Chapter 4 #2
“Probably stuck in line at Sal’s trying to pick up your fancy cheese,” Jena said, heading back into the kitchen. “You do know it’s four days before Yule, right? Everyone and their mother are out shopping.”
“Boo hoo. Sacrifices must be made, and he better not come back with the cheap stuff,” she groused. “He’s gonna have another thing coming if he thinks knock-off pecorino is getting anywhere near my masterpiece.”
“I’m sure he knows better after the last time you eviscerated him for not being more discerning in his dairy selection,” Jena said dryly from the kitchen, china rattling.
“You’d think, but he’s a man.” Aggie harrumphed.
“Hey!”
“Oh, you don’t count,” the older witch scoffed at Felix’s objection. “You had good home training.”
His brow quirked. “I’ll make sure to let my mom know you approve.”
“You do that. Lucinda still wrangling your sister’s indigents over there?” Aggie asked, lounging in a chair by the window and glancing down at the street. She crossed her legs, one foot bobbing with either anticipation or annoyance. Probably both.
“She is.”
“I don’t envy her that,” she muttered, her gaze still on the street. “One was hard enough.”
“At least I wasn’t in diapers,” Jena said, coming back in with a cup of tea and handing a glass of wine to Aggie before sitting beside Felix.
“True that. You weren’t totally feral, either.
” Aggie took a sip and then pursed her lips.
“Well, I made plenty, so you make sure you take a hefty portion over there. Your mom could use a break, and I haven’t met a kid yet who won’t eat pasta.
She makes a stink about it, tell her she can return the favor in cookies.
I hate baking, and her gingerbread’s on point. ”
“Will do,” Felix said, finishing his glass. Hopefully Aggie wouldn’t mind getting it in decapitated pieces.
Liam sat behind the wheel of his Jeep, one hand on the steering wheel and the other picking his lip. He stared out the windshield at the Witchery across the darkening street, his rosy outlook from his morning run totally obliterated after what had gone down at Cups.
Kelsey had convinced him to press charges and take out a restraining order against Pete.
God, just thinking about that son of a bitch made Liam want to put a hole through something.
So did the look on everyone’s faces that had been there.
What their confrontation was going to mean for his divorce and custody proceedings ate at him.
Especially what it was going to mean for the kids.
Liam frowned, his wolf whimpering. Was it really fucking worth it?
It felt selfish. Him being back in town, disrupting everybody’s lives.
Maybe he should just sign the papers, declare bankruptcy, and move on.
Even if he spilled his guts to Felix, the chances of him forgiving him and getting a second chance were slim to none.
Christ, what if he laughed at him?
After this morning, the possibility made Liam want to puke.
His nerves were fried, and his two-hour shower and double dose of anxiety meds hadn’t done anything to calm him down.
He blew out a breath, reaching for the ignition.
He’d said he’d come, and he’d done that, but he hadn’t technically said he’d go in—
Someone knocked on his passenger-side window, and he jumped.
“Hey, sorry about that. Didn’t mean to scare you,” Chase said, backing up with a loaded grocery bag in his arms. “You coming up?”
“Oh, um, yeah, I mean, yes.” Liam fumbled with his seatbelt and opened the door—Shit. He leaned back in and grabbed the six pack he’d picked up. Not that Jena could drink it, and he wasn’t supposed to on his meds, but no way was he getting through this without a beer or three.
“Cool.” Chase grinned, rounding the front of the Jeep.
“You know, Jena was beyond excited when Kelsey called the other day,” he said, shifting the grocery bag as he waited for Liam.
“We’re both really happy you decided to come, especially after Pete ran his mouth.
You’re a better man than me. I would’ve beaten the shit out of him for popping off like that. Christ, I still might.”
Liam toed a chunk of ice, seeing the aftermath of what’d happened in Los Huego beneath his feet for a breath. Christ. Nope. Not going there—Keep it together, Liam. “Kelsey was about to, but with the divorce…”
“No, I totally get it, but it’s only a matter of time before someone kicks his ass. The way I heard it, people are fucking pissed he threatened you. He’s gonna have a hard time showing his face around town.”
Liam’s gaze jerked up to meet Chase’s. “Yeah?”
His brows furrowed. “Yeah, man. That shit’s not cool, and you’ve never been anything but nice to everyone.
