Ink & Snow (Clair de la Lune #1)

7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

T he warmth faded fast when I discovered how badly shoveling snow sucked.

Half an hour ago, Amory had walked past my shop, his pink pom pom hat bobbing. He’d waved a shy goodbye, and ten minutes later, I’d located the shovel and gotten to work.

“Fucking hell,” I said, addressing the snow, the shovel, and the sidewalk, because they were a united front against my efforts.

In addition, it was also getting dark, because of course it fucking was, and the baby cat upstairs would need to be fed again soon. It was also still snowing, or snowing again. Really, there was just too much snow.

I hung in there until it looked like I had done a proper job. When I was about to call it a day, I heard the noise of an approaching snowplow.

Deciding I’d show the sheriff what a good little townie I was already, I went over everything again with my shovel. The plow approached, but it didn’t pass. It stopped, double parking next to my car like Sheriff Dwayne seemed to like doing.

The man himself got out and raised a hand to me in greeting. I did the same. He got something out of the back of his plow and walked toward me. In his gloved hands, he held something that looked suspiciously like a cat bed.

He scratched the back of his head. “I was out, clearing the road to Hillford. They have a pet store there. I thought the kitten might like this.”

He held the bed out to me.

“You bought my foster kitten a cat bed?”

He nodded. “Got a discount. Felt only right after I saw her siblings. Is she doing okay?”

Unless I was mistaken, the sheriff had a hopeful look in his eyes. Yeah, there was a reason people of all ilk liked watching damn cat videos on the Internet.

“She is. Due for another feeding soon. You want to take that upstairs?”

He cleared his throat. “You take it. I, uh, got some toys as well.”

Of course he had. Maybe this was a good thing though. It couldn’t hurt to have the sheriff think I was the kind of guy who saved kittens and cleared snowy sidewalks.

“To get the discount?” I asked diplomatically.

He took that, nodding.

So I grabbed the cat bed, and for the second time in one day, I had an officer of the law come to my apartment without a warrant. If Cecil knew, he’d declare I’d need seventy-two hours of observation in the psych ward or a deprogramming expert to take a crack at me.

And maybe that was true. I just didn’t give a fuck anymore about what Cecil thought.

I spent the next few days unpacking, cleaning, learning how to build a fire and feed a baby cat milk from a syringe. Settling in, basically. Cherry was fine with the cat bed as a place to play, but fuck if she went to sleep there.

No, the little furball decided there was no other place to sleep but my bed. I only allowed it because of those pitiable meows and because she’d be gone soon.

There seemed to be a schedule the townies stuck to when visiting my shop and introducing themselves. The high-achieving teenager with the bad eyeliner stopped by to examine everything , literally picking up all the things for sale until she deigned to buy a single fucking cactus in a ceramic mug.

Elias came back to talk about cat toys and collars. I let him, ignoring the innuendos. He bought another wreath, and I overcharged him again.

The organic produce person, Jenny, struck me as a savvy business-minded woman, and she came with cheap labor in the form of a single unit of offspring who, very politely, asked if she might see the baby kitten, please. And since I kept Cherry in her—for the time—escape-proof moving box behind the counter where I could keep an eye on the little devil, that was an easy request to fulfil.

Sheriff Dwayne never asked so politely, but he came by to check on Cherry too, though he found excuses: did I need the alley behind my building cleared? Yes, if he had the right tools to make an ingress for my car. Did I need a copy of the town newspaper with the holiday schedule? No, because that was on the Internet. And so on. And of course when he showed up with a smaller plow to make way for my car, I had to invite him in for coffee, because that was what you did in a small town, apparently.

By the time Sunday rolled around, I had more or less gotten the place to look livable. And I was exhausted. I’d met too many people, and everyone, every single fucking one, wanted to talk, town gossip, flowers, the cat, anything and everything.

The only person who didn’t show up was Amory. Amory, who I really wanted to see, a situation made much worse by the kitten in my bed. I couldn’t jerk off with Cherry sleeping next to me, so there was a lot of pent-up sexual tension I was suffering from.

Dwayne, most helpfully, had informed me that I could bring out one of the camping tables, which did indeed exist in my storage room, for the Sunday Illumination event as early as noon.

