The Vampire's Mail Order Bride

He said nothing.

Stanhill stuck his head out of the kitchen and looked at Hugh. “Can I see you a moment?”

Delaney stayed by the door. The harsh, muted tones told her whatever they were discussing wasn’t for her ears.

When Hugh returned, his mood was unchanged. In fact, all the way there, he said nothing. Not until they’d parked did he finally speak. “Stay close. Don’t wander off.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m not a child.”

“No, you’re not. But you’re also not out of danger yet. I doubt Rastinelli has had time to get more men down here, but you need to be careful all the same.”

She gave him a little salute, realizing the bit of sass probably didn’t help his mood, but she couldn’t help herself.

People were everywhere. She chalked up their decent parking spot to Hugh’s knowledge of the town. They got out of the car and followed the others walking to Main Street. Crowds already lined the street, which had been roped off. Vendors in Keller’s Sweets-n-Treats T-shirts strolled the street on the insides of the ropes selling popcorn, cotton candy, and enormous pinwheel lollipops.

“You want cotton candy?”

Hugh’s question almost knocked her over. It was the first nice-ish thing he’d said to her all day. “I’d love some, thanks.”

He waved the man down and handed him a few dollars. Delaney picked traditional pink, and the vendor handed her a cloud on a stick. She pulled the cellophane off, wrapped it around the stick for later (like there would be any left) then unwound a gossamer strand of sugar and stuck it in her mouth.

“Mmm.” The sugar hit a second later, sweet and melty and delicious. She offered the huge ball of floss to Hugh. “Want some?”

He shook his head.

“C’mon, have a little. You paid for it. Besides, it might sweeten you up.” She shot him a pointed look, tired of pretending there wasn’t something going on.

He stared at her for a moment, inscrutable behind his dark sunglasses. Finally, he pinched a piece off between his thumb and finger and ate it.

She smiled as she turned to watch the little funny cars making their way down the street before the parade began. “Hard to be cranky when there’s something in your mouth that tastes that good.”

“I’m not cranky.” He spoke softly, maybe because they were surrounded by people now.

“Hah.” She fed another long strand of spun sugar into her mouth. “You obviously woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, but you really need to get over it. I apologized. There’s nothing more I can do.”

He grunted in response.

She sighed and watched as the parade began. The Nocturne Falls High School marching band and cheerleaders led the way with two majorettes carrying a banner that read Panic Parade 2015. The school’s colors were orange and black—because, what else?—and the band was playing Monster Mash.

She couldn’t help but grin at the silliness of it all when the band was followed by the local gardening group who were all dressed as Tippi Hedren from the movie The Birds. They sauntered by with their stuffed fowl clinging to their vintage suits and pillbox hats, tossing packs of flower seeds to the crowd.

The next float was an enormous spider on wheels pulled along by the flies tangled in its web. She leaned in toward Hugh, whose shoulder she was already touching thanks to the press of the crowd. “This is a riot.”

His answer was another grunt.

She stuffed bite after bite of cotton candy into her mouth, her patience wearing thin. She’d apologized. She was being nice. What else could she do? She wasn’t psychic. If he wasn’t going to tell her what was wrong, how on earth was she supposed to know?

Anger made the cotton candy disappear at an alarming rate. A few more floats went by, including a Jaws-themed one complete with bloody beach-goers, and suddenly all she was holding was a paper stick. She folded it up, stuck it back in the cellophane and balled it up in her hand.

Maybe it was the sugar talking, but she’d had enough of Hugh’s grump. She stared at him, ignoring the seven-person snake trailing past like a Chinese dragon. “Can you just tell me what’s wrong so we can fix it and move on?”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

She rolled her eyes and gave him her best look of absolute skepticism. “What a relief! I was starting to think you not talking to me was because I’d done something. Glad to know this whole cold shoulder thing is over.”

His nostrils flared once, then he went back to stony silence.

She glared at him, her anger genuinely piqued. “Are you kidding me?”

Finally he leaned in, his voice softer and a little kinder. “Delaney, enough. This is not the place. Everything is fine. We’ll discuss it more when we get home.”

Considering that was the most he’d said to her all day, she’d take it. “Okay.”

What there was to discuss, she had no idea, but clearly something else must have happened. Something serious by the tone of his voice. Why it required him to be so cold, she couldn’t imagine, but hopefully it would all make sense after they talked.

That didn’t mean her heart didn’t ache at the thought that something serious had gone amiss between them. She’d fallen in love with this man. To think their fledgling relationship was hitting a bumpy road already hurt almost as much as the thought that she might have given her heart away too soon.

Again.

Maybe she just had terrible taste in men. Russell was a perfect example. She’d fallen for him and then into his bed, only to find out a few weeks later that she was just a piece on the side to him.