Merry & Bright: A Christmas Anthology (Nocturne Falls Universe)

by Fiona Roarke

  “Chin up, babe. We’ll pull this off if Connor and I have to dress in sweatpants.” Ryan rinsed the cat food can in the sink and dropped the empty in the recycle bin.

  Jess crossed a line through ‘tux pick up’ on her list. She couldn’t believe the store was closed today. “This stupid snow was not in my plan.”

  “Mother’s okay with us holding the ceremony at the mansion.”

  “Well since it will probably just be two brides and two grooms, Solange and Sabrina, that shouldn’t be a problem. At least the judge said he’d be here. He’s the smart one with a four-wheel drive.”

  “A couple of my buddies said they’d lend a hand with their trucks. I’m going out with them later to get some chairs and tables for the reception and take them out to Mother’s. Want me to run any errands for you?”

  She shook her head. “At least I had the good sense to get my dress before Christmas.”

  After Ryan left, Jess went to the bedroom where the dress hung in the closet. Crealde sat on the floor in front, facing the closed closet door.

  Knowing his affinity for catching his claws in chintzy lace and for opening doors at will, she warned, “If you so much as think about it, Mister. So, help me.”

  He looked over his shoulder. She swore he had a look of sympathy on his furry face. Well, she wanted it to be sympathetic. This cat had three waking faces. Sleepy. Angry. Skeptical.

  Nope. Crealde had no sympathy.

  She escorted him out of the room and shut the door. Then she slipped on the wedding dress. She ran her hands over it, feeling each pearl as it crossed her palm. It was the perfect dress. And, by damn, it was going to be a perfect wedding day.

  Hellfire or blizzard.

  Chapter Twelve

  Sabrina was a miracle worker.

  Solange stood awestruck at how the living room looked. Sabrina had directed the removal of the living room furniture and the placement of the chairs Ryan and his friends had brought.

  Ryan had spent hours in his old woodworking studio in the estate’s garage to fashion candle holders from scraps of oak and birch. Sabrina had found candles of all sizes in the pantry and placed the rustic candelabra in strategic locations around the room.

  Connor had brought in evergreen boughs from the woods behind the estate. Sabrina had placed them on either side of the hallway leading into the room.

  Solange could only imagine how it would look with the lights dimmed, and the fireplace stoked, flickering candles, and aroma of fir and pine. Sabrina had transformed the Ford living room into an enchanted chamber fit for King Arthur’s court.

  And Brianna and Jess’s wedding.

  Solange went upstairs to help the cousins dress. Jess had styled her hair into an uplift with a couple of loose tendrils. Brianna’s natural golden curls circled her head like a halo.

  “You are lovely beyond words,” Solange said in a hushed tone.

  The cousins shared the mirror. “We are, aren’t we.” Jess giggled.

  “But you need a little something else. I’ll be right back,” Solange said.

  “Ready,” Brianna asked.

  “Yep. You?” Jess said.

  “Absolutely,” Brianna said. “Wonder how the guys are doing?”

  “Connor’s probably playing video games. Ryan’s sketching a new project. I don’t think they suffer from nerves much.”

  Their laughter was interrupted by Solange’s return. She carried a velvet drawstring pouch.

  “Let’s see how these look on you.” She reached into the bag and pulled out two tiaras. “Choose the one you’d like to wear. My wedding gifts to you.”

  Brianna and Jess looked at each other, wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

  “Are those…,” Brianna stammered.

  Jess finished the question. “Real?”

  “There was a time long ago when the boys’ father and I attended some of the most elaborate shifter balls you can imagine. Over time, formal dress up parties went out of style. I want you to have them.”

  “You pick first, Jess,” Brianna said.

  Jess chose the one with a triangle of diamonds topped with an emerald. It slid into her hair effortlessly.

  Brianna hesitated to even touch the one for her. It was a jewel-encrusted headband with a swirl of diamonds and pearls at the top.

  Sensing Brianna’s hesitancy, Solange placed it on Brianna’s head.

  “Now then, look in the mirror,” Solange said.

