Chapter 32
Highs and Lows
SOPHIE
I’m soaring, my head in the clouds, my feet barely touching the floor as I quickly shower and dress. Teddy loves me! The kindest, sweetest, handsomest man I’ve ever known loves grumpy old me!
Grumpy old me…
Hmm, come to think of it, I am older than Teddy—by five whole years! I’ll be twenty-nine soon, and Teddy just turned twenty-four. A stab of worry pierces my happiness-bubble; I sure hope his mate bond thingy is accurate and hasn’t given him a false reading, because I’m mad about that boy.
It’s still hard for me to cleanse Teddy’s wounds without a tear trickling down my cheek, which I silently swipe away.
Since he’s on his stomach, he doesn’t notice how much it hurts me to see what Rafe did to him.
When I’m finished, I lean over, kiss his shoulder below the bite mark, and then rise from the side of the bed.
“Hey,” says Teddy with a smile. “No fair; I can’t return the favor while I’m lying here face down.”
“That’s not a problem, Mr. Barker,” I reply in my frostiest, fake-nurse tone. “I will collect from you later, once you’re fully healed. But interest compounds daily. One unreturned kiss today means you owe me two tomorrow, and then four the next day… and well, you get the idea.”
“I’m up to the challenge, Nurse Sophie,” quips Teddy as he slowly, painfully rolls onto his side facing me, “but I may need some extra time to pay you back.”
“In that case I fear you shall never be able to make full restitution, Mr. Barker,” I sigh dramatically. “You will be in my debt forevermore.”
“Then I will be your faithful servant, Nurse Sophie, and my payment shall be in kisses, hugs… and other pleasantries.” Teddy tries to maintain a straight face, but I collapse into giggles, and soon we’re both laughing.
I gather up the water bowl and old bandages, ready to step out of the room so Teddy can dress, when I pause; someone is pounding on the front door. I put everything back down on the bedside table, hurry out to the living room, and pull open the door.
“Marv!” The giant cop seems relieved to see me; he gives another reassuring nod at Teddy, who’s hobbled out into the hallway after me, tugging down his tee. “What’s wrong?” I ask, fear gripping my insides. “Has anyone been hurt?”
“No one’s been injured… but someone has vandalized your bakery. They spray-painted the front of the building and smashed one of the windows; there’s glass everywhere.”
I clutch my stomach, which is suddenly churning. “Do we have any idea who might have done it?”
Marv shakes his head. “It appeared to have happened early this morning; there were no witnesses, or at least none who’ve come forward. But I’ll need you to unlock the shop so we can take a look around. I’d like to find whatever was tossed through the window.”
Teddy drapes an arm around me, but I jump when he accidentally pinches my waist with his claws. “Ow! Your fingernails are kinda sharp.”
“I’m sorry,” says Teddy, immediately retracting his claws. “My inner wolf is reacting to the possibility this was Rafe’s doing… It’s the sort of spiteful, cowardly act he specializes in.”
I turn to gaze up at Teddy’s bruised face. “But Rafe told Vreeland he was going out of town.”
“I wouldn’t believe anything he says,” mutters Teddy.
Scowling, Marv nods. “We’ve been trying to track down MacTire for the past few days, but he’s disappeared without a trace after your fight. We’ll keep looking for him, but in the meantime, be extra cautious until we can bring him in for questioning.”
“Thanks, Marv,” I say with a small shudder.
He nods. “I’ll wait for you outside.”
After Marv leaves, I turn to Teddy and whisper, “I’m scared.”
Teddy wraps his muscular arms around me, drawing me protectively against the solid wall of his chest. “I promise I won’t let Rafe get close to you.”
I pull back just far enough so I can peer into his swollen face. “It’s not me I’m worried about—it’s you!”
Teddy kisses my forehead. “I can take care of myself.”
“Uh-huh. I can see how well that turned out!”
He folds me into his chest once more and rubs my back. “Let’s not jump ahead of ourselves; perhaps it was rambunctious teens having a bit too much fun.”
I don’t reply, relishing the warmth of Teddy’s arms. But deep down in the pit of my belly, I’m afraid Rafe could be hanging around, waiting to cause more trouble for Teddy and me.
Reluctantly, I step out of his embrace. “Marv’s waiting; I’d better go. Don’t forget to take your meds. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“Alright, but don’t try cleaning up the bakery by yourself.”
“I’ve got this, Mr. Clean.” I raise one eyebrow. “And I promise, once you’re up and around, you can re-sweep the floorboards to your heart’s content.”
