by Megan Grooms
Cupid’s Test
By
Megan Grooms
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cupid’s Test
Copyright© 2013 Megan Grooms
Cover Artist: Jillian Eaton
Interior text design:
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
Cupid's Test.
When the Tooth Fairy wants to knock Cupid down a peg she decides to test him to see if he really can make any two people fall in love.
Jay and Lilly are two completely different people but when a snow storm forces them to be in each others company for a week they quickly realize how opposites can attract. After finding out that they are on two different sides of a court case the question now is can they get passed it or will the week they had be their first and last?
A big thank you to all my friends and family that are willing to edit my work with short notice and make beautiful covers for me. You are the reason I am able to continue to publish books!
“Are you really telling me you can make any two people fall in love?” Tooth Fairy asked clearly not believing him.
“Well yeah. If I decide that two people should be together I will make it happen.” He answered quite full of himself.
“Alright I’m going to test you. I’ll choose the two people and you will have to make them fall in love with each other and it can’t take forever. You have one month to make them madly in love.” Tooth Fairy said smiling as Cupid looked a little sick to his stomach. “You said it takes no time at all. Are you going back on what you said now?”
“No I can do it. There are a few rules though. Like they have to be near each other, and I have to see them before you chose them. I’ll know after seeing both of them if there will be any kind of attraction. It comes with the job, just being able to see if they would like each other.”
“I can agree with that. I’ll get back to you when I find them.” Tooth Fairy flew off before Cupid could say anymore.
“Why do you guys always get into it?” Jack asked laughing. “I don’t think we have ever had a get together without you two arguing about something.”
“She’s just jealous.”
“I don’t think that’s it.” Easter said hopping over. “She collects teeth from children. She hears the adults fight and sometimes can hear the children crying before they fall asleep. She thinks that you don’t do a very good job. She doesn’t like it when parents get divorced or when they fight all the time and make the children upset.”
“Well that’s not my fault. I don’t put all couples together. What does she think, that I put every couple together that has ever been? I don’t have that much power.” Cupid looked in the direction that Tooth Fairy had flown. “No wonder she doesn’t really like me. I’m much more careful with who I put together than that. You would think she would know that by my stipulation that I have to meet both people before I would agree to help them fall in love.”
“You know, she’s going to make this very hard for you right? She’s trying to prove a point. You may just want to concede now and let her win. It might win her over for you.” Jack said shrugging. “It’s not like she’s going to pick people that will actually be good together anyway.”
“No I think I need to do this. She can be with me through the whole process. That way she can learn how I do it. She needs to know that I’m careful with my pairings. I wish she would have just asked me about it rather than make up this stupid test but I’ll play along.”
It was a few weeks before Cupid heard anything back from Tooth Fairy. He figured that she had decided not to test him at all. “Ok, I’ve got it!” He turned to find Tooth Fairy flying full speed at him. “I’ve got the two I want you to make fall in love. They usually live a few hours apart but they are both going on vacation in the same area.”
“I might be able to make that work. Where are they?” They both flew off, Cupid a little nervous. He wanted this to work to be able to show Tooth Fairy what he does. “These two you must be kidding!” He exclaimed after seeing both of them. They were at opposite ends of the spectrum.
“You only said they needed to be compatible. Are they?” Tooth Fairy knew she sounded smug.
“Yes but, they have nothing in common.” Cupid said running his hands through his hair frustrated.
“You didn’t say that was a stipulation.”
“Alright fine, when do they go on their vacation?”
“Two weeks.”
“I’ll give each of them a week. I need to learn about them. It helps me to work my magic. You have to stay around me and learn how I do this. That’s part of the deal.”
“I think I can handle that. I might need to take off to do my rounds but other than that I’m yours until this thing is over.”
* * *
“Are you sure you want to go off in the middle of the woods all by yourself. It’s still cold up there.”
“I know its cold that’s why I rented the cottage. I just need to get away for a little while. I’ve been working nonstop on this stupid case.” Lillian said stepping off the treadmill. She fixed her black hair back into the pony tail it had fallen out of.
“Well, just be careful ok Lil, I don’t like you being alone. I know its just cause of your breakup. Don’t give that guy another thought. He’s just a jerk that didn’t know a good thing when he had it. You’ll find someone else, someone better.” Jane said smiling at her best friend while walking to the locker room with her.
“Thanks for the support. I did kind of ignore him because of this case though.” She said shrugging. She couldn’t blame the failed relationship all on her ex.
“You have a huge case of course you can’t go hang out with him all the time. If he can’t understand that, well than he is stupid. You’re a professional that needs time to be able to do your work.” Lillian laughed. Her best friend was never one to give a guy a brake. It was always their fault when there was a breakup. She refused to see it any other way. She did that with her own boyfriends as well as Lillian’s.