So I did, stomping through the fucking drifts with all my shit, having to go multiple times. The rest of the townies—the city council—were still setting up, but the bones were there—a bonfire, lights strung up from all the snow-covered greenery to the gazebo and the large Christmas tree, plastic Santas and Rudolphs added to the candy canes that had been there when I’d arrived.

I put my camping table down on a somewhat cleared area of the park that looked like it was intended for the purpose and got busy unfolding the legs.

“Hi there,” someone said, and I turned around, a table leg in my hand.

A tall blond looked at me, his short beard flawlessly molded around generous lips. He waved.

“Hello. What can I do for you?”

“I’m Simeon. I own the Moonlight Café.” He pointed at where they had set up. They had an awning. That was smart. Knowing the weather here, it would eventually snow again sooner rather than later.

“Nice to meet you. I’m the flower shop guy.”

“I figured. Are you going to hate me if I give you a piece of advice?”

“Depends on what you’re about to criticize, Simeon.”

He waved that off, looking downright sheepish. “Nah. It’s just, Fran would usually set up next to us. City council won’t care, but people might expect to find their wreaths where they always are.” He winked. “And we make pretty good coffee and cookies.”

“Oh. Right.” I looked at my half-unfolded table and sighed.

“Want a hand?” Simeon asked.

He helped me carry the table over and set it up, our boots crunching on the dusting of white that had once more covered the cleared paths.

The Moonlight Café had a more elaborate setup, a coffee cart with the logo, a crescent moon and a steaming cup resting on the moon’s sickle. The awning matched the colors, pale blue and silver.

Apart from coffee, hot chocolate, and everything in between, they had a nice selection of sweets so delectable looking my mouth began to water. There were cookies, big as saucers and stuffed, delicate flaky pastry things with a cream filling, winter spice bars with berry filling, Rudolph cupcakes with a candied cherry for a nose. I was tempted, but for the time being, I decided to resist.

With Simeon helping me to straighten the legs, the table was up in moments, and I stood to suck icy air into my lungs and face the curious look of the guy selling coffee and baked goods from the Moonlight’s cart.

“That’s Garnet,” Simeon said.

The guy winked and waved at me. He was wearing makeup and wasn’t being subtle about it.

“Nice to meet you, Soyer.”

I said, “I feel the need to inform you that elsewhere on the planet, it is considered creepy that you all know who I am. It’s like I’m at a stalker convention.”

“Oh, we know.” Simeon smiled and put his hands on his hips, looked around. People were starting to walk into the park, and they weren’t just the council volunteers with the neon vests but families with children, older people, average people. All the town coming out to have some fun and undoubtedly exchange yet more gossip. “Want some help with the wreaths too? Garnet looks like he’s got everything covered here.”

“That’s very neighborly of you.”

Simeon shrugged. “It’s what we stalkers do.”

“In that case, it would be rude to say no.”

I headed back to the shop and gestured for him to follow, which he did. Closer to the gazebo and hidden behind a smiling Santa, I saw Jenny unpacking jams and other homemade goods she’d made. We’d negotiated for me to stock some of them after she’d let me try some.

When we came to the edge of the Village Green, Simeon caught up to me and matched my steps. “Actually, I have ulterior motives. Well, one motive.”

“Let me guess. You need a wreath? Flowers for someone special?”

Simeon used his long legs to simply step over a heap of snow I had to walk around. “No. We have one at home. You sold it to Elias for what he happily told us was an extortionate amount.”

My eyebrows rose, and I forgot to look both ways as we crossed the very much not busy street between the park and the shops.

“You live with Elias?”

Simeon smiled. “Yeah. In a happy poly relationship. Valentin is with us as well, though you may have heard him mentioned only as the mayor.”

I couldn’t help it, my jaw dropped. I’d navigated many a scandal, but never anything like this. Why Simeon was telling me outright, I had no idea.

He gave me a warm smile. He looked so happy in that moment, and I realized him talking about his lovers had done that. Huh.

“Don’t be shocked. Everyone knows, and Elias said you passed his sniff test. He added he didn’t actually get to sniff you but wouldn’t mind it. Which is what I wanted talk to you about.”

“I’m sure I don’t follow.” I opened the door to the shop, and we were greeted by Cherry complaining noisily about having been left all by her lonesome, just like I was afraid she would.

Simeon closed the door behind him, his eyes brightening at the many bouquets I had out on display.

