Chapter 27
Acombination of the late afternoon sun and Luc’s presence has made me regret that I used wine as my only form of hydration today. The small headache thrumming in the back of my skull—my body’s way of punishing me—only makes me feel shittier. The glint from the water in the moat would be inviting if it wasn’t tepid.
“I’ll direct you from here,” I suggest. Luc holds the bobbing little boat against the dirt bank.
“Aurora, get in.”
I cross my arms over my chest and pop my hip out. “And if I say no?”
“I will place you in the boat myself.”
Luc doesn’t move a muscle. I blow out a breath, place my book and glass of wine in the boat, and step one foot inside. Luc takes his seat opposite me, causing a slight rock in the boat, which has me diving for my wineglass. When I find my center of gravity, and I’m sure the boat isn’t going to tip over, I rest the stem of my wineglass securely between my legs. Luc pushes off the bank and grabs an ore, rowing us into the murky water.
He rows the boat to the far edge of the moat. “I feel like here is where we should look.” Luc steps onto the grassy edge.
“If you say so,” I reply in a bored tone, not taking my eyes off my book, letting Luc do whatever it was that constituted looking for “lost jewels.”
“Oh, and Aurora,” Luc announces, gently pushing the boat off the bank and farther into the moat.
I relax into the soft sway of the boat. “Hmm-hmm,” I reply, my eyes closed to try to stop the onslaught of pain dancing across my temple.
“I can’t wait to fuck that pout off your face.” A smirk touches his lips.
“What?!” My eyes flick up to meet his, wide with shock over his announcement, tipping my wineglass over and sloshing it all over my legs. The boat rocks more as I try to regain my balance, but it doesn’t work, and I go splashing into the water with a scream. I come up sputtering, my hat hanging beside me as I slice Luc a glare that is as sharp as a double-edged absinthe sword.
“Thought you might need a bit of cooling off, you looked hot.” Luc winks at me, only causing me to shriek again. I may have found it funny, if his little prank didn’t involve sacrificing my wine to the moat gods.
“It’s on, you’re so going to pay for this,” I call, the water just below my shoulders. I’m lucky the boat didn’t make it farther into the moat and I can still stand without needing to tread water. I’m not the best swimmer, and I really don’t want to have to rely on my subpar skills. I awkwardly paddle toward Luc standing on the edge of the bank, my mind already plotting ways I can get him back for this little trick. My wineglass long forgotten at the bottom of the moat, but I have bigger fish to fry. Pun intended.
“Wouldn’t have it any other way, Impératrice.”
He’s way too cocky for a guy who is about to wake up to toothpaste lining his shoe. I grunt as I climb up the grassy bank, a squeak peeling from my lips as I immediately slip back down, mud caking to my elbows and knees.
Fuck Jean-Luc Badeaux.
I close my eyes, holding them tight for a few seconds, sure I am imagining the two smiling women standing on the landing, one holding a chicken and the other with a baby cow in front of her she lovingly pats. I reopen my eyes only to find I am not in fact imagining this.
“I’m sorry.” I quickly shut the door and lean against it. “I’m going nuts.” I shake my head rapidly. It’s official, Luc has sent me mad. With the second knock on the door, I take a deep, less-than-calming breath and open the door again. I slowly take in the women standing before me, both women have simple blue jeans and long-sleeve tops on, their faces weathered from hours spent in the sun. There was no signage in front of the chateau yet, and it wasn’t likely these women had made a wrong turn.
“Hello?” The woman with her hair tied in a ponytail speaks first.
“Ummm, can I help you?” I ask, my eyes darting around, hoping Madeline would notice if I’m missing and sound the alarm. The woman with the chicken under her arm pulls out her phone from her back pocket and starts tapping on it.
“This is Chateau des éveillés, yes?” she asks, looking up from her phone.
“Yes.” I straighten my shoulders.
“We have the miniature farm you ordered.”
Miniature farm? No amount of forcing my muscles to cooperate would power them to be able to do anything but pop my mouth open and bulge my eyes from my head. “I’m sorry, what?” I swear I just heard that they are delivering an animal farm, but the ringing in my ears almost makes me believe I misheard.
“The farm for the birthday party you are having tomorrow.”
“Birthday party?” I question, my brain still struggling to process the mental overload that is happening.
“Where do you want the animal pen?” the one patting the cow asks.
“Animal pen?” I echo in all the possible universes that this would be normal, I really hoped in this one, someone had made a giant mistake.
“Madame, are you only going to repeat what I say?” the woman asks, irritation evident in her tone.
“I’m sorry.” I shake my head, my grip on the door tightening. “I didn’t order an animal pen.”
“Yes, you did,” she insists.
“This is a private residence, not some local park.”
“Jean-Luc Badeaux, he lives here. Yes?”
Then it clicks. The animal farm is indeed at the right place. “Luccccccccc,” I scream.
“Yes, him,” the woman smiles, “he wrote Aurora down as the name for contact.” She turns the phone around to show me the filled-out form. According to the document on her phone, I’ve booked and paid for the small animal farm for an eighth birthday party. My palms shake and I quickly bury them in my denim overalls, hiding the mottled red splotches forming.
“The party was canceled,” I snap but quickly change my mind. Luc thinks sending a spontaneous animal farm is going to make me sign over the chateau to him—he’s got another thing coming. “Sorry, I mean, I wrote the wrong day down. Can you please come back tomorrow afternoon?”
