Chapter Seven
“Oh my God, that cake is so good,” Celine said as she licked the last bits of chocolate off. “So good it should be illegal.”
In a rare instance, Allison had been able to tear her sister Grace away from the grocery store. Her somewhat mousy sister was usually so busy it was hard to get her out.
Allison always felt bad for her. Grace did a good job running the store, but the pressure of the store and her own personality made it hard for her to meet anyone.
Not that Allison was doing much better in that department. Her heart picked up at the memory of Quintus. She quickly tried to push the thought of him out of her head.
He was just someone she’d hired to help fix her house, not someone she was going to date. She just had to keep telling herself that enough times until she believed it.
Timidly Grace ate the lemon tart in front of her and gave a small smile. The tiny expression change transformed her entire demeanor. She transformed from being a dowdy woman to a beautiful butterfly who just needed to learn to fly.
Allison smiled back and shoved the last bite of her own carrot cake in her mouth. The sweet tang of the cream cheese frosting mixed with the moist cake was like a little bite of heaven. Better than chocolate even.
“So,” Celine said with a sly smile. “What was up with those beefcakes earlier? The ones who came in with that Veronica. Are they like her personal escorts?”
Allison nearly choked as she swallowed the cake in her mouth. It took a drink of water to actually set things normal again. She’d finally managed to push Quintus out of her thoughts, and Celine had helped him reinvade.
“You have beefcakes coming to visit you?” Grace asked with concern.
Allison shot Celine the stink eye before looking back to her sister. “They’re from that group up the hill,” she said. “The ones that bought land near the Azilians. They came in with plans to help deter the animal or animals that have been killing. At least until we can catch this thing.”
“I should hope you’d be doing more,” said an angry voice.
The grating sound of a bitter old woman cut through the air, and Allison recognized the speaker without even looking.
Doris. The local know-it-all busy body tended to make her life a living hell just for shits and giggles. Despite being a small town with not much reason to have painful politics, Doris had done her best to provide them anyway.
It wasn’t even like Doris cared that much about Allison in particular. She always seemed to have a beef with half the town, for some slight, real or imagined. If the woman moved away, the entire town would end up happier.
Allison turned to the older woman, her face plastered with the most congenial smile she could possibly muster. There was nothing she could do but try and defuse the conversation before things got out of hand.
“I assure you, Doris, we are doing all we can.”
Doris huffed loudly. The tightly curled hair on the top of her head bounced a little with her movements. “Tell that to my Poppy.”
Poppy? Had another person gone missing, and she didn’t know it? There was a chance, she supposed. If it happened while they were at lunch. But she had no idea who Doris might be referring to.
“Your cat?” Celine chimed in.
Doris glared at her as if saying cat was somehow offensive. “My companion,” she seethed. “And she’s been missing for nearly two days while you sit in here eating cake like a queen.” She threw a hand up in her air, her face contorted in disgust.
Allison felt her smile falter. She had been working herself to the bone to solve the issue of the animal attacks, and the bitch was about five seconds from getting her ass handed to her. Old-school style.
“Oh, Doris, I’m so sorry to hear that,” Grace said, cutting into Allison’s murderous thoughts with her calming and smooth voice. “Why don’t you come into the store later, and we’ll print out some posters to hang around town?”
She gave a warm smile to Grace and a nod. “At least someone knows how to do something.” The bite in her voice, if anything, was sharper than before.
Doris huffed once more and walked to the door.
Allison balled up her fist and waited for Doris to clear the door before even looking at her sister. “Really?”
Grace just shrugged. “She’s a lonely old woman, and that cat is important to her. I’m just trying to help her out.”
Allison couldn’t help but let her jaw drop. “Lonely old woman? She spends most of her time sticking her nose in everywhere she can and stirring up trouble. That is, if she’s not outright trying to ruin people.”
She had heard talk. They all had. That Doris’s good for nothing minor-league ball player son had screwed around on his wife, Taylor. When Taylor had the nerve to divorce the SOB, Doris had gone out of her way to try and ruin their cattle business.
Taylor had ended up with one of the beefcake men. Lucas, if Allison remembered right. She supposed that the woman had earned her reward in the end, but that didn’t excuse Doris making her life hell in the meantime.
“That woman has been a mean old bitch since the day she was born,” Allison huffed. “It’s got nothing to do with her being old or lonely.”
Grace twitched as if she’d been struck. “But she was friends with Mom.”
Allison snorted. “Of course she was.”
It was a low blow, but she didn’t care. Her parents hadn’t been the model people that Grace seemed to want to remember them as. Just because you died in a car accident didn’t mean you should be put on a pedestal there after.
The harsh fact was that they were cold and distant. Neither cared much for life and made sure their children were forced to live in an oppressive household.
Rules. So many fucking rules. It was like their parents were desperate to assure their children were as unhappy as they were.
When Allison left home at eighteen, she decided right there that she would never have that sort of life again.
Grace was a different story. Being the oldest, it was always expected that she would take over the family business. So she let the rules define every part of her life and never dared to push against the idea she could have a different sort of life.
Allison loved her sister, but she wished more for her. More than the joyless life their parents had lived.
“Okay,” Celine said, cutting into her dark thoughts. “So maybe now we can talk about the creepy woman from today?”
Allison sighed. “Okay, you were right. She is creepy.”
Celine lifted her chin with her win.
“What creepy woman?” Grace asked.
Allison took a drink of her water. “She’s buying the old mill and needs some permits. Nothing major, but I just don’t think she gets how things run here. Thinks we’re too slow.”
Grace frowned. “Well, that’s not really strange. A lot of new arrivals are like that.”
Celine shook her head. “It’s not, but there’s something about her. Just gives me a feeling,” she said, and looked to Grace.
Although Allison wasn’t one to admit Celine might have a gift, Grace bought in fully to the whole idea.
Grace nodded. “I understand.”
Celine’s eyes grew distant, and a smile appeared on her face. “I’m much rather have a feeling about that group where all the hot men in the world go to live.” She sighed.
This time it was Grace’s turn to nearly choke.
Celine glanced over to her and gave a small smile. “Don’t pretend like you haven’t seen them come to the store. Like I said, beefcake.”
Grace blushed crimson all the way to the tips of her ears. It wasn’t often Allison got to see her sister this way.
“Of course, but I don’t go for guys like that,” Grace huffed.
Celine laughed. “What, hot and ready to go all night long?”
Grace stood so quickly she bumped the table so hard it nearly knocked over their glasses. “I need to get back to work.”
Allison sighed. She knew it couldn’t last. “Grace…”
Her sister shook her head. “Thanks for lunch, but I’ve been gone too long,” she said, and quickly scurried away from the table.
When Allison looked over to Celine, she could see the worry coming back into the young woman’s face.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”
Allison waved a hand. “It’s fine,” she said as she watched Grace race back across the street and down the road. “I’m fairly certain our parents had sex all of two times, and I’m afraid Grace has decided to follow their path of celibacy.”
Allison gave a small smile. If she wasn’t careful, she might also follow down that same path. Pushing away every eligible man wasn’t exactly the best way to get laid.
Her thoughts again returned to Quintus and his rock-solid muscles. She was certain he was exactly as Celine had said, ready to go all night.
Once again she pushed those thoughts aside. It wouldn’t do any good jumping in the sack with a guy she barely knew, let alone trusted. For now she would just have to keep it business. That was best for everyone.