Chapter 26
The Busy Bee had never been quite this crowded. Aluminum pans of pasta, salad, and garlic bread sat along one end of the chrome counter, the ladies who’d organized this behind it. Edith, Anna, Raven, and Rosa were having a grand old time. Hahn’s Grocery had supplied drinks.
The other end of the counter held the prizes.
There’d been so many they’d started sitting baskets on the barstools.
For instance, Felix had donated a board game night basket with games for all ages.
Joe’s uncle had put together a “movie night” themed basket with candies and popcorns from his general store.
Virginia put a weekend stay at the Haven up for grabs.
Just about every business in the town had donated a prize.
Except Grace. She donated dessert.
Luke licked his fingers after devouring a “Better than Sex” cupcake and nudged Maggie next to him in the booth. “I don’t know whether to commend Grace or give her a hug.”
“What do you mean?”
“That cupcake was damn close to living up to the hype.” He smirked. “But not quite better than sex.”
Maggie hummed, her lips curling upward coyly. “No, I think the name is perfect.”
Luke leaned in with a growl. “Do you, now? Maybe we should go back to your place so I can show you it’s not.”
She shook her head, shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. “That won’t prove anything, silly.” Tilting her head so she whispered right into his ear, she explained, “Making love is different from having sex. And the cupcake lives up to its name.”
Her emerald eyes sparkled as she waited for his reply. Luke pursed his lips to hide his grin. “Very well. I concede.” He pressed a quick kiss to her lips, and whispered, “Nothing beats making love to you.”
“Get a room, you two.” Mom slid into the booth across from them, leaning her cane against the wall.
“We were just discussing that.” Luke waggled his eyebrows.
Maggie smacked him playfully on the arm. “Later. I’m too full, and it’d be rude to leave before I find out who wins a month of services from Your Watson.”
Luke wrapped an arm around his girl’s shoulders and settled into the booth. “I’ll hold you to it.”
Deb Graham was looking around in awe at their friends and neighbors who’d gathered to raise money for her medical care.
The most surprising were the out-of-town folks, tourists who had loved The Busy Bee during their visits.
They’d heard about Mom’s injury through Maggie’s social media posts and came out in droves to participate.
Maggie had even figured out how to set up a form so people could purchase tickets online in advance.
The town mall across the way had turned into an impromptu picnic area, with takeout spaghetti and meatballs.
Even the Mayor was in line for dinner.
Mom hadn’t avoided surgery, but she was on the mend now. “How was physical therapy?” Luke asked her.
She grumbled. “Damn sadist is going to kill me.”
“He’s just trying to get you back to the kitchen you love, Deb.” Maggie reminded her.
“Yeah, I need to get back there so this one can go learn his new job.” Deb patted his hand. “Don’t worry. I’m doing my exercises and everything.”
Luke rolled his eyes. “I have enough time to study and work the line, Mom.” He was taking online classes to prepare himself for the civil service exam.
Frankly, he should be able to pass without them, but wanted to refresh his memory.
An FBI agent transitioning to parole agent might turn some heads, but he wasn’t the only fed who got burned out.
Most of his training would be on-the-job, and Gabe had all but promised him an opening with the county.
“Still. I need to hire more help. Now that school’s out I should be able to find some high school kids that want to make money for college.”
He raised his can of soda to her. “Sounds like a plan.”
Game night had rolled around once more, one of Felix’s favorite nights of the week. The only thing that topped it was when he and Grace met at his place to watch House of the Dragon.
His best friend from school was his neighbor again, having moved back home to help his mother. Luke had quit the FBI to train as a parole agent. While Felix knew his friend was taking a massive pay cut, the other things he was gaining made Felix jealous.
Namely, his relationship with Maggie.
Felix wasn’t jealous because he wanted Maggie. No, she was all Luke’s. But he’d give his first edition Dungeons & Dragons rule books for Grace to look at him the way Maggie looked at Luke.
Like right now, as they entered Underhill Books and Games.
“Hey, guys! You ready to rob a lich?”
