Jasper
I dialed Lacey’s number as I paced along my parents’ front porch. I’d had it. After being thwarted multiple times over the past week in my attempts to spend some private time with Delilah, I was ready to resign as hospitality host.
I’d been biding my time, assuming I’d figure out how to balance my duty to the town with my attraction to the contest judge, but when I came across Delilah last night, sprinting back to her trailer in see-through lingerie, I’d lost it. Something had to change.
By the time I got past Lacey’s assistant, I’d almost worn a path in the floorboards from the tense pacing. I didn’t want to quit on her, but I also didn’t want to give up seeing Delilah. It had become obvious I couldn’t do both.
“Lacey Cherish speaking.”
“Mayor Cherish, it’s Jasper Taylor.”
“Hi, Jasper. How’s our resident contest judge? I heard you took her to the movie at the Hampton barn. Nice touch. I remember going out there with Bodie a few times before baby P was born.”
“Yeah, about the contest.”
“Don’t tell me you ran her off. I’ve got enough going on today, I can’t take any more bad news.”
I tried to spill it out, just dump a whole breath full of words about how I couldn’t be her hospitality host anymore. But instead, I asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I’m in a heap of trouble and I need help.”
“What now?”
“I swear someone’s out to get us. The butterfly wedding is this weekend.”
“That’s right.” Hopefully Delilah’s black eye would be gone by then or at least faded enough that she could hide it with makeup.
Lacey let out a groan. “We don’t have butterflies. Someone let them all loose last night. That bride is going to show up on Friday and all we’re going to have to release is a few giant moths. I need help.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “What happened? I thought you had them tucked away in a tent in the warehouse or something.”
“I did. But someone snuck in and unzipped it. There are a few in the warehouse but most of them have flown away. They’re probably halfway to Mexico by now. Are your brothers around?”
I clenched my jaw. I didn’t know what a cutthroat business weddings could be before I took on the role of hospitality host. “A few of them. What can we do to help?”
“I don’t want to alert the bride yet, not if we can figure out a way to replace the butterflies that were set loose. Do you think you and your brothers might be able to rustle some up for me?”
My heart stopped. For a long moment, I waited for it to start up again. Finally, I thumped the middle of my chest. “You want us to do what?”
“I’ve got some nets I picked up from Coop down at the feed store. I need as many people as possible to catch butterflies. I don’t care what kind. Just as many as you can. Bring them to the warehouse.”
“You got it. I’ll call Suzy and see if she can get her club to pitch in as well.”
“Thanks. You’re a lifesaver.”
“We’ll do what we can.”
“I’ve got a few more calls to make. I’ll be at the warehouse after four this afternoon if you want to bring me whatever you can find.”
“See you then.” I stood there for a second, letting her off-the-wall request sink in. Butterflies. What was my world coming to?
I wandered back into the kitchen. My mom had finished making breakfast and my dad sat at the head of the table, about to dig into his scrambled eggs.
“Hey, Mayor Cherish just called. She’s got a favor to ask if any of you have some time today.
” My stomach growled at the smell of a homemade breakfast. I’d been working for a few hours already and had burned through the protein bar and cup of coffee I’d fixed myself when I woke up.
But no time for that now, not with a mission from the mayor.
“What’s up?” Lucas diced up a banana and slid it onto the tray of Maggie’s highchair.
“Lacey’s got that butterfly wedding this weekend and someone let all the butterflies loose.” I reached for my mug of coffee that had cooled on the counter.
“You sure you want to get wrapped up in that?” Dad held a piece of bacon in his hands. “Butterflies? That’s asinine.”
“She’s hoping we can catch enough to replace the ones that got away.” I let my gaze linger on Trent, Mitchell, and Lucas. Davis was probably still in bed, and Abby had already left for school.
“I can’t help, I’ve got to open the store,” Trent said.
Lucas shook his head. “My shift starts at nine and Mom’s watching Mags.”
I took in a slow breath through my nose as I eyed Mitchell.
“Dad needs me to take a look at some equipment if we want to be able to harvest the pecans we’ve got left.” Mitchell lifted a shoulder. “Sorry.”
“I’ll help.” Delilah peered up at me, her eyes shining bright, the bruise on her cheek faded to a light purple.
“Are you sure you’re up for it?” I winced as my gaze drifted over her.
“Of course. I don’t have anything going on today. What else am I going to do?”
With a sinking feeling in my gut, I wrapped a hand around my coffee and lifted it to my lips. “All right then. Let’s go hunt some butterflies.”
