Chapter Eighteen

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“I’m sorry you’re feeling so down about your party and everything else, sweetie,” said my mom the next morning over coffee in the breakfast nook with the big window overlooking the front yard. Outside, the pine trees were covered in a blanket of snow, and the driveway was completely hidden. If I’d arrived ten minutes later last night, my truck wouldn’t have made it since I’d forgotten my snow chains.

My mom went on, “But no matter what, we always bake you a cake. Plus your brothers and everyone else will be here to celebrate.”

They were never here to celebrate my birthday. They came to my folks’ house for Christmas.

“It’s not the same when everyone gets to open gifts on your birthday and cake is the last thing anyone wants.” My mom prepared everything from spicy tamales and sweet pies to roasted lamb and herbed potatoes. No one had room for cake after all that, not even me.

“I tried to squeeze you out early,” she said, “but baby Jesus just wasn’t having it. By the way, did you see the new one I put in the manger outside? It has LED lights so you can change his color. Blue, green, or even orange.”

Weird. “Sounds great, Mom. Bet it goes great with all the decorations.” The house had lights in every tree along the driveway, lights on the roof, lights around the windows, and more lights on every inch of the front porch. At night, it reminded me of a bright spaceship about to take off. With a manger and baby Jesus, of course. Now in blue, green, or orange.

“I’ll show you tonight after your father gets home. We can make a fire, drink cocoa, and watch a movie.” My dad was out helping a neighbor with a fallen tree.

“That sounds great,” I said, “but I plan to sleep.” Nothing like coming home to recover from the chaos of adulting and failing at life.

“Sure you don’t want anything for breakfast?” she asked. “Some pancakes?”

Pancakes instantly made me think of Beau. I still couldn’t get over how he’d lied to me. Then again, what was I thinking? I’d let a stranger into my life, into my home, and into my erogenous zones. I’d somehow talked myself into believing it was all perfectly normal.

“Thanks, but I’m good,” I said. “I think I’ll head over to the community center and help Libby set up.” Libby was Kay’s mom, and since I’d come a day early to beat the storm, I had time to kill. “But let me know if you need anything from the store. I can swing by on my way back.”

“Sounds good, honey.”

I went to take a shower and prepare for the day. At least the snow had eased up, but I’d have to drive mom’s SUV.

I went to my old room, which hadn’t changed much since I went away to college, including the pink carpet. There were still photos of me and Kay on my corkboard, the two of us with our goofy smiles and bad hair. There was a picture of my friend group all sitting around a picnic table, wearing cowboy hats for pioneer day. There was even a drawing from art class of my dream house—the one with the red barn.

“Where did you go, Meri?” I said to myself. I’d had so many plans, so many dreams. I’d wanted to travel and see the world, maybe open my own business and eventually fall in love. Instead, I got a job in the city after college, working in insurance. How boring. I’d been stuck there ever since.

I really did need a change. Or more accurately stated, I needed to find myself again.

That evening, I pulled up to my parents’ Christmas spaceship, noting a big white truck in the driveway. Maybe it was a friend of theirs who’d come to see the blue baby.

Me? I had a date with a long hot bath. I was sore and tired after cleaning all the chairs and tables for tomorrow’s auction. It was a good thing I’d showed up to the community center because Libby didn’t even have a list of tasks. We still had the lights to set up, the bar to organize, and the sound system to check for the live auction and DJ. We’d also have to ensure the auction ran smoothly—cataloging each stocking and collecting the money from the bid winners.

I trudged through the snow toward the porch, feeling wiped out. Just then, a man in a bright red coat slid from the truck. He had a long white beard and white hair. His intense blue eyes seemed familiar somehow.

“Are you Meri?” he asked, his voice baritone and unfriendly.

I stopped five feet away. “Yes. And you are?”

“Beau’s father.”

The backstabbing, jerk-face father? This was unexpected, not to mention strange.

“He’s not here.” Then again, he would know that since he’d delivered a package to Beau yesterday. “What do you want?”

“Beau refused to take the keys.”

I arched a brow. “Keys?”

“I know he told you about my factory. I’ve asked him to take charge of her before I retire in a few weeks.”

All right. So apparently his father changed his mind about things. Why? Not sure. Didn’t care. “This has nothing to do with me.”

The man shook a gloved finger at me. “It has everything to do with you. But, Meri, he would be making a very big mistake to turn his back on everything now.”

I blinked. “You mean like you turned your back on him for the last ten years?”

Indignation sparked in the man’s intense eyes. “I never turned my back on him. He simply was not ready.” The man ran a hand through his thick white hair. “I wasn’t sure he ever would be, and now that he is, he refuses to take over.”

I had no clue what to say. “I’m very sorry you drove all this way, Mr. Starling, but I can’t help—”

“He says he won’t leave you. He’s heck-bent on making things right.”

Heck-bent? “There’s nothing to make right. Not with me, anyway, so—”

“Meri.” He took two steps closer and stared deeply into my eyes, making my insides twist with fear. There was something very off about this man. Aggressive. Authoritative. Yet kind of cute. “You are a good girl, but just because you have friends in high places does not mean I cannot punish you for defying me. Mark my words, if you stand in my son’s way, it will not only ruin his life, but the lives of many others, including yours and your family’s. Is that what you want? Because once you get on my naughty list, you will never come off it.”

