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A wolf howled in the distance. Just what we didn’t need. I glanced up at the ladies, who were all on point but safe.
It’s not here, my bear said.And you don’t need it to claim her.
But the problem was, I did because there was no telling what would happen to Marissa if we didn’t find this fucking thing.
ChapterSixteen
Bibi
Probably the last thing I should have done this morning was keep the appointment for my facial, but in the midst of one of our most challenging episodes to date, a girl needed some self-care time. An exhaustive Hudaknocker search produced disappointing results last night, and if I didn’t get myself away from the echo chamber, I wouldn’t have a chance to think about what to do next.
So I’d probably send the gossip networks aflutter by heading to the chalet on my motorcycle. Let them talk. The whole point was to make sure everyone talked about us. Even if they weren’t fans of dating reality shows, they’d have to check it out simply to know what everyone else was talking about. I’d take all the word-of-mouth advertising I could get.
I made sure I looked extra fierce today in case any of those pesky paparazzi needed to refresh their stock photo collection of me. I wore a fuzzy purple jacket, matching metallic leggings, and an aqua wig. The outfit was invoking some serious comic strip superhero vibes, and I hoped that if I could get everyone talking about how good I looked, we could bury the news that the Hudaknocker was missing.
The more under the radar we could keep this search, the easier it would be to find the blasted thing.
It was one of those gorgeous winter days that was unseasonably warm and sunny, and I would take full advantage, even if I only had a few hours before I got back to business. The chalet had a fantastic breakfast nook in the lobby. I ordered my favorite blood orange hibiscus green tea and the absolutely sinful cinnamon roll. I had some time before my appointment, and I planned to sit in one of the comfy chairs in front of the fireplace, enjoy my treats, and scope out the gossip sites.
Marissa’s mother vowed to expose me. My closet was too full of fabulous gowns to keep any skeletons there, so on paper, I had nothing to worry about. But this was Suzanne Marlowe. Facts were irrelevant. She’d already dropped one bombshell on us with the lawsuit, and Marissa’s decisions had been questionable ever since her mother arrived in the same zip code. So I was going to have to beat her at her own game.
I got up to grab a napkin and found Hannah padding into the café. She was still in her pajamas, looking like she could star in her own comic strip with her lavender hair. Her face lit up when she saw me.
She looked around the lobby and then turned back to me with her usual wide-eyed enthusiasm. “Did you come to tell me something?”
I gasped and put my hand over my mouth. “Oh. No, it’s not time to start your episode yet. We do some preproduction ahead of each episode, but we only work with one couple at a time. Now that you’ve had a chance to see how things work from the inside, I’m sure you understand why.”
“I do.” Hannah shouldn’t ever play poker because the disappointment was so plain on her face that it took everything I had not to hug her. “I just thought when I saw you here, by yourself, first thing in the morning…maybe there was some good news.”
“The chalet spa is the best in Sunset Springs, and I simply can’t trust anyone else with my facial. I could see if they have another appointment available if you’d like to join me.”
“I just had one.” She waved her hands in front of her bare face. “I was thinking of heading out for the afternoon.”
“Oooh, an adventure sounds fun. When you get back, how about a girls’ night tonight at my house? I can invite some of the other ladies over, maybe for charcuterie and board games?”
“Sounds amazing.” Excellent. As much as Marissa and Bjorn were giving me a run for my money, Hannah had the potential to be a handful too. Her excitement was endless, and we were really putting her dwindling patience to the test by postponing her episode. We had asked a lot of her with the schedule changes. The last thing I wanted her to do was to satisfy her insatiable enthusiasm with someone who would use that exuberance against her and—who was I kidding—the rest of us.
“Text me when you get back, and I’ll invite the ladies.” It was time for my appointment, and I blew her an air kiss.
Maybe all of us needed to take a step back, and a girls’ night would be precisely the thing to get us on track. Wendy had just returned from her mate moon in Hawaii, and Cindy was back in town too. Logan had just starred in his first movie sinceThe Wolf’s Moon, and I couldn’t wait to hear all the juicy gossip.
I was not looking forward to telling Wendy the Hudaknocker was missing. Her plan, now that she was back from her mate moon, was to dive into research, hoping it would lead her to the Hudaknocker’s two companion relics: the Sempiternal Scepter and the Statue of Bounty.
I lay on the table and let Anna, the esthetician, get to work. The spa would put me into a Zen-like state, and I hoped by the time I was completely exfoliated and hydrated, I’d come up with a solution to this latest conundrum.
“So Suzanne Marlowe is in town,” Anna said. “That’s pretty exciting.”
“It certainly is.” The last thing I would do was say anything negative about another reality show. “Are you a fan of her show?”
“Not really,” Anna said. “It was no surprise when she was exposed for being a phony. The show was so over the top. I preferThe Mating Game.”
“I do appreciate that, but I don’t consider us competitors.” My mission in coming here was to relax. Any time I was able to book with Anna, I snagged her because she was in demand. One of the reasons I liked her so much was because she focused on my relaxation. She usually didn’t talk at all.
“Suzanne does,” she said. “She’s staying here, and she’s made it her headquarters. Filming in the lobby, doing interviews, asking the staff what they know aboutThe Mating Game. It’s been a whole thing. I’m surprised you didn’t see her when you came in. To be honest, I was a little worried that you’d run into her and she’d try to provoke you.”
I’d known that she was staying here, but Suzanne had a strategy because this was the first I’d heard of her making the chalet lobby her de facto office. Why hadn’t Hannah mentioned it? Unless, of course, Suzanne was going out of her way to avoid our next contestant, knowing that she would tell me everything.
At least, I hoped she told me everything. A to-do list was coming together in my mind. After I texted Cindy and Wendy, I needed to find something to keep Hannah busy until it was her turn to woo a gorgeous shifter of her own.