They both changed and headed out to their cars. “When do you leave?”
“Tomorrow, I want to go now because it’s going to be pretty empty at the camp site this time of year. The cottage I chose is all the way in the back too. Most people don’t want to go back there. I just hope my car can make it. If the road isn’t paved my car won’t make it. Maybe I’ll just park it and walk the rest of the way.”
“You are gonna kill yourself out there I know it. You’ll fall and break a leg and have no cell service. Sure you don’t want me to come with you?” They stood outside their cars. The wind was getting quite chilly now that the sun had gone down.
“Yeah I’m sure. I’ll be fine. I’ll call you if there is a phone in the cottage. If not I’ll call you as soon as I get into range when I’m on my way home alright?”
“I guess it will have to do.” Jane gave her best friend a hug. “Have a good time, get refreshed and come back ready to kick some ass. I’m guessing your bringing your work with you. When do you go to court anyway?”
“A week after I get back. My boss wasn’t impressed that I’m leaving for a week right before it. I’ve done pretty much all I can do though, any fires that happen while I’m gone I’ll fix when I get back. I won’t be much good to anyone with how I’m feeling right now.”
They both climbed into their cars and drove home. Lillian still had to pack, she w
anted to leave first thing in the morning and it was a long drive to the mountains.
* * *
“Jay, do you really think now is a good time to be going anywhere?” Jamison’s vice president and best friend followed him out to his car. “What if something happens? That stupid lawyer is really kicking our ass.”
“I have every confidence that you can take care of anything that comes up. I need to get a way for a while. This whole situation has just been wearing me down. I can hardly think anymore. I need to be on top of my game and that’s not going to happen if I don’t take some time to relax.” Jay climbed into his large SUV and rolled down the window to continue talking.
“But camping? It’s going to be freezing, and you won’t have cell service what if we need you?”
“That’s the point, to not have a cell phone. That way I can’t be interrupted. Whatever happens I will take care of it when I get back ok?” Carl nodded sighing there was no way he was going to change his friends mind.
“Goodnight, good luck while I’m gone.” Jay called out as he rolled up the window while he drove away. This was exactly what he needed. He was far too stressed to be any good to anyone. Fresh air always helped him clear his head. He took off toward the mountains right away stopping when he got tired and getting a motel room to sleep for the night. Waking the next day he realized he had slept later than he wanted to. It was already 10 in the morning and he had a few hours of driving left. He climbed into his truck and headed out. Just before the camp ground he stopped and refilled his coolers with ice. As he drove through the mountains he noticed the sky getting darker. Driving a bit faster he hoped to have his campsite set up before the storm came in.
Driving all the way to the last campsite the place had he knew he wouldn’t be bothered. No one would be stupid enough to camp when it was this cold anyway. Jay set up his campsite quickly and started a fire, trying to relax for the first time in far too long.
* * *
“So you have them in the same area now, how are you going to get them to meet?” Tooth Fairy asked watching from above with Cupid. She still was expecting this to blow up when the two met each other. They were very opposite and she chose them on purpose. She was hoping to prove herself right, that he would force people together that wouldn’t work. If so she could scold him about what he does and how horrible it ended up for the couple and any children they had. The other option was that it wouldn’t work at all, the two would hate each other and never end up together proving that he wasn’t as good as he said he was. Either way it would knock him down a peg. She was sure she could figure out a way to scold him about his match makings gone wrong either way.
“You are far too excited to see me fail you know that?” Cupid answered annoyed. “Now I go see Jack and see if he can’t send a little winter weather this way forcing him inside and into her company.” He left watching Jay huddle by his fire and went to find Jack Frost. “So can you do it?” He asked after explaining to Jack what he wanted.
“I think I can handle that, you need it now?” He smiled he loved being able to cause trouble. They all took off back to where Jay was. Already the temperature had been dropping and it only took Jack a few seconds to start building a large snow storm. “That should keep them in for a while. Give you a good go at getting them together.” Jack smiled, “what are you going to do after it clears and they get to go home?”
“Oh these two will see each other again. Hopefully they will be so attached to each other it won’t matter that they are on opposite sides. They are not going to be happy next time they meet.” Cupid answered glaring at Tooth Fairy. He was sure she knew about the upcoming events before she picked these two. Watching them for the last two weeks he knew that if he didn’t work some good magic this week, while they were stuck inside together, they would never make it passed what was coming.
“So what, after they leave here it’s going to be up to them?” Tooth Fairy asked surprised. “I thought you just kept shooting love at them until they believed they loved each other.”
