Chapter 6
Chapter Six
DRAKE
“How do I look?” I ask Sienna before walking into the town hall for the annual Halloween fundraiser.
“You look…” Sienna lifts my enormous green tail with a giggle. “Like a dragon, Daddy.”
I scoop her up and spin her, her golden dress fanning around her like a bell. “And you’re the princess in the tower.”
She laughs as I set her back down on her sparkly heels. “I hope they have toffee apples. Do they have toffee apples in America?”
I grin. “I’m sure they do, glowbug. And if not, we’ll make some tomorrow.”
Her little hand slips into mine as I push open the town hall’s double doors. Warm air, cinnamon, and cider hit me all at once.
The place is buzzing with kids darting between stalls, fairy lights strung across the rafters, carved pumpkins glowing on every table. Someone’s ladling cider into cups, and I catch the faint smell of chili drifting from the kitchen.
It’s wholesome as hell. Exactly the small-town American life I’d hoped for when I moved here.
And yet I’m scanning the crowd for one person.
“Daddy, can I get my face painted?” Sienna bounces on her toes, pointing at a stall.
Long red waves of hair cascade over an orange padded costume. A green stalk and leaf bob on top of her head, as if she’s just been plucked from the patch.
“Sure.” Taking a few strides over to the face-painting table, I line up in the queue with Sienna, a smile unfurling as Miss Sparks turns her head, her face, half-smeared with orange paint from the kids, pure chaos personified.
And I can’t look away as our eyes meet.
She sucks in a sharp breath, like I’ve just knocked the air right out of her.
I let a slow smile curl at the corners of my mouth. Gotcha, pumpkin.
“Miss Sparks!” Sienna chirps, climbing up onto the chair. “Can you make me a princess?”
Ember’s eyes flick to mine before settling on Sienna. She smiles, warm and a little shaky. “A princess? You’re already a princess in this gold dress. Look at you.” Ember dabs the paintbrush on the tip of Sienna’s nose. “But a little glitter and a few sparkles will go with your outfit.”
I hover behind, arms crossed, fighting a grin as Ember dips her brush into glitter paint. Sienna sits perfectly still, chin high, eyes wide, like she’s at a royal coronation. Ember paints delicate swirls and stars across her cheeks, dusting on enough glitter to blind half the room.
“There,” Ember says softly, leaning back. “The most beautiful princess in Starlight Bay.”
Sienna beams, turning to me with a handheld mirror gripped in her fingers. “Look, Daddy!”
I pretend to shield my eyes. “Wow. I’m not sure I’m dressed fancy enough to walk beside a princess.”
“Then you should get your face painted too,” Sienna says.
“Not happening.” I chuckle, shaking my head. “Firemen don’t get their faces painted.”
“Yes, they do,” Ember says sweetly, her eyes dancing. “Especially dragons. Sit down, Mr. Coleman.”
The way she says my name does something deep in my chest, but I shake it off. “This is a setup.”
Sienna tugs on my sleeve. “Please, Daddy? Please?”
I sigh, defeated. “All right. But if anyone takes a photo—”
Ember pats the small chair. “Sit.”
I lower myself, moving the green tail on my costume to the side.
She wheels her chair in close, her cast brushing my boot. Her spicy cinnamon scent wraps around me, mixed with paint and a faint trace of kittens that clings to her clothes no matter where she goes. Somehow, it makes me smile.
Her fingers tilt my chin.
I look up into her bright green eyes, and for a second I forget we’re surrounded by kids and pumpkins.
“Hold still,” she murmurs.
“I’m perfectly still,” I mutter.
“You’re twitching.”
“Because you’re tickling me with that brush.”
Her smile curves, wicked and playful. “I didn’t know dragons were ticklish.”
Sienna leans close to Ember’s ear and whispers something that makes her laugh outright.
“Daddy's very ticklish, especially his feet, hmm?” She quirks her lips in challenge.
My toes curl inside my boots at the thought. “You’re not touching my feet.”
She laughs. “Don’t worry. I’m sure I could find other places more sensitive.” More cool paint strokes my skin, cooling down my heated cheeks.
I clear my throat, needing to clear the electrically charged tension before my daughter notices I’m burning up. “So what’s with the you’ve been tangoed look?”
Her brows knit. “Tangoed?”
I wave a finger at her painted cheek. “The orange face.”
“Oh.” She lifts the mirror and groans. “The kids insisted. Apparently, pumpkins aren’t festive enough without face paint.”
“I thought you’d have come as a cat.” Another smirk curls my lips. “You know, seeing as you have a dozen of them.”
She shuffles in her seat, adjusting the large padded pumpkin suit as if it’s making her uncomfortably hot, her cheeks flushed under the strokes of orange. “This is the only costume I could get to fit at the store. I wasn’t planning on coming and—”
“You wanted to see me?”
Her brush stills. She shoots me a look hot enough to ignite. “Flint asked me to help.” She dabs the brush into the orange paint, and I wonder if she’s giving me a you’ve been tangoed look too. Her lip twitches as her free hand tugs at the costume around her neck.
“Miss Sparks’ costume is cute, don’t you think, Daddy?”
“Yes, glowbug.” I wink at Ember. “Miss Sparks looks like a very tasty pumpkin.”
Her eyes widen, and she dips the brush harder than necessary into the water, then into the gold glitter pot.
