Chapter Seventeen

She looked around me to spot her friends and giggled. I couldn’t help myself; I leaned down and kissed her nose, making her laugh louder.

“You’re ridiculous.”

“You’re beautiful.” I reached up and smoothed her hair before stepping back and turning to face the newcomers.

Shampoo Commercial was walking toward us from the trail, holding hands with another woman with dark red curls. (5’6” about seven months pregnant, sundress, sneakers. Penetrating gaze behind glasses. Risk assessment: If I hurt Carma, she’d hunt me down.)

Carma stepped around me and leaned in to kiss both women’s cheeks. “Mina, these are my best friends. You know Elena already, and this is Hanelore. This is Mina.” She gestured to me, putting her hand on my lower back.

I reached out my hand to shake both of theirs. “Elena, nice to see you again. Hanelore, I adore your hair.”

“Thank you, yours too!” Hanelore said. She gave me a once-over. “Please tell me you eat real food and not only shakes. This baby needs something fried.” She patted her rounded stomach.

“I absolutely eat real food, although not usually fried.”

She let go of Elena’s hand, linked her arm through mine, and we started walking back to the path. “Thank god. This girl needs to share some fair food with her new friend.” She threw her wife a kiss.

I laughed. “When are you due?”

“Nine weeks. Although it might as well be three years. I’m always uncomfortable.”

“You are creating an entire being. Doesn’t sound like a super comfortable task.”

She laughed. “You’d think I’d learn the first time, but no. We wanted two kids. And since Elena’s on the program, she got out of carrying this one.” She winked at me.

“Is it weird living with someone who doesn’t eat normal meals?”

She shrugged. “Thinner gave Elena her life back. Small price to pay.”

When we walked back into the main part of the festival, we stopped in front of a brightly painted truck with cartoon elephants, the smell of fried dough and cinnamon wrapping around us. A shocking juxtaposition to the conversation. “Carma’s known Elena since they were kids; their moms both did exercise videos for Fat Burn Videos. Elena got really sick, literally withering away in front of me. After her spitals doctor tried to treat her with antacids for a year, she was rushed into surgery for a blockage and was diagnosed with Crohn’s.”

She waved a hand in front of her watering eyes. “Sorry! Pregnancy hormones. Carma showed up at the hospital and promised she could help. Claimed the program would help.”

I shook my head. “Wild.”

“Right?” She laughed without humor. “It was the biggest fight Elena and I ever had. I wanted her to start medically proven treatment immediately, but Elena and Carma begged me to wait three weeks. Eventually, I caved. She went to the first official Thinner retreat while I honestly started thinking about how I’d survive without her.”

She glanced back at her wife, and I could feel the love pouring out of her. “When she came back, she was in remission. I thought it was bullshit. I dragged her around the country to five of the best specialists, but they all confirmed she was in full remission. The doctors still can’t explain it, except to say ‘miracle.’”

“Wow.” I didn’t even know what to say. How? How was this program curing diseases? “Did Carma have any explanation?”

She shook her head. “She says it’s something to do with the all-organic shakes, but honestly I don’t think she even knows. I asked her for the ingredient list, but she said she doesn’t have access to it. Her mom’s determined to keep it from being stolen and put on the Internet.”

I frowned. Carma was the VP and she didn’t even know what she was feeding people? And what did this have to do with Carma’s werewolf obsession? “Sure,” I managed. “If everyone could make the shakes at home, they wouldn’t need Thinner.”

“Exactly.”

I shot a glance back over my shoulder at Carma and Elena, talking with their heads close together. “Is Elena doing okay now?”

“She’s healthy and happy, except for some sun sensitivity. She gets bad migraines if we’re in the sun too long. But we can live with that.”

Sun sensitivity. The more I put together, the less anything made sense. And what did Carma mean about all that werewolf talk? Was she a werewolf? But werewolves didn’t have sun sensitivity, and they definitely didn’t own cats. Cats did not like large wolves.

She gestured to the food truck. “My treat, since I interrupted your make-out session, which Elena is likely grilling Carma about as we speak.”

I groaned and covered my face with my hand, then laughed. “I’m not on the program, but I also hate fried food. Makes me groggy. I would consider pizza or a pretzel.”

“Fair.” She looked over the menu. “Okay, I’ve got it.” She ordered a churro and a pack of cinnamon almonds. She handed me the nuts. “Protein.”