“I hope so.” Maggie leaned into Luke’s shoulder. “By the way, Felix, we should get started on your social media soon.”
Felix sighed and pushed his glasses back up his nose.
He’d had the lucky ticket for a month of Maggie’s services at Deb Graham’s basket dinner fundraiser last month.
“Come in tomorrow during business hours and we’ll talk.
” More business couldn’t hurt. The boxes were getting a bit dusty.
And he’d been tossing ideas around for events with Grace last week, and she’d suggested a small gaming convention of sorts.
Social media would be a good way to get the word out about those.
“Head on down, guys, I’ll be right there.”
Grace strolled down the sidewalk, her dark hair flowing like melted chocolate. Felix leaned against the counter at the perfect angle to watch her without her knowing he was creeping on her.
Sometimes he let himself daydream that she was his.
A hand clapped down on his shoulder, and Felix jumped. “Dude! Not cool.”
“You need to roll a perception check, Game Master.” Luke snickered.
“No, now I need to roll a constitution check. You almost gave me a heart attack,”
Luke followed Felix’s line of sight and shook his head. “Come on, man. Just shoot your shot.”
Felix’s stomach dropped. “I can’t. She doesn’t see me that way.
” Dancing with her at the Spring Fling had proven that.
He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “It’s always, ‘You’re such a great friend, Felix.
’ Although I think your girl is going to take my place as her best friend soon.
” Grace and Maggie had clicked right away, though Grace had never met a stranger.
“If she does, then you could move into boyfriend town.”
He shook his head. “I’ve known her forever, Luke. If it was going to happen, it would have happened by now.”
Luke scoffed. “Like when? Before she left for school? You and I both know you weren’t going to tell her then. You never wanted to hold her back.”
Felix rolled his eyes. “It’s been two years since she moved home.” He’d missed his chance.
But Luke wasn’t giving up. He hummed thoughtfully. “You know, there was something Coach used to tell us when we were working on game strategy.”
Felix smirked. Luke hadn’t played football since high school. “What’s that?”
“You miss a hundred percent of the shots you don’t take.” He patted Felix’s shoulder again and moved away. “I’ll see you down there.”
“Yep.” What Luke didn’t know was Felix had taken the shot. And missed.
The angel of Too Sweet Bakery was closing in, now, a pink bag in hand. She pulled the door open, and the bell rang over her head.
“Hi, Felix!”
“Hey, Grace.” She greeted him with a hug, like she always did. And like he always did, he took a surreptitious sniff of her strawberry shampoo. A hit to last him until the next time. “Whatcha got there?”
“Leftovers from my latest round of test baking.” She grinned, her smile lighting up the crevices of his darkened mood. “I’m working on a lemon lavender cupcake.”
“Sounds delicious.” He locked the door and flipped the sign to “Closed” before following her down to the basement, where she was passing out goodies.
“What’s the occasion?” Joe asked, taking a pale yellow cupcake.
“I’m working on July’s flavor of the month. What do you guys think?”
Maggie set hers down after taking a bite. “It’s good, Grace. I love it. But it doesn’t scream summer to me. It feels more like spring with the lavender.”
Felix peeled back the paper and took his own bite. Lemon danced across his palate, with a hint of the floral to soften it.
No, he hadn’t been watching baking shows in order to communicate better with the object of his obsession. Just don’t ask his Netflix account.
“Rats.” Maggie slumped into her chair. “I really like lemon for summer.”
“Save it for the spring rotation,” Maggie suggested. “July is fireworks and barbeques. You want something that explodes with flavor.”
“Like those bomb popsicles?” Joe chewed thoughtfully.
Grace’s eyes lit up and Felix died a little inside, wishing she’d look at him like that. She immediately pulled out her phone and started making notes on flavors, colors, how to combine them.
“Thanks, Joe. You’re brilliant!”
Felix choked down the rest of his treat, wiping his hand off on the napkin she’d brought.
“Whenever you’re ready, we’ll get started.”
Grace turned that bright smile onto him and finished with her phone. Felix caught Luke’s look of sympathy and shook his head. Grace would never see him as anything more than a friend.