Tinsel in a Tangle

by Kimbra Swain

  He sighed, “Yes, we just…”

  I pulled his chin up to look into his eyes, “We didn’t just. We have been us for a long time, even when she lived in your house. It was us, right?”

  “It felt like it was only me,” he said.

  Looking back over the past five years from the moment I met Dylan, so many people told me what we were, and I ignored it. Chris Purcell told me. Nestor, my grandfather, told me. Jeremiah told me. Hell, it only took Levi seeing us once to tell me. I’d wanted Dylan for much longer than I cared to admit.

  “It wasn’t,” I said. His mouth covered mine with a sweet, gentle kiss. Public displays of affection were a huge no-no in my old rule book. I burned that book.

  “Ew, get a room,” Levi said.

  “Ew, get a room,” Winnie echoed.

  I started laughing. Dylan joined me. “You finished shopping, Winnie?” Levi carried multiple bags. Mostly new clothes and a nice new coat for Winnie.

  “I suppose if I decide I need anything else, Uncle Levi will bring me back,” she said.

  “Lordy, child,” I said taking her hand. She grinned as we walked out of the mall to my black truck.

  Nightfall came quickly, and Winnie decided to spend the night. Levi went over to talk to Bethany about it. When he returned, his face was dark.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “Not now,” he said looking at Winnie who was finishing up a Christmas scene to hang on my fridge.

  She held up for me to see. “Oh, Winnie, it’s beautiful!” Her tiny fingers had drawn a Christmas tree with four figures. Dylan, Levi, Grace and Winnie. A furry dog sat next to her figure. An awkward family, but still a family.

  “Where’s Kady?” I asked Levi.

  “Her family had a gathering tonight,” Levi answered.

  “You weren’t invited?” I asked.

  “Everything is fine with us. It was a private thing,” he said assuring me that I didn’t need to worry or kill Kady, whichever the circumstance demanded.

  “Winnie! Bedtime!” I announced. She groaned but kissed everyone good night. She gave extra hugs to Rufus who wagged his tail around our feet. Levi took her to the front room to read a bedtime story. Dylan helped me clear the crayons from the table.

  “You said earlier that you wanted to get a shower. Go ahead. I'll clean up,” he offered kissing me on the cheek.

  “You staying tonight?” I asked not wanting to assume.

  “Grace, I never want to spend another night without you,” he said.

  “Stop being so damn romantic. Makes me feel completely inadequate,” I protested.

  He smiled, “You make up for it in other ways.”

  I opened my mouth to say something else smart, but clamped it shut as he laughed at me. Shutting the bedroom door, I wasn't trying to keep Dylan out. I just didn't want Levi seeing me naked. So many of my sentiments had changed. Levi had accidentally seen me several times in my underwear. It didn't bother me then. Now it did.

  Despite fairies basically being whores, once they made a commitment to another fairy they remained faithful. Beings like Levi’s father took that loyalty to an extreme, even past death. I knew the feeling. Dylan was all I wanted.

  Stripping out of my clothes, goosebumps spread across my arms with an uneasy feeling. A nagging thought tugged at my brain. No troll. The day was almost over and the next one hadn't appeared. I wrapped a towel around me, peeking out the door.

  Dylan stood at the counter drinking coffee. His eyes met mine. “What's wrong?”

  “Call Troy. We are missing a troll,” I said.

  “Ugh! You’re right. I'll take care of it. Go shower,” he urged.

  My desire for a long relaxing shower faded. Instead, I jumped in to quickly wash my hair. As I stepped out of the shower, my goosebumps and uneasy feeling returned. After drying off my body, I turned to the mirror wiping the fog off with my towel.

  Putting the towel over my head, I massaged it through my hair drying small bits at a time. Finally, I looked up to assess my appearance in the mirror. My eyes met two black beady eyes staring back at me from the window behind me.

  I screamed frantically wrapping the towel around my nude body. He stood in the window sniggering, not attempting to hide his presence. Dylan bounded into the bedroom as I rushed out of the bathroom and we collided. Both of us hit the floor in a heap of tangled limbs.

  “He’s outside looking in the window,” I managed to choke out as Levi ran into the room.

