Chapter 42
Mattie woke up with the strangest sensation that she’d forgotten something. She was tired in a way that usually meant she hadn’t gotten enough sleep. But was that true? She didn’t remember any strange dreams or waking up in the middle of the night.
In fact, she didn’t remember much at all about the previous night.
Weird.
She went into the kitchen to get the kettle going, feeling oddly disoriented. What had she done last night? She genuinely couldn’t remember. She filled the kettle and turned it on.
She paused then, realizing something was wrong. She turned slowly, looking all around her.
She went straight back to the bedroom and checked the pillows. Nothing. She checked the living room next. Then the bathroom. And the pantry. Still nothing.
Blueberry wasn’t in the house. The reason for that seemed to be just on the edge of her mind. It was as if she should know but couldn’t grasp the thought long enough to retain it.
How infuriating. But getting upset wasn’t going to help. She put her robe on, stuck her feet in her gardening clogs, which she kept by the back door, and went to see if he was in the garden or with the bees.
It was a beautiful spring day. She lifted her face to the sun, soaking in the rays. Maybe she just needed time in the garden. That would straighten out this weird vibe she had going on.
She frowned. But she couldn’t be in the garden today, at least not until later. Today she had to make honey deliveries. Realizing that gave her the oddest sense of déjà vu. Hadn’t she just done that?
She went back inside and looked at her calendar. Apparently, she hadn’t.
So. Weird.
She returned to the garden. “Blueberry? Are you out here?”
Bees buzzed around the flowers as she walked through, calling his name. She loved the sound of them. “Morning, bees,” she called out.
A few of them landed on her, tickling her skin with their tiny feet and soft, little touches. “Any of you see Blueberry today?”
But none of them had.
Confused, she went back inside. The kettle was ready, and she needed to eat. After that, she’d shower and head into town to make her deliveries.
Hopefully, Blueberry would show up before then. She couldn’t imagine where he might be, but if he didn’t get to go with her, he’d end up cranky about it. He loved trips into town, but he especially loved any trip that involved him getting to visit Delaney’s Delectables.
That imp had a sweet tooth almost as big as Jayne Frost’s.
Mattie let out a little snort at that. But he was still gone, and she was missing him. That only added to the weirdness she was feeling. She made her tea and left it on the table to steep, then fixed a bowl of cereal and sat down to eat.
She ran through the list of her delivery stops in her head.
After breakfast, she’d shower and get dressed, then load the truck.
Most of the honey was going to places that produced food or drinks, but some was going to the spa, and there were two cases of small jars that would be going to the Shop-n-Save for retail.
It was going to be a long day. When it was over, she was getting moussaka from Apollo’s and eating it in front of the television while watching the new season of Time Traveling Accountant.
Unless Blue hadn’t shown up by then. In that case, she’d be freaking out and searching everywhere.
Where the heck was he?
She finished breakfast, cleaned up, and went to shower. She thought the hot water might help shake the lingering mental fog, but it seemed to be stuck in her head.
She got dressed in a pair of faded army-green pants she’d found at the thrift store and a long-sleeved cotton T-shirt she’d picked up at a yard sale. It had flowers embroidered on it in a random pattern that made her wonder if someone hadn’t been trying out their skills on it.
Whatever. She liked it.
She loaded her truck with crates, each filled with jars of honey. She checked them off her order list and was just about to head inside to grab her purse and phone when a truck came rumbling up the road.
Something about that seemed familiar. She thought.
The truck pulled into her driveway and parked. The man that got out of it nearly blocked out the sun. Okay, not really, but he was large.
And not at all unattractive.
But she wasn’t remotely interested. Not when she was still smarting from Aaron’s departure.
“Morning.” He smiled. Which made him even more handsome.
She smiled back, unable to help herself. “Morning. Can I help you?”
“Actually, I was hoping I could help you.” He stopped in front of her and pointed to his shoulder. “Looking for this?”
She stared at him, at his shoulder, and blinked. “Let me guess. You’ve got an invisible parrot?”
