Poe took my hand and led me to a little cafe whose glass windows looked onto Hollow Road. One of the green awnings shielded the little restaurant from the sun that probably shone into it in summer, and a gold sign painted on the windows read Field & Fork.
Poe held the door and we stepped into a cute one-room establishment with a smattering of tables and a glass fronted cabinet filled with cakes and pies. Houseplants gave the place a homey feel, and soft music played from invisible speakers.
Only one of the tables was occupied — a pair of middle-aged ladies dressed in jeans and T-shirts, one of them wearing a flowy printed caftan over the top — so we claimed the table by the window.
I looked around, taking in the warm peach-colored walls and the surprisingly modern art on the walls. “It’s nice here.”
He nodded. “And creepy.”
I laughed. “Stop. It’s not creepy. Maybe you’ve just been living in the dark for too long. Maybe we both have.”
Even normal things started to look strange when you were forced to live so far outside of normal.
“Fair,” he said.
We looked up as a guying his thirties emerged from a swinging door behind the glass counter.
He smiled as he approached our table carrying two menus. Dressed in fashionable slim-cut slacks, a tailored button-down, and loafers, he looked less like a waiter and more like a fashionista from the city.
“Hello!” He flashed us a huge smile and I saw Poe shift in his seat, probably because he expected the nice man handing us menus to start stabbing us to death or something. “Welcome to Field & Fork. Is this your first time with us?”
I wasn’t sure who the “us” was since he seemed like the only employee in the place, but he was so cheerful I couldn’t begrudge him the greeting.
“Um, yep!” I tried to match his cheerfulness but it wasn’t easy. “First time.”
“Great! My name’s Jared and I’ll be taking care of you today. The staples are on the menu, but we also feature a rotating selection of seasonal specials. Mind if I fill you in?”
I smiled wider, determined not to be a killjoy like Poe, who looked like was preparing to jump in front of me with his knife if Jared suddenly turned murderous. “Not at all.”
The guy named Jared launched into a description of winter sandwiches and salads, plus a blue cheese burger that sounded heavenly. Poe ordered the burger, I chose one of the sandwiches, and Jared took our menus before retreating behind the counter.
“Easy,” I said to Poe. “He was just taking our order.”
“That’s what he wants you to think.”
I laughed. “You’re ridiculous.”
The food was surprisingly delicious and we spent an easy hour eating and talking about nothing important. I love Blackwell Falls — grit and all — but it was kind of nice to have a change of scenery.
Still, it was weird to realize that Blackwell Falls felt more like my home than it ever had even though I’d lived there most of my life. I saw it for what it really was now: not an average town filled with average people — although there were certainly average people — but a complicated mix of good and bad, shiny and gritty, all of it held together by the three men who’d held me together too.
Most of all I was surprised to realize that I liked it just the way it was. I liked Cassie’s Cuppa and knowing I might run into my mom or Olivia there, and I also liked Marv’s and Screamin’ Syd’s, liked the way members of the Blades and the Barbarians had been guarding the loft, like I was one of them because I was with the Butchers and because of that they wouldn’t let anything happen to me again.
And yeah, Blackwell Hollow was super cute. Cuter than average even.
A storybook town, like Poe said.
But maybe I didn’t need storybooks anymore. Maybe, now that I knew monsters were real, I just needed to be in a place where other monsters — better monsters — fought them.
By the time we finished, a few more patrons had straggled into Fork & Field. We paid the bill, assured Jared everything was amazing (I was starting to think he was the only one in the whole place, which meant he’d also prepared our lunch), and headed back out to the Hummer.
Poe held my hand all the way home, and I settled into relaxed contentment. I loved the time I spent with the Butchers together, but I loved that I got time alone with each of them too, felt our connection grow stronger and deeper through it all.
By the time we pulled onto Main Street I was sleepy and already looking forward to changing into comfy clothes, maybe grabbing a nap, although the gentle stroke of Poe’s thumb on my hand definitely kept me open to other possibilities.
Then we approached the loft and I sat up straighter, blinking like that might clear the sight of the black Buick from my eyes.
“Who the fuck is that?” Poe muttered.