Three hours later I slipped another huge monarch butterfly into the netted hamper my mother had given me. We’d been hunting butterflies all morning and had collected only a fraction of the number Lacey started with.
“How many does that make?” I asked Delilah. She was in charge of keeping the hamper closed so we didn’t lose any.
“Around thirty maybe?” Delilah guessed. “I lost count when Buster knocked the hamper over and we had to recapture some of the ones that got away.”
“That’s it?”
Delilah had on a bright yellow sweater. She looked like a sunflower standing against the backdrop of some fields that had been left to compost. The butterflies seemed to flock to her, probably drawn in by the color of her sweater.
“Hold still.” I gently plucked a few more butterflies from her sleeve and slipped them into the hamper. “At this rate we won’t have enough to make much of an impact.”
“What are butterflies attracted to?” Delilah asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve never tried to find them on purpose before.”
She pulled out her phone and typed on the screen. “Looks like they love milkweed. Is there any of that growing around here?”
“Hey, Aunt Suzy,” I called to my aunt, who’d joined us with a few of her biker friends. “Isn’t there some nursery around here that specializes in local plants?”
“There sure is.” Suzy nodded. “That place out east of town. I think it’s called Milkweed Gardens, or something like that.”
“Perfect. Delilah, why don’t you and I head over and see if it’s worth pursuing. Suzy and Helmut, you stay here and if we think you need to come over, I’ll give you call.” Delilah had already started to move toward my truck when I caught up. “Thanks for pitching in with this.”
“Of course. What else was I going to do today? Sit around while the rest of you went on a mad dash to try to collect butterflies? Besides, this is fun. It’s not every day I get to learn how to track down monarchs.”
“But your eye.” Finally, far enough away for the others to notice, I cupped her cheek with my palm.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about me. Right now I’m only thinking about butterflies.”
I nodded. “Hopefully we’ll find enough to make it work. I hate to think about that poor bride.”
“You put on quite a front, don’t you?”
I turned to find her studying me. “What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing, really. I’m just surprised that a guy like you cares so much about how a stranger might feel.” She tucked a leg underneath her while a teasing smile played across her lips.
I shifted my gaze to the road ahead. “I don’t want Lacey to have to deal with the fallout.”
“Right.”
“What? Is it that strange that a guy would be concerned about a friend?”
“Nope. Not strange at all.”
I glanced over and caught her biting back a grin. “Are you saying men shouldn’t think about other people’s feelings?”
“Not at all.” She faced me, her green eyes shining. “I’m saying it’s refreshing to see someone who’s not afraid to show he cares.”
I blew out a breath. “Great. Now you’re making me out to sound like a softhearted wuss.”
Her fingers brushed my arm. “That’s not what I meant at all. I think it’s nice that you care so much. Not everyone has the ability to put themselves in someone else’s place and consider how they feel. That’s all.”
I wasn’t sure if I should take her observation as a compliment. “How about we focus more on finding butterflies and less on my emotional intelligence?”
Her grin spread wider. “Sounds like a plan.”
Ten minutes later I’d pulled up in front of the milkweed farm. It was a mom-and-pop operation well outside town limits. They focused on cultivating native plants and operated a small organic produce market.
I entered the small building, Delilah right behind me.
I explained the situation to the owners, and they directed me to a spot along a narrow stretch of creek bed where the milkweed flourished.
Hundreds of butterflies flitted from one plant to the next.
I gathered the nets from the back of the truck and handed one to Delilah.
“Have you ever seen anything like this?”
The look on her face told me she hadn’t. Her good eye sparkled as a butterfly landed on her shoulder. “It’s beautiful.”
Another one came to rest on her nose. Her eyes crossed. I snapped a quick picture with my phone.
“Don’t you dare share that with anyone.” She tried to look stern but with a butterfly on her head, one on her nose, and several more dotting her shirt, I couldn’t take her seriously.
“Pinkie promise.” I held out my hand, and she looped her pinkie finger around mine.
“You’ve got one on your head.” Her gaze rested above my face. “I think we need a selfie of this. No one’s going to believe it.” She pressed against me, turning her bruised cheek to my chest, and snapped a pic as we both smiled into the camera.
“Let’s get to work.” I gently ushered butterfly after butterfly into the net, then transferred them into another one of the hampers my mom had provided.
Delilah helped, the smile on her face not faltering once. “Look, there are a bunch of them over here.”