23. Juniper

Juniper

“Order for Eilene,” I called as I set the peppermint mocha down.

We were officially out of pumpkin spice season and firmly in minty mocha territory. Which would be fine, if I wasn’t so caught up in my own head that I couldn’t focus. I’d made every other drink wrong this morning, written down wrong orders, and even burnt a croissant to a charred crisp. I knew I was just making Jay’s life harder, but I was going to get it together.

I spent the last few days of my vacation time stewing at my mom’s. She eventually got to the voicemail I sent and called. She tried comforting me, telling me not everyone was horrible about it, which was obviously true since her boyfriend was human, but I wasn’t sure if it could be the same with Ellery. We already started out in a way I didn’t know if we could get past.

“You okay today?” Jay asked. “Too much vacation with the hubby?” they waggled their brows.

I knew they weren’t trying to upset me, but thinking about it all almost brought me to tears. “It… it didn’t work out.”

Their expression sobered. “Oh no, what happened?”

I told them the line I’d come up with while stewing. “We just didn’t see eye to eye on some important things.”

Then frowned. “Well, I’m sorry. But I’m sure there’s someone out there for you.”

I huffed. It didn’t feel that way. I knew I was being dramatic, but something about us felt so right, until it all went wrong.

My shift was almost over and I was finally feeling slightly better. It was just like before I’d met Ellery.

I was in the back taking my apron off when Jay came back. “Hey, someone’s here to see you.”

“Who is it?” Casey had told me about Ellery coming to the apartment, and I didn’t want to see him.

“I’m not sure, I’ve never seen him before.”

At least that meant it wasn’t Ellery. “I’ll be out in a moment.”

I packed up the rest of my things and went around the front. When I got there, I froze. It wasn’t Ellery, but Arthur. He was in a suit with his hair pushed away from his face. I could see gray hairs forming at his temples, but it only made him look more refined.

I considered just sneaking out, avoiding him all together. I had no idea what he wanted to say, but it probably wouldn’t be good. Just as I’d decided to leave, he looked my way and started walking over.

“Juniper,” he said. “Could I speak with you?”

I swallowed. “Is this about your brother?”

“No,” he said easily. “That is none of my business.”

I sighed. “Fine.”

“Let me get you a coffee.” We went to the counter and I ordered my white chocolate mocha and Arthur surprisingly ordered the same.

Once we got our drinks, he led me to one of the tables in the far corner. It was about three, so the shop was mostly dead, and we were far enough away to not be overheard by Jay at the counter.

We sat quietly for a few moments, just sipping our drinks. “How’s Tiffany?” I asked.

“She’s good,” he said warmly. “The morning sickness is still getting to her, but good otherwise.”

“Oh,” I pulled out the small vial I’d taken from my mom. I slid it in my purse, and was now glad I hadn’t taken it out. “Tell her to drink this. I told her I would give her something to help.”

He took it, examining it for a moment. “Is this… magic?” he whispered it like he was swearing.

“Yes,” I said. “It won’t affect the baby at all.”

“I had no worries about that.” He slipped the vial in his pocket. “And I’m sure she’ll appreciate it. But that’s actually why I’m here.”

Here it was. I held my breath. Was he telling me he was going to the press? Did he want to blackmail me for my powers? I had to prepare for the worst.

“I wanted to thank you.”

It took my brain a moment to catch up. “What?”

“You saved Tiffany. That statue had to be a couple hundred pounds. Even with me blocking her, if it had landed…” he sounded choked up. “I don’t know what could have happened. But you saved her, and our child, and I could never thank you enough.”

“I…” I didn’t know what to say. “Of course. I couldn’t let anything happen to either of you.”

He smiled lightly. “I also wanted to make you an offer of sorts. Veronica told me about her conversation with Ellery.”

The thought of that made my stomach churn. I didn’t know what they actually spoke about, but I know what I saw. Was he going to tell me he wanted to give me some kind of consolation?

“I want to invest in your app.”

I was again stunned silent. “What?”

“Ellery had asked her to invest in your app. From what she said, it sounds like a great idea, and one that won’t easily be replicated, with the way I believe your “AI” works.” He used air quotes to imply he knew magic was involved somehow. “I can’t believe he didn’t say anything to me in the first place. It seems like a great investment, and I know she’ll be making an offer soon, so I wanted to get to you first.”

I was speechless. “You want to invest in our app?”

He nodded. “If you have proof of concept. It seems worthwhile. I know Veronica will put up a good fight if she really wants it, but I think you’ll find mine more than satisfactory. If not, I’m willing to negotiate.”

“I-I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t need to say anything. Hear her offer first, but this is mine.” He pulled out a folder from his jacket. I opened it, unable to help it.

My jaw was on the floor when I saw the offer number. It blew what Ellery was going to give me out of the water.

