Page 79 of Sugar & Shadows

“So we’re all fucked?” Stella asked.

“Yes,” I said as Nina said, “No.”

I frowned at her. Huh. I hadn’t figured her for an optimist.

“I bought a case of thin mints off Rosie Becker last week.” Frankie strode for the door. “How about we eat our feelings and then throw axes?”

“I can’t eat cookies,” Stella sobbed, finally breaking down. “That’s the problem. I’m too chubby. That’s why Gabe isn’t interested.”

My breath hitched. Gabe? My Gabe?

No not mine in any sense of the word.

Mayor Gabe. The Gabe I knew.

Frankie and Nina both turned to her slowly, their eyes wide with shock.

“Stella,” Frankie finally said. “If that pathetic excuse for a Y chromosome made a comment about your body⁠—”

“Of course he didn’t,” she said, her eyes misty. “He would never. He’s the nicest guy ever.”

Frankie snorted. “He’s nowhere close to that if he said you’re anything other than a goddess.”

Stella shook her head. “He didn’t. He just looked me in the eye and said that he’s not interested. That it’s not going to happen.”

Nina and Frankie exchanged pained glances, then looked at their friend.

“He finally said it?” Nina asked.

“It was actually very kind,” Stella muttered, her head down. “He told me he’d been selfish and a coward. That he shouldn’t have led me on for so long.”

“Wow.”

“And I’m not mad at him. I’m mad at me,” she clarified. “How did I let myself crush on a guy for a decade and not realize there was no chance.? I just kept thinking that one day he’d realize that I’m standing right here. That if I was helpful and kind and showed up to every boring town meeting with cookies, he’d notice me.” She huffed an exasperated breath and zeroed in on me. “Cookies. Pathetic, right?” Before I could even consider how to respond, she said, “Can I throw another axe now?”

Frankie took one off the rack and handed it to her, then we all took a step back.

She approached the line, rolled her shoulders, and raised the tool over her head with both hands. With a grunt, she put all her weight into throwing it. It hit the wood with a thud. Not a bull’s-eye, but at least on target.

Nina cheered. “Feel better?”

A hint of a smile played on her lips. “A little.”

“Then you better do it again.”

My mind spun as I worked to process this new information. Did the two of them have a history? From the very few details I had, it sounded more like a one-sided thing. I vacillated between wanting every detail and having empathy for this sweet girl.

It was so unlike Gabe to say anything that could hurt someone. He’d tie himself up in knots to avoid the discomfort. Unless he was talking to me, of course.

And while I barely knew Stella, I had researched her, and she seemed perfect for him. A small-town sweetheart who looked at him with hearts in her eyes. The type of woman he’d wife up as soon as possible.

While Nina and Stella threw axes and laughed, Frankie nudged me toward the lane next to them. Same wall, different target. This one about ten feet away.

“Okay, DC Fixer.” She glared at me. “Show us what you’ve got.”

I couldn’t help but study her. Like Nina, she was petite, with deep set eyes and sharp cheekbones. But that’s where the similarities ended. Frankie wore work clothes, rocked a spiky short haircut, and radiated aggression, where Nina was so aloof.

She handed me an axe, her eyebrows raised. “Have you thrown before?”