“A second time,” her aunt said, no look or tone of disbelief.
“I meant to hit the asshole, but he got in the way. Again. Formula 1 drivers are supposed to have quick reflexes. So how is it I’ve been able to land two punches on the man?”
“When is that second date scheduled?” Aunt Delilah paused. “Or fake date.”
Ceci stared at her aunt.
“Piper told me, dear.”
“There isn’t going to be one,” Ceci huffed. “I’m done with him. That’s the last time I’ll have to see Sir Stick Up His Ass away from the paddock.”
“But I thought—” both Pixel and Aunt Delilah cried in unison.
“The Stick said no. He won’t do it. So, there it is.”
Pixel grinned. “Maybe he figures it’s too dangerous being around you.”
Ceci laughed. “Apparently.”
Aunt Delilah picked up the scarf, examining it while she spoke. “What do you suppose the chances are that a woman out on a date with a man should punch him on two separate occasions? I mean, when there was no reason to and she didn’t intend to. What do you think, Piper? Statistically speaking, what are the odds?”
“I can’t give a precise number without doing some calculations. But off the cuff, I feel confident in saying they’re very, very slim.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Aunt Delilah was looking at Ceci like a cat who’d caught a mouse. Ceci could almost swear she saw the rodent’s tail like a string of spaghetti slither up and disappear while her aunt licked her lips.
“What?” Ceci demanded. “Why are you looking at me like that? The fake dating thing is a no-go, AuntDelulu. Thank goodness! I don’t know what I was thinking making that deal with Roxanne. Nothing is worth having to go out on another date with that stick.”
Soon he would be on a flight out of Montana. With any luck, he already was.
Her aunt stood up. “I wonder if we have enough logs for the fire. If not, now would be a good time to go out and collect some before the snow really starts coming down.”
Aunt Delilah was right. It had begun snowing. But it was a light snowfall. Just a few flakes drifting softly to the ground.
Ceci shrugged. “That’s nothing. It won’t add even an inch.”
Pixel got up and grabbed her jacket. “I’ll get some just to be safe.”
After Pixel was gone, there was a moment of silence. Aunt Delilah had yet to wipe that sly expression off her face.
“I’m going to my room to read, dear,” she said. “Come get me when dinner is ready.”
She still held the scarf, but released it when she passed the credenza, watching the vibrant yet delicate material in a swirl of brilliant color float down. “It definitely puts a different spin on the narrative. Then again, it is the twenty-first century.”
“What do you meanspin?Narrative?”
Her aunt was gazing out the window. Anyone else might have thought she hadn’t heard Ceci. But Ceci knew her aunt had a special talent for ignoring things she had no interest in responding to.
Aunt Delilah turned from the window and headed down the hallway. Without even a backward glance, she added, “That snow is coming down now something fierce.”
Chapter Fifteen
Clarke
Athos’s words played on a loop in Clarke’s brain as he lay in bed wide awake.
They have snowstorms in Montana that close down airports.