“No I try to remind them of what attracted them to each other before the anger starts but once they really start the relationship I’m kind of out of it. I can’t force them together. It has to be their decision. That’s why I had to meet them before Okaying that I would try this. It’s a bit more complicated than you would think.” Cupid answered glad that he was able to start teaching her about his work. Clearly she had the wrong impression about him. Which he couldn’t really blame her for, it wasn’t like he explained what he did. He just boasted about it all the time. Maybe he shouldn’t be so cocky. He shrugged pushing that thought aside. He looked down to find Jay already moving.
* * *
The temperature dropped dramatically since he arrived. When it started to snow the fire wasn’t keeping him warm anymore. He realized that this might not be a light dusting like the news said it was going to be. Dumping water over his fire he quickly packed up his campsite in search of one of the cabins he knew the place rented out. He would just have to explain to the owners after the storm and pay the difference. He’d be damned if he was willing to go back though. He needed this time to himself.
The trail he was on was supposed to have a cabin at the end of it. He was glad that he had grabbed a map of the campground before going to his campsite. No one would choose the last one in the place to go to when the others were all open near the front. Jay just hoped that the door would be unlocked. As he pulled up he found a cute little cottage with a small wood shed right behind it. There were about four steps then a wide porch with a grill and patio set on it. Right over the door was a small overhang protecting you as you unlock the door from rain, or snow in this case. He tried the door and was happily surprised to find it unlocked. Opening it he found a small living room with a couch, fireplace and rocking chair. The kitchen had a small four person table and straight back he saw two doorways both were open. The room was still quite chilly so he decided to go out to the wood shed and stack up some wood inside and have extra next to the door on the porch. If he was right this was going to be a cold week.
* * *
Lillian walked out of the bedroom and looked at the door. She could have sworn she just heard it open. Shrugging she walked into the bathroom deciding she was just hearing things there was no way someone else would be up here and in her cottage. She climbed into the shower trying to warm up and relax more. The drive had been longer and harder than she expected in her little car. As it was she had to leave it down quite a ways because the road was so rough. She had to drag all her things up to the cabin and it had taken two trips with all the food she brought as well as her clothes and work papers. She wished she had packed lighter by the time she was done.
* * *
Jay opened the door and set his arm full of wood near the fireplace before leaving again to get more. Maybe he should stack it all inside, if it was snowing the wood would only get wet and buried outside on the porch. It was going to take quite a few trips to get all that he wanted. Looking at the sky he worried that even he didn’t realize how big a storm was coming. The power could go out and with it his heat source. After his third trip he was sure that he finally had enough. He went back to his truck and grabbed his bag as well as his cooler and food. He really didn’t want to have to come out again. The snow fall was getting thicker and even in the gloves his hands were freezing. Locking the SUV he dragged all his things to the house.
* * *
Lillian walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel; at least the water was nice and hot. The heat in the place wasn’t doing a very good job though. Before she went to her room she walked out to the living room, thinking about getting wood to make a fire. Surprised she found a large pile it near the door. She shook her head she must have missed it when she came in the first time. She hadn’t really been looking for it before. She had just put her food away before going to the bedroom to put the clothes away. She walked into the bedroom to get dressed in warm comfortable clothes.<
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* * *
Jay finally got his stuff up the steps and opened the door dragging it inside the soft carpet made his banging around remarkably quieter. Shutting the door he first went to the fireplace and started making a pile of kindling and wood, only to realize he didn’t have a lighter he had left his in the truck. He walked into the kitchen hoping to find one in a drawer. He did not want to go back outside. “Who the hell are you?”
“Holy Crap!” He exclaimed as a voice jumped him out of his skin. He whipped around to find a woman in warm looking pajamas glaring at him hands on her hips. Her long hair was wet and pulled back into a ponytail. She was tall, probably six feet which to most men would be a turn off but at his 6’4” was perfect. He couldn’t tell in the clothes but he thought she would have an athletic build. She was very pretty and, it seemed, very pissed. “What are you doing way out here?”
“You’re asking me what I’m doing here, I rented this cottage what the hell are you doing here? Are you a squatter? Who are you?” she wasn’t backing down in fact she seemed to be standing straighter. He couldn’t help smiling she was probably used to intimidating people with her size.
“I’m not a squatter.” He said disgusted “I rented a campsite down the trail a bit.”
“Really, a campsite?” She scoffed who would rent a campsite in this weather?
He pulled out his receipt from his back pocket. “Yes, a campsite. I set up my camp only to realize that it was not a light dusting like the weather said. I decided I better get inside. I really didn’t want to go back home so I decided to just wait it out in a cabin and pay the difference after the storm.”
She took the receipt glancing at it quickly. Sure looked like a receipt for a campsite. “Why in the world would you go camping at this time of year?” She asked relaxing a little.
He shrugged turning around to continue his search for a lighter. “I like camping. This was the only time I could do it and I wasn’t going to pass it up. I needed to get away. AH, here you are.” He held up the lighter happily and passed her to go to the fireplace.