That makes Teddy chortle. “Fine… just be careful.”
“You’re such a worrywart; this is Riddle Hill, the safest little supernatural town in the Midwest.”
Teddy huffs out a sigh and then tucks a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. “Call me if you need anything.”
“Of course,” I reply, savoring his touch. We both know I’m not calling him; he needs time to heal, and I’m still his nurse.
As I walk down to the end of the driveway, I spot yellow crime-scene tape fluttering in the summer breeze; Marv and his faerie partner, Sam, have cordoned off the front of the bakeshop. I take a deep breath, steeling myself to round the corner and face the damage.
I’m thankful I’m wearing my sturdy Converse sneakers, because something crunches underfoot; my picture window is nothing but a thousand tiny shards that sparkle like loose diamonds on the sidewalk.
Gloom descends on me, and I don’t want to see anymore, but Marv is calling my name.
I slowly raise my gaze from the ground to the shop itself and let out a loud gasp. “Why?”
The vandals smeared red paint all over the front of my beautiful bakery, and from the looks of it, they sprayed the inside of the shop through the broken window. My white wrought iron tables—a gift from Teddy—are now speckled with red paint like so many drops of blood.
I gulp down the bile rising in my throat; I think Teddy may be right. This feels like something Rafe would do. Rubbing my arms, I shiver, chilled to my core despite the sunshine.
“I’m so sorry, honey,” says my mother, who must have spotted me from the café’s window across the street.
This is her first day back at work after the flu, and the last thing I want is for Mom to be fretting over me.
“Who would do such an awful thing?” She wraps her arm around my shoulders and gives a squeeze.
Marv says quietly, “We don’t know yet, Miss Phoebe, but we’ll chase down every fang, feather, and patch of fur until we find ’em.”
My mother gives me another squeeze. “Your father and I want to replace the window for you, so don’t worry about that. Whatever else you need, just let us know. Nash can’t leave the kitchen right now, but he’s waving his spatula around and shouting faerie curses in Irish while he cooks.”
That image causes my mouth to tip up at the corners. “Thanks, Mom.” I wait for her to cross the street and reenter the café, relieved she’s back where she belongs. Then I turn around to face my shattered bakeshop once more. Fishing inside my pocket, I withdraw the key and unlock the door.
“Wait here; we’ll go in first to look around, not that I expect any surprises,” says Marv. Sam and Marv stalk inside, creep around the room’s perimeter, and open the doors to the bathroom and closet. While Marv inspects the kitchen, Sam pokes his head back outside and tells me I can enter.
My heart sinks as I gaze at the paint spattering my hardwood floors and marring Sophie’s Greenest Green on my walls. “Whoever did this leaned through the broken window with his can of paint so he could cause as much damage as possible,” says Sam, his brown eyes solemn. “This feels personal to me.”
“Yeah, I agree,” grunts Marv. He holds up a rock about the size of my fist in his gloved hand. “This rolled under one of the bakery cases. We’ll dust it for fingerprints, but I’m not expecting we’ll find anything useful.”
Marv places the rock in an evidence bag, which Sam carries out to their squad car. “Jake doesn’t know yet,” says Marv. “He’s on call at the fire station, so I haven’t told him, but he’s going to be spitting mad when he hears. We’ll find whoever did this, Sophie; I promise.”
I thank Marv and follow him out to the sidewalk; I don’t have the heart to face the damage alone, but I also don’t want to tell Teddy that all his hard work has been ruined.
I’m about to lock up when a familiar, creaky voice calls out from behind me, “Hold up there, dearie. I brought some sponges that’ll help you clean up this mess, but you need to use them right away. ”
“Granny?” I spin around. My grandmother is wearing baggy purple shorts, an orange-and-green plaid flannel shirt, and a blue ball cap; somehow the look works on her. She gives me one of the pails she’s carrying, and I peer inside at an ordinary-looking sponge about the size of my hand.
“This can remove dried paint?” I’m incredulous.
“Shh,” she puts a finger to her lips. “Not so loud; I see some non-supers heading this way.”
Then it dawns on me; my faerie granny is giving me magic sponges! “O-oh… thanks, Gran!”
Granny reaches for the other sponge inside her pail. “Why don’t you start cleaning the inside of the shop; I’ll work out here. The magic’s only good for a couple hours.”
“But what’ll you say if a non-super wants to know how a plain yellow sponge can remove dried paint?”
“I’ll just tell ’em it’s magic.” Granny grins at me and winks.
Despite the heaviness twisting my gut, and my apprehension that Rafe isn’t finished with Teddy and me yet, I burst out laughing.
