AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I stand, lifting Nora with me and setting her back in her own chair before dashing to grab my pager from my backpack. When I glance down at the small screen I see three words—Needs More Sprinkles—and know Nora and I won’t be enjoying a night between the sheets.
Hell, we probably won’t be sleeping at all.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
“We have to go,” I grit out. “Right now.”
Chapter Nine
NORA
The only thing stranger than running through the rain in the dark with a belching kitten hidden under the rain slicker Matty lent me from the treehouse’s extensive coat collection, with no ideawhereI’m going orwhyMatty has a sudden, urgent appointment at seven p.m. on Thanksgiving night?
Realizing we’re rolling up to his sister Melissa’s catering company a little over an hour later.
“Is this a family emergency?” I ask, shifting my gaze from the Deliciously Yours sign in front of the cute Victorian cottage.
“No.” Matty pulls around to the back, as chatty as he’s been the entire drive.
“Oh, right. No,” I echo, dipping my head closer to the top of Clyde’s sleeping head. The cat didn’t seem inclined to leave my raincoat when I strapped in, so I left him cradled against my chest, a decision that calmed his belching and resulted in no further motion sickness. Thank goodness. I want to make things up to Clyde after nearly crushing his sweet, fluffy self, but if I never smell cat sick again, it will be too soon. “Matty said no, Clyde,” I whisper as the cat begins to blink his big blue eyes, “and that’s apparently all we need to know.”
“I’ll explain later.” He pulls into a parking spot, visibly tense as he glances through the rain-streaked window at the empty spaces all around him. “Come on, Mel. Don’t let me down now.”
“Why is Mel meeting us here?” I ask, proving I’m an eternal optimist. Sure, Matty’s refused to answer all the other questions I asked on the way over, but sooner or later, he’ll have to crack and give me something. “I would have thought she’d be tired after spending the day stuffing herself silly at your parents’ house.”
“She didn’t stay long,” he says, still searching the darkness around us. “Ben took their son to his parents’ house in St. Louis for Thanksgiving this year. It’s her first holiday without Chase, and she wasn’t feeling very festive.”
My lips turn down. “That sounds hard. All the more reason to leave her cozy at home instead of asking for weird favors on a dark and stormy night.”
“There’s nothing weird about asking your twin sister for a favor, no matter the time of day or night,” he says. “Mel doesn’t hesitate to reach out when she needs help. I can’t count the times I’ve been up in the middle of the night grabbing baby Tylenol or driving over to her place to make sure that raccoon who sneaks around in her attic hasn’t found a way to break into the main part of the house. And don’t even get me started on the recipes.”
“The recipes?”
“If she comes up with something new, she wants someone with a ‘layman’s palate’ to taste it right away. She had me up at two a.m. a few weeks ago to try the roasted root vegetable smash with mint gravy she—” He breaks off with a squint that becomes a relieved smile as the headlights zooming around the side of the cottage prove to be attached to his sister’s vintage VW bug. He lifts a hand before turning back to me. “Just one second. I’ll be right back.”
He swings out the driver’s side into the persistent drizzle and I waste zero seconds following him, not wanting to miss a second of his chat with his sister.
One way or another, I intend to get to the bottom of whatever’s going on, and I’m not above eavesdropping to do it.
Matty shoots me a hard look as I tail him around to open Mel’s door. It slows him down enough that by the time he reaches for the door handle, Mel is already emerging from the car. She shoots a quick grin my way, saying, “Hey, Nora,” before turning to glare up at her much taller twin, “What the actual fuck is going on, Matty?”
“I told you, I can’t talk about it right now,” he says, motioning toward me and Clyde, who is now poking his head out of my coat to sniff the air. “I just need you to keep an eye on Nora and the cat for an hour. Two at the very most. Then, I’ll be back, and I’ll explain everything.”
Melissa snorts out a laugh as she crosses her arms. “Who do you think you’re kidding?”
Matty blinks. “What do you mean?”
“I’m your sister, Matty. I know when you’re lying. And you never explain everything, you haven’t for years, and I’m sick of it. I want answers now, or I’m going home.” She glances my way, her voice gentling again as she adds, “I can take you and your cat home first though, Nora, if you need a ride.”
“Well, he’s not actually my—”
Matty cuts me off with a sharp, “She can’t go home. Not yet. And she can’t be seen anywhere someone might think to look for me. That’s why we’re here. No one knows you own Deliciously Yours.”
Mel’s brows shoot up with a startled sound. “Yes, they do.”
“No, they don’t,” Matty insists, before muttering, “At least, not the people I’m worried about.”
“Matty, what’s going on?” Mel asks, her frustration giving way to concern. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”
