Fairytale Not Required (18 page)

"Dad." Jason finally caught up to them and set his hand on the man's shoulder.

His dad let out whoop and spun around, immediately wrapping Jason up in a massive hug. His mom did the same thing, so the three of them were caught up in a huge, fierce hug.

Longing pierced Astrid's heart as she watched them, leaning on the windowsill. They looked like the perfect family, a family who loved each other and dropped in for surprise visits.

"Where did you come from?" his dad asked. "We didn't see you when you drove up."

Astrid held her breath, hoping Jason would tell the truth. Hoping that she was wrong that he was trying to hide her.
Tell them, Jason.

Jason hesitated for a split second, then he shrugged. "I was at the lake, checking things out. I think I'm going to buy a couple kayaks for me and Noah."

Disappointment sank in her gut like lead. She couldn't believe it. He'd told them he was going to buy kayaks? He was going to have a baby, and he'd told them
kayaks
? Astrid slumped onto a cardboard box, her heart aching at his answer. Not even one mention of her? Not a one?

"Damn nice place you got here," his dad said. "We're impressed."

Jason opened the front door, not even looking back over his shoulder at the carriage house. "Why are you here?"

His dad grinned. "You're finally going into the family business, son. We knew you'd fail miserably without our help, so we came to the rescue."

Jason herded them into the house, his urgency obvious from a distance. "I don't need help—"

Then the door closed, shutting them off from her.

"Astrid!" The sound of Clare's voice jerked Astrid out of her stupor, and she turned as Clare and Emma threw open the door to the carriage house and walked in. Their arms were full of flowers, groceries, and a large number of shopping bags.

Shoving herself away from the window and her pathetic gaping at Jason's house, Astrid managed a smile at the sight of her friends. "What's all that?"

"Well," Clare said as she strode past Astrid toward the kitchen, "Emma and I decided that we blew it, and we're going to do it right this time."

Astrid grabbed a shopping bag that was slipping from Clare's arms, peeking inside to see fresh peaches and two pineapples. "What are you talking about?"

"You!" Emma announced as she set three massive shopping bags on the floor beside a stack of boxes. She set her hands on her hips, glaring at Astrid. "We thought you were dead set on moving out of town—"

"And then you wind up staying here just because some hot guy offers you his carriage house," Clare announced as she set the six bags onto the counter with a loud thump. "Both of us find that completely unacceptable."

Astrid felt her cheeks flush. "It's not because he was hot—"

"It doesn't matter
why
he managed to convince you to stay." Emma set her hands on her hips. "The thing is that we thought there was no chance for you to stay, and clearly there was. Therefore, we've concluded that if we'd just figured out the right angle—"

"Then we could have gotten you to stay without having to rely on some sexy New Yorker to jump in at the last minute. So, we're not going to take any chances this time," Clare announced as she began unpacking assorted groceries onto the counter. Pasta, milk, cereal, oatmeal, everything that Astrid usually had in her cabinet. "When you called us yesterday, you said you were staying for two weeks and then leaving—"

"Which is entirely impermissible," Emma declared as she pulled a massive floor pillow out of one of the bags. It was a twirl of blues, greens and pinks, like the sunset on the most beautiful day. The pillow was almost three feet across, huge, and puffy, and Astrid felt a flash of yearning to curl up in her window on the pillow. "We know you love to curl up, so we picked up some comfy furnishings for you when we were downtown yesterday after you called."

Astrid jerked her gaze to Emma's face, startled by her warm smile. "That's for me? But you didn't need to—"

"Of course we did." Clare pulled out a box of strawberries and several liters of bubbly water. "Now that we know you can be manipulated into staying in town, we are going to make ourselves and this town so invaluable that it becomes absolutely impossible for you to leave."

Astrid started to laugh when she saw Clare set three cans of frosting on the counter. "Frosting?"

"Not just frosting." Clare held it up. "Creamy deluxe chocolate frosting. What girl doesn't want to have chocolate frosting around to snack on when she's feeling cranky? I would have made you homemade frosting, but I didn't have time." She grinned. "Whenever you eat this, you'll think, 'Wow, Clare and Emma take care of all my needs. What if I leave town, and I need a late night chocolate fix, and they aren't around to hook me up?'"

