Chapter 28 Coco
Coco
One step inside Sparkle Bar and the breath spills from my lungs. Fairy lights sprint across the ceiling, and elegant black cloths drape the tables. The entire place glows.
It no longer feels like the town’s dive bar. Now it shines like an upscale bar.
I turn to Stone, whose hand cradles my lower back. “Did you have something to do with this?”
Red dots his cheeks. “I may have asked the guys to spruce it up.”
“Congratulations!” Isaac, Ron, and his wife Jennifer shout, as well as other folks from town like Clarice, Cristina, and the ladies from book club.
They’re all here—all of them—for me. For us. To celebrate our engagement.
I’m going to be sick.
“Can I get you something to drink?” Stone asks.
“Wine would be great.”
“Be right back.” He gives me a warm smile that melts my insides before heading off toward the bar.
There is so much to admire about Stone Maddox—his goodness, his kindness. Not to mention his strong shoulders and pecs. His body is drool-worthy even with clothes.
Not that I know what he looks like unclothed. Stone keeps a T-shirt on when he putts around the cottage. But I can only imagine the smooth dips and mouthwatering valleys that sculpt his abs.
Pressure coils in my core just thinking about him.
Better stop daydreaming or else I’ll wind up in more trouble than I’m already in.
“Hey, girl.” I look over as Jennifer wraps me in a hug. “Congrats.”
“Thank you.”
She lifts a glass of wine. “I’d cheers with you, but you don’t have a drink yet.”
“Stone’s getting me one.”
“Stone Maddox,” she says, flipping her long brown braid over one shoulder. “What are the chances two local girls would snatch up the Maddox brothers?”
My stomach turns queasy. “Yeah, what are the chances?”
“Mmm.” She watches him before glancing back at me. “From what the guys say, Stone’s changed in the past weeks. He’s acting like a whole new man. If you ask me, it’s like he’s under some kind of—”
She laughs before finishing the word, but my spine locks anyway.
I laugh weakly. “You never know.”
Stone talks with Isaac and Ron, who hasn’t stopped chatting since Stone grabbed our drinks. He looks over and shoots me a tender look. The ice in my stomach is quickly replaced with butterflies that lift into the sky.
Jennifer pats my arm. “I’d better save your fiancé before Ron talks him to death. If you’ll excuse me.”
As soon as she enters the conversation, Isaac leaves and approaches me.
“I figure I’ve got about one minute to do this,” he says, eyeing the crowd.
“Do what?”
“Find out what the hell is going on.” He looks at me hard, suspicion spilling from his eyes. “Two weeks ago you and Stone couldn’t stand each other. Now you’re engaged, and he’s acting funny—like, really funny. Changing plans, rebuilding a resort. So what’s the deal, Coco?”
Wow. I really wish I had that drink right about now so I could bury my face in it. “Why don’t you ask Stone?”
“Because I’m asking you.” Isaac smooths a hand down his braids and his tone softens. “Look, we’ve known each other long time, and I trust you. But something strange is happening. What is it?”
I have known Isaac a long time, and if I attempt to say it’s nothing, he won’t believe me. Might as well fess up.
“The day I came to inspect the ley lines, I saw the resort was weakening them. I tried to tell Stone, but he wouldn’t listen.”
“Sounds about right.”
I frown. This is the part when he’s supposed to say, You can see ley lines? You’re a hideous beast! Leave our village before we destroy you.
When he doesn’t, I slowly continue. “So I did something to help him see them.”
Isaac lifts an eyebrow. “You drugged him?”
“No! Kind of? Not like that. I gave him a potion.” I drop my voice. “It was supposed to help, not reset his entire personality.”
“And the engagement?”
“He found a ring I’d had sized. And before I could stop him, he told Rhett we were getting married. I didn’t plan this, Isaac. I swear. I’m not trying to take advantage of a Maddox.”
Isaac tips his head like he’s contemplating either forgiving me or locking me in cell for the rest of my life. After a length of time so painful I’d rather endure a root canal than wait another second, he says, “I do like this Stone better.”
My bones liquify into a happy pile of mush. “I like this Stone, too. That’s the problem. I wasn’t supposed to.”
Soon as he changes back, I’ll become enemy number one and the blackmail scenario will be on. I exhale a hard sigh just thinking about how callous he was before.
Isaac shoots me a sympathetic look. “Well, the guy has compassion. The other Stone, he was hurt by his family and he was sitting in it bad.”
“What do you mean?”
“Apparently, his mother kept him away from his dad for most of his life, told him and Pane that the man didn’t want to have anything to do with them.”
My jaw falls. “What?”
“Crazy, right?”
“It’s terrible.”
I look back at Stone. He’s smiling, but you would never know what he’s suffered. Well, you would if you’d met him before the spell got ahold of him. But today, this is the best version of himself, and somehow, I want to become the best version of me because of him.
Isaac starts to move away but I hold out my hand to stop him. “Are you . . . will you tell him?”
He shakes his head. “The man’s happy. You’re happy. But secrets don’t stay buried long in Mystic Meadows. Especially not the magical kind. Eventually, you’ll have to choose who you’re trying to protect—and why.”
As Isaac leaves, Stone disentangles himself from Ron and Jennifer and makes his way back to me. Our gazes never leave one another as he approaches.
“I hope white wine is okay.”
“It’s perfect.”
He clinks his beer bottle against my wineglass. “You know, it’s weird.”
“What is?” I take a sip. The wine is cold and fruity. Perfect. “I mean, other than we’re having a party at Sparkle Bar.”
He chuckles. “Nothing about that’s weird. I always envisioned my engagement party would be housed in a place with deer heads.”
