Chapter 19 Rosie
Rosie
“Hey, Vi,” I say, stepping into my sister’s busy bakery later that day, but despite the five or six other customers here, her head lifts, and she smiles wide at me.
“Heya, Rosie,” she says. Then her eyes move, once to the man standing next to me, a shy look on his face, and again to his hand, where his fingers are entwined with mine.
“And hello there, Jack.” Her smile goes nearly debonair and knowing.
“How were your cookies last night?” A deep blush burns over his cheeks, and I glare at my younger sister.
“I threw them out before he could eat them,” I say with a glare. “Don’t do that to him,” I say, giving her my sternest older-sister voice. Her eyebrows raise, and she lifts her hands in surrender.
“Sorry, sorry. I was just trying to help a sister out.” She looks from me to Jack once more.
“Looks like it worked itself out regardless.” I give her yet another shut up, please look, and she sighs, then rolls her eyes.
“Fine, fine. What can I get you guys?” Jack and I order drinks and pastries before he turns to me, a smile on his lips.
“I’ll let you two talk without me standing right here. I’ll wait at the end,” he says, his hand resting lightly on my hip.
“Oh, you don’t have to—” I start, but Violet nods emphatically.
“That would be great, Jack. I like you for my girl already.” Another one of his signature blushes blooms, and he smiles, shaking his head before walking off. I glare at my sister.
“Violet—” I start, but she shakes her head and cuts me off.
“We don’t have a lot of time. Spill. As far as I know, last time we talked, you were still anti-Jack, and you were not going to take our hook up with him advice.
Now you’ve got a glow about you, and he’s walking in with his hand on your hip and knowing your order and watching you from the other side of my bakery like he’s ready to step in and fight me if he determines that I’m making you uncomfortable.
” I shake my head to argue, but when I look over at him, behind his glasses, Jack does have the look of someone who would fight my middle sister if she were making me upset.
Well, that’s unexpected.
“And this is Jack we’re talking about. Jack, who barely wants to talk to any of us. Jack, who is nerdier than Poppy. Jack, who—”
“Can you stop?” I say through hissed teeth because I don’t like the way she’s tearing him down, as if he isn’t a great person. An incredibly hot person. A kind person. A—
“Tell me what’s going on and I will,” she says with a knowing look. I groan then lean forward on the counter, knowing I’m going to have a lot to explain in probably just a few hours, but for now, I just tell her the basics in a hushed voice.
“I took your advice.”
She smiles and nods. “As you should. Younger sisters always know best.”
“I’ll be sure to tell Poppy you said that.” My sister’s jaw goes tight then, and I let out a laugh.
“Are you going to tell me what happened?” I give her an are you out of your mind? look, one I find myself giving Vi quite often.
“He’s standing right there,” I say, fighting the urge to tip my head in his direction.
“Watching us.” She continues to stare at me and I realize in that moment, I’m not getting out of this mess without giving her something.
“Fine. We… we made a truce of sorts.” That makes my sister let out a loud laugh.
“A truce?”
“Friends with benefits. Until Halloween when his grandfather drinks the potion. Because we’re stuck together anyway.”
“And after?” I tip my head, trying to answer her questions without causing more, but also not revealing the true source of our potion, since after Halloween, whatever relationships—or non-relationships—I have will be nonissues.
“After we’ll end things. Friends with benefits, remember? We’ll go back to just friends.”
“And the benefits just… expire on Halloween?” She’s clearly confused, and honestly, if I were her, I would be too. She doesn’t have the full picture. If she did, she would see this is completely reasonable. A genius plan, even.
“It’s complicated,” I sigh. Her eyes are assessing before irritation and concern clouds them.
“Rosie, you are not a friends with benefits kind of girl. You’re a commitment and roses girl. You want a happily ever after and a white picket fence.”
“The picket fence is optional,” I say, a joke I’ve said for years, but this time, Violet doesn’t laugh, instead looking at me with concern written all over her face. Shit.
“You know what I mean. Does he not want commitment? Is that why you’re settling for temporary?
” I resist the urge to look at Jack while I contemplate her words because I really don’t know.
Last night, he said he didn’t have time for a relationship, that he was busy with work and whatnot, but did that mean he doesn’t do commitment?
I’ve never seen a woman at his place, but maybe it’s because he’s no good at getting one?
“I’m afraid you’re setting yourself up to get hurt, Rosie.
You’re going to get attached. You always do.
” I shake my head, wishing I could tell her everything so she’d understand.
But I won’t because even if by some bizarre twist of fate, I get attached, she doesn’t understand that once the curse is broken, I’ll be free to find the love of my life with no stress, no problems. According to Phillip, all previous pain and relationships will be forgotten.
But I can’t tell my sister that, so instead I deflect. “I don’t always get attached,” I say, and she gives me a pitying look.