"Exactly." Emma took out another floor pillow, this one assorted shades of pale pink and magenta, with tassels on the corners. "We feed your addictions and become indispensable, rendering you completely incapable of functioning without us. It's really basic stuff, you know, creating a dependent and needy relationship between us and you."

A warm feeling began to fill Astrid. "You guys are manipulating me?"

"Of course! That's what friends are for!" Clare pulled out a bag of ground coffee. "Now, this is only for your caffeine fix when Wright's isn't open. If the store is open, you have to go there to get your food, see the peeps in the town, and remember that you are hopelessly and completely entwined with all of us and couldn't possibly survive on your own."

"Exactly." Emma pulled out a beautiful, antique lamp with a hand-crafted lampshade with colored tissue paper crafted into flowers pressed on the shade. "This is for your jewelry making area. Where are you setting up?"

Astrid's heart tightened at the sight of the beautiful lamp. The base was brushed brass, and there were beautiful engravings on it. "Can I see?" she whispered, almost afraid to touch it. She'd never owned anything so beautiful in her life.

Emma grinned and held it out. "Clare said it was too old-fashioned, but I knew you would appreciate it."

"It's beautiful." Astrid took it carefully in her hands, running her hand over the cool metal. The engravings were black in the crevices, and the brass needed a good polishing, but the artistry was incredible. There were dozens of different kinds of flowers, with their stems and leaves twisting together in a symphony of nature and beauty. In the center of some of the flowers were glass stones, covered in dust, but still evident in their beauty. There was a deep crimson one, several blue ones, and three yellow ones. There were numerous empty crevices where more stones had once resided, and Astrid ran her fingers over them, almost feeling the power of the stones that had once been there. "I've never seen anything so beautiful."

Emma grinned, and Astrid knew that Emma, with her artist's eye, had seen the same beauty that Astrid saw. "Look on the bottom," she said. "That's the best part."

"Better than the rest of it?" Mystified, Astrid flipped it over. Engraved on the bottom, in what clearly was done by hand, was a note in beautiful, curly script. "May you always see the angels guiding you," she read aloud. "May you always feel the warmth of the sun. May you always hear the beauty of nature. Love transcends it all. For my dearest May, with my love for all eternity. Hammond." And after Hammond's signature was a symbol with two intertwined hearts, incredibly similar to the double-hearts that Astrid had designed for her own jewelry.

"It's a love lamp," Emma said with a grin. "Hammond and May."

Astrid hugged the lamp to her chest. "It's so beautiful."

Emma smiled. "Isn't it? I knew you had to have it."

"Thank you," she whispered, too emotional to say anymore. She just held out her arms and Emma immediately hugged her, a fierce hug between two women who had seen the darkest sides of life.

"Oh, I want in on that," Clare announced as she ran across the room and flung her arms around them both. "You have to stay, Astrid," she said fiercely. "We need to stick together."

Astrid's throat tightened as she pulled back, looking at the two women who'd thrust themselves into her life. "I don't know what to say."

"Say you'll stay," Clare urged. "Why do you have to leave?"

"It's complicated."

"Great. We have no plans, so feel free to take as long as you need to fill us in on all the sordid details," Emma said, grabbing a third floor pillow out of a bag and setting it beside the others. This one was covered in hearts and peace signs, and it was sparkling, as if little crystals had been woven into the threads.

"Our only mission today is to help you unpack and to turn your home into something so cozy that you can never leave it behind," Clare said as she pulled a bottle of champagne out of one of the grocery bags, and began to untwist the wire. "We're completely capable of listening to you spill all your secrets while we're working, so start talking, girl."

"Champagne?" Astrid glanced between the two women. "It's only eight in the morning."

"So? We're celebrating you being in town." There was a loud pop as the cork shot out. Astrid and Emma both ducked as it shot past them. "Sorry!" Clare said with a grin. "These things have a mind of their own." She filled several plastic cups she'd apparently brought in with the champagne, then carried them over to Emma and Astrid. "Let's have a toast, girls."

Astrid's fingers closed around the cold plastic. "You guys are crazy."

"Yes, we are," Clare agreed. "That's why we're going to stay all day and help you unpack."