I stared down at them then back up at her. My mouth watered as I envisioned popping one into my mouth. “I haven’t had these since I was a kid.”

“Well then, what are you waiting for?”

I opened the bag and inhaled, the scent of vanilla and cinnamon casting a magical spell on me. Seemed that was happening frequently tonight. I reached in and selected a single almond, then set it on my tongue.

Fireworks exploded inside my brain. Holy shit. It was like the food version of kissing Carma.

“Don’t break Mina!” Carma called.

My eyes met hers as I rolled the nut around my mouth, sucking off the sugar-sweet coating. Her lids lowered and her mouth parted. Good to know I was inside her head, too.

“Tell me you’re here for the reenactment,” Hanelore said, pulling me back into the real world.

I shifted, trying to stop my body from twisting tighter and tighter at the thought of Carma’s mouth. “Carma would never forgive me if she missed it.”

“As well she shouldn’t. Let’s go grab a seat. I’m too old and pregnant to be standing up in this heat.”

“Hey, Hanelore, do I get my girl back anytime soon?” Carma called.

My girl. My stupid helium heart loved it.

I walked over to Carma and reached for her hand, then started walking toward the makeshift stage area. “Maybe if you’re lucky, you can cop a feel during the play.”

She giggled and I smiled. What was this woman doing to me? We found an open bench near the back. As soon as we sat down, Carma grasped my hand with both of hers. She was practically bouncing out of her seat. “I am ridiculously excited. I don’t even know why.”

“Because this is some seriously top-notch theater,” I teased.

“You’re ridiculous,” Elena told her. “Don’t you own a Broadway theater?”

She shook her head. “Mom owns an off-Broadway theater, but so what?”

Her dark hair swished as she shook her head. “You’d think you’d be less enthusiastic about community theater.”

Carma made an offended sound. “Listen, community theater is vital to every city. It allows people who wouldn’t generally be able to access performances to see them, and that’s not including—”

I held up my hands to interrupt. “I one hundred percent agree, however this isn’t even really community theater. This is Birdie and Jeff Burberry dressed in scratchy costumes reading from the same script they’ve used since before I was born.”

“Even better.”

Elena looked annoyed, but Hanelore leaned over and gave her a kiss, mumbling something I couldn’t hear. I fiddled with the bag of nuts in my hand, wanting another taste but refusing to pull my other hand away from Carma. Without decorum, I stuck my mouth into the top of the bag and sucked in two nuts.

Hanelore clapped. “Brilliant.”

Carma whispered, “Describe it to me?”

Her words fanned the smoldering under my skin into flames. “I can’t do that while we’re in public.” She licked her lips, and I almost laid her back on the bench right there, not caring about our surroundings. “But my be later.” Her pupils dilated and I fell into the promise in her eyes.

Hanelore elbowed Carma. “When you two stop eye-fucking, the show’s starting.”

We both spun to face the front as a ladder disguised as a castle turret was wheeled out on stage. Birdie climbed up the ladder and poked her head out of the window, flipping her long blond and braided wig over the side.

“Oh, how lonely I am,” Birdie called out in an overly enunciated voice. “Will I, Georgina Finkle, ever find true love?”

“Georgina?” Carma narrowed her eyes. “Is she secretly Rapunzel?”

I shrugged. “Honestly, I learned it was best to not ask questions. They used to do Sleeping Beauty as the opener but switched to Rapunzel a few years back. They tried Elsa one year, but it didn’t land since Birdie’s rendition of ‘Let It Go’ was…not good.”

She laughed softly and leaned into me, her eyes never leaving the stage as Jeff—playing Hutch Collins—proceeded to woo his intended. “Never have I seen a maiden more beautiful than thee!” Carma snorted then slapped her hand over her mouth. I tipped my head against hers to hide my own reaction.

I had been enchanted by the story when I was young, but either it—or I—had gotten more ridiculous with age. It was almost painful to keep from collapsing into peals of laughter. Carma pinched my upper arm when I snorted at Hutch pulling on a wolf pelt as a cardboard full moon was raised via fishing line.

She leaned forward, riveted, as Georgiana rode on Hutch’s back, away from the hunters. She gasped as Georgiana bandaged Hutch’s bleeding leg, the result of a gunshot wound. She teared up when they built a temporary shelter from a storm beneath a grove of pine trees (which was actually just three artificial Christmas trees on a dolly).

