Chapter Five

In Which Jacqueline Makes Good Use of Her Very Particular Set of Skills

I hope to avoid Jacqueline and Lugh, at least until I can sit without wincing, but Jacqueline texts me not even an hour later asking if I want to have dinner with them. They worry enough about my nights at the Wild Hare Ranch that I decide to keep my close encounter with the asshole to myself.

Lugh isn’t my biological brother, rather our parents adopted me when he was ten, certain they couldn’t have any more kids, only to find themselves pregnant with David, our youngest brother, a few years later. Lugh was always the perfect big brother–kind, caring, protective. David, on the other hand, was a lot to deal with. Over the years, I’ve naturally found myself drawn more and more to Lugh and his growing family, while David and I don’t really have much of a relationship.

I wait until the very last minute to leave for Jacqueline and Lugh’s house and end up pulling up right at six, knowing it’s going to rankle Lugh. Right on time is late for him. Wendy, my oldest nibling, is waiting for me at the screen door, her face pressed against the mesh, when I pull up to the house.

Lugh and Jacqueline have a pretty sweet setup. They started out as neighbors. Before they passed away in a car accident, Jacqueline’s parents had a house on an apple orchard next to the Dvergar Gold Mine. Lugh bought the land on the other side of the orchard and was trying his hand at growing exotic plants when he got out of the military. When they got married, they turned her parent’s house into a restaurant, serving wine from fruits they grow on the land while living in Lugh’s tiny bachelor pad.

Lucky for them, Jacqueline is good friends with the Dvergar and they helped add on to Lugh’s original house. Lugh’s a giant, and it was tiny enough when it was just the two of them, but adding two kids plus all the kids’ things would have been overwhelming.

“Titi! Titi!” Wendy chants, holding up her arms for me to scoop her up. She’s getting way too big to lug around anymore, but I do it anyway. Jacqueline is growing kid number three as we speak, and it can’t be easy to not be the tiniest thing in the house anymore.

I lug her through the front of the house, back toward the kitchen. “We have a friend!” Wendy tells me just as I turn the corner and nearly run face first into Marcus. He puts the hands I can’t stop thinking about on my waist to steady me.

“Didn’t mean to scare you,” he says with a grin. “You’d think a giant’s house would be a little bigger.”

His smile is dazzling and I can’t help but smile back as his hands linger on my sides. “You’d think. I should have known Lugh would have you here trying to fatten you up as soon as he could.”

He chuckles. “He won’t have to work too hard. I’ve given him a good start.”

“Oh, come on, you’re not up at five to do PT every morning? This,” I put my free hand to his biceps showing through his t-shirt, “says otherwise.”

He looks down at my hand, then back at me. “I may get up a few days a week. You know, gotta keep a leg up on things.”

“Ha ha, I see what you did there, and I approve.”

“You lose a leg and you have to gain something. I gained old man humor.”

Butterflies fill my stomach as his dark eyes meet mine. He’s so close to me and Wendy. It feels so natural to be in his presence, it’s like he was gone a day and not twelve years. Wendy is the best wing woman, because she is absolutely silent. She simply lays in the crook of my neck and contently sucks her thumb.

“Maybe I should join you sometime,” I tease.

He chuckles softly, his hands tighten slightly on my hips. “For morning PT? I told you last night, you’re still too young for old age to be creeping in.”

“Marcus, you’ve been out of the Army for a while now. Civilians don’t do PT. I’m sure you and I could come up with a much better way to spend a morning than a two-mile run.”

“Really?” His voice is suddenly low and deep, his face just a little closer to mine. A thrill runs through my belly at the thought that I could have this kind of effect on him.

I smile innocently. “Yeah, Lugh’s not the only one who likes to fatten people up. The Korean Place we were at last night has this amazing breakfast.”

He turns his head away, breaking eye contact, and laughs. “We’d clog our arteries.”

I’m about to make a really stupid joke about how that’s not the only thing that would be hard when I hear Jacqueline frantically urging Lugh to put out a fire.

“Y’all okay in there?” Marcus turns and calls.

“Yeah, no biggie, just a little too much oil on the potatoes,” Lugh calls back.

I close my eyes and force myself to be good.

“I’m guessing dinner’s ready if they’re catching things on fire.” Marcus chuckles, gesturing toward the kitchen. “Ladies first.”

“I a lady,” Wendy decides to say at that moment.

“The prettiest lady,” I tell her, kissing her on the head and silently thanking whatever goddess watches over small children that allowed us that moment.

“Ah, there’s our wayward girl,” Lugh says as we file into the kitchen.