"I'm not staying long enough. I'm not going to unpack—"

"Yes you are," Emma said. "If you make this like home, then you'll never leave."

Astrid thought of Jason in the house with his parents, and her grip tightened on the champagne cup. "Even if I stay in town, and I'm not saying I am—" But it was the first time she'd even voiced the possibility, and the thought both terrified her and gave her chills of joy. "But on the slight chance that I do, I'm not staying
here
any longer than I have to."

Clare frowned as she opened the fridge and began loading it with fruits, vegetables and Birch's Best beer, the local brew. Two packages of local organic chicken and some fresh corn also made it into Astrid's fridge. "Why not? This is your dream house. Why would you want to leave?"

"Because—"Astrid stopped. How was she supposed to explain? "The rent," she said lamely, her cheeks flaming at the lie. How could she lie to these women? It felt so wrong, so horribly wrong. "It's too high," she mumbled. "Jason's just letting me stay here for a couple weeks, but I have to start paying rent after that."

Emma raised her cup. "Then sleep with the man. Men will do anything for sex. He'd let you stay indefinitely if he were getting a little nookie."

Astrid nearly choked as Clare tapped her cup against Emma's. "I have to concur. Now that Griffin has ignited that spark in my life, I can see that I missed out on a lot of fun times for the last fifteen years. Jason's hot. Do it with him. Repeatedly."

"Do it," Emma agreed. "It's worth it for this beautiful place." She beamed at Astrid and tapped her cup against Astrid's. "Cheers, girlfriend."

"Cheers, but I'm not having sex with him. Ever." Astrid tapped her cup against theirs and pretended to take a drink when the others did. She hadn't even taken the rim from her lips when Clare's eyes widened at her. "What?"

"Oh my God," she said, staring at Astrid. "You already slept with him. That's why he's letting you stay here for free. Dammit. I would have slept with you if I'd known that was what it would take!"

Astrid started to laugh at the absurd comment. "Sorry, Clare, but you're not my type."

"But Jason is?" Emma had almost dropped her cup in shock. "I can't believe you had sex with Jason Sarantos? When?"

Astrid stared in growing horror as her friends waited expectantly for her answer. She realized that they weren't going to let it go. They'd seen right through her façade. How had they figured it out? "I didn't—"

"Was he amazing? He looks like he'd be a fantastic lover. His shoulders are to die for, and he has great hands." Clare sank down on the peace and heart pillow and hugged the corner of it to her chest. "I so have to hear this. Astrid Monroe finally got seduced! I can't believe it!"

Astrid was too shocked to deny it, too horrified to know what to say. She was an expert on keeping her secrets private, but she had no experience in lying to people she cared about. She couldn’t lie. But she couldn't tell the truth. "I—" She what? What could she say?

Emma's smile faded as she looked at Astrid's stunned face. "Oh my God, Astrid," she said quietly. "What happened? Did he hit you?"

"No, no, no, nothing like that." Astrid's hand began to shake, and she set the drink on a box. "I just—" God, she couldn't say it. What would they think?

"What?" Clare stood back up, her eyes blazing. "What did he do to you? What's wrong? We aren't just talking about sex, are we? Something else happened. Tell us. Now!"

For a long moment, Astrid stared into the worried faces of the two women who had somehow become her friends. She looked past them at the roses, and the groceries, and she hugged the lamp she was still holding.

"Astrid," Emma touched her arm, her fingers brushing lightly. "Sometimes it helps to talk. What's going on?"

Clare put her arm around Astrid's shoulder and squeezed. "Was he bad in bed? Was that it? A waste of your time and energy?" Her voice was gentle but teasing, making Astrid smile slightly.

"No, he was great," she admitted. "Really kind of fantastic, actually."

Clare raised her brows. "So, what's wrong, then? He's a great lover. He's letting you live in your dream house for free. He seems like a good guy. So…?"

Astrid grimaced. Was she really going to tell them everything? "So..." A door slammed at the main house, making Astrid jump. She quickly glanced out the window and saw Jason guiding his parents down the walkway in the direction of the carriage house. Her heart began to race. Was he really going to bring them over to meet her? "Wait a second." She hurried to the front door, her hands sweating as she looked out the window just in time to see Jason get into his Mercedes while his parents got into a silver sedan.