“Percy,” she says as evidence to the contrary. My mouth screws up in irritation.
“Percy is not evidence I get attached, he’s a nuisance I can’t get rid of.” She tips her head and raises an eyebrow in disbelief.
Okay, so, maybe I found Percy near the garbage behind my place not long after I moved in, and he was so tiny, I had to bottle feed him.
The rescue agency was so busy and couldn’t handle another baby, so I offered to foster him until he was big enough to be adopted out.
And when he was finally big enough to adopt out, I decided to keep him, but mostly because it seemed cruel to take away the only person he knew after what was already a long and traumatic life.
That’s not getting attached, that’s having a soul.
“The bird at Mom’s?” I sigh and roll my eyes.
Tweety, the bird that lived in our childhood home, was a baby I rescued when I was a teenager.
She had a broken wing and I nursed her back to health, and when she was all better, I built her a little home inside to make her comfortable and happy since I figured kicking her out would, once again, be cruel.
Once she’d assimilated to life with humans, she couldn’t just go back to being a wild bird. That would have just been mean. She died a year or two after Mom did, and it tore me up.
“Those are animals, Vi. Humans are different.”
“You give yourself completely to anyone who needs your help,” she says, and it sounds like an accusation.
“Jack doesn’t need my help,” I say with a roll of my eyes.
“His grandfather… ?” she says, like I’ve completely lost the plot. Oh, yeah, I forgot she thinks I’m doing this out of the goodness of my heart and for no self-serving reason.
“He’s haunting my place, so it’s really helping me, not him.”
“What about all of his socializing?”
“What?”
“The man doesn’t go out, Rosie. Suddenly, he’s out and about all the time, walking around town whistling.
Saying hi to everyone he sees. Everyone is talking about it.
I know it’s your doing.” Is that true? No way.
I look over at Jack, who’s smiling at Mr. Crockner and making small talk with him. Small talk! Jack Haggerty!
That one I can’t deny.
But honestly, I have to think anyone who spends a chunk of time with me becomes slightly more chatty. It’s inevitable. I’m not overhauling him or helping him overcome anything. At all.
“You’re reading into things far too much,” I assure my sister. “I’m fine. I’ve got this under control.” She stares at me with doubt in her eyes but must see the determination in mine because she lets out a sigh and shrugs.
“Alright,” she says. “I just love you and worry about you.”
“Maybe you should find a friend-with-benefits nerd like I did. It does wonders for your worry levels.” She lets out a loud laugh, then shakes her head at me.
“Not happening,” she says, then she tips her chin toward Jack. “Go. Be with your hot nerd friend-and-definitely-not-anything-more guy.” I want to argue at the sarcasm in her tone, but I choose the high road instead and just roll my eyes and shake my head.
“Love you, see you later,” I say, reaching over the counter to hug her.
“Love you more,” she tells me, returning the squeeze before I walk over to Jack.
While I contemplate eating at Vi’s place, now that I know she’s going to pick apart our every move, I’d much rather be in the comfort of one of our own homes.
“Want to take it to my place? I have to feed Percy, and although he likes your grandfather, Phillip unfortunately for him cannot grab cabinet handles or pour cat food.” Jack smiles, then presses a kiss to the side of my head that I feel all over.
“Sounds perfect.” The smile he gives me is soft and sweet and filled with so much emotion.
I could overthink it, but then my name is being called, and Jack is stepping away to grab our order before waving at my sister as he guides me out.
She gives me wide eyes, and I try to ignore them before Jack holds my hand the entire walk back to my place.
It’s silent as we move, but not in an uncomfortable way, and try as I might, I can’t seem to stop thinking about what Violet said.
But I’m not falling into my old ways of helping someone out and becoming attached, because Jack is helping me, which never happens. Which I never allow. I know if my sisters knew that part, they’d see it differently, understand we truly are friends.
Friends who are temporarily fucking since there’s no way we could have the time to get with anyone else while we work on our mission.
Easy.
Truly, a win-win. Economical, even.
Percy rubs on my legs when we walk into the bookstore, and even though it seems cute, I know it’s just because he wants me to feed him.
He’s been that way since he was a kitten, sweet and gentle when he wants something.
When Phillip floats down to greet us, he smiles wide, eyes focusing in on our entwined fingers.
Rolling my eyes, I let go of Jack’s hand before bending to grab Percy and scratching behind his ears.
I make my way up the stairs and head right to the cat food cabinet, Jack and Phillip chatting behind me.
Jack gets our breakfast set up on the coffee table while I feed Percy before we both sit down. “God, I miss food,” Phillip says, hovering around us, and I roll my eyes.
And then we eat our breakfast as our strange little crew.
It’s the best Sunday morning I’ve ever had.