3. Chapter 3
A voiding Neil’s morning lecture really screwed up her route’s efficiency.
Pumpkin Hollow was a tiny town, but Zephyr still stared at the map for hours until she fell asleep.
Dale had to wake her, and she had drooled on Main Street until it was illegible.
There was no way she’d be beating her time tomorrow.
Unless fate was on her side. And the next day, when Zephyr zipped past the early breakfast rush at Frank’s diner, she saw an opportunity.
Her sights settled back on Neil, and a mischievous thought appeared.
If she could make Neil’s delivery here and now, she would save so much time on her route.
Maybe even beat her top time. As long as the town gossip, Gertrude, didn’t catch her again.
Yesterday, the old witch and her equally old and crusty white dog had added forty-five minutes to Zephyr’s time.
All Zephyr had to show for it was Gertrude’s insistence that when she had last used her telescope (which was for stargazing and not spying on her neighbors, thank you very much), she had witnessed a very handsome ghost creeping around the cemetery.
Zephyr adjusted course, pulling her broom to an abrupt stop before Neil. He let go of the door, startled by the woman hovering a few inches above his head.
“Good morning,” Zephyr sang, and her enthusiasm set him on guard.
Neil narrowed his eyes. “Is it going to be a good morning, Zephyr? For both of us?”
“You’re paranoid,” she laughed, already digging into her mailbag. “Cough it up,” she ordered her bag with a shake. “We have a special delivery for Finnegan.”
“Do you finally have my new welder? The one that’s been delayed three times?” He stepped toward her, his excitement keeping him from realizing her evil plan. When Zephyr pulled out a gigantic cardboard box, Neil paled. “Wait, I can’t carry that. Do not give that to me here.”
The mailbag’s magic made all her deliveries weightless until she handed them over.
Zephyr jiggled the oversized box just out of his reach.
“It’s only a few blocks back to your shop, Finnegan.
I’ve seen your arms. This’ll be a walk in the park for you.
Literally. I genuinely suggest cutting through the park. ”
He pushed the box back towards her. “You can’t make deliveries wherever you want! And—wait, what did you say about my arms?”
“Neil!”
Zephyr glanced down the sidewalk, watching Tawny and Karah making their way to the diner. If they had both left the Post, that meant Lyle had gotten stuck inside. “Lyle didn’t make it out before dawn? Again?”
“Nope,” Karah replied with a grin. “He was talking to Tawny this morning and got distracted .”
“Distracted by those big brown eyes,” Zephyr said.
“We were talking about work,” Tawny cut in. She adjusted her round glasses with a sniff.
“ Sure ,” Karah and Zephyr both teased.
During their conversation, Neil had tried to slip into the diner. Zephyr caught his collar with one hand and spun him around. “Not so fast. You have a delivery.”
“I’m not dragging that back to the shop,” he argued. “Is this even legal?”
“Stow the package and have breakfast with us, Zephyr,” Tawny offered. “The pancakes have bits of bacon in them. Or strawberries. Pecans?”
“I’ll consider it…” Zephyr decided. “If Neil says I win today.”
He grunted. “Win what?”
“Just say I win. Come on,” she needled him. “Say it for me.”
“No.” He scowled up at her. Gods, he had perfect hair again. With some concentrated magic wind, she could fix that, but that would really be childish. Neil added, “I’m not saying that when you look like it’s going to get you off.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know what that looks like?”
“Ugh, his sister is right here!” Karah tugged on Zephyr’s mailbag. “Stop torturing my brother. We redheads blush easily. It’s not sporting to tease us.”
Like a coward, Neil used his sister’s interruption to escape. He vanished into the retro diner, the door swinging shut behind him. With a pout, Zephyr dropped his delivery back into her mailbag. There went her record time. Again.
She hopped to the ground, left her broomstick leaning outside against a diner window, and allowed Tawny and Karah to pull her inside Frank’s.
It was a busy morning—the staff were bustling and spinning around the room, orders balanced perfectly on the palms of their hands.
The bar was busy, and she caught the shadow of a very tall man through the order window—the chef Zephyr had yet to meet. Had she gone to school with him, too?
Perhaps it was best to put off meeting him or anyone else until she got a good look at her high school yearbook.
Zephyr scanned the white and red-upholstered chairs. There was nowhere to sit. Nowhere except for a single booth with a single, glaring occupant.
Neil shook his head as the trio of women approached. “Nope. You are not sitting here.”
Karah took a seat across from him, yawning. “It’ll be a cold day in hell before I let you boss me around, baby brother.” Tawny quickly took the seat next to Karah. Zephyr didn’t mind. Tawny was not one for confrontation.
Zephyr tapped Neil’s shoulder. “Move over, please.” He still sat on the outer edge of the bench, lamenting his lost solitude. She added when he ignored her, “I will climb over you.”
He grunted, moving down to sit next to the window. Zephyr slid next to him, slouching back and throwing her right arm over the top of the bench. Her arm grazed Neil’s broad shoulders. Accidentally, of course . He stared at her intrusion. “What is this, our third date?”
“ Third date?” Zephyr laughed, but she didn’t move an inch. She was comfortable. After her fall, her limbs needed constant stretching, and she wouldn’t shrink for anyone. “What century are you from, where an arm over a shoulder is third-date material?”
“We’re the same age. Actually, you’re older.”
Zephyr blinked at him. Did he know when her birthday was? How odd.
