Chapter 23
Bluebell
“Bluebell, honey, you alright?” Mama bumps my hip as she tosses a handful of chocolate chips into her waffle batter. To her right, the entire griddle is covered in sizzling, snapping bacon. I’m still cold from last night’s dip. Fucking Jasper.
I look over at her with a smile. “Yeah, Mama, just thinking about Jasper’s test tomorrow and all the stuff I’ve got to get done in the meantime. Mead Cute Festival’s a day away, and I’d love to do something to surprise him for when he passes, ya know?”
Mama sucks at her teeth. “Listen, baby, I got to talk to you, alright?”
My blood freezes, and I spin to fully face her, eyes wide. “Are you okay? Is Daddy alright? What’s going on?”
She grips my upper arms and shakes her head. “No, baby girl, nothing like that.”
I breathe out a huge sigh of relief. “At your age, you should know better than to ever utter ‘we need to talk,’ Mama.” Yanking my to-do list out of my back pocket, I wave it in her face. “Look at this shit I need to get done today. Can this convo wait, assuming nobody’s dying?”
She smiles at me. “That to-do list can wait, Bluebell Delia Tucker. Give some of that to your brothers, anyhow. Probably Jace because, if I’m honest, Jack and Jasper are not the ones. Although, I do think they’d rise to the occasion if you were willing to trust them.”
When I lift a brow, she gives me an understanding look.
“You might as well be my firstborn with how serious you take things, honey. I know it’s hard for you to let go because you don’t want to fix things when the boys don’t do it your way.
But why don’t you start with Jace, okay?
I been suggesting you do this for a while but I’m gonna start demanding, honey. I can see you’re stressed.”
“Mkay, sounds goods,” I chirp, knowing there’s no way in hells I’m gonna pass the to-do list off at this point. “Good talk, Mama.”
“I wanted to talk to you about Hadrian,” she says. “And your relationship.”
Sputtering, I throw a hand over my heart, looking around for any sign of the Jays. “Hush your mouth, and what are you talking about?!”
My father traipses into the kitchen with a big smile. “We talking about how you and that boy are in love?”
My mouth drops open as I stare between them in utter shock.
Mom smiles softly at me. “You can’t hide love, Bluebell. It shines from both of you like a light.”
“Stop,” I beg them.
Dad slides an arm around Mama’s waist, grinning at her. “You owe me fifty bucks, Elena.”
She elbows him. “Guess I do, you old coot.”
Lifting both hands, I scowl at my parents. “What in the world are you two talking about right now? There is nothing going on between him and me.”
“Lies,” my dad says. “Your mama and I knew it would come to this one day, honey. Y’all always been so close.
Why do you think when we redid the house, we made everything extra tall?
None of us have wings, Bluebell. We just knew that boy belonged here.
” He takes a sip of his coffee and looks at me over the rim.
“You gonna break the news to Jasper one o’ these days?
I assume you’ve just been waiting ‘cause you know he’s protective over you.
We probably did you a bit of a disservice in that ‘cause we were always tellin’ him to watch out for you. ”
I shake my head, dumbfounded at this fricking turn of events. “Yeah, we didn’t want to say it before his test. We didn’t want to give him any reason not to be in a good headspace. And honestly, if he’s gonna protect something, I’d rather it be my time.”
“Smart,” Dad says. “We’re never gonna rush you, sweetheart,” he goes on, “but you should tell him soon because I’m tired of pretending y’all aren’t making googly eyes at one another, and Jace knows. Just a matter of time before the other Jays figure it out, and it would be better to be up front.”
“Noted,” I manage, grabbing a spatula to remove the now burning bacon from the griddle. What the hells am I gonna do with this information?
We fall into an uneasy silence. Well, it’s uneasy for me, but my parents act like they didn’t just drop a bomb on my damn head. Do I need to call Hadrian and warn him? Part of me is just relieved to have the news officially out in the open to someone in my family.
The front door slams open and hits the wall, and my mother rolls her eyes. “If that boy could figure out how to work a door without putting holes in my house, I would dearly fuckin’ appreciate it.”
“Language, Elena!” my dad shouts as Jack and Jasper pile into the kitchen.
Jack’s got Jasper in a headlock, and they roughhouse to the ground. I pile the bacon onto a plate and step over their writhing bodies to set it on the kitchen table.
They look up at me from their spot on the ground. Jasper beams like a kid in the candy store.