I closed it and swallowed deeply. Arthur’s face was neutral as it always was, but it seemed like we’d come to some kind of understanding.

“So, Ellery asked Veronica about my business?” Could that be what they were talking about that night? But why?

“I can’t tell you that,” he said. “I said I wouldn’t get involved.”

“Of course,” I agreed.

“But you can ask him yourself.” He pointed towards the parking lot and my eyes followed.

The fancy BMW had to be his, and inside I spotted Ellery. His face was down and he was fidgeting with something. I assumed it was his phone but the movements didn’t exactly make sense for that. Then I remembered his love of puzzle cubes and knew it had to be that.

“He’s here?” I asked.

Arthur nodded. “He insisted on coming. I told him he could, but he couldn’t come in unless you wanted to talk to him. I have no interest in your relationship drama.”

I laughed. “You probably didn’t have much of that with the way Tiffany and you got together.”

“No, not really,” he said. “We could have if she said no, though.”

“But she didn’t,” I said.

A rare, small smile touched his lips. “No, she didn’t. Would you like to speak to him?”

I chewed on my lips as I considered it. Was I ready to face him? I’d avoided him until this point, avoided everyone really. But was that really helping me? Closure would probably be for the best.

“Yes. Tell him to meet me out back like he did before, if that’s okay.”

“I will.” He got up to leave, but before he did said, “Tiffany’s number is in that folder. Even if things don’t work out with Ellery, she wanted to meet up. Mentioned something about you, her, and Rachel having a spa day.”

I nodded, but didn’t trust myself to speak. The idea that even if we didn’t work out they still wanted to be my friend was reassuring.

Arthur walked out to his car. I couldn’t watch Ellery’s reaction. I collected my things and walked to the back alley, where we’d met that first day. My palms were sweaty, and I was trying to stay calm. Maybe he wouldn’t even come. Maybe he would decide it wasn’t worth the hassle. I was about to lose my nerve, to go back inside and run away, but then he came around the corner, before I could.

He looked good. He was in a dark pair of jeans and a black turtle neck sweater. He wasn’t as neatly styled as normal. It seemed as if he hadn’t shaved in a few days, and his hair wasn’t styled like it typically was.

When his eyes landed on me, he looked almost relieved. He approached me slowly, like I was an animal he was afraid to chase off.

“Hey,” he said awkwardly.

“Hi.”

We stood there just staring. A chill rushed through the alley and I pulled my coat tighter. Ellery made a slight move towards me, but paused before we touched. I remembered his past touches. The way he felt against me. It made me shiver harder.

“I-I don’t know what to say,” Ellery started. “I thought of everything, a whole speech about how much I care about you, and how I don’t care that you have… magic I think? And how I’m so sorry everything went so wrong at the ball. But I can’t remember a word of it. I can only think about you being back in my arms.”

I felt speechless. Again, Ellery said whatever he thought. “What about Veronica?” I asked. I knew it was a silly thing, but I couldn’t let it go. She seemed like his perfect match in every way.

He shifted somehow even closer. “Veronica is just a friend. I know there’s been photos of us, but we are truly just friends who hooked up sometimes when we were bored. There’s nothing more to it. I know I have somewhat of a past, and I can’t change that. It’s who I was. But now, I want no one but you, and I hope you can believe that.”

His expression begged me to forgive him. I swallowed, my heart in my throat. I wanted to believe him. So badly. “So you want to date… for real?”

He took his hands in mine. “For real. No fake agreements. No tricking family. No money. It’s actually what I was talking to Veronica about. I wanted to take the money out of the equation, but still wanted to see you succeed. Though I may be biased, I think you truly have a good idea. And she is interested.”

I nodded. His eyes were so sincere, searching for a single glimmer of hope. “Arthur mentioned it,” I said “I’m sorry I thought it was anything else. I don’t hold your past against you. I’d just seen so many gorgeous women who you’ve been with. Ones I’m sure are more suited to be with someone like you.”

He brought my hand to his lips, planting a gentle kiss there. “I am sure there is no one better for me than you. If anything, it’s the reverse. You’re truly amazing. If it wasn’t for you, we would have missed every big event of this trip. And that’s all on top of being stunningly gorgeous, kind, and great in bed.”

My harsh chuckle appeared as a puff of foggy air between us. Of course, even when we were having a moment, he would say something like that. Ellery gave a light laugh along with me.

Sobering, I considered his words. So no more faking for your family or expensive deals?”

“No, none of it,” he confirmed. “Just you and me, taking it exactly how we’d like to.”

“Even that sounded dirty out of your mouth,” I said. “But I’d like that.”

The relief in his smile was instant. He pulled me closer to him, his other hand going to my cheek. Even gloved, I could still feel the warmth through the slight scratch of the wool. “I’ve missed you pretty moon,” he said against my lips.

