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CHAPTER 11

Tildi blinked hard and tried to bring the onion on the cutting board into focus. She hadn’t slept well last night. The texts pinging her phone hadn’t stopped. They hadn’t even slowed down. Her phone had lit up all night long and her stomach hurt more with each alert. At least it hadn’t woken Boone up.

“Ouch!” Tildi stuck her thumb in her mouth and sucked like some kind of baby vampire. That was the second time she’d cut herself trying to chop up onions for the stuffing. If she kept this up, she wouldn’t have any unbandaged fingers left. Then she wouldn’t be able to help get ready for tomorrow’s Friendsgiving Feast.

“Don’t do that, poppet. Let’s put some antibiotic ointment and a bandage on it.” Ruby guided her to the sink and ran cold water over Tildi’s thumb. Just like she’d done thirty minutes earlier when Tildi cut her middle finger.

And just like the last time, Ruby put on the ointment, then blew on it gently in case the medicine burned before wrapping a cowgirl Jessie bandage around her thumb. Had her mother ever stopped what she was doing to take care of Tildi for anything? Not that she could remember.

Once her bandage was in place, Kenzie hugged her and handed her a cup of hot chocolate. “I really need your help deciding which toppings should go on the hot chocolate bar tomorrow. Can you look at what I have and tell me what I’m missing?”

Great. Now they didn’t trust her with a knife. She didn’t blame them. She felt like she was back in middle school and didn’t make the track team, so the coaches asked her if she’d do something even more important than sprinting and be the water girl.

Here she was, twenty-four and still unable to make the team. Trying to smile, she sat at the bar and studied the different hot chocolate toppings. All the standards were there – marshmallows, whipped cream, crushed peppermint. “I think you have everything covered. Sometimes I like to add Red Hots candy for the cinnamon.”

“Oh, I love that! With your help, we’re ahead of schedule. Would you like to run into town with me and get some?”

Tildi had been wondering about the town of Wilder. She’d heard Grif and Dutch mention it several times on the yacht and it sounded amazing. Then there was the hope she’d be able to keep from hurting herself again walking around the small town.

She gave Kenzie a nod. “I’d love to. Let me grab my coat.”

It turned out Wilder wasn’t, at least on the surface, much different from any other sleepy country town across America.

The town centered around a large domed courthouse of brick, cornered with white mortar. The multiple police cars parked behind the courthouse showed it doubled as the police department. Two large flags flew from the flagpole centered on the top of the dome. The red, white and blue of old glory billowed just above the Wyoming state flag with its large, white bison and state seal.

It was a pretty town, and it would be prettier in the spring and summer. Large stone planters made to look like hollowed out logs lined both sides of the street. They were filled with snow right now but come spring she bet they’d be brimming over with colorful flowers of all kinds.

Across from the courthouse, a small city park had clean swept, paved paths with plenty of benches for people to sit and chat or have lunch outside. Several towering lodgepole pines provided shade. Giant iron bison statues guarded both the entrances to the park. They were probably mortified by the huge Christmas wreath collars and jaunty Santa caps they wore, but they were adorable.

Christmas garlands dusted with snow wound every streetlamp pole and strings of colorful light adorned the face of every building along main street. Flyers on every flat surface advertised the upcoming town Christmas parade.

A shrieked, “Shit!” from Kenzie was the only warning Tildi had before the car skidded to a stop, barely missing a girl and then a man who had stepped onto the street.

The seatbelt bit into Tildi’s shoulder when the sudden stop flung her toward the dash. Luckily neither girl was hurt. Out of the corner of her eye, movement caught Tildi’s attention.

A curvy woman stared up at a tall, strong jawed man who was obviously upset with her. He spoke to her. And when she shook her head, the man grasped her arm, spun her to face away from him, and brought his hand down on her bottom with a firm smack.

Wait. Was that man spanking the woman? On the street? Out in the open where everyone could see? Holy guacamole.

In the time it took Tildi to decide if she should try to intervene, the man had turned her back toward him and now held her in his arms. The woman’s response to the episode calmed Tildi’s frayed nerves.

Not only was the woman hugging him back, but she did it with a smile on her face. Her cheeks glowed, and though Tildi didn’t think the rosy color had anything to do with the cold weather, she didn’t think it came from anger at the man’s reaction, either. Embarrassment maybe, but not anger.

Tildi turned to ask Kenzie if what she had seen was a normal occurrence, but a rapid tapping on her window had her facing the sidewalk again. The spanking man and his spankee stood next to her window.

Unsure if she should, Tildi lowered the window. The man leaned over to look at them. “You girls all right? Were either of you hurt slamming on the brakes? Sorry we stepped out in front of you like that.”

She liked the way he’d said we instead of she. “Um, thanks, but I think we’re fine.” Wanting to be sure she’d read the situation correctly, Tildi asked the woman, “Are you all right?”

With a bright smile, the woman curled into the man’s side, tucking her arm around his waist. “I’m fine,” she answered with a smile. “Sorry I made you almost wreck. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“No harm, no foul, Maddie,” Kenzie said with a grin. “Although it looks like Derrick here might disagree. I’m just glad we didn’t hit you.”

“That we can agree on,” the man said. Holding his hand out to Tildi, he added, “I’m Derrick Hughes, and this is my wife, Maddie. We were on our way to The Fudge Factorium for a treat, but now we’re going home to discuss when we do and do not listen to music on our phone, aren’t we, princess?”

Maddie’s gaze dropped to her feet. “Yes, Dadd—I mean, um, yes.”

“You have a Daddy, too?” Yep. That’s what came out of Tildi’s mouth.