neck while the shop lay quiet around us, the door banged open. Two bags made a thud as they dropped to the floor. I whirled around to see a woman with black hair standing there. She pulled aviator sunglasses off her face, set her hands on her hips, closed her eyes, and drew in a deep breath.
“I'm back!” she cried, then spun to face me with a tilted smile.
“Ellie?” Despite obvious joy on her face, I thought I saw a hint of exhaustion. I straightened up. “You’re b-back?”
She grabbed her aviators and flung them onto the counter. Like she'd planned it, they slid to a stop just before the edge.
“College is done. I'm out of that alcohol-ridden, controlling, exploitative rats nest.”
“That good?” Jayson quipped.
Her expression dropped into a dark scowl, highlighted by the light color of her eyes against her ebony hair. “No, I didn't even make it a full semester. It's not a safe place and not a good fit for me.”
Jayson held up two hands. “I agree, my friend. I did community college and then joined the force.”
Ellie relaxed slightly. Concern filled me as I studied her. Lines edged her face, which had thinned out since she left two-and-a-half months ago. My mind filtered to Devin Blaine, her best friend. He'd left last year and she hadn't seen him since. Their falling-out had been epic news around the town for a while. Although she tried hard not to be, Ellie was transparent as glass. She'd planned to go to the state university with Devin. Her attempt now had been a chance to prove she didn't need him.
But she did.
The two of them were fire and ice, but somehow they'd made it work. Devin was gentle, patient, and calm. Ellie was intense, fierce, and prone to isolating. She'd never been the same without him, and I couldn't help but wonder if she saw that.
“I'm onto my next real adventure,” Ellie declared. “I tried college. They failed me. I'm out.” She cut her hands horizontally. “I am done.”
“So what's your next adventure?” Jayson asked as he wrapped an arm around my waist. Ellie grinned with a fiercely feminine gleam in her eye.
“I'm going to be an adventure guide.”