“I’m not wayward,” I say, moving to the chair he points to. “I’m free spirited.” I carefully pull Wendy up on my lap, sucking in a breath as she bounces on my legs.

“You okay?” Marcus asks, noticing my discomfort, as Lugh sets the plates down on the table. Lugh does most of the cooking around the house, though it’s mostly simple straight-forward stuff–meats and a vegetable with an occasional starch. Tonight, it’s baked chicken breast with potatoes that he’s cubed and coated in herbs and oil.

“Yep, fine,” I manage to say.

“Marcus was telling me before you got here that y’all ran into each other last night at Soojin’s,” Lugh says as he sits down next to me to cut up Wendy’s food. Jack, the youngest, for now, is still on baby food. He sits in his high chair next to Jacqueline, drool dripping down his chubby little chin. He blows bubbles and giggles as Jacqueline tries to convince him to try something that looks like peas.

“Yeah. It was a crazy coincidence we ended up at Soojin’s at the same time. Too bad someone didn’t let me know Marcus was coming ahead of time.” I give Lugh a dark look meant only for him. “I could have helped him move in.”

“Don’t worry, there’s still time.” Marcus says, oblivious to my dirty looks at my big brother. He cuts into his chicken and takes a bite. “The movers will be here at the end of next week.”

“Good to know,” I say, looking at Lugh. He ignores me and exchanges a look with Jacqueline that I can’t read. He motions slightly toward Marcus with his head, and she nods. Married people are weird.

I take my first bite of the chicken, jealous of Lugh’s cooking abilities, and look over at Marcus. “Well, either way, we lucked out that you bought the place. We got a friend back and the entire county might have avoided a big pain in the ass. The guys that own the vape place keep talking up these big plans they have of starting an exotic petting zoo. They’ve even had a realtor take them out to the fire station a few times.”

Jacqueline snickers. “An exotic petting zoo?”

I sigh. “Yeah, that’s exactly what we need living next door to us. I don’t think those dudes can take care of themselves, let alone live animals.”

The vape guys, Austin and Hunter, aren’t really into strippers, but they’d taken to coming into the bar earlier in the day before the shows started and hanging out when they probably should have been running their shop. It’s where I’d first heard them talk about an exotic petting zoo idea.

“Looks like you’ve got some competition, Marcus,” Lugh says with mock seriousness.

Marcus does a fake stretch, then flexes his muscles. “Don’t worry, I’ve got a secret weapon. Watch these vape guys try to get past these guns if they show up with their capybaras and wallabies.”

Wendy ignores her own plate and begins to steal potatoes off of mine. I bat playfully at her hand with the back of my fork and she giggles before stealing another bite.

“What the hell is a wallaby?” Lugh asks.

Jacqueline scrunches up her nose. “It’s like a small kangaroo. God, I hate kangaroos.” She turns to Marcus. “Have you ever seen those videos from Australia of the kangaroos in ponds? Those creepy assholes try to lure people in so they can drown them. Diabolical jerks.”

Marcus chuckles. “I can’t say that I have.”

“There was one where this man had to fight a kangaroo just to save his dog from one. And their eyes,” she shutters dramatically, “they are completely soulless.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever really looked at the eyes of a kangaroo,” Marcus says.

“And at the same time,” Jacqueline continues, “they’re like the deer of Australia. Always causing problems, always on the road. Do you know how many car accidents are caused by kangaroos annually in Australia?”

“I imagine it’d be quite a bit,” Marcus answers. He’s stuck now.

“They are the leading cause of animal related crashes in the entire country of Australia. Can you imagine kangaroo roadkill? Those things are six feet tall. The trail of entrails and guts that would leave…” She scrunches up her face as if she’s truly picturing it. “Do you think anyone butchers and eats them like we do deer? Is it weird to eat something with a pouch? Or is it maybe a delicacy?”

Marcus looks both overwhelmed by Jacqueline’s vehemence and slightly nauseous. He starts to cough and then clears his throat. “Um, excuse me, could someone point me in the direction of the restroom?”

Jacqueline and Lugh exchange looks as I explain where the bathroom is to Marcus, Wendy humming to herself on my lap.

“It always impresses me how you can do that, love,” Lugh tells Jacqueline as soon as Marcus is gone.

“Do what?” She says with a grin. “Run people off when you need a minute?” She winks at me and goes back to feeding Jack.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to warn you that Marcus was coming,” he says quietly enough that Marcus won’t be able to hear.

I just shrug and pretend I’m completely unaffected. “This will be good for you both. You’ll have a friend around, and he’ll have you two to help him with the animals.”

Lugh looks at me. “Really? That’s all you’re going to say?”