  “At least shut the door, damn y’all,” Levi smirked.

  “Troll! Outside!” Dylan growled at him. “Catch him, Levi.”

  It took a moment for him to register the command, but turned in his heels rushing to the front door.

  Dylan touched my face. “Put on clothes, and please stay inside,” he growled pushing himself up off the floor. As he exited the room, I grabbed the closest articles of clothing to me. Which were the clothes I took off before the shower. Wrestling them on my partially wet body, I heard Dylan yelling outside.

  Once I was dressed, I heard the crunch of a fist on flesh. I took off to the front yard where Levi had the troll wrapped up as Dylan punched him repeatedly.

  “Mercy! Mercy!” he begged. His eyes centered on me where I stood on the porch.

  I descended the stairs quickly, but approached the enraged Dylan cautiously. “Darlin’ you've pounded his face enough,” I said.

  “Not nearly,” he growled, as he landed one last punch in his gut. The troll doubled over, and Levi let him hit the ground. “Stay down, you pervert.”

  “Dylan, calm down. It's not the first time someone's seen me naked,” I said. Poor choice of words.

  He swiveled to face me. “It’s what he said,” he explained as his blue eyes burned with anger. I placed my hand over his split knuckles pushing power through them to heal. His anger eased.

  “It was pretty bad, Grace,” Levi said.

  “All I said was,” the troll started, but Dylan spun back to him. He never finished the sentence, but stared at me. Actually, it was more of a leer. Like he was undressing me in his mind. He cowered below Dylan.

  “Call Troy and get him out of here. I'm not even amused anymore,” I said. Dylan fished out his phone. When Troy answered, Dylan stepped away a few feet to explain the situation.

  “Your skin is so beautiful,” the troll said.

  “Hush up,” I said to him.

  “I'm in love with you,” he continued.

  “I told you to shut your mouth,” I growled as Levi popped him on the head.

  “I need a hug,” he said as he lifted his arms begging for an embrace.

  Levi shoved him face down into the cold grass. Dylan hung up the phone barreling toward the lewd menace.

  I put my hands up. “It’s not worth it, Dylan. Please.”

  “You would protect even him?” he shot at me.

  “I'm protecting you,” I said softly leaning into his chest. His tension eased, but only for a moment.

  “He can't love you like I can,” the troll said. Levi jerked him up, and Dylan shoved me out of his arms. With the crack of his fist on bone, the troll fell limp at their feet.

  Dylan flexed his hand staring at the bloody split skin that I had just healed. Shaking my head, I turned to go back inside. “I told you to stay inside. You cannot just do as I asked. Not even once.”

  I ignored him. He wasn't mad at me. He was mad at himself for losing control. I'd been there and done that. Instead of hashing it out, I went inside to check on Winnie.

  December 22nd

  Sitting in the darkness on the end of the bed where Winnie slept, I envied her. She had slept through the whole debacle. Along the edges of the blinds, the blue lights of Troy’s cruiser flickered. I heard muffled voices, then the lights faded as Troy hauled the brother to meet his kin.

  “Two more,” I sighed.

  Hearing both of the men return, I eased off the bed and slipped out of the room. Dylan emerged from my bedroom confused, but
then saw me and sighed.

  Levi looked around the corner at me. “She okay?” he asked.

  “Slept through all of it,” I said.

  I walked into the kitchen, grabbed a glass and filled it with tap water. After taking a sip, I asked Dylan, “What did Troy have to say about Peeping Tom?”

  “Richard. Peeping Richard,” Levi corrected with a smile hoping to ease the tension.

  “He’s a dick!” Dylan exclaimed.

  I snorted, then laughed. Levi joined me, and finally the fire in Dylan’s eyes died out. He put his hands in his front jean pockets. His head dropped, but bobbed with laughter. He reached a hand toward me, so I obliged him with mine. He pulled me to him and whispered, “Sorry.”

  “I'm not mad at you,” I admitted. Most of my anger with Dylan since we first slept together was fake, anyway. I didn't want to spend precious time arguing with him. I guided him into the bedroom, clicking the door shut to give us privacy, as much as Levi who would spend the night on the couch.

