He moved his head in a barely perceptible way, but the frown didn’t go away. “Well, that’s part of the deal.”
“Right, the deal.” Of course, because it was all fake anyway, and it would be over in ten more days.
8
Already Ate Crow
Idon’t know, askherwhy.” Kol gestured wildly behind him toward the cabin beyond the trees. “Shekissedme.”
The fehszar chuffed back, great antlered head shaking, and then she gobbled up the last carrot he’d brought to her.
“It was just because of the mistletoe,” Kol admitted as he paced the distance between one fir and another, the terrier trying to keep up on his stubby legs. “But it was so…”
Doc yapped at his feet in a way that vaguely translated toTreat! The purer the breed, the more stilted their communication, Kol found, but, yes, that kiss certainly had been a treat. Piper’s lips were small and soft and round, just like he imagined the rest of her body would feel under his mouth, but he’d never find out, so he really needed to stop imagining it every time she scowled at him so he could coax out a smile.
Another night spent hugging the wall beside her left Kol’s whole body stiff. His next sigh made his lungs ache with the cold, and his fingers were going numb from pulling out and then stuffing away his thaumatix over and over. He had no idea what kind of answer about Piper he’d find inside it, especially when he wasn’t even sure what question he wanted to ask, but he doubted there was anything that could get her to slow down.
Piper was always running around, answering questions, cleaning dishes, fetching things for everyone else, and it made him positively mad. Why couldn’t she justsit? Not only did it put her in a foul mood that she insisted on taking out on him, it clearly wasn’t bringing her any of the satisfaction she was expecting.
I bet I could satisfy her.
Kol pulled off his hat and ran frozen fingers through his hair, pulling it from its knot and tying it back up. “At least the tree’s still handling things, which makes one of us.” The spruce was a little more ragged and worn when he’d checked on it that morning, but with another jolt of his magic, it would remain alive.
The cabin was buzzing by the time he returned. Piper met him in the kitchen with a crumbly bone-shaped treat for Doc, already dressed and with her dark hair pulled back in a snug bun, de facto director of the MacLean commotion. One of the toddlers came up to her with their coat in hand and silently asked for her help, so she began buttoning them up as she explained to Kol that they’d all be heading into town for the day. It was on the schedule, so why did he look so surprised?
Kol considered pleading that he needed to remain with the tree, but as he watched Piper be inundated with requests and empty oatmeal bowls, he realized she might not make it back whole if she went without him. And if she fell apart, he had a sneaking suspicion the tree would follow soon after.
The MacLeans took an additional hour before they were all finally ready to leave during which the toddler’s coat came off, was lost, found, and put back on several times. Why it had buttons and not a zipper, Kol would never understand. Piper didn’t sit once, proclaiming she could do all the sitting she wanted in the truck, and scrubbed bowls instead. When the last of the family was finally filing out the door, Presley lumbered down the stairs.
“Look who almost got Kevin McCallistered.” Piper eyed him as she dried off her hands.
He held up a set of keys. “You couldn’t go without me—these were in my pocket.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said with a sigh.
The toaster popped, and her brother pilfered one of the two pieces she’d made for herself before heading out. Piper took the final one, and they followed to an old pickup truck with rust under the wheel wells and a faded stripe painted along its side. Her brother got in the driver’s seat, and just before she hopped up on the other side, one of her younger cousins came barreling around the hood and ran right into her. She fell backward into a pile of dirty snow, and while Kol pulled her back up to her feet, her toast couldn’t be saved.
“Leave it for the birds,” she said as she climbed into the cab.
This should have endeared her to the many beady eyes gazing out from the crossing branches overhead, but one piece of toast didn’t make up for a whole tree.
It was a snug ride, Piper pinching her knees together in the middle of the truck’s single, long seat. Kol tried to not think about how her thigh rubbed against his with every bump or how warm that thigh was even with the thickness of the layers between their skin—not quite as warm as she was under the shared blanket in her bed but much warmer than the wall. He lamented her discomfort, but the only place Kol could think to put her would probably be even worse. Worse for both of them,of course, and her brother would not be happy to see his sister in Kol’s lap, he was absolutely sure of that.
Hiberhaven was every bit of a postcard, the pharmacy and library and community center blending in with the colonial houses that lined the sidewalks, every door adorned with a wreath, every lamppost a bow. Kol had done his research before taking to the woods to do his counting and knew that while the closest human village was small, it attracted an unfair amount of tourists, especially during the holidays, so it would be overburdened and under duress. He pulled his beanie down a little tighter as Presley parked, making sure his ears were tucked away.
The street was just as festive as the interior of the MacLean home. Leafless trees were strung with lights, and windows were filled with wrapped packages too pretty to open. Pine permeated the crispness of the air, and every shop was piping carols through their doors. Few cars drove through, diverted away from Main Street where pedestrians filled up the road instead.
Piper’s family was a loud bunch, and they took up the sidewalk en masse. Piper’s pregnant cousin began complaining of nausea and one of the younger boy’s nose was running, so she ran up between them and produced gum and tissues from her purse. She fell behind shortly after, digging through her bag with her head down. Kol caught her by the elbow and pulled her out of the way before she wandered diagonally into a pole.
She shot him a tight glare. “What?”
He gestured to the garland-encircled lamppost inches from her face.
“I saw it.” She went back to searching through her purse and announced to the group ahead, “Reservations are for five at The Henhouse.” That seemed to be their cue, and most of the group disbanded.
Piper finally produced a pen from her bag, her planner already tucked into the crook of her arm, and she started flipping through the pages. She landed on a massive list, gift ideas written in beside each family member’s name. When Kol looked up from reading over her shoulder, Presley was glaring back at him as he walked ahead with their father. “You want the keys, sis?”
“The weather’s fine, we can just put everything in the bed,” she said, still absently staring down at her list.