I shrug. “What else do you want me to say?”

“You were practically in love with Marcus when you were a kid.”

I steal the piece of potato Wendy has in her hand and she giggles. “That was a long time ago.”

“So, you’re okay with him being your neighbor?”

“Well, it’s a little late to ask her now, if he’s already bought the place,” Jacqueline says and I smile.

Lugh sighs. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…it’s just that when David read your diary–”

“David read your diary?” Jacqueline’s eyes grow wide with horror.

“Out loud to my entire platoon,” Lugh explains.

I hold up my hand. “Nope, not talking about it. If you want to tell Jacqueline all the gory details after the babies are in bed, you’re more than welcome to, but I’m not a fan of reliving that particular day.”

“It wasn’t that bad. Give yourself a break. You were just a kid. I don’t think it’s on his mind at all. You know what is on his mind? You. You’re all he’s talked about since he walked in. I totally wouldn’t be opposed to you and Marcus actually becoming a thing–”

The fall candle Jacqueline keeps at the table’s center ignites dramatically with a flame that shoots a good six inches in the air above the wick then flickers as if it was in the middle of a drafty castle and not the weatherproof house built by the Dvergar. Jacqueline’s and Lugh’s eyes go to it immediately.

“Did you see that?” Jacqueline asks him in a hushed voice.

Lugh nods. “Do we have a ghost?”

I sigh.

“Wendy’s a little young to be churning up poltergeists.”

“What if it’s your pregnancy hormones?” he says.

“What if it’s your giant hormones?” she retorts.

“You don’t have ghosts,” I interrupt. “It was me. Darla thinks I’m a fire witch.”

“Darla thinks you’re a witch?” Jacqueline repeats. “Way to bury the lead, girl.”

“What happened?” Lugh asks.

“There was this guy at the Wild Hare the other night and he got a little handsy. It took the bouncers a little longer than normal to help me. I felt all of this anger and rage building up inside and before I knew it, he was screaming on the floor. Apparently, I accidentally cast a fire spell on him.”

No one says anything for a long moment except for Jack, who keeps up his deluge of spit bubbles.

“So…” Jacqueline finally starts.

“I start little fires every time my emotions are high–anger, excitement, and, I guess, embarrassment, too.”

“Is there a way to control it?” Lugh asks.

“I start my apprenticeship with Darla on Monday.”

Lugh and Jacqueline both look visibly relieved. “Oh, good,” Jacqueline says, as if that solves everything.

We don’t get to talk much more because Marcus returns to the table with a smile. He sits down and picks up his knife and fork. Wendy reaches out a hand toward him and he takes it in his. “Marcus, Marcus, guess what?”

“What, pretty lady?”

“TiTi is a witch!”

Lugh closes his eyes and shakes his head. Jacqueline looks horrified.

“Is that so?” Marcus asks her, politely ignoring everyone’s dismay.

“She makes fires!” Of all the things Wendy could have repeated from our quick conversation, it’s honestly the least embarrassing.

“That’s pretty useful, Titi,” Marcus says with a smile and a wink in my direction. “You’ll never be without a heat source or hot water.”

“Unfortunately, it’s pretty new. I’m crap at controlling it.”

A look of amusement comes over his face. “Like hay-burning new?”

My face heats as the fall candle flickers. “Yeah.”

He laughs. “Well, we’ll just keep a few buckets of water on hand when you come to help out.”

“Help out?” Jacqueline asks.

“Yeah, I’m volunteering on my days off.”

“What about your horse phobia?” she says, taking a bite of potato.

“I don’t have a horse phobia.”

The flame flickers and Lugh laughs. “You aren’t exactly a fan of the horses.”

I sigh. “I’m not a fan of your horses. We can’t blame all horses for yours being jackasses.”

Jacqueline chuckles as she catches Marcus’s eye. “Can we go see her first day at the sanctuary?”

Lugh laughs, “I was just going to ask the same thing.”

“I think Sarah will surprise you.” Marcus says with a nod in my direction. “She’s already made friends with Willow, the donkey.”

I’m tired of this conversation and tired of my emotions being on display. I’d blow the candle out if I could. Instead, I do the only thing I can and try to change the subject. “I don’t know what everyone’s talking about. I’m great with animals. See, this one loves me,” I tickle Wendy, and she giggles.

“I’m not an animal, Titi!” Her little laugh is enough to draw attention away from me for the moment.

Marcus starts asking Jacqueline some hyper specific question about caring for the hooves of Ramona, the horse. Eventually the flame on the candle goes out and everyone seems to forget about witches and embarrassing teenage crushes, at least, for now.