  “Oh, my God,” Jess said.

  “We look like princess brides,” Brianna said.

  They took turns hugging Solange.

  “Oh, that’s quite enough. Now, I believe I hear the music,” Solange said. “It’s time, my dears.”

  “Where the heck is Nana?” Jess said as they descended the long stairway to the first floor, followed by Solange.

  “She promised,” Brianna whispered.

  They stopped at the foot of the stairs to give their dresses one last adjustment.

  “I want you to see something.” Solange opened the double doors to the dining room.

  “The cakes made it? And all the food? How?” Jess raced forward to inspect them.

  “Mine and Connor’s are here, too,” Brianna said.

  “Delaney found a way to get to the shop yesterday. She didn’t want you to know, just in case something happened at the last minute. And Bridget enlisted the Sheriff’s department to escort her and the food here. It took a little help from the county to clear the roads out this far.” Solange lifted an eyebrow. “I can be very persuasive.”

  Brianna raised a silver lid covering a large platter. “You’re kidding? My salmon?”

  “That took a little more doing. Bridget found a supplier who could overnight ship a smoked salmon from Oregon. I had a sample. It’s very tasty, for cooked,” Solange said.

  Brianna laughed. If it was falcon approved, it must be good.

  “I guess that’s the last of it,” Jess said.

  “Did you think you wouldn’t have flowers?” Echo Stargazer stood behind them holding the brides’ bouquets. Fully human. Rosy-cheeked. And dressed in a beautifully embroidered silk Chinese robe.

  “No crying. You’ll spoil your makeup.” Echo handed each bride a white rose bouquet. “Now, let’s get this party started.”

  Outside the closed doors to the living room, Jess and Brianna locked arms with Echo.

  “You know, Brianna,” Echo teased. “You look almost as good as I did in that dress. It held up well for over fifty years, don’t you think?” Echo’s eyes danced.

  “It’s just like you told me it would be,” Brianna said.

  “Someday we’ll have that long talk about my ‘knowing.’ And guess what, I’m back for good. So, plan on it, honey,” Echo said. “And Jess, it kills me to know I’m losing my precious. But, those two men are about the hunkiest things on the planet. If I was a few years younger…”

  A cold blast of air from the open front door startled them.

  Brianna’s heart stopped. Three people stood on the front porch. She tapped Echo’s shoulder to turn around.

  “Grandmother, you won’t believe this,” she whispered.

  “Honey, I bet I will,” Echo said.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “It’s been a long time,” Echo said.

  A tall, broad-shouldered red-haired man stood in the doorway with a woman and another younger man.

  “Mother,” he said in a low voice.

  “Come inside and shut that damn door. It’s cold,” Echo said.

  Brianna felt Jess’s hand on her back. “It’s going to be fine, Brianna.”

  “I’ll let folks know we’re a little behind.” Solange opened the door to the living room and gently shut it behind her.

  Willing her feet to move, Brianna went to her mother and squeezed her so hard the woman gasped for a breath.

  “How?” Brianna whispered in her mother’s ear.

  “Long story. Rented a truck,” her mother whispered back.

 
Brianna hugged her brother and introduced him to his grandmother. Tears flowed down the usually stoic woman’s face as she embraced him.

  Her father, quiet through all this, had stayed back, leaning against the door.

  Brianna walked to him. “Thank you for coming, Daddy.”

  He gave a silent nod. “I brought them, but I’m not staying.”

  Echo stood beside Brianna. “Why would you come this far and not attend your daughter and niece’s wedding?”

  “You know why,” he muttered.

  “Because you’re a stubborn ox,” Echo said.

  “Daddy, Grandmother. Enough. Not today. Daddy, you are more than welcome to stay and witness this. Or sit in the driveway. Your choice. Make your decision now. I’m getting married in a few minutes, whether you like it or not,” Brianna said.

  “Oh, I almost forgot.” Brianna’s mother reached into her purse and pulled out a small jewelry box. “I wore this at my wedding. I want you to have it.”

  Brianna opened the box. A knot swelled in her throat.