  He shook his head. “I'm convinced you are some fairy duplicate of my Grace. Your father body swapped you.”

  “I'm the me you always said I was. The fairy with a heart. And you can punch, fight and argue all you want, but it doesn't matter.”

  “Why?”

  “Because in the end, I love you no matter what you do,” I explained.

  He groaned latching his mouth to mine. His lips worked slowly with mine. I could not get enough of him. Suppressing a moan, I pulled at his clothes. “Levi,” he whispered.

  “Oh, you are kissing me and thinking of him?” I teased.

  “No, he will hear us,” he laughed with his forehead pressed to mine.

  “I've endured his romps with Kady for months. I dare him to say anything,” I muttered.

  That's all it took to convince him. He pulled his shirt off, then removed my sweater. I bit my lip as he breathed and nibbled my ear.

  We spent several hours trying to provoke the other into making noise. Teasing and muffled love making, Dylan and I both cemented our names on the naughty list.

  The sun hadn’t been up long when Dylan woke me up. “Hey, I’ve got some errands to run today. Last minute stuff for the house. You want to go with me?”

  “Actually, I’ve got a few things to do myself. I didn’t buy gifts for Mable and Nestor, so I need to run back to town,” I said.

  “Are you taking Levi with you?” he asked.

  “If he wants to go, I don’t know what his plans are for today,” I replied as he ran his finger across my eyebrows and down my cheeks. Despite his warm body heating the entire bed, a chill ran down my body. His touch drove me crazy, and he knew it. The bastard.

  He got out of the bed parading around my room naked as a jaybird. I could get used to seeing naked Dylan every morning. Part of me didn’t want to latch on to the idea that this was a permanent arrangement. He said forever, but I’m not so sure that was realistic. He was more romantic than me. He watched me admiring him, but he didn’t acknowledge it or make a smart remark. Ducking into the bathroom, I saw that perfect ass right before the door shut.

  I groaned.

  “Torture, my love,” he said.

  “I hate you,” I said.

  “No, you don’t,” he said as the water in the shower turned on.

  “Quite the opposite,” I mumbled.

  Grabbing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, I found Levi still asleep on the couch which was unusual for him. Generally, he was always up before me. I thought it was because he worked on a farm back in Texas. He’d get up early in the morning to start chores before heading to school. He stirred when I came into the room.

  “Hey sleepy head,” I said starting the pot for coffee.

  He groaned and pulled a blanket over his head. “I’m so tired,” he said. “I need to take Winnie home.”

  “Yeah, please check on Bethany. I’m worried about her,” I said.

  Winnie must have heard us talking, and she came out of the bedroom wiping her eyes.

  “Morning, Sweet Pea,” I greeted her.

  “Grits,” she moaned.

  “As you wish, Princess,” I replied as I retrieved supplies to fill her belly before sending her home.

  “Levi, get up,” Winnie said pulling the blanket off his head. He howled in protest. She giggled until he reached to tickle her. Then she started shrieking. It was loud, but I let them have their fun. Dylan stepped out of the bedroom with a wet head. He laughed at them.

  “Mr. Dylan, make Levi stop!” Winnie petitioned him.

  “Levi, stop tickling her,” Dylan scolded.

  “No!” Levi defied him. Rufus got into it by barking at Levi. He loved Winnie, so naturally the pup was on her side.

  “Stop! I'm gonna pee pee on you,” Winnie cried.

  Levi immediately stopped and put her down. She took several steps away from him. Put her hands on her hips as her chest heaved from the exertion. “Gotcha!” she laughed.

  He lunged for her from his position on the couch. Missing her by inches, he plopped on the living room floor. We all had a good laugh at his expense. He stomped off to the bathroom grinning the whole way.

  After breakfast, Levi took Winnie home. Dylan kissed me goodbye and went off to do his errands.

  “Levi, how was Bethany?”

  “She's on something bad. She was fine just now. Very talkative and alert. However, I've not seen her this thin,” he said.

  I didn't know what I could do to help the situation. Honestly, Winnie’s well-being was my only concern. I picked up my phone and dialed my lawyer.

  “Blake and Associates, how may I help you?” the receptionist answered.

