Cornbread & Crossroads

by Bella Falls

  “Whose aura?” Mason inquired. “Mine?”

  Her eyes widened. “Yes. No. I mean, why would I be reading your aura? Is there something about to happen in your life that would make it interesting? Some big question you’ve been meaning to ask?”

  My sheer panic turned my knees into jelly, and I snatched the edge of Mason’s sleeve to hold myself upright. With every ounce of my being, I attempted to shoot Lavender the biggest shut up vibes I could muster. If she kept talking, I might have to hex her hiney into oblivion.

  Mason fidgeted beside me and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, Charli, not that I wanted to say this in front of an audience, but since you barely have any free time these days, I better take my chance now and ask you something I’ve been planning for a while.”

  The bottom dropped out of my world, and stars burst in front of my eyes. I took one step back and held up a hand as if to stop the detective from going any further. Misunderstanding my gesture, he grasped it and gave me his full attention.

  “Charli, I was wondering if—”

  “There y’all are,” Lee cried out from behind me.

  Lily and Lavender groaned while Ben tried to stifle a snicker and failed. Mason huffed out a breath and gave my hand a light squeeze. His grip tightened after he turned to watch our nerdy friend approach.

  “I’ve been looking for you guys because I’ve got a surprise for you,” Lee continued. “Guess who decided to come to the potluck after all?”

  “Hey,” uttered a low voice with a slight rasp to it from right behind me.

  My entire body tensed, but I did my best to cover up my reaction. All eyes, including Mason’s, watched me. Lacing my fingers through the detective’s and plastering a smile on my face, I turned around to face Dash.

  Chapter Four

  “Wow, I didn’t think we’d see you in Honeysuckle again.” Even I caught the sharp edge to my words. Clearing my throat, I tried to speak with less emotion. “When did you get back?”

  Lee clapped Dash on his back while Alison Kate winced as she stood on her husband’s other side. “Dash is a board member of my business, so when we have a meeting, he’s invited to come since he’s invested in it.”

  My eyebrows raised in general interest. “I didn’t know that.”

  “It’s no big deal,” Dash brushed off. He had yet to take his eyes off of me or address anyone else in the group. Typical shifter dominance move, but I was not playing prey to his predator.

  Mason pulled his hand away from mine and stuck it out. “Good to see you again, Dash. If I’m remembering right, and I might not be, you and I were in a bit of trouble together last time you were here.”

  Dash stopped staring at me and acknowledged the detective. “Mason,” he said, pumping his hand up and down. “I had heard that your recovery went well. Good to see that it’s true.”

  The wolf shifter had left Honeysuckle to deal with pack business after the now deceased broom racer Rita Ryder used her strong psychic powers to mess with both his and Mason’s minds. It was because of her that the detective’s memories of me had been stripped away. Due to luck or sheer determination, he’d managed to fight back and regain most of what he’d lost, much like my own magic had returned to me over time. The same but also a little different. And a little stronger.

  With both men acknowledging their shared experience, the bubble of tension burst and everyone broke into normal small talk. Perhaps as a way of apology to me, Lavender hooked her arm around the shifter’s elbow to take him over to scrounge for whatever food was left. Blythe watched the two of them leave our group before she excused herself from talking to one of the new fae.

  She stormed over to us and placed her hands on her hips. “Leland Chalmers Junior, just how long has he been in town? And why wouldn’t you tell anyone he was coming or even here?”

  I loved my friend’s fierce protective nature, but while I stood next to Mason, I wished with all my might she didn’t act like the bull in a very big china shop.

  Lee pushed his glasses up his nose. “What’s with all the questions? I thought y’all would be happy to see an old friend.”

  Alison Kate pushed herself under Lee’s arm to get him to hold her. “Honey, remember when you asked me to let you know when you were being obtuse?”

  “Yeah,” her husband replied, still not getting her meaning.

  “This is one of those times,” she said, patting him on the back and giving me an apologetic gaze.