  A pearl necklace.

  “I’m shaking. Somebody help me put this on,” Brianna said.

  Jess fastened the clasp. “It’s like the necklace was meant to be part of this dress.”

  Echo smiled and nodded.

  Solange stuck her head into the room. “Ready?”

  “Mom, Samuel, go on inside. Solange will find your seats.” Brianna turned to her father who still stood by the door.

  Echo wiped her tears, then took a position between her granddaughters, Brianna on her left elbow, Jess on her right. “Ok, girls. This is it.” Then she looked down at Brianna’s feet.

  “That’s what’s been bugging me,” Echo said. “When I got married in this dress, back in the day, I was barefoot. Oh, well. That was the sixties.”

  “Really?” Brianna thought a moment then kicked off her satin pumps. “They’re killing my feet anyway”

  “I couldn’t agree more.” Jess kicked off hers followed by Echo.

  Something caught the corner of Brianna’s eye. She turned to her father who was taking off his shoes, and his heavy coat. “Or me either.”

  He slipped his arm around Brianna’s. “Think there’s room for four of us to walk down that aisle?”

  “Son, we’ll make room,” Echo said.

  Brianna finally realized the music was live and not recorded. How in the world had a three-piece chamber group made their way here? Only in Nocturne Falls.

  Solange opened the door and announced the arrival of the brides as the music changed to a wedding processional.

  Brianna’s breath caught and she tightened her grip on her father’s arm.

  The room, bathed in candlelight, was packed. Connor and Ryan, smiling and handsome in their separate ways, were dressed in suits. Not sweats. A roaring fire burned in the fireplace. The path ahead was lined in fresh tree boughs.

  “Did you know how this was going to end all along,” Brianna whispered to her grandmother.

  “Oh, ye of little faith.”

  The End

  The Meddlesome Misadventures of Merri and Bright

  by Alethea Kontis

  Chapter One

  It all started with a note hidden in a book.

  Technically, it started with Samson Sol. That annoyingly handsome summer elf had threatened to burn Merri’s book bag to a crisp if she didn’t let him copy her Chemistry homework. Merri’s reaction had been quite enough to get Professor Beketaten’s attention.

  Samson said he was “just kidding.” He didn’t get in trouble, oh no. The popular rich boys never got in trouble.

  Merri, on the other hand, was immediately banished to the library. She was to translate the first two songs of the Finnish epic Kalevala and discuss the importance of Ilmatar…whoever or whatever that was. The assignment was doubly horrible because Merri hated English class. Chemistry was her true passion. Potions and solutions were topics at which a flower fairy could excel. English bored her to tears. The only thing that class was good for was staring at Samson Sol’s wild blond hair and amber eyes and perfect tan skin. Bloomin’ daisies, that boy was beautiful. He totally knew it too.

  Jerk.

  The note fell out of the book the moment she slid it off the shelf, fluttering to the stone floor like an autumn leaf.

  I dare you, the note said. I dare you to play a prank.

  Instead of wondering who had written the note or how it got there, Merri considered the challenge. She’d never pulled a prank before in her life, though she was certainly the kind of outcast who would. Merri just didn’t care that much about the other kids at her school, and they didn’t care about her. She’d never sought the kind of attention drawn by pranks.

  But to be asked anonymously…and to pull it off anonymously…the entertainment value would be hers alone. And if she failed, no one would be the wiser. It was tempting. Too tempting.

  By the time the horn blew to signal the change of classes, Merri had both finished the assignment and decided on her prank. She would do it during Chemistry, her last class of the day. With all those chemical ingredients lying around, Chem lab would be the best place to hide her magical signature. Plus, she already knew Samson hadn’t done his homework. Let him think that whatever transpired was his fault.

  It’s not like he’d get in trouble for it.

  This afternoon’s experiment was to study surface tension by blowing bubbles made from varying mixtures of dish soap, water, and glycerine. Merri had played out the whole scene in her head: She’d go up to Samson and make up some fake apology about earlier, distracting him long enough for her to get her hands on his bubble wand.