  “Hi, this is Grace Bryant. May speak to Mr. Remington Blake, please.”

  “One moment, Miss Bryant,” she said as the phone clicked play garbled classical music.

  “Grace?” Remy answered with his New Orleans accent.

  “Good morning, Remy,” I replied.

  “Good? Actually the morning has been awful, but now I'm finer than a frog’s hair split three ways hearing your sweet voice. How are you, honey?” he asked. Remy and I had a fling a few years back right before I moved to Shady Grove. He failed to tell me he was married, and once I found out, I moved from his side of town to here. We reconciled, however, he clearly wanted to revisit our former arrangements. I wasn't interested.

  “Did you check on the paperwork for Wynonna Jones?” I asked ignoring his flirt.

  “I did. Lysander completed everything perfectly. He didn't deceive you on that,” he replied. After the confrontation with Lysander last year, I questioned every legal matter he attended to on my behalf. Remy volunteered to check everything for me. “In fact, all of it looked to be in order.”

  “Thank you, Remy,” I said.

  “Are you busy today? Let me take you to lunch,” he offered.

  “I've got some last-minute Christmas shopping to do, but Remy, you know I'm with Dylan,” I said.

  He sighed, “No, you are playing games with him.”

  “Actually, we've reconciled our differences, and we are together,” I said driving the point home. Remy was gorgeous and a flirt, but he needed to know that my heart belonged to Dylan.

  “I see,” he said. “Congratulations, honey. When he disappoints you, I’ll be here.”

  I started to reply, but the phone clicked off. He’d hung up. I hated to put it bluntly, but I needed him to know.

  “He doesn't give up,” Levi said.

  “He means well,” I said.

  “Well, you have a fall back guy,” Levi teased.

  I groaned. He was right. I don’t think that there would ever come a day that if I wanted Remington Blake that he would refuse me.

  “Did you say you were going shopping again?” Levi asked.

  “Yeah, I need to buy a few things. When you were working on Dylan’s house, did he give you access to the security?” I asked.

  “Um, why? Are you breaking into your boyfriend’s house?” he
asked. “Just ask him, he will let you in.”

  I sighed at the dense headed bard, “It’s hard to surprise him if I ask ahead of time.”

  “Well, why didn’t you say so? I took your truck over there one day, and he put a chip in it so the gate and garage doors would open for me. I have the code for the security system,” he said.

  I shook my head. Dylan never mentioned it, even after being at his house. I needed to think of some torture for this lack of disclosure. “I’m going to jerk a wart on him,” I said.

  “Warts are nasty, Grace!” Levi teased. “So, do I get to be in on the secret?”

  “Yes, if you are ready to go, we can head out,” I said.

  “Where are you?” I texted Dylan after the day of shopping with Levi. He sat with me in the truck just down the road from the gate to Dylan’s property.

  I waited for thirty agonizing seconds when he answered, “I’m at the bar with Nestor. Come have some coffee.”

  “Levi and I are still out,” I replied trying not to tell a direct lie. If I’d been in Ice Queen form, I probably would have spilled the beans right there.

  “Okay. Call me when you get back in town,” he said.

  “I will. I love you,” I texted back.

  The phone rang. I laughed. So damn romantic. “Hello,” I answered.

  “I love you, too,” he said and hung up.

  “You guys are ten times worse than Kady and I ever were,” Levi said. “And you are both ancient.”

  “Yeah, but this is the first time we’ve ever done this sort of thing,” I defended our actions. I dialed the bar quickly.

  “Hot Tin Roof,” Nestor answered.

  “Keep him there. Do not let him leave. If he does, you call me,” I said.

  “Um, okay,” Nestor replied.

  “Thanks. Don’t call me by my name. I don’t want him to know it’s me,” I said.

  “I think you have the wrong number,” Nestor said.

  “Brilliant!” I said and hung up. “Let’s do this.”

  Levi was excited about my plan, and I was glad to have him come along. Some things I bought were quite big which I needed strong man arms to lift. I backed up to the garage door as it lifted open. Levi jumped out to turn off the security system. I hoped he didn’t have some fancy security system where his phone would notify him of motion or the alarm being turned off.