  While deep down I appreciated the sentiment, all of my friends’ support cast more unwanted attention my way. Mason’s ease of character had evaporated as he stood stock still next to me. The hand he’d used to shake Dash’s squeezed into a fist for a moment. And then he shook it loose with a little chuckle.

  His reaction surprised me. “What?”

  “Nothing. Just dumb guy stuff.” He kissed my cheek and pointed at a picnic table where Dash sat by himself with some food. “Don’t make the poor guy suffer. Go talk to him.”

  I opened my mouth to protest but no sound came out. Trying again, I touched Mason’s arm. “But you were getting ready to ask me something.”

  He took my hand in his and kissed the back of it. “It can wait.” With a nod in the shifter’s direction, he squeezed me and let go. “Do what you do best. Make sure he knows he’s still a friend.”

  In that one moment, a rush of conflicting emotions washed over me. Absolute adoration for the man standing next to me who knew my needs better than I did. And absolute dread to talk to the other. I didn’t want to lose the one just to talk to the other. Not trusting Mason’s reaction, I hesitated.

  “Don’t worry, you won’t be the only one who wants to hear what’s been going on with him,” Blythe reassured me. “But we’ll give you a decent head start.”

  With reluctance, I backed away from Mason, keeping him in my line of sight until I bumped into one of the new smaller fae and almost fell. Wanting to keep myself upright and not cause injury to anyone, especially a new resident, I turned to head to Dash’s table.

  The shifter’s eyes flashed yellow with his wolf’s ability to see everything that had just happened, and the corner of his mouth twitched up while he chewed on some meat.

  “I see you still manage to find trouble even when you’re literally not looking for it,” he teased in his growl of a voice.

  For some reason, his ribbing restored a little of my confidence. “Must be a part of my DNA,” I responded in kind, sitting down across from him. “So, I’d say you’ve got about fifteen minutes to spill your guts before the hoard of nosy nuisances joins us.”

  Dash dropped his chicken bone onto his plate, splattering a few baked beans onto the wood of the table. “What is it you want to know?”

  Oh, how about everything that you never say when you text me back? I thought. Shrugging like I didn’t care whether or not he updated me on his life, I kept a blank face. “Like, when did you lose your spell phone?”

  He wiped his hands on a napkin. “I own shares in Lee’s company. I always have a spell phone.”

  “Oh? Then have you forgotten how to use it?” A flash of irritation raced through my veins, and I swallowed hard to maintain control. “Because I could have sworn when you left my house that night, we parted as friends.”

  The gold in his eyes blazed hot for a moment before fading. “We did.”

  I took out my spell phone and opened the messages app. “See, my friends and I, we text each other. Communicate pretty regularly back and forth. Mostly dumb stuff, but when I ask one of them what’s going on, I get more than, ’Nothing much.’ When I type out the words, ‘Are you ok,’ they know to answer me with more than, ‘Am fine.’ Not one of my friends chooses not to answer when I text them. Because that’s what friends do, they—”

  “All right, all right.” Dash held up his hands and waved his used napkin in the air. “I surrender. I’m sorry I wasn’t saying much in my texts.”

  “Or answering or returning my calls,” I accused.<
br />
  “Look, I said I was sorry. Can we leave it at that?” His bark of a request came out as more of a command.

  I leaned forward. “Don’t treat me like one of your pack members who has to obey you.”

  Dash rubbed a hand down his face and through his beard with a long groan. “Sorry. I wasn’t giving you an order. It’s just…there was always too much to say after I left. A text or a call wouldn’t have even scratched at the surface. And I’m not saying this to get you off my back, but taking care of the pack has taken up all of my time and energy.”

  “I’m the granddaughter of the head of this town. I think I understand the dedication it takes to lead. And even Nana finds time to send me decent messages when I text her.”

  Music from the band provided a soundtrack to our awkward encounter. The atmosphere around us crackled with tension, but I no longer needed or wanted to play games.

  Drawing in a long, deep breath and holding it for a moment, I counted to ten before letting it out to calm myself. “Listen, I’m sorry if I’m putting you on the defensive. You don’t deserve that.”

