Chapter 6 #3
Growing up, Poppy recalled Luna attempting the Atkins diet, the cabbage-soup diet, the water-diet, and more, and knew Wren was right. Luna had, maybe, another twelve hours of willpower left before she reached for a candy bar and a glass of wine.
“As for my visit,” Luna declared, reaching into the back pocket of her camouflage cargo pants and removing an envelope, “I came to give you these.”
Oh, crap. At this time of the year, envelopes usually contained tickets, and tickets meant that Luna expected them to attend a Halloween-related town event.
And judging by Luna’s already stubborn expression, she was expecting resistance, which meant that the event would be something they’d normally avoid.
A séance? A coven meeting? A session with a psychic?
“They are tickets for the Witching Hour Singles Social.”
“No,” Thom stated outright.
Hayes shook his head. “Nope from me.”
“I’m in a relationship, Luna, with the man you call your godson-in-law,” Wren said, with a self-satisfied smirk.
“I have a ticket for him, too,” Luna retorted. “Go do some role playing, pretend to hook up or something, put some spice in your relationship.”
Wren snagged two tickets. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. We’ll pretend we’re each other’s one-night stand.”
Hayes put his hands over Hadley’s ears, who shook them off, irritated. “Dad! I’m not five. I know what a one-night stand is, and I even know that you don’t have to be in love with someone to have sex.”
“Who taught you that?” Hayes demanded.
Poppy surreptitiously bumped fists with Wren. Hayes might be Hadley’s dad, but the women in her life were determined to give Hadley the skills she needed to deal with men and relationships.
Hadley looked at her father and Thom. “Do you not think you should give Aunt Luna a chance to explain?” Hadley asked.
“Thank you, darling child.” Luna smiled at Hadley, who was clearly her current favorite. “The Witching Hour Social is a Halloween-themed evening for singles.”
“I can already feel hives breaking out,” Hayes said, scratching his forearm.
Hadley scowled at her father. “You and Thom,” she firmly stated, “should be dating. And Luna agrees.”
Hadley and Luna in cahoots together? This was both scary and serious. Thom threw up his hands and shook his head. “Nope, no way. Whatever you are planning, count me out.”
“Me, too,” Hayes agreed, crossing his index fingers as if to ward off evil.
Poppy looked at Hadley and shook her head. “When did your father become such a drama queen?”
“I know, right? You should, like, try living with him,” Hadley replied, glumly.
“Tell us about the Witching Hour Social,” Poppy asked, placing her chin in her hand. She was happy to stir the pot, because there was no way Luna would actually expect her to go. She wasn’t that obtuse. “What’s happening and why should Thom and Hayes go?”
To be honest, she was fully on board with Hayes dating—the man had been alone for far too long—but she didn’t like the idea of Thom doing the same. Not when something was bubbling between them.
“It’s a twist on a singles evening,” Luna said, looking earnest and ignoring three sets of groans. “So, it happens at midnight, at The Merriweather Theater—”
“Why at midnight? Who wants to go out at midnight?” Hayes demanded, horrified.
“OMG, Dad, are you thirty-five or, like, prehistoric?” Hadley rolled her eyes. “The secondhand embarrassment is painful.”
“And you four are going,” Luna stated, waving the tickets.
“In your dreams, Luna,” Hayes told her.
Poppy realized that Luna was indeed that obtuse and did expect her to go. It was time to backpedal. Fast. “Luna, I just walked away from my wedding. I’m not ready to go to a singles evening.”
Luna looked at Poppy and sighed. “Stop overreacting, all of you, I’m not selling you off into sexual slavery, for God’s sake. We’re four short of our target, and I need you to make up the numbers. You don’t need to hook up with anyone—”
“Good to know,” Hayes sarcastically stated.
Poppy pushed to her feet, panic crawling up her throat.
“I am absolutely not going, Luna,” she stated, hating the wobble she heard in her voice.
She was still reeling from kissing Thom so soon after ending her engagement and couldn’t contemplate throwing herself back into the cesspool that was dating.
“Firstly, I don’t feel like mingling, or socializing, and, secondly, I think it would be deeply insulting to Benji to attend a singles event—”
“Benji is probably sitting on a beach chatting up someone as we speak,” Thom muttered.
Poppy glared at him before turning her attention back to Luna. “I’m not going, Luna,” she said, and to prevent any further argument, walked away.
Dating after recently leaving her fiancé at the altar? Madness. And she wasn’t doing it. Luna could hex her; she didn’t care. She wasn’t scared of Luna’s weak-ass, bargain-bin witchy powers. Well, not that scared.
Maybe just mildly worried about their occasional tendency to backfire.
Thom
Thom turned his accusing gaze on Luna and saw that Hayes and Wren were doing the same. Luna, entirely unapologetic, simply lifted her eyebrows in challenge.
“What?” she demanded.
“We all know you’re about as subtle as a tank, Luna,” Wren said, frowning, “but pushing Poppy into attending a single event is ridiculous—even for you.”
Luna clasped her fingers around her knee and sent Wren a smile that made Thom sit back a fraction. It was the kind of smile that preceded a nuclear fallout. “Is that what you think I’m doing?”