“It’s only been a few days,” I pointed out. Whether those few days had also felt like years to me.

“And it was a few days too many to be away from the woman I love,” he said.

I Paused. “Love?”

He seemed to let it slip unintentionally, but once the surprise cleared from his expression, sureness took its place. “Yes. Love.”

He tilted my chin a bit further and brought my lips to his. It felt as magical as our first kiss, and all the ones since. The emotions I was trying to hold back since the beginning flowed through me like a dam bursting. I’d never felt this strongly about anyone.

When we pulled away, I was breathless.

“Woah,” Ellery said, his eyes slightly wide.

“What?”

“Babe, you’re glowing.”

“What?”

I looked at my hands, and sure enough, there was a slight white glow around my them.

“Whoops,” I said, shoving my hands behind my back like it would hide it. Though I was sure it was my entire body. I flushed in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Geez, I haven’t let my magic out because of emotions since I was a child.”

He smiled, curling one of my locks of hair between his fingers. “I like it. I make you so happy you’re glowing. Literally. How many men can say that?”

I shoved his shoulder lightly. “Don’t get a big head about it.”

I took a moment to concentrate on the place my magic was flowing from. Most magic could only be used with a spell, but sometimes it dripped out during strong emotions, or when not used enough, so it just needed some concentration to stop.

“I’m going to need you to do that in bed later.”

I giggled at him. I’d never giggled before meeting him, but it was something I also did now on top of glowing apparently.

“Speaking of, are you busy after this? I would love to take you to dinner. And maybe some after dinner.” He winked at me with implied meaning.

“I would like that,” I said. “We should probably tell Arthur so he can go.”

“Oh, he left already,” Ellery said.

“What?”

“Yeah, when he came back, he told me he wasn’t going to wait for me to finish groveling, and if you rejected me, getting home was my own problem.”

My jaw hung open. “I’d like to say I’m surprised, but I’m not.”

“Me either,” he huffed. He gestured and we walked back to the parking lot now that I was no longer glowing. “I still can’t believe that robot is having a kid.”

I bumped him again. “He’s not a robot, and I think he’s going to be a great dad.”

“I think so too,” Ellery said softer now. “I feel like I’ve learned a lot about him this trip. More than I’d known before. He’s always been so far under our father’s thumb I thought he would turn out just like him, but it seemed he instead learned how to be different.”

“I agree.”

We held hands all the way to my car. When I unlocked it and we got in it was freezing. I turned it on as quickly as possible but we still had to wait for it to warm.

“Don’t you have remote start?” Ellery asked, shivering.

“Not all of us have fancy cars,” I said.

“You will soon,” Ellery said.

I rolled my eyes, revving the engine slightly to help warm it quicker the way my mom used to do. “I don’t think it’s in the budget right now.”

“It is for me,” he said.

“You are not buying me a car!” I exclaimed. I didn’t care if he was rich, that was too much.

“No, I’m buying me a car. I have no plans on getting into a car this cold again. And in the summer without the A/C already cranked? No thanks.”

“You are ridiculously spoiled,” I said.

“Of course I am. I’m the youngest, the handsomest, and rich.” He ticked his fingers off as he said it.

“And you’re about to get left in this parking lot,” I said.

It was finally warm enough to turn on the heat without it being freezing so I turned it all the way up. We still had to wait for the windshield to defrost, but at least we weren’t freezing.

“You wouldn’t do that to me,” he said. “You love me too much.”

Love. That word he used in the alley, the one I didn’t say back. I didn’t want to say it if I didn’t mean it, but… “I do. Love you, that is.”

His cheeks slightly pinked which was a rare sight. “Say it again.”

I cleared my throat. “I love you.”

“Fuck, I love you too.” He leaned in and kissed me hot and hard.

“Oh, I have something for you,” he said as he pulled back. He reached into his peacoat pocket and came back with the largest jewelry box I’d seen yet. It was the same deep pretty velvet every other had been.

“You didn’t have to give me this,” I said, trying to keep the emotion from my voice.

“I know. But I like seeing my woman wear the things I got her.”

I fidgeted with the earrings I was still wearing absentmindedly. Many times since the ball, I’d thought to remove them, but never did.

“Open it.”

I clicked the box open and gasped. It was a pendant with a golden crescent moon with a dangling star in the center of it that looked to be diamond, just like the rest of the set.

“It’s amazing,” I said breathlessly. “Will you put it on?”

He took the gold chain from me and I gathered my hair so he could clasp it. He ran his finger over it once it was done. I let my hair go and turned back to put down the sun visor and opened the mirror. It shimmered against my black coat. “It’s perfect.”

“Just like you,” he said, staring at it as well.

“Thank you,” I said.

His eyes met mine. “Anything for you, pretty moon,” he said. “Now, how about our first official date?”