  Dash ran a hand through his hair. “No, I’m the jerk who cut you out of my life when I left. I just didn’t know what to say to you when so much changed all at once. And I knew you had some difficulties of your own to battle.”

  I thought back on my time after Rita Ryder and how hard it had been to try and accept maybe never getting my powers back. Add to that the meeting with my biological cousin as well as my grandmother being falsely accused of murder. Yeah, I’d had to fight to claim the life I lived right now.

  “It sounds like you kept tabs on me, though.” I threw the statement out like bait for a fish. “You didn’t seem surprised to see me with Mason.”

  The wolf shifter leaned back a little in his chair. “I said that you’d be the one to save him. Can’t blame the guy for falling for you. Those fairy tale happy-ever-afters are always wrong. It’s not the Prince Charming who saves the day and gets the girl in real life. Pretty sure it’s the other way around.”

  “Wait, does that make me Princess Charming?” I raised my hand and waved it around like the royal family did on television. “Maybe I should make you curtsy in front of me.”

  “I’m a guy. We don’t curtsy. If I did anything, I’d bow,” Dash countered.

  I straightened my spine and stuck my nose in the air. “That would be more than acceptable to this princess.”

  In response to our sudden ease with each other, a wave of relief crashed through my body and pushed the tide of my tension out. I laughed out loud when he stood up and actually bowed like a true gentleman. For the first time tonight, I really looked at him, studying his face.

  “Your scars have healed.” My fingers itched to trace the faded pink lines across his face.

  Dash sat back down. “Only a little. Caro Whitaker and her sisters are still trying to find something that would heal them completely. I tried to tell them that marks of battle were normal in a pack.” He lifted a finger to touch one of them. “At least they don’t hurt anymore from the wolfsbane.”

  A shiver ran down my spine. Dash had been in a fight to take over the pack in the Red Ridge territory after his brother Cash almost ruined it. Although the scars were healing, I figured it would take even longer for the damage underneath the surface to heal as well.

  “How are things with your pack?” I asked, finding my curiosity to be genuine.

  Dash pushed his plate away from him. “Much better than before. The money I make through my investment with Lee helped fund rebuilding the infrastructure. Do you remember Georgia Whitaker?”

  “Of course.” She’d been one of the sisters who’d entered the barbecue contest and had been instrumental in helping save Lucky.

  Something akin to pride lightened the shifter’s expression. “I gave her some money for her spirits distillery. She’s still using some of her family’s old moonshinin’ recipes though, but now she sells it legally.”

  “Is it as good as the illegal kind?” I joked, glad to see Dash’s humor hadn’t withered away up in the mountains. I wondered if that was due to the influence of the trio of witch sisters he talked about.

  He snorted. “At least the laws ensure it won’t make you go blind. Unless you drink enough of it.”

  We shared another moment of levity, and the familiar ease we used to have with each other returned. His hand reached across the table for a split second, but he pulled it back.

  “Why’d you do that?” I asked.

  “Same reason I haven’t been texting you much,” he grumbled, looking away and nodding at something behind me. “Respect.”

  Blythe grabbed my shoulder and plopped down next to me. “So, Dash. If you’re one of the original investors in Lee’s venture company, just how rich are you?”

  Mason joined me on my other side. He bumped my knee with his as a hidden way to check in. I responded by pushing my body against his for a moment. Dash flashed his eyes at us before turning all of his attention to my brash friend.

  He grinned wide enough to show his gleaming teeth like the predator in the fairy tales about to eat Little Red Riding Hood. “Why? You interested in a wolf with means?”

  “Depends,” Blythe retorted, leaning forward and blinking her eyelashes at him. “On how big your means is.”

  The rest of the gang joined us and peppered Dash with questions faster than he could deflect. In a matter of minutes, I found out his brother Davis was living on Caro Whitaker’s property in another town instead of with him, that he had set up a scholarship fund for any member who wanted to pursue more education, and that in his off time, he served on the local volunteer fire department and had helped put out a forest wildfire before it spread and consumed a nearby community. Based on his quick answers, his life sounded well-adjusted, but my gut told me that much like his scars, something else was going on underneath the surface.

