Chapter 27
Mattie woke up with the most delicious feeling of happiness coursing through her. Last night had been very nice. Gunnar had left after one episode of Time Traveling Accountant because he had a full day of work ahead of him.
But not before he’d kissed her good night and promised to text her.
Her smile widened. Were they a thing now? It felt that way.
She wasn’t sure. He’d sounded pretty serious when he said he wasn’t good at relationships. She knew he meant that, and she believed him. After all, if he’d been any good at one, he wouldn’t be single now.
She stretched. The house was quiet without Blueberry in it. Gunnar was probably feeling the full benefit of Blueberry’s presence again. Poor guy. Knowing what the imp could be like, she sympathized.
Blueberry.
She sat up immediately, struck by the realization that while they’d alerted everyone in Nocturne Falls that Blueberry had turned up and all was well again, she hadn’t told the bees. And after she’d sent them out to look for him!
She flipped the covers back, stuck her feet into her bunny slippers, and went outside, still in her pajamas, which were a mint-green shorts and top set with a print of little pink and turquoise bees. They’d been a Christmas gift from Undrea a while back.
The sun was shining, and the garden looked wilder than it had the day before. She really needed to get to that weeding today. After another stretch in the sun to wake herself up a little more, she made her way through the garden to the hives.
The bees dipped and circled around her as she went, already up and working, happy to see her. She wiggled her fingers, sending a little spell out to greet them. She held her arms out as she walked, letting them land on her.
Their tiny feet created little triggers of sensation over her skin, an almost tickly feeling that made her smile. She loved her bees.
Once she reached the hives, she positioned herself in the middle of them. “Good morning, my darlings. Blueberry is no longer missing! We found him last night. He was stuck in the refrigerator.”
A cluster of bees formed a laughing face, the mouth open, eyes squeezed shut. Their amusement and relief washed over her in a wave of consciousness.
She laughed. “Yes, he gets himself into trouble, doesn’t he? He’s going to be with Gunnar for a bit.”
Their mood shifted, and the face disappeared, replaced by another shape she knew very well. A bear.
“No, Gunnar isn’t here now. And before you ask, yes, I like him.”
The bear became a heart.
She rolled her eyes. The bees had no filter, no sense of social norms. Whatever they thought about, they shared. “No more questions. I’ll be back to work in the garden in a bit. I have to have my breakfast first. Go on, now. Go enjoy the flowers.”
They flew off, and she headed back to the house. She filled the kettle and switched it on, then went to change into gardening clothes, which were a pair of faded, paint-spattered, bleach-spotted, wax-stained denim overalls and a tank top.
She’d add her sun hat and gloves before she went out.
She opened her fridge to see what there was for breakfast and wrinkled her nose. She wasn’t in the mood to make a big fuss about it. She checked the freezer next and took out a box of frozen blueberry waffles that were nearly impossible to eat with Blueberry hovering over her shoulder.
Which made today the perfect day for them. She popped two into the toaster and pushed the lever down.
Not only did Blueberry think he was entitled to them because the waffles were named after him, which they were not, but he also insisted on getting to push the toaster lever down, which took him at least three tries.
Besides all of that, making him one meant she had to wait for her second waffle, which inevitably meant that her first one was well on its way to cooling off by the time the second was done.
Because of course, his waffle had to be toasted with her first one. Heaven forbid he wait until she toasted hers first.
He really was a menace, but even as she thought it, she was smiling. He might be a menace, but he was her menace, and she missed him.
The kettle switched off. She made her tea, English Breakfast this morning, then brought the cup and her regular jar of honey to the table. She drizzled honey into her cup and stirred, thinking about Gunnar in the pantry last night.
At first, she’d been a little worried that she was boring him with all the information about the honey, but he’d seemed genuinely interested. She could go on about honey for ages. In fact, she visited Harmswood Academy several times a year to talk to the students about bees and honey.
The school had recently started a beekeeping club and now had its own apiary. She liked to think she was partially responsible for that.
The waffles popped up out of the toaster, the scent of them making her mouth water. She put them on a plate, grabbed a knife and fork, and came back to the table, where they got a pat of butter, then she drizzled them with more honey.