“Oh.” The woman with her hair tied up pouted about an imaginary eighth birthday party that wasn’t going to be celebrated. She turns to the other woman standing next to her and whispers in her ear. The other woman nods before looking at me.
“You still want the animals?” the woman with the mobile phone asks.
No, I don’t still want the animal…unless. “Yes,” I tell them, brewing the devilish little payback I’m planning. I rub my hands together. And I know just the spot to put them.
“Oh yay.” The cow decides to let out a loud mooooo. Almost like it read my mind and is ready to get Luc back.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” I smile and close the door behind me.
“Did I hear a cow?” Madeline asks as I enter the kitchen.
I stand over the pot of molten candle wax and flick my eyes up to her. “Yes, yes, you did. And they’re coming back tomorrow.”
“Do I want to know?”
“No, but just make sure you come back tomorrow. It’s going to be epic.”
“Aurora, I’m not picking up a cow,” André grunts.
“Baby cow,” I correct. “It’s practically a cowlet.”
We turn to the baby cow in question.
Madeline leans toward André and whispers out the corner of her mouth, “What’s a cowlet?”
While I run my fingers through his baby soft fur, cooing at him, André eyes me. “No clue, but I’m guessing it’s from the Book of Aurora.”
“The what?” Madeline’s head rears back.
“The Book of Aurora.” André scoffs. “You clearly have a lot to learn.” He walks off, leaving me and Madeline standing in the closed-off pen I’d told the two sisters to use for the animal farm.
“You do know he’s going to burst a blood vessel.” She picks up a bunny rabbit and holds it close to her chest.
“Well, he shouldn’t. It was his idea in the first place.”
I notice a certain gray-haired man walking across the yard. “Henry,” I shout, waving my hand. Henry’s head jerks in my direction, closing the distance between us.
“Yes, Aurora?” He stands on the opposite side of the fence with his hands on his hips.
“I need some help with this cowlet.”
“What kind of help?”
“Oh lord,” Madeline whispers, and from the corner of my eye I see her shaking her head.
“I need you to put this little guy over there.” I point to the exact spot I have in mind.
“I can do it, but if he gets out, I won’t be chasing him,” Henry replies.
“No worries. I have his leash.” I pull the brown rope from my pocket and hold it in the air just as another car barrels down the driveway. “Oh perfect.” I quickly hop one leg over the small fence just as the van comes to a stop. Madeline hot on my heels.
“You know, you said you were going to help,” I tell her as we watch the person start to unload the van. Yesterday, while we attempted to make candles to sell at local markets for the second time, Madeline was practically vibrating with excitement to see just what I’d concocted by getting the petting zoo to return.
“I said I had to be here to see this.”
“Hello,” I greet, waving enthusiastically just as the man emerges from the back of the van with a giant, metallic, number eight balloon in one hand and the startings of a balloon wreath in the other.
“Where the hell did you get balloons on such short notice?” Madeline’s jaw slackens.
“You would be amazed what I do late at night.” I wiggle my eyebrows at her.
“Or who.” She coughs into the palm of her hand. I pretend I didn’t hear her.
“Where do you want it?” the guy asks, all business. I like that.
“I’m thinking right here,” I tell the guy, who just nods as he sets it up.
Henry is already placing the cowlet exactly where I wanted it and hands me the leash while the balloon guy finishes up the banner. “He’s going to absolutely murder you, you know that, right?” Madeline pats the cow’s head. The sound of piglets squeaking has us both turning to see André trying to get into the pen.
I turn back to Madeline. “I’m hoping he’ll see the funny side in it.”
The balloon man leaves just as quickly as he arrives, and I’m glad I paid extra for the express service, as Luc’s car glides down the driveway minutes after.
“What the fuck?!” Luc jumps out of his car, his lips pressed into a white slash as he crosses his arms over his chest, staring between the banner I’m holding, the baby cow, and the petting zoo behind me. I don’t miss the way Madeline scoots into the tree line to stay hidden.
I turn to her and mouth, Traitor.
“Aurora.” Luc blows out a harsh breath, resting his hand on the bridge of his nose. “Why the fuck is there a petting zoo in our front yard.”
“Our front yard, now you’re talking, tiger.” I close the distance between us and lightly punch the hard muscle on his pec. My heart picks up pace—our yard. Not his, not mine. Ours. Maybe?
His eyes flash. “I’m serious.”
“So am I,” I reply, batting my eyelashes. “And can I just say your little cowlet is going to be the perfect edition to our yard,” I reiterate his words and giggle as his face falls as he slowly takes in the leash attached to my hand and the baby cow on the other end.
“Why does the banner say ‘Happy Eighth Birthday, Luc’?” Pierre appears beside Luc.
“I don’t know—Luc?” I switch my gaze to him. “Why don’t you tell us, since you are the one who organized this event?”
“But Luc, your birthday isn’t until September.” Pierre pats his friend’s shoulder hard enough to make him take a step forward. Luc continues to stare at me with clenched teeth, his body tensing.
“Ready to forfeit our yard over to me yet?” I wink at him.
“Oh, Aurora, I’m only getting started.”
My adrenaline spikes at those words. Our little game is far from over—and I’m kind of excited about it.