by Quinn, Taryn
“Seems like I’ve had reports of you two doing this all over town.”
“Reports?” Macy demanded. “From who? Give me names, numbers, and times.”
The sheriff wisely ignored her. “Including on TV. I’d say get a room, but I’d assume that between the two of you, you have access to proper facilities.”
“Yes, sir.” I clamped a hand over Macy’s mouth when she would’ve spewed God only knows what with children nearby. As it was, more than a couple of them had turned to watch us with curious eyes.
Their parents, however, didn’t seem nearly as interested. More like pissed.
Oh, yeah, I was definitely setting a great precedent to go before a judge to prove how upstanding I was. Seemed like I better get on board that train fast.
Then Macy decided to bite me.
I yanked my hand away from her mouth and shook it out. “You’ve had a recent rabies shot, right?”
Even the sheriff winced. “On second thought, don’t think that room will be necessary, after all.”
Eleven
I was thankful that Gideon had taken us out of town for our first date. Since then, only every third customer stared at me a touch too long. Because of course the whole town was already talking about us, thanks to my little stunt on his damn lap.
I still wasn’t sure what the hell I’d been thinking.
And now I wanted to add extreme sexual frustration to my list of grievances. Add in some guilt due to his happily chattering daughter in the reading nook, and I was ready to take a scythe to the entire dining room.
Okay, maybe minus Dani.
It wasn’t her fault her father was an idiot.
It had been a week since our first date. A minor emergency at the work site had kept him busy. That did not help my current state. Especially since he wouldn’t let me over there to see what the hell went wrong.
He’d practically patted me on the head and told me not to worry about it.
He was very lucky that murder was illegal in New York. Okay, so it was a federal offense as well, but I was very creative. Besides, all I had to do was ask Vee how to hide a body. She listened to enough serial killer podcasts to give me a good lead on how to make sure he was never found.
Thankfully, the dinner crowd wasn’t as heavy as my lunch crowd. Most people shuffled off to the diner for full meals or went to the handful of eateries around town. Exactly why I was excited to get The Haunt moving.
I wanted to feed people coffee and light lunch fare by day and full food by night.
With the specialty nature of the restaurant, it seemed fitting that it was a nighttime venture. As with most horror features, the light of day wasn’t nearly as kind to monsters. Which suited me. If it really took off, I could always extend the hours.
Then again, I’d like to actually just get inside the freaking place and get my staff trained.
“You’re going to literally burn people where they stand if you keep staring people down like that,” Rylee said out of the side of her mouth.
“I’m just frustrated.”
“They have toys for that.”
“You need them? Thought you had a strapping man in your life these days.”
“I’m not the one growing laser beams in my eyeballs. Besides, toys enhance. You should try it.”
“Can you just make that latte, please?”
She shrugged. “I can do both at the same time.”
“Obviously not, since you’re still flapping your lips and not moving your hands.” I swung around the end of the counter with the plastic tub I used to bus tables.
Rylee was whistling like the asshole she was as I returned to dump the first load of dishes. Damn her. And damn Gideon for leaving me so worked up.
Luckily, it was too busy for me to think much about next door. All I could focus on was the next customer in line and badgering Vee into making another batch of the sold-out double chocolate bat cupcakes.
Just as the crowd started thinning, Kinleigh Scott, from Kinleigh’s Attic across the street, muscled her way through the door with a huge wagon of pumpkins.
I was scrubbing a table near the window and rushed over to help her. “What the hell?”
“I didn’t know what else to do with them. One of my deliveries included a gorgeous armoire that I’m going to be convincing August to help renovate with me.”
I grabbed the side of the wooden-slatted wagon before it tipped. “What does that have to do with a dozen gourds and six weird looking pumpkins?”
“They were in the armoire.”
“You do know you have a window as well.”
“Yes, but this is more your thing than mine.” She flicked her fingers over the Halloween decorations from floor to ceiling.
Dani wandered over, her huge eyes brimming with trouble. “Oh, wow. Can we carve them?”
“No.”
“But they’re pumpkins. That’s what you do to them.”
“In October, sure. Now? They’d be mush before we get out of September. We haven’t even hit Labor Day yet.”
She activated the puppy dog eyes.
“Nope. Don’t give me that look, kid.”
“Well…”
I gave Kinleigh a bland look. “You don’t think you’ve caused enough issues?”
“Well, come on. I mean this is your thing, right? But I saw this thing on Instagram. Galaxy pumpkins.” Kinleigh gave me a hopeful grin. “I kinda wanted to try it.”
Dani started bouncing next to me. Her sprain was getting better every day and I knew she was bored as hell. It was almost time for the kids to go back to school and the holiday weekend would be in full swing in mere days.
But there were still two more days left in the week.
“Well, you started this insanity.” I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my credit card. “If your dad’s cool with it, you can go with Kinleigh to get some supplies.”
Dani threw herself at me, hugging me around the middle. She tucked her chin into my ribs as she peered up at me. The child had no concept of personal space. “You can talk to dad, right? I mean, he listens to you.”