“Wow. You’ve been busy. And is that the kitten?” He followed the noise, rounded the counter, and crouched above the box. Cherry quieted as she examined the newest human come to regale her. “Everyone knows about the kitten. Dwayne couldn’t stop talking about how cute she is and how sad it was to bury her siblings. Don’t even ask me how he managed with all the snow, but it’s Dwayne. Can I touch her?”

“Sure.”

I rounded the counter myself and lifted Cherry out of her box. She promptly dug her tiny nails into my jacket and proceeded to climb me, heading for my neck. She liked to fall asleep there.

“Oh my gosh!” Simeon visibly melted at the sight of her, instinctively reaching out. “May I? She looks so fragile.”

“She is.”

He looked trustworthy though. Careful and responsible were probably the words, and he peeled his gloves off before taking the kitten from my hands.

“Wow. It’s so lucky that you found her. Duncan said she wouldn’t have made it much longer by herself.”

Seriously, did everyone in this place know everything?

“If you want to take her—”

“Oh no. Absolutely not. She’s clearly bonded to you.”

And yeah, Cherry was looking at me with her big, still mostly blue eyes, meowing accusingly about the fact I’d handed her off to someone else. Once she grew up, she would be such a drama queen.

“That’s just because I feed her.” And because I kept her warm at night. And possibly because I’d sung to her that one time before I’d realized it was stupid, singing to a cat.

Simeon gave me a knowing smile. “I don’t think so.” He handed her back to me. Cherry stopped her antics and went right back to climbing me. So just different antics. “Look at her!”

“You mentioned you had something you wanted to talk about?”

Simeon tore his eyes off Cherry. “Yes. I’d normally ask in a more circumspect way, but I’m getting the feeling Elias has been quite, ah, forward. You see, we’re in a relationship, as I said. Yet Elias has expressed interest in maybe being intimate with you. Not on a regular basis, I think. It’s just a fantasy he has, and he begged me to ask you.”

I cocked a brow. “You’re asking me to fuck your lover?”

“For his pleasure, yes.”

“Not my thing.”

Simeon nodded. “Is there anything I could say to convince you?”

“No, sorry.”

He looked at the wreaths I’d carefully piled in two more moving boxes. “Not even if you overcharged me for another one of these?”

“I mean, you could try that. But no.”

Simeon nodded. “That’s fair. And maybe I should mention that Elias can be, how do I put this—”

“A fucking handful?”

He smiled like the thought warmed his heart. “You have no idea. But yes. He’s harmless. It’s just how he is.”

“Noted. He pull any of that shit with the interns at city hall?”

Simeon cocked his head. “You mean Ella? Ella’s a child.”

He looked both shocked and defensive in a way that made me regret asking. But it was a reflex. One born from knowing that if and when certain people thought they were entitled, that they could make some kind of bullshit argument for their actions, they would act. And their disgusting fantasies would become someone else’s reality, forever. Wounds that bled into the mind, wounds that festered. I’d seen it too often.

Simeon’s face softened before I could even apologize though. “I appreciate you looking out for her.”

“I didn’t mean to offend you or Elias.”

Simeon snorted. “You haven’t. And to be completely honest, I wouldn’t be so sure online research is the only thing he’s teaching her. He hacked the Moonlight’s computers once and shut everything down. He thought I was working too much, and that was his way of getting me to slow down.”

“You’re shitting me.”

Simeon shrugged. “Wish I were, but no. He locked everything with a password and said he’d only give it to me once I came home and…rested. Blackmailed me without batting an eye.”

And then it dawned on me. “That club your third guy owns. Business and pleasure?”

Simeon smiled. “Yes. And that’s also not a secret. We’re a liberal small town here. People come to visit precisely because of that.”

I pointed at my wreaths. “I think your liberal sex club needs one of these.”

Simeon sighed. “You know what? When Elias comes by later, I’ll tell him he can buy one more off of you. He’ll flirt before he pays you.”

“He can try all he wants. Won’t mean he’ll get change.”

Simeon shook his head. “If you don’t mind me saying, I can see what he’s thirsting for here.”

I shrugged, but when Simeon bent to pick up one of the boxes, I couldn’t quite stifle a smile. Being appreciated and not taken for fucking granted was nice. I’d only have to get Amory to appreciate me too.