The Vampire's Mail Order Bride

She grimaced.

Hugh sighed deeply. “She’s not my territory. She’s my guest, and as such, you will treat her with respect.”

Annabelle reached up to where Hugh’s hand rested on her shoulder and interlaced her fingers with his. The unexpected contact sent a little jolt of heat through him.

“Of course, brother dear.” Julian gave him a mock salute, then looked at Annabelle. “See,” he whispered loudly. “Bor-ing.”

Annabelle gave Julian an appraising glance. “Boring is in the eye of the beholder.”

“Don’t you have tourists to bite?” Hugh asked.

“As a matter of fact, I do.” Julian flashed his fangs in a wide grin and a silvery glint seemed to light his eyes then he swerved around them and took off down the street only to be stopped again by another gaggle of female tourists.

Annabelle watched him go. “Boy, he sure takes that vampire thing seriously.”

“Well…yes.” Hugh wasn’t sure what to say. Did she not realize his entire family was vampires? Maybe she thought just he was. She had yet to mention it, which seemed odd.

“He really sells it.” She shook her head. “I know he’s your brother, but he comes on a little strong.”

“Sorry about that,” Hugh said.

She shrugged but didn’t let go of his hand. “He’s your brother, not your son. It’s not like you’re responsible for how he turned out.”

Hugh smiled. “You want to see the candy store?”

Her eyes lit up, rewarding him. “I’d love to.”

“C’mon.” They started walking again. They passed a witch in a pointy hat and purple robes. Every time she swept her wand through the air, sparks followed it. Tourists were getting pictures with her as she cackled. Hugh didn’t know the woman. Must be one of Julian’s new hires.

Annabelle laughed and she shook her head as she stared back at the witch. “This place is crazy.”

Up ahead, Sheriff Merrow leaned against his patrol car, parked in one of the emergency lanes. Hugh gave Merrow a nod as they strolled past. “Sheriff.”

The werewolf-turned-officer of the law nodded back. “Ellingham. Ma’am.”

Annabelle gave him a little wave as they continued past.

Not until they walked into the candy store, Keller’s Sweets-n-Treats, did Hugh drop his arm from her shoulder. The place was full of customers filling bags with their favorite sweets, but despite his disdain for public displays of affection, he wouldn’t have minded holding on to her a little longer. “What do you think?”

Instead of happy, she looked disappointed. “It’s nice.”

“You don’t like it.”

“It’s…not what I expected.”

Vicky Keller, the owner, came up to them. “Hello, Hugh.”

“Vicky.”

She tugged her sweater together like she was covering up a national treasure. “Word around town is you and Piper Hodge broke up.”

Old news, but apparently still worth mentioning. Or maybe Piper had put a notice in the Tombstone. He refrained from rolling his eyes. “Yes, we did.”

She glanced at Annabelle then back at him. “I see you’ve moved on.”

The Kellers were the one hold-out family who’d refused to sell to Didi. As a result, there had been bad blood between the families. Vicky had no personal stake since it was her great-great-grandparents who’d refused to sell, but she acted like the Ellinghams had run over her dog. “Annabelle, this is Victoria Keller, owner of this establishment.”

Annabelle nodded at her. “Hi.”

Vicky stared back. “Heard you say you don’t like my shop.”

“No, I think it’s lovely.” Annabelle smiled. “And so well stocked. Most of this candy is impossible to get anywhere but online.”

Vicky softened a little. “That’s why we carry it.” She looked at Hugh. “Because tradition means something to us.”

“Tradition is great,” Annabelle interjected. “But shaking things up is fun too.”

Vicky’s exterior returned to its normal brittle shell. “I suppose you’re one of those who likes salt on their chocolate.”

“I do.” She reached into a nearby bin and pulled out a handful of wax paper wrapped pastel discs. “But I also love Necco wafers. They’re one of the oldest American candies, you know.”

“Yeah.” Vicky smirked. “I know. You actually going to buy those or are you just touching them for fun?”

Hugh was on the verge of snarling at Vicky. “We’ll take the whole bin.”

The woman’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Isn’t that generous of you.” She snapped her fingers. “Mary, ring up this bin of Neccos for Mr. Ellington.”

“Ellingham,” he corrected, knowing the second that the word was out of his mouth that he’d given her exactly what she wanted. Recognition.

With an evil little smirk, she spun on her heel and walked away.

Mary Keller, Vicky’s daughter, ran up to help them. She smiled at Hugh and blushed a little. “Hi, Mr. Ellingham. I’ll take care of that right now for you.” She scooped up the candies and headed off to the counter.

Annabelle shot him a questioning look that included crazy eyes.

He snorted and nodded. “Yep.”

As soon as they were back outside, he lifted the bag of candies. “You really like these things, huh?”