When the play ended, with Hutch and Georgiana welcoming more displaced couples to their new town, Carma shot to her feet and applauded as if she were front row at a world-renowned musical. I shook my head but stood with her, clapping so hard, my hands tingled. She used her finger to wipe away the remnants of a tear.

I stopped clapping and put my arm around her shoulders. “Hey, you okay?”

She laughed and waved me off. “It’s just…she didn’t care he was a werewolf. She loved him anyway. They created this amazing new life for themselves.”

“Ah,” I responded, not sure what else to say. Even if she was really a werewolf, that wasn’t the problem. It was whatever was happening at Thinner. Anyway, I was fairly certain Applechester was founded by people who wanted to be near the old train station without living on the tracks. “Hey, babe, it’s only a story.”

Elena and Hanelore stood, and Elena leaned around me to squeeze Carma’s arm. “Our girl always did cry over the weirdest stuff.” Carma shot her a dirty look.

Hanelore laughed and groaned, stretching her lower back. “Okay, baby says this is our cue to bail, which I feel way less guilty about with you here, Mina.”

“I’ll keep her company,” I promised.

Hanelore gave me a quick hug. “Hope we see you again, soon.” Elena nodded a goodbye and wasn’t looking at me like she was planning my demise anymore, which was definitely an improvement.

We sat back down after they left and watched a local band setting up on stage. “So,” she said, grabbing my hand again. “I know this isn’t ideal, since my mom and Maggie would flip, but I’d love to see you again. After tonight. Not at work, I mean, just like…”

I laughed. “I’m glad you’re as awkward as I am.” I looked down at our hands, hers still cool even in the humid evening. “And I’d like to see you again. But you’re right. This is…complicated.”

She used her free hand to trace the backs of my fingers and parts of me I didn’t know existed ached to be closer to her. How could she do this with a simple touch? “Complicated never stopped me.”

I met her gaze, and I knew there was only one thing I could say. “Me neither.” I would worry about this tomorrow. Tonight, I wasn’t going to think too hard. I didn’t care about anything else in this moment except for her touching me.

My meanderings were interrupted when a harp made a melodious chord into a staticky mic. We both turned to face the stage. I opened the schedule on my phone and smiled. I held it out for her to read. “Does that say…Mauled by Fawns?”

“Yes. Yes, it does.”

Her face was pure glee.

“You are so weird.”

She blew me a kiss.

We settled in as a beautiful woman with a wolf hat started playing a popular pop song on the harp. It was the man in a shirt and tie who started screaming the lyrics as if he were part of Slayer that really took the whole experience to a new level.

“This might be my new favorite thing ever,” Carma said. “I need a band T-shirt.”

I navigated to their website on my phone and texted her the link. “They have them!”

She fist pumped.

I released her hand and pulled her against my side. “God, you’re adorable.”

After the assault to our ears—despite how talented Mauled by Fawns was, I was not joining their fan club anytime soon—Carma insisted on spending twenty bucks on a ring toss game to win me a stuffed wolf plush. She dragged me onto the Ferris wheel, which I only agreed to after she dared me. I couldn’t say no to a dare.

“If I wanted to die tonight,” I grumbled, “I could think of better ways to do it than by going on an incredibly tall ride made to literally come apart on a regular basis.”

She made up for it by letting me kiss her the entire ride. She had perfect lips. Soft, warm, and eager to touch mine.

We closed down the museum tent, going through every single “artifact” the historical society had on display. Then, we walked slowly back to her car, pausing to look at something on our phones or peer into dark window displays.

“There are like five coffee shops on this street,” Carma said.

“We love our coffee here.” I chuckled and pulled her into my side. “It’s one coffee shop, one café, one candy shop, one donut shop, and one deli.”

She tilted her head back. “What’s the difference between the coffee shop and the café? Aren’t they the same thing?”

I covered her mouth with my hand. “Shush! If Monty hears you, he’ll blacklist both of us from his café and they have the best coffee.”

“Lips are sealed,” she muttered against my hand.

As we passed the deli, I tugged her down a small alleyway. “I’ve got something to show you that I think you’ll like.”

She made an excited noise and then gripped me tighter. As we emerged, a large Victorian house loomed across the street. It was one of the grandest homes in Applechester, snuggled between an acre of trees on one side and a park on the other. There was a lantern in every window to celebrate the festival. Carma gasped with delight.

“This is Blackburn House, built in 1860 by the then-mayor, who made his money in silver. They usually have tours on festival weekends, but they haven’t in the last two years.”

