I grinned. Whatever her mystery was, I wasn’t going to get it out of her today. “See ya,” I replied, lifting the box, then headed back outside. I exited the little alley and went back to Main Street. It was past the lunch hour now and downtown was quieting. I stopped by the truck, leaving the box of knickknacks—mindful that I should look through them when I had a chance—then walked to Alice’s deli, Whole Lot ‘o Bagels.
The bell over the door rang when I entered. All at once, I was treated to the heavenly scents of freshly baked bagels and french onion soup. I could even catch the perfume of the daffodils with which Alice had decorated the small café tables. But more than that, I also heard the sad and lonely sounds of breakup music wafting through the deli’s speakers. The remaining diners didn’t seem to notice, but the woman behind the counter was working furiously to clean every last corner of her deli, a tell-tale sign all was not well.
“Sea-salt dark chocolate caramels,” I said, setting the box on the counter as I pulled out a stool.
“Finally,” Alice said, tossing her cleaning rag into the sink. She stopped to wash her hands then came around from behind the counter, pulling off her green apron. She set it aside as she redid her ponytail, pulling her dark hair back into messy bun. Her freckled face had lost its cheery glow, her dark blue eyes looking sad and haunted. She sighed then shook her head. “Dumped by text, can you believe that?”
That was pretty low, even for Tom. From the moment I met him, I knew Tom was not for Alice. But Alice always had a way of sneaking off and finding exactly the wrong guy when I wasn’t looking. Her last fairy godmother had worked with the elders to bring her a good match a few years earlier, an archeology professor visiting Chancellor College, but the professor’s fate had got in the way. He’d made an unexpected archeological find on an island in Lake Erie which turned his attention away from a potential life mate to his passion. That flop had displeased the elders, and not long after, I took over the job looking after Alice. Alice, however, was proving more difficult to help than any of my other assignments. And my personal distractions—mainly in the form of Viola Hunter—weren’t helping much. But these days, all the signs seemed to point to something big on the horizon. The bees saw omens everywhere, and this morning’s powerful enchantment was even more proof.
I gave Alice a hug, squeezing her tight. “He wasn’t right for you anyway,” I said, then let her go.
“Yeah, I know,” she said. “I just couldn’t get into his Monday night football scene. I mean, I don’t mind football, but the appetizers at those parties. Ugh,” Alice said with a mock-shiver.
Typical Alice, trying to make light of her own misery. I opened the box of chocolates and slid it toward her. “The right guy is coming. I can feel it. I think it’s time, don’t you? I’m going to find you someone great.”
“Don’t you mean we? We are going to find her someone great?” a female voice asked coming up from behind us.
I turned to find Viola standing there. A million smart replies wanted to fly out of my mouth, but all I could do was smile stupidly at her. How amazingly perfect she looked in her dark jeans, black sweater, black boots, and a designer bag turned school book bag hanging off her shoulder. Her long, chocolate-colored hair glimmered under the slim rays of sunlight that shimmered into the room. Her sky-blue eyes, the same color as Horatio’s—her brother and my best friend—searched my face.
“No smart comeback?” she asked.
“Sorry, I was just struck dumb by your beauty.”
“Oh my god, shut up,” she said, punching me playfully on the shoulder, but her eyes flicked toward me for a moment thereafter, shooting me a warm glance that set my heart on fire. “Sorry, Alice,” she said then, turning to her friend as she settled onto a stool next to me.
“Yeah, what can you do? My prince will show up one day.”
“I hope he has a brother,” Viola said.
The bell rang once more as the door opened. I looked toward the back of the deli where I spotted Amanda, a regular patron at Alice’s, and a group of her friends come in.
Amanda smiled at me. “Hi, Rayne,” she called in a soft voice then she and her friends sat down.
I waved then turned back to Alice and Viola. While Alice might have had her problems finding a man, the faerie glamour under my skin had no problem attracting women. Sure, I was handsome enough, but it was the faerie twinkle in my eyes that caught most women’s attention…save Tess’. When I was feeling playful, it was fun to let the twinkle do its work. I’d found myself the attention of many beautiful girls along the way. When on assignment, however, we weren’t supposed to be distracted by dalliances…human or faerie. And for the most part, I’d done well keeping myself to myself. I’d been a fairy godfather for almost ten years and had a good track record. Patching two hearts together had always come easy. And when the job was done, I always moved on to the next assignment. Chancellor, however, was the first place that had ever felt like home. I loved my little farm. I loved Chancellor, where the unusual seemed to live on every corner. I, myself, being unusual by human standards, fit right in. But there was nothing unusual about my kind. The faerie had been living among humans since the time of legend. We just didn’t “out” ourselves. While there weren’t any rules preventing us from sharing our lives with humans, most faeries found it easier to stick with our own kind, as my parents had and theirs before them. Our kind had their own work to do. Looking after Alice just happened to be my job. After my work was done, I was going to ask to stay in Chancellor. It was time for me to do something different. It shouldn’t be too much of an issue. After all, I wasn’t the only faerie in Chancellor.
Interrupting my thoughts, Alice said, in a low, jesting voice, “Wish I had Rayne’s twinkle.”
“Seriously, tone it down, Rudolph,” Viola said, mock-shielding her eyes. “You’re going to end up with half the women in Chancellor in love with you.”
“They aren’t already?” Alice replied.
“It only takes one,” I said. “The right one.” I looked at Viola who, I was pleased to see, had cast a passing glance at me. Not for the first time did I wonder how she felt about me.
“Isn’t that the truth,” Alice said with a smile, then rose. “Well, better see what the girls want to eat.”
Viola also stood. “I need to get home and change before I head over to Falling Waters. I just wanted to stop in and make sure you’re okay,” she said then turned to me. “You’re going to be here for a while? Don’t want Alice to be alone.”
“Of course. Alice offered to make me lunch.”
“I did?”
I winked at her, causing her to roll her eyes at me.
Viola then turned and hugged Alice once more. “Don’t worry. The right guy will come along. Who knows, the ball is coming up. Never know who you’ll meet. You’re still coming, right?”
“Well, I was going to come with Tom. But, yeah, what the hell. I bought a dress already. How about you? You have a date?”
Viola shook her head. “Too busy to worry about something like that.”
“You rope Rayne in yet?”
Viola turned to me. “Horatio invite you?”
“The Cherry Blossom Ball?”
“That’s the one. You’re coming, right?”
I grinned. “Am I?”
“Yes. Who else is going to escort me? And thanks for asking,” she said with a wink. “Oh! Do you have a suit? Jeans and flannel won’t work.”
“I’m not a heathen. And yes, I’d be happy to take you.”