“You really can’t go wrong with a few mounted bass and a stuffed bobcat.”
“I think the turkey is what makes the place. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if there wasn’t a stuffed fowl sitting on that table back there.”
He points, and sure enough, a turkey is mounted in a standing position atop a table. The fowl holds its head high like it’s the guest of honor.
Stone winks as I chuckle. He gives me such a tender look my knees weaken. Who is this beautiful, wonderful man? If I could bottle this Stone forever, I would. I want to preserve him, this moment, all of it, forever. My body aches at the thought that this is fleeting.
“Listen, I realize this probably isn’t how you want to do this,” he says.
“Do what?”
He points his beer around the room. “Announce our engagement. But as soon as I knew, I couldn’t not do this.”
He’s so sweet. It hurts my soul.
He sets his beer on a table and steps closer. His voice lowers, like we’re in a world of our own. “I want to know everything.”
My mouth goes dry from his closeness, from his sea breeze scent, from his very presence.
“You want to know everything?” I ask, my tongue like sandpaper. “What kind of everything?”
“What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?”
Oh, that kind of everything. Not the tell-me-all-about-my-life-and-fake-answers-you-know-nothing-about kind of everything. “Butter pecan is my favorite flavor, but only if the ice cream actually tastes like butter. Otherwise it isn’t worth it.”
“Mine is strawberry,” he says matter-of-factly. Then his eyes bulge. “Yes, it is. Strawberry. Wow. I know that. All right.” Stone snaps his fingers. “Favorite food?”
“Indian.”
He sucks air. “Chicken tikka masala!”
“Yes!” I throw up my arms. “I love it!”
“Me too. Wait. I remember the first time I tried it. I was at a hotel . . . It changed my life. I may have cried afterward.” He frowns. “Hold up. It’s not my absolute favorite. Nothing can replace a great cheeseburger on a toasted bun.”
“Oh, I agree.”
He takes a swig of his beer. “What about movies?”
“Hmm. I don’t have a favorite, but Stranger Things is my all-time favorite show.”
“It’s like if E.T. and Close Encounters had a fourth-dimensional baby that’s crawling with demons!”
“Yes,” I screech.
“Yes!” Stone tosses his arms in the air. People glance over curiously. “Just, um, found out she’s not pregnant.”
I elbow him lightly in the stomach and shake my head, silently telling him, Not pregnant. He takes my arm, slides his hand down it, and entwines his warm fingers in mine.
He is so lusciously warm.
This, I think. This is what real relationships are forged from—likes, dislikes, dreams, hopes, goals. Your heart tugging when you share something in common, and theirs doing the same.
But this is different because every piece of himself that Stone remembers shortens the ticking time bomb of us.
When people shoot us more curious looks, I add, “He’s joking. No babies.”
Then everyone returns to their conversations.
I look up to see Stone gazing down at me. My throat shrinks.
He squeezes my hand. “I love Stranger Things. Just like I know that I . . .” He swallows, and part of me thinks he was going to say, Just like I know I love you.
But that can’t be, because we barely know one another, and love takes time to grow and blossom.
But maybe this is what the beginning of love feels like, and that’s what he was going to say.
I steer the conversation in a different direction. “What else do you know about yourself?”
Ron walks up, holding a tray of hot dogs. “Fresh from the oven,” he says. “Sorry, Coco, we couldn’t get anything fancier on such short notice. Jennifer wouldn’t even unlock the controlled-drug cabinet for us.”
“First, hot dogs are great. Second, I know you’re joking, Ron, because taking prescription medication that isn’t prescribed to you is illegal.”
He gives me a lopsided grin. “I am joking. We wouldn’t do that. Jennifer’s too much of a professional to even kid about it.”
We each take a dog, but once Ron is gone, Stone wrinkles his nose and places his on a nearby table.
I eye the discarded meal. “You’re not hungry?”
“I’m hungry, I just hate hot dogs. Can’t stand them and I have no idea why. Maybe because they’re processed.”
He only took the offer to be polite. It makes me smile. “That’s a small but notable detail.” A shadow passes over his face, and I tug on his sleeve playfully. “What is it?”
“It’s weird I can remember those things—what I like, dislike. But I can’t remember the important stuff—you, my parents, my brother, my sister. And that’s what I want to know. And before you say anything, I want to remember that stuff on my own, just like everything else.”
I squeeze his hand. “You’ll find the answers.”
Before his lips quirk playfully or he gives me a tender look that’s stuffed with trust—both expressions that will make my guilt spiral—I glance away and spot Cristina. She scrunches her face and shoots me a look that says, This is sweet, but we have bigger problems.
“Do you want to know what I’m most proud of?” I ask, ignoring my friend’s look.
“Yes,” he says without hesitation. “I for sure want to know this.”
“You.” When I say it, he flinches. “I’m proud of you for diving into the project headfirst. For believing in yourself.
If this happened to me, if I had”—I drop my voice—“amnesia, I’d be a nervous wreck.
But you’re thriving. You’re redoing the resort, and the design is even better.
The materials are amazing. The crew is working overtime—for you.
Not for someone else, but because they respect you. ”
Stone gently brushes a strand of hair from my cheek. “All I want is to be someone who makes you proud.”
Heat floods every inch of my body. My mouth goes dry because I feel the same way. I want to be someone he’s proud of, too.
In order to do that, the truth must be told. It’s the worst possible time, but better to end things now before I’m in so deep I’ll never be able to dig myself out.
“Stone, there’s something—”
But before there’s a chance to finish, the front doors are thrown open and Brittany appears, her phone in hand.
My sister and my entire family—including my grandmother—step inside the bar and yell, “Congratulations!”