Him on the other hand…Pete’s a serious dick, and this is pretty much the reason people have been waiting for to blacklist the prick.
You know, I had a job over on McDermott, and caught him pissing on the side of my truck a couple of weeks ago? Man was stone cold sober, too.”
“That’s hard to believe,” Liam grumbled as the crossed the unlit street. He frowned, picking his way around a patch of black ice. Shit was dangerous.
And unfortunately, so was the situation with Pete.
They’d never been on great terms, but considering the guy was fucking his wife, things had been fairly amicable.
Jenny had finally seemed happy, then everything went to shit after Liam had gotten that damned job offer out West. He didn’t have a clue why Jenny had lost it on him when he didn’t want to take it, but it’d been bad enough that he had, and Pete had jumped head first into a bottle shortly after. Prick hadn’t come up for air since.
“Hopefully he abides by the restraining order. If he doesn’t, you let me know.”
Liam glanced over at the rumble of a threat beneath Chase’s words, a lump in his throat. “I appreciate that.”
Chase grunted and swept his messy caramel waves from his eyes. It was still weird to see the big man without that ratty ball cap he used to wear. “You know, you really should hang out more often.”
God, he said that like he really meant it. The lump in Liam’s throat grew larger. “Yeah, thanks, I’ve just been…” Barely keeping his shit together. He shrugged. “You know. Busy.”
“No, I get it.” Chase blew out a breath. “But it’s better that way. Things haven’t been easy for any of us the past few months. If I didn’t have Jena…” He shook his head. “My family wasn’t exactly the best, but it’s still hard losing them.”
Liam grunted. He knew all about that, but at least he had his parents and his sister. Chase didn’t have anyone aside from Jena. Well, no one local. “You hear anything from Sue or Luke?”
“Luke’s called a couple times, but he’s pretty happy out on his boat. Think he took it up to Lost Bay for the winter. He says he’ll be back in the spring, but we’ll see. I haven’t heard anything from Sue, not that I’d expect to.” He frowned, hiking the grocery bag higher.
No, he wouldn’t since the Fayet pack had grabbed her during a raid. Damn, that’d been a dumb question. She’d be in seclusion for six months, and afterwards, one of the pack members would claim her. Chase would be lucky if he ever saw her again. Way to step in it, idiot.
“I did hear that Patrick moved to Galleon Falls, though.” Chase’s frown deepened. “With all the shit he pulled, that was probably a good call on his part.”
Liam snorted. “If you didn’t take a piece out of him, I sure as hell would’ve.”
“Pretty sure most, if not all, of the town would be in line.”
Chase wasn’t wrong. The prevailing sentiment was that his younger brother, Patrick, was the brains to Malcom’s brawn during the turbine debacle, and that the mayor had just gone along for the ride.
With Malcom dead and the mayor currently doing time as a weasel, Patrick was the last man standing to take any frustrations out on.
And the town was rife with those.
Chase held the door for Liam, and he ducked inside.
The Witchery was still a jumbled mess of spell stuff, but it had been decorated for the holiday and was a heck of a lot less drafty than the last time he’d been there.
To the far right, the central bookcase had been removed, and what looked like the original fireplace had been restored and retrofitted for gas.
Flames crackled within a scroll-worked iron insert.
A bubble of leaded-glass panes surrounded it, sending warm amber light bouncing off the crystals on display.
Liam stopped in the entryway to take it all in. “You have been busy.”
Chase grinned at him, pausing to admire his work. “Looks good, doesn’t it? The flying squirrels were a bitch to evict, but Jena made some kind of a deal with the local pixie harem to route them. You know pixies have a thing for coconuts?”
“I did not.” What the hell would they do with coconuts?
“Me either, but you should’ve seen them. It’s a good thing they’re usually wasted. If the little bastards were hellbent on world domination, we wouldn’t stand a chance.”
Liam cocked a brow. “Are you serious?”
“Try to take away one of their coconuts and find out.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Pixies? Really? He had to be kidding.
Chase chuckled, shifting his grip on the groceries. “After they cleared the squirrels out, it was pretty much just elbow grease. Jena made me put up the glass surround. It’s not historically accurate, but it didn’t come out too bad.”
“No, it looks great.” It really did. Chase was incredibly talented. It was no wonder his business was booming.
“Thanks. What about you? Tinkering with anything lately?” he asked, starting toward the back steps again.