“What?” He frowned, an expression that also struck her as oddly familiar. “No.” He twisted his head to look at his shoulder, then muttered, “Where the devil is he?”
“Who?” She tried not to laugh. “Your parrot?”
“No, your imp.”
She gasped. “Blueberry? You have Blueberry?”
“Yeah. At least I thought I did. Hang on.” The man went back to his truck and opened the door. “Blue, are you in here? Where are you? If you give me three more wishes, I swear—”
Mattie heard giggling next to her right ear. She felt the top of her shoulder, her fingers landing on a tiny, warm body. “Blueberry, is that you?”
The man came back. “Sorry, Mattie, I though he was right there when I—”
“How do you know my name?”
That stopped him cold. “I, um …”
“I told him,” Blueberry said loudly.
She winced at him yelling in her ear. “Blue, chill. You’re literally in my ear. No need to shout.”
“Sorry, Mattie.” He flew toward the man, landing on his shoulder. “This is Gunnar. He’s a forest ranger. Isn’t that cool?”
Mattie nodded, not sure what was going on. “Yes, that’s very cool. We love the forest. Nice to meet you, Gunnar.” She stuck her hand out.
“Nice to meet you, too, Mattie.” He shook her hand while looking into her eyes.
For a moment, it felt like her brain fog might clear, but it didn’t. “So, how did you end up with Blueberry?”
“He, uh …” Gunnar was giving her the strangest look.
“I was trapped in his truck, and he freed me,” Blueberry proclaimed.
She narrowed her eyes. “You were trapped in his truck? How did that happen? Where were you?”
Gunnar glanced at Blueberry, who continued to answer. “He was right here. On the side of the road. Last night. He had a flat tire. I flew into his truck because he had … a pizza. I smelled the pizza and flew in and got stuck in the truck.” Blueberry nodded like that was the end of that.
“Is that right?” She didn’t remember leaving the door open last night, but then she didn’t remember anything about last night, so maybe she had.
Gunnar quickly nodded. “He told me he lives here with you, so I thought I should let you know he’s safe. In case you were missing him.”
Blueberry flew closer to her. “But I have to stay with him until all his wishes are made.”
“Because you granted him wishes for freeing you from the truck?”
“Exactly,” Blueberry said with another big nod.
Something about the story seemed off to her, but Blueberry was a known problem-causer. Maybe he’d done something he didn’t really want to confess. “Well, I’m glad you’re safe.”
She looked at Gunnar. “You’re going to have your hands full until those wishes are made. He eats a lot, and he likes sugar.”
Gunnar nodded. “I’ve noticed.”
“I can give you some tips on making wishes that don’t go wonky. If you want.”
“That would be great,” Gunnar said. “I’d love that.”
“I have some deliveries to make, but if you want to give me your number, I can call you when I get back.”
“Deliveries?”
She tipped her head at her truck. “Honey. From my bees. I supply it to places all over town.”
He looked at her truck and the crates stacked in the back. “You want some help with that? You could fill me in on wish-making along the way.”
Blueberry floated between them. “That sounds great.” He flew closer to Mattie. “Those crates are heavy. Gunnar’s very strong. He’s a bear shifter. They can lift practically anything. What do you say, huh? Can he come? Please?”
Having a man she’d never met before accompany her on her deliveries ought to raise a red flag.
Another one should go up because he was a shifter.
And yet, no flags went up. No warning bells went off.
Was it because he was a ranger? Or because Blueberry was acting like Gunnar was a lost puppy that needed a home?
“I really am a forest ranger,” Gunnar said, digging out his wallet and flipping it open to show his ID.
She barely glanced at it. “I saw the insignia on your truck.”
“Oh, yeah. Right.” He took a step back. “I didn’t mean to impose. I just thought—that is, Blueberry said—look, it’s okay. Just call me when you get back.”
“No, it’s fine,” Mattie said, still not sure why she was saying it. “You can come along.”