Tawny added helpfully, “That’s just how she sits, Neil. Her first week at the Post, I thought she was making a move on me every time we sat in the breakroom together.”
“Who says I wasn’t?”
Karah fiddled with the sugar packets. “He’s just embarrassed because he used to—ow! Did you just kick me?”
Neil picked up a menu and flicked it open. “No.”
A beautiful woman with long black hair streaked with white interrupted the siblings’ squabble, giving them all a tired smile and asking for their orders.
The group ordered pancakes, each getting a different topping.
Zephyr never could resist chocolate, but when she saw the caramelized bananas on top of Neil’s stack, she regretted her order.
Neil caught her stare and shielded his plate with his arm.
Rude.
Karah’s phone buzzed, interrupting Zephyr’s attempt to steal a bite of her brother’s plate. Karah stared down at the screen and frowned. She silenced it twice, but the caller kept trying until Karah muttered a few choice words and answered.
“We’re supposed to be talking through lawyers,” she whispered furiously. Karah covered her face with a hand while Tawny stood up to let her out of the booth. “If you want to know anything about Levina’s new school, you need to call her yourself!”
Neil watched his sister struggle to escape the booth and run outside, giving Zephyr the perfect opportunity to snag a forkful of his pancakes. He rolled his eyes at her unsubtle thievery. As Zephyr chewed, she sought to distract him from her crime. “What’s up with Karah?”
“Family matter,” he said shortly.
She allowed the dismissal. It was what she had expected. Tawny squirmed in her seat and stood. “Let me pay the bill before the next rush.”
Zephyr fished out her wallet and handed it to Tawny. “Here. Let me get it.”
“Oh, but you’re new in town. Let me treat you.”
“She’s not actually new in town,” Neil countered. “She just came back.”
“I also used to be a celebrity. I’ve been on billboards. Let me cover the bill.” Zephyr stared Tawny down until she sighed and took the money.
Tawny vowed, “Fine! But I’m taking you out somewhere. Eventually.”
“Looking forward to it.” Zephyr nodded at Neil. “I’ll cover his tab, too. I ate off your plate, and I intend to try again. Also, I want to compensate you for the stunning view you’re providing this morning.”
Neil choked on his coffee.
With a surprised blink at both Zephyr and Neil, Tawny gave up trying to figure out the vibe and rushed to the counter. Neil said as soon as Tawny was out of earshot, “I can’t tell if you’re trying to torment me or flirt with me. I’m too old to waste time figuring out which one it is.”
“Don’t say you’re too old when we’re the same age.”
“You’re older.”
“Well, that decides it. I’m back to tormenting you. No matter how tight the t-shirt underneath your flannel is.”
He pulled self-consciously at the clinging material. “My sister did her laundry at my house and shrunk half my shirts. This isn’t on purpose.”
“And yet, we all still benefit from it.”
Tawny returned Zephyr’s wallet. “I should head back. Lyle gets testy with the customers during the day.”
“And I’m behind on deliveries,” Zephyr said. She glanced at Neil, letting her eyes wander over his broad chest as he buttoned up his flannel defiantly. “Neil, your cakes are safe from me. For now.”
“Please speak normally.” He followed as she slid out of the booth and made for the diner’s exit.
Zephyr only grinned back at him in answer. She stepped outside, about to grab her broomstick and fly off when Tawny poked her shoulder. “Let’s check on Karah.”
“Girl code. Right,” Zephyr agreed. She still needed to get used to hanging around people actually capable of empathy. “Where did she go?”
The women turned a quick circle, searching for their missing piece. Karah rounded a corner, her steps loud and quick against the cobblestone sidewalk. She typed furiously on her cell phone, muttering to herself until she noticed her audience.
“Oh.” She stopped, trying and failing to school her expression into serenity. “Just one moment—” She fumbled another message but her phone slipped from her shaking hands and bounced on the sidewalk.
“Let me,” Neil insisted, stepping forward. He bent over, snatching up the phone but tearing his flannel shirt in the back in the process. He straightened with a curse. “Dammit, Karah. You have to stop shrinking my clothes. I don’t need anyone to do my laundry for me—and don’t say you owe me!”
“But I use your washing machine constantly ,” Karah protested. “I have a teenage girl who changes her outfit four times a day.”
“You shrank my best pair of jeans. I ripped out the damn crotch.”
“ Really ?” Zephyr interrupted, suddenly interested in their squabble.
Neil snapped his fingers above his head. “Hey, hey! Eyes up here.”
“Sorry. You can be distracting.” She shrugged and met his gaze straight on until he scowled and averted his eyes.
Karah hooked her arm through Tawny’s. “Okay, I’m out before this gets any weirder.” The pair headed off, but Tawny glanced back a few times at Zephyr, who pretended she didn’t notice the meaningful glances.
Neil grabbed her broomstick and threw it to her. “I still expect my delivery on time.”
“I don’t know, might be a weather delay,” she said with a smirk. She waved a hand at the perfectly blue and clear sky above.
“I can promise you a weather delay,” Neil warned her. “I want that delivery within the hour or you can fly home under your personal rain cloud. Courtesy of me.”
“Easy, storm witch.” She hopped on her broom, circling him and rising until she could look down on him. “I’ll do my job. Just wait for me.”
“I’m always waiting for you,” he said, reminding her of his promise. That annoying, time-killing promise to monitor her flying.
She wouldn’t let it bother her. Men rarely kept their promises, in her experience. Eventually, Neil would become tired of waiting, and she’d be left alone.
Again.