“Good thing you’re here, sis. I got a huge to-do list for you, and I was gonna tackle most of it myself, but with the test tomorrow, I’m not sure I’ll have time.”
I look at my parents, but my mother wears a neutral smile. No, she’s waiting for me to just stand up for myself and tell the Jays I’m not their secretary. And I should, I really should. But today is not the day. Doesn’t mean I can’t lay some groundwork, though.
“Give it to me, and I’ll tackle what I can,” I say grudgingly. My level of resentment at having to do so much for my brothers is gonna bubble over if I can’t offload some of this shit. I’ve got my own problems, not least of which is managing the fallout when we tell Jasper about Hadrian and me.
I shoot Jasper a warning look. “I’m hellsa busy today with a coffee date with Lemon and some folks from monster HQ and a shift at the Bodice. So I’ve got to help in between all of that. I’m not promising to do it all, alright?”
He winks at me. “Heard, sis. I color-coded the list by priority.”
I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted to smack my brother quite this hard.
Reaching into his back pocket, he withdraws a handwritten to-do list and slips it into my shirt pocket. “Thanks, Bloob. You’re the best.”
“I’m heading out,” I grumble, spinning and turning for the door even as my mother encourages me to come back. I’m not hungry anymore, though.
I fume the entire way back to downtown, although I’m cooled off a bit by the time I get there.
Parking in front of BrewHaHa Beans, I sigh as I glance in the mirror.
Tiny stress lines frame the edges of my eyes, and the elevens between my brows seem like they’re permanently etched.
Sighing, I run a hand through my blue waves and debate whether I even look presentable for this morning’s coffee thing.
Resting my forehead against the steering wheel, I reminisce about last night.
Everything felt right in Hadrian’s arms. But in the light of day, we’re hiding again, and I’m honestly tired of it.
Part of me thinks it would be better to just call Jasper now and spill the beans.
He’s a grown-ass man. He can deal with it.
Except he’s still a little bit of a man-child, and I truly don’t think he’ll handle it well at all. Which is why Hadrian and I had decided not to tell him until after his test, even though it’s stressing us both out.
Groaning at the sheer inefficiency of this entire scenario, I exit the truck and head into BrewHaHa. But when I get inside, the minotaur female behind the counter smiles at me.
“Bluebell Tucker. Got a message from Lemon for ya.” She winks at me as she clears her throat. “Bitch, bring us some lattes. They should be waiting for you. Come down to the Keeper’s place.” She shakes her head. “That Lemon sure has shaken things up around here, hasn’t she?”
“You can say that again,” I mutter.
She pushes a tray of lattes over the counter toward me. “There you go, sweetie. I knew you’d be on time, so I premade ‘em.”
Thanking her, I grab the tray and head out of the coffee shop, debating if I should stop into Skylight Bakery and grab a bunch of scones too.
Then again, if Lemon wanted scones, she’d have sent me over there as well.
It only takes me about five minutes to walk the length of Main Street and round the corner to the decrepit Keeper’s mansion on the left.
Except today, my mouth drops open at seeing the mansion’s front entryway gleaming with health.
Lemon stands just inside the gate, making grabby hands at the tray of lattes. “You got my message, perfect! I was entertaining the headquarters people. Also look how amazing she looks! I just had her painted by a friend of mine from back home, and she allowed it.”
“How do you do it, Lemon?” I look at her as she slides her free arm around my waist.
She shrugs and guides me up the brick walkway toward the open front doors.
“I just can’t water myself down, ya know?
I kinda tried when I first got here, but unfortunately, it’s just not possible.
” Flipping her hair, she winks at me, dragging her crimson eyes down my body.
“Also, you look delicious today, Bloob. How are things going with our favorite skyball hottie?”
“Well,” I mutter. “Jace knows, my parents know, I’m guessing Bryony and her sister know, although they haven’t splashed us across the Gulch Gossip front page yet.
Petra, his surprise little sister, also knows, and, oh, I went to the Punishers’ family breakfast yesterday with them, where he introduced me as his best friend. ”
But proceeded to kiss me in front of everyone, including Petra.
Bluebell’s eyes spring wide. “Best friend, huh? How’d you feel about that?”
I sigh. “Like it’s what we agreed to until after Jasper’s test, but I literally cannot wait to just let the cat out of the bag? Secret hottie boyfriends sound fun and all, but the practical application in a nosy small town is just a big pain in my asshole.”
She barks out a laugh. “You’ve got a way with words, Bluebell Tucker. Which is why I need you here on this panel with the folks from Hearth HQ.”