“What’s with the glitter?”
“Dragons breathe fire, don’t they?”
“More glitter,” Sienna says.
The two of them giggle. “Ok. I think we’re done here.” Ember lifts the mirror, she and Sienna smiling at one another.
When I finally glance at my reflection, my face is green, with flared black nostrils drawn over my nose and flames licking up one cheek. Glitter catches the light like sparks and crackles around the blaze.
Sienna giggles, and Ember laughs along with her, her green stalk bobbing on her head.
Sienna claps her hands. “You’re a big, bad, fire-breathing dragon now, Daddy!”
I groan, though I can’t stop smiling. Dropping a couple of notes into the fundraiser tin, I lean down, close enough to catch the mix of cinnamon and paint clinging to Ember’s skin.
“Thanks,” I murmur, just for her. “I’ll be back later… for a slice of that pumpkin pie.”
Her breath hitches, eyes going wide. For the first time tonight, Ember Sparks is speechless. Maybe I am a big bad dragon, because all I want is to sink my teeth into this juicy pumpkin and take her home for supper.
I’m still dusting glitter from my costume when a familiar voice calls my name.
“Drake.”
I turn, and my chest eases instantly. Harold and May, my in-laws. The only family we have now.
Sienna lights up. “Nannan! Grandad!” She barrels into May’s arms, the older woman crouching to sweep her into a hug that leaves both of them giggling.
“Look at you,” May coos, brushing a bit of glitter from Sienna’s cheek. “The prettiest princess in the room.” She uses the witch’s broom in her hand like a walking stick to hoist herself back to a standing position.
“Daddy got his face painted too,” Sienna says, tugging Harold’s hand and pointing straight at me.
Harold chuckles, eyes crinkling. “Well, I’ll be damned. A dragon, huh?”
“The lads got one look at my tattoo a few weeks back and now I’m dragon boy,” I mutter, though my smile gives me away. I kinda like it.
Sienna bounces on her toes. “Can we do apple bobbing, Nannan?”
“Of course we can.” May smiles at me. “We’ll take her, give you a breather.”
“Thanks.” They don’t know how much that means.
Or maybe they do. They’ve been begging me to move here since the day we lost their daughter.
They even came to England for a while to help out with the funeral and Sienna and everything else when I was lost in my grief, stepping in whenever I faltered. I don’t know what I’d do without them.
I watch Sienna tug them towards the stall, her golden skirt flashing under the string lights, her laughter ringing through the hall. My chest tightens with pride and a pinch of guilt, because I can’t stop thinking about the pumpkin at the face-painting table.
“Nice look, Draco.”
I pivot to find Phoenix, Bear, and Hollywood strolling up with paper cups of cider, grins plastered on their faces.
“Shut it.”
“Green suits you,” Hollywood says, teeth flashing. “It’s giving Shrek.”
“More like Puff the Magic Dragon,” Bear rumbles.
Phoenix smirks. “Nah. He looks like he lost a fight with a leprechaun.”
I groan, dragging a hand over my painted cheek. “You lot done?”
“Not even close.” Phoenix claps me on the shoulder. “Chief’s gonna piss himself when he sees you like this.”
I glance across the hall, where Ember is still fussing with brushes and glitter, her pumpkin stalk bobbing every time she bends down.
My lips twitch. “Worth it,” I mutter, eyes still on the pumpkin across the hall.
The lads follow my gaze, grins spreading like wildfire.
“Oh, this is gonna be fun,” Hollywood says, raising his cider cup in mock salute.
“Fun for who?” The deep voice comes from behind me, impossible to ignore. The hairs on my neck prickle as Chief Sparks steps into our circle.
Conversations around us dip. Even at a fundraiser, the man carries the kind of weight that makes people straighten their backs. His salt-and-pepper beard twitches as his mouth curves into the faintest smirk.
Bear tries and fails to stifle a laugh. “Evening, Chief. You seen Draco’s new look?”
Phoenix elbows me. “Show him the flames, mate. Left cheek.”
I grit my teeth, but there’s no way out. Chief’s eyes narrow, and I turn my head just enough for him to take in the full effect of the glittery flames fanning my cheek.
A beat of silence. Then his low chuckle rolls out, surprising all of us. He points his finger at my face. “That’s not a dragon, that’s Barney after a bad night.”
The table of lads erupts. Hollywood bends over in laughter.
I huff out of my nostrils and fold my arms over my padded chest in the green furry costume.
“Careful, boys.” Chief snorts. “Don’t laugh too hard, he might huff and puff and glitter you to death.”
I rub a hand down my cheek, shaking my head. “Glad I can provide the entertainment. You have Ember to thank for that.”
Chief’s gaze flicks past me, towards Ember at the stall, her stalk bobbing as she leans over another kid. His smile reaches his eyes. “You let my sister do that to you?”
“I was railroaded into it by my daughter and her teacher.”
He chuckles again, deep and dry. “My sister did a number on you.”
The lads howl even louder, banging their cups against the table like a drumroll.
I mutter under my breath, “Keep laughing, lads. Dragon breath’s got reach.”
But my eyes betray me, sliding back to Ember. She’s laughing at something, her entire face lit up under the string lights. And I think Chief might be right.
His sister has done a number on me, and I don’t mind one bit.