She gripped my arm with both hands. “This is amazing. It’s everything I’d want in a bed and breakfast.”

“Yeah?”

“Some privacy, enough rooms to accommodate things like weddings and family reunions, but not an overwhelming amount. Near downtown. Great history and looks haunted.”

“It is haunted.” Or, at least, I knew several ghosts who liked to hang out here.

“Think if I cold-called them, they’d accept an offer?”

I laughed. “It has never been for sale, but you can always try.”

“Oh well. I couldn’t start a new business while wrapped up with Thinner anyway. It’s a beast of a job.”

“I believe it.”

We started walking again, and she told me more about her plans. Everything was someday, when she’s done with Thinner. Did I have any someday dreams? I never thought about what I would do when I was done with SHAP. Figured I’d just die on the job in forty years and call it a day.

After another ten minutes of walking, she gestured to her Mini Cooper. “Well, this is me.”

“You have a Muppet car. It’s even a Muppet color!”

She play-smacked my arm. “It’s green.”

I pointed to a tree. “That is green. This is…Manic Panic hair dye green.”

She giggled. “Yeah, but I like it. It’s easy to find.”

I exaggerated shaking my head. “If you’re going to get a custom color, why get something so ugly?”

“It’s not ugly!” She laughed harder. “Okay, it is, but it was already this color when I got it. I bought it used in LA before we moved here.”

I pursed my lips. “California is a weird place.”

“You’re telling me.”

We walked around the driver’s side and she leaned against the door, making it clear she wasn’t ready to depart. To be honest, neither was I.

“This was the most fun I’ve had in a long time,” I admitted, although I shouldn’t have said it. Not because it was the wrong thing to say, but because I wanted to say it. Because I meant it.

She skated her hands along my hips and pulled me into her. “Me, too.” She searched my face for a long moment before she spoke again. “Can I see you tomorrow?”

I looked away for a moment, trying to find some semblance of balance. Instead, I let myself get swept away by the runaway train. “Absolutely. Dinner?”

She shook her head. “Too long to wait. Lunch?”

“Brunch?” I took off her wolf hat and set it on top of the car, then brushed her hair back, kissing her behind the ear. “Or we can have a late-night snack and breakfast.”

Her hands fisted my shirt at my waist, and I skated kisses down her soft neck to the curve I had been dreaming about. She gasped and arched into me. “God, that sounds good. I can’t stop thinking about your legs wrapped around me.”

I groaned. My arms went around her waist, and I pulled her tighter into me. My entire body throbbed with the beat of my heart.

“Wait,” she whispered, and I immediately released her, stepping back. She grabbed my wrists to keep me close. “I wear my heart on my sleeve and spending the night with you is a big step.”

I smiled. “Sorry. I just…got a little carried away.”

She ran her fingers through a lock of hair that had fallen into my face. I closed my eyes at the sensation. “It’s easy to go a little crazy around you.” She sighed and leaned her head back against her car. “I should go.” It was more of a whine than a declaration. I felt exactly the same way.

“Sounds like a terrible plan,” I teased, but took another step back to give her space. To give me space. I wanted to dive into her body and not resurface for air for days. Weeks.

She grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled my mouth to hers, kissing me as if it was the most important thing in the world. I stopped thinking. There was no case, no werewolves, no Thinner, no Applechester, no Earth.

Just us.

Her hands cradled my face as she savored my lips and I relinquished control, every touch of her mouth making the years of emptiness slowly disintegrate. How did she have this effect on me? Why was I helpless in her arms?

I didn’t want to know the answer. I just wanted more of her.

I took control of the kiss and shoved my hands into her hair. She purred. Purred. I would never forget that sound as long as I lived. Her hands stroked the side of my breasts, and I moaned into her mouth.

She pulled back, panting. “I’m sorry, sorry. I just can’t control myself.” She laughed, but I didn’t.

I couldn’t. Not when her lips were swollen and wet. I stole one, two, three more kisses before turning away to catch my breath. “Good night, Carma,” I whispered, opening her car door for her. “Text me when you get home. Let me know you made it safe.” I needed her to go right now.

She grabbed her hat and climbed in. I closed the door gently behind her. After starting her car, she opened her window and ran her pointer finger along my bottom lip. “Good night.”

I watched her drive away, my heartbeat shaking my body as it tried to climb out through my ribs. I pressed the palm of my hand to my chest and shushed it. “Oh no.”

What had I done?