Naughty list? Was this guy for real?

The man pulled a set of gold keys from his coat pocket. “Make him take the keys, Meri. Do whatever you must, but he has to take them before Christmas. Understand?”

I nodded slowly, completely freaking the fuck out. Beau’s dad was a crazy shit. First, for showing up out of the blue like this. Second, for making demands when he didn’t know me. Third, for threatening me and my family.

“You need to leave.”

“That factory is his destiny,” the man growled. “Not some common, spiritless half-wit like you.”

“Wow… Thankfully, the apple does fall far from the tree.” Beau would never speak to me like that.

The man got into his truck and backed out of the driveway, disappearing down the road.

“Jesus. What a—”

My phone rang in my purse. I slid it out, not realizing my hands were shaking. “He-hello?”

“Hey, Meri. Sorry I didn’t call sooner, but I just got your message,” said a female voice.

“Who is this?” I asked.

“Egypt. You asked me to call. What’s going on?”

I took a second, trying to unscramble my head from that toxic interaction with Beau’s dad. I felt light-headed, and the air all around me smelled funny, like spices. I glanced down at the keys in my hand, my head whirring like a blender. A slideshow began flipping through my mind of all the oddities from the past few months: Beau, his luck, the fact that people couldn’t remember him, my inexplicable attraction to a man camping next to garbage…

My heart was thumping, and my brain began throbbing, like they were both trying to tell me something.

“Meri! You there?” Egypt said.

“Hey, I know this is a really strange question, but what celebrity does Beau look like?”

“You had me call for that? Is this a joke?” she snapped.

“It’s to settle an argument with Shawna.” I couldn’t come up with a better explanation.

“Jeez, girl. I thought it was an emergency. You scared the shit out of me, and not in a fun way. I’m on that horror-cation, and I just watched an evil elf decapitate a snowman.”

So wrong. “Which celebrity!” I barked.

“I don’t know!” she barked back. “Maybe Henry Golding?”

My hand with the phone dropped to my side. Jason saw a man that looked like Beau’s dad, Shawna saw a Black guy, and Egypt saw the lead actor from Crazy Rich Asians .

I looked over my shoulder at the street where the white truck had just disappeared. What the fuck is going on?

“I gotta go.” I disconnected with Egypt and called my apartment, hoping Beau would answer, but it went to voicemail.

Of course, he’d be working.

I rushed inside and headed to my room, putting the gold keys in my desk drawer before pulling out my laptop. I did a quick search of every bakery in my neighborhood in the city. I came up with six.

I called the first two, but no one answered since it was after hours. But on the third one, I got a woman.

“Hi, hello. Is there a Beau Starling working there?”

“Uh, yes. He’s in the back.”

“Can I talk to him, please? Tell him it’s Meri. It’s an emergency,” I said, frantically pacing my pink carpet.

“Just a sec.”

After a long moment, Beau came on the line. “Meri?”

“Beau! What the freak is happening?” Why did I say freak? I meant fuck! “Some man just showed up to my parents’, claiming to be your dad. He gave me a set of keys and threatened me.”

“Son of a snowman.”

“Beau, don’t get cute with me. What’s going on?” I yelled. “Why does Shawna think you’re Black? Why does her sister think you’re Asian? What is this?”

He whooshed out a long breath. “I think you know what this is.”

“No, I freaking don’t.” Fucking! Fucking don’t. Why is my mouth not working?

“I cannot explain right now, but when you return, we can sit down, and I will—”

“I’m not coming back. I don’t feel safe around you.” I started tearing up. None of this made any sense.

“Please do not say that, Meri. I would never hurt you.”

“What about your dad, huh? What is he? Drug trafficker? Mafia? One of those weird cult members who turns everyone into eunuchs?” Very uncool. Penises were awesome.

“No. He’s not dangerous. Not the way you mean, anyway.”

“Oh, great. But he is dangerous. And he just threatened my entire family.” He’d said I had friends in high places, but he’d ruin our lives anyway. “I’m mailing you the keys, and then I want nothing to do with you.”

“No. I’ll be there in the morning to explain.”

“You stay away from me, you… shape-shifter .” I shook a finger at him even though he couldn’t see.

“Meri, I’m coming whether you like it or not.”

“If you care anything about me, you will leave me the heck alone.” Hell. Hell alone! Why can’t I say hell? “You and your creepy low-rent Santa dad need to stay away.”

Beau started chuckling.

He’s laughing? He’s fucking laughing?

My nostrils flared. “I can’t freaking believe you.” Fucking! Fucking believe . My mouth just couldn’t form the words. “And now I’m having a stroke. Awesome.”

“Just stay calm.” He chuckled again. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

I was about to yell at him some more, but he ended the call. I dialed back, but it went into the bakery’s voicemail.

“Son of a biscuit!” I yelled and then covered my mouth with my hand. Son of a bitch! Bitch! What’s the matter with me?

My mother appeared in my doorway. “You okay, honey?”

I was far from that. “Do you have any wine?” My parents were not big drinkers, but they usually had the holy grape juice around.

“Sure. But why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” she said.

“You wouldn’t believe me.” I scrubbed my face with my hands.

“We could check out my crucifix collection. I have two new editions.”

“Fine. I’ll talk.”