Chapter 3
Trixie
I read the note over and over, debating whether to go to the party or not. Last night, Papa had told me he felt bad for Brandon and thought I should know what happened, and that he appeared genuinely disappointed I hadn’t been working.
To say I was shocked was the understatement of the year.
I gazed at the crumpled note…
Hey, Trixie.
We’re having a Halloween party this Friday night at 8:00 pm. Do you want to come?
Zombie
His question repeated in my head. Do you want to come? Do you want to come? Do you want to come?
Was he asking me as a friend or to be his date?
I had to wonder if that was what he’d been trying to do Wednesday afternoon. It would make sense. He’d been more awkward than usual and lingered at the counter after he paid for his food, something he didn’t normally do. He was always quick to leave and never had much to say.
Of course, I knew about his club’s Halloween Bash. They’d been having it for as long as I could remember. But never in a million years had I dreamed he would invite me to go to it, and with him.
A smile curled at the corners of my mouth and flutters appeared in my stomach as I made his Friday sandwich: chicken bacon ranch, minus the ranch and veggies, plus spicy mustard.
Brandon Adams liked me.
Until this note, I would have never known.
The sound of a motorcycle jerked me out of my silly musing. Brandon was here and I needed to finish his sandwich, so he didn’t get frustrated with me. The thing about Brandon I noticed a long time ago was he didn’t like it when his routine got derailed.
My heart pounded as I quickly wrapped up the foot-long hoagie and put it in a bag. The bell jingled a second later. I made it!
“Hi, Br—” I snapped my mouth shut when the guy strutting toward me was not Brandon Adams.
“Hey, how’s it going?” he asked. “I’m picking up a couple of orders.”
“Sure. What’s the name on the orders?” I gulped, finding it hard to breathe. I knew who he was but had never seen him up close. He sure as hell had never come into the deli.
“One is for Maddox. That’s me.” He flashed a heart-stopping smile most women would faint over, but the gesture didn’t have the same effect on me.
“And the other name?” I asked while checking the online order list beside the register. The rest were for women I was familiar with.
My gaze returned to Maddox, who was tall, dark and ridiculously handsome. He had the most intense gray eyes, like his uncle Storm. And he was wearing a leather vest to show he was a member of the Knight’s Legion MC.
“Zombie.”
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Surely, I didn’t hear him correctly.
“The second order is for Zombie. I doubt he used his legal name, but maybe he did. He’s a little odd. Try Brandon.”
“I know who he is. His name isn’t on the list.” I couldn’t believe it. Was Brandon angry with me?
“He said you’d have his order ready.” His words were like a punch in the gut.
“You mean to tell me that all these years he knew I knew his order?” I wanted to scream but of course I wouldn’t. Papa would flip out at me for acting childish in front of a customer. “Then why would he tell me what he wanted every day if he knew I knew?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “He just asked me to pick up the orders and said you’d have his ready.”
“Why didn’t he pick it up himself? Is everything okay?” Maybe something happened to him.
“He’s fine. Just couldn’t come today.” Maddox raised a curious brow like he was hoping to get a reaction out of me. “You seem disappointed.”
“He’s just never missed a day.” I turned around and went to get Maddox’s bag off the pick-up shelf.
It was a name I hadn’t seen before when I’d processed the online order but then I didn’t get out much and only knew a few of the bikers, like Brandon.
I spent most of my time working in the deli, and at home.
I only knew those who came in. “Here you go.”
“Are you okay? Got a secret fling going on with him none of us knows about?”
“Stop messing with me.” I laughed and shook my head.
Like was he serious? I couldn’t tell with the mischievous smirk on his face. I was starting to get the vibe that Maddox came to the deli on Brandon’s behalf. Which was weird. I didn’t think bikers would do stuff like that.
Maddox placed two twenty-dollar bills on the counter. “Keep the change.”
“Thanks.” Oh, my heart. He said the exact words Brandon usually said. Had I been making more out of our limited interactions? Of all the men who came into the shop, Brandon had been the only one to stand out to me.
I couldn’t explain what attracted me to him, but whatever it was had made me blind to any other guy.
“Come to our Halloween party. It’s going to be spooktacular.” He snorted, then strutted out of the building.
Spooktacular? Was he for real.
I laughed again, but I felt giddy this time.
No question I’d go to the Halloween Bash. I needed to find out for myself if Brandon Adams liked me more than being the chick who knew his sandwich schedule and made them just to his particular liking.
Geez, now I had to think of a costume. I hadn’t dressed up for Halloween since I was in middle school.
What would Brandon like?
Something sexy?
Scary?
Maybe a little of both?
“Burr… It’s so cold,” Mom said as she appeared from the back office and looked up at the digital thermostat. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her body. “Snow is coming.”
“Don’t say that. I’m going to the club’s party.” I cut my gaze toward the large picture window. It did look blustery and frigid. “It’s too early for snow.”
“Don’t you remember that we had snow on the first of October last year?”
“I remember.” I grumbled a chain of profanity to myself. But last year the snow melted away by the next day. I opened the weather app on my cell phone.
“And in 1991 was the infamous Halloween blizzard. I was a teenage girl back then. I remember the town shutting down for days. We got over three feet of snow.”
“They’re calling for fifteen to twenty inches!” That may not sound like a lot, but I’d seen less shut the town down. It was blowing snow and whiteout conditions that kept most people tucked away in the warmth and safety of their homes.
“Yes, and the wind is picking up speed. We’ll probably have to be closed Saturday and maybe Sunday, depending on how bad it is.”
I turned around to face my mom. “I’m going to the party. Brandon invited me.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, sweetie. The worst of it is supposed to hit after midnight.” She tapped her finger against her lips. “I should have Papa check the generator to make sure it’s working properly. Can’t have the food in the refrigerator and freezer go bad.”
“The weather could change. Maybe it won’t be so bad.” I prayed the weather people had gotten it wrong. “I’ll just make sure to be home before midnight.”
Fortunately, I wasn’t a child. If I wanted to go to the party, my parents couldn’t stop me. I was twenty-one and a legal adult.
Of course, if I went, they would give me a lot of crap about it and make me feel guilty for not respecting their opinion. That was okay. I could handle anything they threw at me. I needed to see Brandon, and my parents wouldn’t stop me.
“Well, you can certainly pray for better weather. But the Farmer’s Almanac predicted extreme weather around Halloween. They’re rarely wrong.”
A groan left my lips.
This was just great. Finally, the guy I secretly liked had made a move and an early winter megastorm was trying to get between us.
Well, not if I could help it.
I would be at that Halloween Bash, and no amount of wicked weather wouldn’t stop me.