And that was a fallacy if I’d ever heard it. Gideon hadn’t listened to me at all this week. I should actually charge the craft supplies to him, but I wanted the pumpkins for my window. And dammit, galaxy sounded cool and witchy.
Dani linked her arms at my back. “Please.”
“You are an evil child.”
She rolled her eyes. “Dad says the same thing. Not that he calls me evil though. He likes brat.”
“Fitting.”
She squinted her eyes at me. “So, is that a yes…”
I sighed. “You don’t have to sit in a weird seat or anything, do you?”
She let me go, her face affronted. “No. Just have to ride in the backseat.”
“How am I supposed to know? Rules have changed since I was a kid.”
Dani let me go and jumped around Kinleigh. “Can we go to Michael’s?”
“How did I get roped into this?” Kinleigh sighed, but I knew it was all for show. Her eyes were already sparkling in that way she had when she had a new project.
I made a Vanna White wave over the pumpkins.
“Right. Hmm. Do I have a budget?” Kinleigh tucked a wild strawberry curl behind her ear.
I sighed and took my phone out of my back pocket to text Gideon.
I’m sending your kid off to the salt mines of Michael’s with Kinleigh for some crafty shit. Is that cool?
Does she have outstanding warrants?
Dani? Not sure. She’s kinda shifty.
I got a middle finger as my reply. I laughed. Another message came through a second later.
That’s fine. I’m sorry it’s taking so long today. Karen still isn’t cleared to watch her by her doctors.
We’ll figure it out. By the looks of the crowd gathering around this new craft situation, I think she’ll be busy for a while.
Thanks. I’ll make it up to you.
Y
ou damn well better.
I shoved my phone back into my pocket. “Looks like it’s a go.”
Dani jumped up and down. “Yes. Thank God. I’m so bored.” The tone of her voice ended with the dramatic flair that only an eight-year-old could provide.
“Go wild. Just make sure to bring something to protect surfaces if there’s painting.”
Dani’s ecstatic dancing brought Vee out. “What’s going on?”
“Guess we’re getting a craft corner tonight.”
“Oh. That sounds like fun. I’ll make paninis.”
At least I’d get fed. “Should I leave the café open while we’re working?”
“Nah.” Vee nudged my shoulder. “Let people be jealous.”
I liked money, but I was peopled out today, that was for damn sure. “Works for me.”
I went about doing my closing duties. Dealing with money, reports, and other sundry tallies always took a good chunk of my brain. It was easier then overthinking every-damn-thing going on next door.
Cleaning up soothed and evened me out. Putting my little world back together after hours full of chaos was secretly my favorite part of the day. The chattering between women faded to the background as my current riddle invaded my thoughts again.
Who was opening another Halloween-themed place in my town, dammit?
Something about the sign niggled at me. Like when I couldn’t name a character in a movie. It scratched at my brain. Unfortunately, there was no IMDB to help me with this particular quandary.
I tried an online search. I dug out a business license in process, but there was no name attached to it yet. Fucking annoying.
All the windows were blacked out with newspaper and black paper. To add insult to injury, that part of the street was too busy for me to figure out if there was a new car attached to the owner. There had been a new motorcycle spotted by a few of the customers doing their regular rounds of gossip. Unfortunately, there was always a new motorcycle in town since Tish did specialty designs for anything on wheels.
So, I was back to square one with the questions. I would figure it out.
No one would screw with my opening. No one.
I moved on to scrubbing the tables with renewed fervor. By the time Kinleigh returned—this time, with another pregnant woman in tow—I was working on the last table in the dining area.
“Look who I found at Michael’s.”
Vee waddled across the room. “Oh, Ivy, what are you doing up and around?”
“I have weeks left still.” She rubbed circles along the side of her belly. “I’m going stir-crazy. Rory had to fly to California for one last recording session before the baby comes. I thought buying stickers for my planner would make me feel better.” She was hugging her journal to her chest like a life raft.
“Come on, let’s get you settled.”
Vee wasn’t much farther behind her to be honest, but she was in full mama bear mode.
Kinleigh dropped the huge sacks on the large worktable that students sometimes used for papers and homework. Since summer was still technically in effect, this part of the café had been very empty for the last few weeks.
She also had a brown paper bag that interested me.
I wound my way around the tables to peer inside. “You brought some adult juice.”
“I did. I deserve it after today.”
“Make sure you fill my sippy cup too, Cinnamon.”
Kinleigh grinned. “You got it.”
I checked in with Gideon. He was happy to have the extra few hours to get some woodworking done now that my crisis was averted.
And still, I wasn’t allowed to see.
I helped Vee with the tray of sandwiches and paninis she made. I managed to eat half of one before the vultures descended. Namely, a certain eight-year-old that seemed to have a hole in her stomach. That or a hollow leg.
We all cleaned up after mowing down the food. Kinleigh spread out a tube of brown paper over the table and taped it down. Dani kept flashing me pictures of the galaxy pumpkins on her phone.
She was very organized with the steps we needed to take for each layer of the pumpkin. I went into the back and got some old aprons so we could keep the splatter to a minimum.
Of course they didn’t wait for me.