  In the end, she didn’t even have to do that. Prom queen poster girl Taylor Hayden provided enough of a distraction all on her own, asking everyone their opinion on the haircut she’d treated herself to during the lunch break. (She only received compliments, of course. Anyone smart enough to see through her thinly-veiled attempt at fishing was also smart enough to keep their mouth shut.)

  Merri passed by Samson’s abandoned lab bench on her way up to the crowd at the front of the classroom. She reached out, casually drew her index finger along the length of Samson’s bubble wand, and concentrated.

  Dandelion, she thought to herself.

  When the time came for them to blow a bubble from the first solution, Merri waited. She wasn’t disappointed. The moment Samson put those perfect lips to his bubble wand, tiny bubbles burst out like dandelion fluff blown to the wind.

  And they didn’t stop. They kept on coming, tiny and perfect, like bubbles blown from a machine. Samson was confused for about ten seconds before he took advantage of the situation. He began running around the classroom, spreading his bounty everywhere. Teens turned into children: chasing bubbles, kicking bubbles, piling bubbles on top of their heads, making fake beards. They laughed and they danced. Samson climbed up on a stool and held the bubble wand over Taylor’s head. She spun gleefully in the shower of bubbles beneath it.

  A few bubbles flew in front of Merri’s face. She popped them with a pencil and smiled.

  “Enough of that nonsense!” Professor Bowers called from her desk at the back of the classroom. She rose from her seat…and then something weird happened.

  The bubbles froze. They just sat there for a moment, suspended in midair. Then, as one, they dropped like stones. No, not stones. Glass. Every single bubble fell to the floor and shattered.

  But not like glass. Ice. Merri watched as the delicate shards on the lab bench before her instantly started to melt. What on earth…?

  Merri hopped off her own stool, fully intending to walk over to Samson’s table and see if she could figure out what had gone wrong with her spell. She made it halfway before she remembered that it wasn’t only water on the floor. There was a good deal of soap and glycerine, too.

  On her fourth step, her boot slipped. Samson, who had similarly hopped down off his stool, slid backward in her direction. They crashed together in an ungraceful b
obble of limbs, finally ending up on the floor.

  “Are you all right?” Samson said to her. He actually sounded like he cared.

  “I think so.” Merri rubbed her head. She had banged it against something hard. Most likely Samson’s own noggin. “Nice trick you got there.”

  Samson waved his bubble wand, which seemed to have exhausted its supply of bubble-making solution. “It’s all in the wrist. Want some help up?”

  Suddenly he was being nice to her? He had definitely hit his head, too. Merri looked out across the room, where all the other students were sliding into one another. She pulled her knees into her chest and hugged them. “I think it’s safer down here for now.”

  “You might be right.” Samson stretched out his long legs beside her and leaned back against the lab bench. Together, they watched the rest of their classmates—and professor—flail about like drunken penguins on an ice floe.

  Eventually, Professor Bowers got control of the situation and ordered everyone back to their tables. Merri got to her own feet before she realized Samson had his hand out, offering to help her again. He could be so kind when he wanted to be.

  “Here,” he said instead. “For luck.” She caught the now-dormant bubble wand he tossed to her.

  Did he know she’d been the source of the prank? No. No way. She chuckled at the bubble wand and smirked. “Gee, thanks.”

  Professor Bowers began to lecture from the white board—there was no going back to lab now, but she seemed determined to maintain the focus of her class. Merri pulled her notebook out her of her book bag, just as she slipped the bubble wand inside. It was a cheap and silly memento, but it would always remind her of this first prank, well played. That challenge of the anonymous dare had been accepted, and accomplished, with no one the wiser.

  Or so she thought.

  He was waiting for her after class, leaning casually against the pillar like a shadow come to life. Where Merri dyed her hair and clothes with henna and indigo, he had been born with hair as black as an inkstain. His “Used to be Everything” t-shirt looked fresh from a concert. His black jeans still had a crease. His Doc Martens didn’t have a mark on them. His white skin stood out in contrast, even paler than his cold, silver-gray eyes.