She ate, thinking about Gunnar again. She really had sworn off shifters after Aaron, but Gunnar didn’t seem like the type to suddenly decide there was a better job somewhere else.
Of course, neither had Aaron.
She took a bite of waffle, dripping with honey. Was she overthinking this? All she and Gunnar had done so far was watch a couple of episodes of Time Traveling Accountant and share a few kisses.
And, okay, he’d saved her from being mauled by a real bear.
Was that why she couldn’t stop thinking about him? Because he’d put himself in danger for her?
Maybe. As reasons went for crushing on him, it wasn’t a bad one.
She finished her breakfast, cleaned up, and slipped on her clogs. If she could get her gardening done in a few hours, she’d visit the satellite hives this afternoon. She’d been meaning to get to the gardening center, too, just to see what was new for spring.
Adding new plants every spring helped keep things interesting for the bees.
Back outside, she got supplies from her storage shed. Half of it was devoted to bee-related things, the other half to gardening tools. She put her gloves on, then found her hand rake and an old bucket.
She liked weeding. Liked the act of tidying things up. Something that maybe her house didn’t always reflect. She should be better about that, especially if Gunnar was going to be visiting more. He obviously liked a neat house.
Not that she was changing her ways for him. She liked a neat house too. She just wasn’t the best at keeping it that way.
As soon as she had the bucket filled with weeds, she carried it to her compost pile, dumped it, and went back to work. There was no way she’d get through the entire garden today, but whatever was left could be finished up tomorrow.
She leaned back on her heels. Sweat trickled down her back.
The day was heating up, and she’d forgotten to bring a water bottle with her.
Bees swooped by now and then, curious about what she was doing.
One landed on her glove, its back legs so laden with pollen it looked like it was wearing yellow leg warmers.
She dropped the rake and lifted her hand. “Tired?”
A short buzz answered her in the affirmative. Carrying all that pollen was hard work. “Okay,” she said, pushing to her feet. “I’ll carry you back to your hive.”
Holding her hand up, she walked the bee back to the apiary and dropped him off at his hive.
Instead of returning to the weeding, she went inside for a drink. She filled a bottle with ice and water, nearly drained it, then filled it again. She reached into her back pocket for her phone, but it wasn’t there. Had she even gotten it off the nightstand?
Apparently not. She went into the bedroom and grabbed it, tapping it to life to see if she’d missed a message from Gunnar. He had said he would text, after all.
She hadn’t missed a message from him.
She had, however, missed one from Alice Bishop.
Mattie swallowed. She sat on the bed to read the message. Maybe Alice just needed more candles.
Please come to the Ellingham estate as soon as you are able. Bring Ranger Briggs with you. I need to speak to you both immediately. Tell no one.
That wasn’t ominous at all. Mattie exhaled, a little nervous shiver going down her spine. She didn’t have a clue what Alice might want as she texted Gunnar. Are you around? Alice Bishop wants to talk to us. No idea what’s going on. Also, we’re not supposed to tell anyone.
Mattie couldn’t see Alice like this, all sweaty and dirty. She left her phone on the nightstand, ran back outside to put her bucket and rake away, then came in prepared to shower and head to the Ellingham estate.
There was no response from Gunnar yet. Maybe there would be by the time she got out of the shower.
But even then, there was nothing. She called him, not wanting to bother him, but this wasn’t something that could wait. After a few rings, it went to his voicemail.
“Gunnar, call me as soon as you get this. It’s me. Mattie.”
She got dressed, dried her hair, then braided it, decided that wasn’t the right look for this meeting with Alice and took the braid out. She put on a little makeup and checked her phone again. Maybe she’d missed him calling her back. The hair dryer was loud.
She hadn’t missed the call, and he hadn’t texted either. A tiny little warning went off in her head.
Had something happened? Had Blueberry caused something to happen? Or worse, had Gunnar made another wish that had gone terribly wrong?
She sucked in a breath. Was that why Alice wanted to see them?
There was only one way to find out.
Mattie had to go to Gunnar’s place and see for herself.