  “And now for the killer question,” Lily warned. “When are we getting invites to your upcoming nuptials?”

  “Never,” Dash grunted. “No one is.”

  “Why not?” pushed Lily. “Is it a pack thing?”

  “I’m not engaged anymore,” Dash growled.

  Our mouths shut tight with his big news. Alison Kate flashed a knowing glance at me, but I pretended not to notice.

  The shifter ignored everyone’s reaction and focused on a knot in the wood of the table. “The girl I had made a blood pact to marry was in love with someone else,” he continued in a low, steady voice. “And I’m not a typical pack leader. I don’t care about upholding stupid blood promises if they aren’t wanted. I’ll make sure Trey’s sister Dina is taken care of financially, but she didn’t want to marry me.”

  Lee kept quiet as if none of this information was new to him, confirming my suspicions that he was the mole who told Dash everything. The girls and I would need to have a talk with him about it later.

  Alison Kate leaned forward to see around her husband and asked, “What if she wanted to enforce the engagement?”

  “Then I would have married her. It’s our way.”

  His words stunned us into silence. What should have been a simple statement was anything but. It also underlined several reasons why I didn’t think I’d ever understand his shifter pack life.

  All the talk of engagements and weddings made me fidget beside Mason. Noticing my reaction, he laid a hand on my bouncing knee under the table, and I flashed him a hint of a smile to cover up my discomfort.

  Dash distracted himself by tearing a biscuit into oblivion. “As pack leader, I’ll always have to put the needs of others before my own if I don’t want to be a screwup like my father and brother.”

  “Well, as long as those needs don’t keep you from Honeysuckle for too long.” Lee spoke with sincerity, “It’s good to have you around again.”

  Blythe had been watching Dash’s responses to the whole interrogation in quiet observation. Slamming her hands on the table, she straddled the picnic bench and s
tood. “Well, since this is a Welcome Potluck, let me officially say welcome back, Dash.”

  The shifter grunted. “Thanks.”

  “All right, show’s over, boys and girls. Let’s get back to the real purpose of this shindig and interact with more of the newcomers,” Blythe instructed. The second she turned to walk away, she muttered a parting shot. “Especially those who plan to stick around.”

  Mason got up next and held out his hand to help me. Ignoring Dash and the rumbling in my gut that told me we had more to say to each other, I accepted the detective’s help. We ambled toward the rest of the crowd, but by the time we mingled with the others, the wolf shifter had disappeared.

  Adrenaline and uncertainty coursed through my veins, and I faked my way through a couple of benign conversations without really paying attention. Mason gave me a little space to interact, but I feared other motives for his distance.

  Having lost track of him, I walked through different groups of conversations to try and find him. I spotted Horatio and made my way over to talk to my favorite troll when I caught the sound of Aunt Nora’s voice complaining to someone nearby. Instead of alerting Horatio to my presence, I hid behind him so I could eavesdrop on my aunt.

  “I don’t know why we have to put up with so many. I swear, if Vivi were a true leader, she would close our borders to anyone who wasn’t like us,” my aunt declared.

  Another voice responded and I recognized Mrs. Flanagan’s slight Irish lilt. “In the old country, it would be a high blessing to have so many of the wee folk around.”

  “We’re not in the old country, Clara,” Aunt Nora admonished. “This is our country. Our town. What right do they have to try and move here?”

  “I have to admit, Honeysuckle was a lot more peaceful when we had more of our kind than others like vampires and fairies,” agreed Prudence Bates. “And who in their right mind puts a troll in charge of the town library?”

  Mrs. Bates still worked as the school’s librarian even though she’d been ancient when I went there as a kid. We weren’t even allowed to breathe without her demanding for us to shush. She was unlikeable then and hearing her now made my distaste for her grow.