Laughter and the familiar sound of ball-bearings rattling in a spray can swamped me with memories. My brother had always been working with that kind of paint. Nothing as traditional as brushes and tubes of color for him.
But the things he’d created with tag art and the finicky medium of spray paint had always amazed me. It had been years since that smell had filled my senses. The sudden flood of sadness was staggering. I’d walked away from so much more than just a broken heart.
I spotted Kinleigh pouring wine into a cup with a straw for me. Thank God.
“I’m making a pink one,” Ivy announced with a white mask over the bottom half of her face.
I took my cup to supervise a little further from the line of spray. I wasn’t sure if the paint was a good idea for her advanced pregnancy. Kinleigh came up next to me and tipped the wine bottle against the rim of my glass and refilled my rapidly draining cup.
Maybe I had a hole in it.
“Non-toxic spray paint, but I propped the front door open for some air.”
“Thanks for helping out with Dani.”
Kinleigh smiled. “She’s a good kid. Not sure why Gideon was hiding her.”
“Mother’s a real peach. Famous,” I said under my breath. I didn’t want Dani to hear me say something about the piranha. Gideon was pretty adamant about keeping a positive spin on how they interacted.
“Oh, have you met her?”
“You haven’t heard about my little Mexican standoff with his ex? I all but licked Gideon and called him mine.”
“Is he yours?” She crossed her arms.
“Yes,” Rylee called from the table.
Damn bat ears. She always heard everything. “We’re dating,” I admitted gruffly.
“About time.” Kinleigh blotted her dewy forehead with the back of her hand—the only part not spattered in black and purple paint.
I took another long drink from my straw in lieu of an answer.
“You guys have been tossing off so many sparks, I’m shocked we haven’t gotten a brushfire.”
“Yeah, well, it’s complicated.” I nodded to Dani, who waved and gave me her shiny-eyed, deliriously happy gap-toothed smile. The one that made my chest ache with old ghosts and new anxiety. Damn kid.
“I mean, I know you aren’t into kids—which hello, I don’t understand. I want to have like five.”
“Good God.”
“What?” She picked at paint spots on her ringed fingers. “I want a big family. I never had one.”
I recognized the sappy look on her face. Many a woman wore it in this town. Because I didn’t know how to reply, I took another drink until my straw was slurping on nothing. I moved to the wine for a refill.
“Well, we’re just doing the dating thing. His ex is being a bit of a…problem.” Bitch. Narcissistic. Stone-cold cunt.
Kinleigh rushed over for her own mug of wine, keeping her voice low. “Do tell.”
“I’ve said enough.”
“Have more wine.” She lifted the bottle.
“I’m still technically babysitting.”
“We have actual mothers here, no need to be sober. Well, Vee is heading home in a few minutes, but you should drink some adult juice and dish more information.”
“There’s nothing to dish. We just started.” Hadn’t even really started. Just talked about starting with a side of eye-crossingly amazing kisses.
Evidently, I’d had enough wine. I put the tumbler down.
Kinleigh picked it up. “Nope. More truth juice.”
“It’s been a weird week.” Weird enough that I wasn’t sure if he was wrapped up in work or weirded it out like I was. Did he not want to get me naked? He’d seemed awfully into me at the damn hayride and now�
��
Well, now I couldn’t get him alone in a goddamn room.
“So, go over there and give him a little…push.” Kinleigh wiggled her hips in a distressingly inaccurate parody of getting laid.
“How long has it been for you, Cinnamon?”
She gave me a bland look. “Too long, obviously.”
I hid a smirk behind the lip of my cup.
Rylee got up and crossed to us with her cup held out. “What am I missing?”
“Nothing,” I muttered.
“Macy needs to ride that pony.”
“Dear God.” I took a larger gulp.
Ry grinned and took a marginally smaller sip from her wine. “You are so overdue for some adult recreational activities that it’s laughable.”
“I seem to remember a certain conversation where you told me to butt out of your business too.”
“Yes, but I had other problems. You are a wide-open field.”
“Who says?”
Rylee rolled her eyes. “You two have no reason why you can’t.” She held up her hand. “Yes, he’s working for you, but he’s always working for you. There will always be updates that need to be done on the restaurant or café. You’re just making excuses now.”
I huffed out a breath. “It’s not just about us.”
“Dating a single dad is not the problem and you know it. You’re just using it as the excuse. Besides, he could suck in the sack.”
“Doubt it,” Kinleigh and I said at the same time.
I gave Kin a side-eyed glare.
She shrugged. “Can’t say I didn’t think about it before. He’s a big, strapping dude with that lumberjack-hot thing going on.” Her giggle only intensified as my growl grew. “See? You’re so into him. What the hell are you waiting for?”
I set the tumbler down. I did a cursory check in with the kid. Dani was grinning as she shot white paint at the midnight gourd she had moved on to.
I unwound my messy braid.
“Oh, here we go.” Rylee grinned. “All it took was another woman mentioning she was into your man.”
“Shut up.” I whipped off my apron and tossed it at Rylee’s face. “I’ll be back in a few.”