As I was leaving my room, James was shuffling down the hall to the bathroom.
“Morning.”
She just grunted at me.
“I’ll make you some coffee.”
She grunted again and closed the bathroom door. I took that as a yes for coffee and went downstairs. My mother and father were already up and out of the house. She’d been too excited about seeing Tate’s masterpiece.
Since the television wasn’t on for the first time in days, I put on my rock playlist and made us a leftover platter. James liked her version of a girl plate with tons of finger foods. We still had a bunch of leftover appetizers and a metric ton of turkey.
When she showed her face, her hair was freshly washed and in a braid. She’d forgone her usual dark lined eyes and red lip, which completely changed her look. I was one of her longest friends and I just might have walked by her.
“You look like a small-town girl.”
“Okay, never mind. I’m going up to do my makeup.”
I grabbed her arm. “No, that’s perfect. No one will know who we are.” I dragged her over to the kitchen island. “I made food.”
“Okay, fine.”
“So, how’s it look out there?”
“I’m afraid to check.”
She rolled her eyes and stomped outside to look. “Holy shit.”
I blew out a breath and followed her. My jaw dropped at the line of people out there waiting in line. “God, I hope all of that is because of Wonderland and not me.”
“Not everything is about you, Sparkles.”
I wrinkled my nose at her. “I know that, but the local newspaper shouted out that I’d be there.”
“Oh. Well, I guess that could be a factor, but it sure sounds like people are enjoying themselves. Think they’ll have kettle corn or funnel cake?”
“It’s not a fair, James.”
“Fine. I can live in hope.” She went back inside and started demolishing the plate of food I’d made.
I was too nervous to eat much but managed to have a few pieces of turkey before we cleaned up. James’s guitar case and suitcase were by the door, ready for her to leave after she got a look at Tate’s masterpiece.
I made sure to go around the side entrance between our two properties and snuck into the village. I felt a little bad cutting the exceptionally long line, but it was better than making a scene. We ended up behind the knitwear booth when we popped out. Instead of slipping into the foot traffic, I pointed to the top of the hill where the large photo options were.
“Think the lumberjack would be mad if I mounted the nutcracker dude?”
I snickered. “Don’t you dare. There are children here.”
“Lame.” James tucked her hands into her jacket. “This is pretty impressive. If he did the same thing in the city, I bet people would love it.”
“Imagine what that would cost? I’m pretty sure this cost way more than he expected.”
“He does have his own Sparkles to help out.”
I elbowed her. “Shut up.”
I imagined that Tate could do anything he wanted to in the end, but there was a magic to Haven that I wasn’t sure could be matched. I might be biased, though. We walked around at the individual photo op areas. I caught Valerie taking photos for the official social media channels. I hooked my arm through James’s and steered her away before Valerie could see us.
I didn’t trust that woman at all.