Before we get started, I sweep up the broken glass on the sidewalk so Granny doesn’t trip on it, and then I carry my pail into the shop.
I’ve just placed the pail on the floor when my phone buzzes in my pocket; Teddy has managed to wait twenty-four minutes before texting me, which is better than I would’ve done if the roles were reversed.
I underplay the damage, telling him it’s going to take a couple of hours to clean up with my grandmother’s help.
He tells me he’s going to make us lunch and signs off with a row of sparkly hearts.
I send Teddy a bunch of kissy faces and tuck away my phone.
Wait a minute; Teddy is going to attempt to do something in the kitchen other than clean it? That’s awfully sweet, but I have a feeling I’ll be running to Vlad’s Victuals later for carryout.
I decide to start with the wall closest to the window and slowly swipe the yellow sponge across the spattered surface; when I pull the sponge away, not a single dab of red paint remains on the wall!
Granny’s magic sponge is pure genius!
Two hours later, every speck of red paint is gone, and I feel as if I just relived my favorite childhood book, The Cat in the Hat. When I mention this to Granny, she chuckles. “Who do you think gave him the idea?”
Perhaps Granny was standing in the sun too long, because she’s not making any sense. “Who do you mean,” I ask, “the author or the cat?”
“The cat, of course.”
What can I say to that?
Who knows if it’s true, or if Granny is recalling some other cat she conversed with; at her age, it’s anyone’s guess. I thank my grandmother, who lifts one skinny arm in a queenly wave and heads down Main Street toward her shop.
I can’t leave yet, because I still need to finish sweeping the glass inside the bakery and wait for the gaping hole to be boarded up by my overprotective cousin; Jake texted me a little while ago when he heard what happened and told me he’s picking up the plywood for my window.
I grab the broom and sweep up the shards, going over the floor twice; I debate sweeping it a third time, but Teddy will want to go over the entire floor again anyway, so I leave that job to my perfect, persnickety boyfriend.
Boyfriend… I’m dumping the pile of broken glass bits into a heavy-duty trash bag when I pause and straighten; I have an honest-to-goodness, totally amazing boyfriend!
Boyfriend… Handsome-as-a-Norse-god Teddy Barker loves me, cranky, careless, chaotic Sophie Spellman Brownlee!
I stop and pinch myself.
“What are you doing?” asks Jake, who’s standing in the doorway.
“Um… just thinking.”
“You were pinching your arm.” Jake scowls at me, probably worried I’m losing it. He’s brought his tool chest with him and sets it down on the floor.
“It’s been a long morning.”
Jake’s frown lines deepen. “I’m so sorry Sophie; we’ll find him, I promise.”
“You think it was Rafe too?”
He nods. “Don’t you? It sure doesn’t appear to be a random act of vandalism.”
I feel deflated all over again, which is depressing so soon after pinching myself with joy over Teddy. I huff out a sigh. “Unfortunately, I think you’re right… which makes me really nervous, especially for Teddy given his history with Rafe.”
Jake growls through gritted teeth, “I plan to track down that sorry excuse for a wolf before he causes any more trouble. The only good news here is that Teddy held his own against a larger, much more aggressive werewolf. Teddy is stronger than you may realize.”
I hug myself and grin like a kid on her first day of summer break. “Oh, I know he’s strong.” And kind, gentle, loving, forgiving… but I don’t say that to Jake, who’s canted his head to the side.
Jake stares at me for a few beats and then says, “Teddy told you.”
“About the mate bond thingy?”
When Jake nods, I say, “Yes, he told me quite a bit, actually.” My cousin can tell by the happy grin plastered on my face that Teddy and I did more than talk about our mate bond.
“Ah yes, puppy love,” grumbles Jake, but he’s smiling.
“You should try it sometime; you might find you’re a bit less growly.”
Jake ignores that last remark and grunts, “Come give me a hand before you float away on Cupid’s wings.”
“You’re such a grump.” I punch his arm lightly.
“Takes one to know one,” he quips, and we both chuckle. Then he adds softly, “I’m truly happy for you and Teddy.”
“Thanks, Jake.” A fleeting look of sadness clouds his eyes, and I realize how lonely he must be; it can’t be easy being a werewolf alpha without a mate of his own. “She’s out there.”
“Who?” asks Jake.
“Your fated mate.”
He shrugs. “Not everyone has one, you know.”
We drop the topic and get to work nailing the plywood in place. I’m not a seer or anything… but I’m certain my lonesome cousin has a mate. I just hope for his sake she turns up soon.