Page 42

“Yeah, whatever, more like the one-millionth.”

“I’m sure it’s a draw,” Hopper forced a lackadaisical chuckle.“You ready?”

“I’m ready.”

Making it to the front door, Hopper grabbed the handle then turned just enough to look at Pat.Barking a single laugh when he took in his Cousin, he teased, “You gonna take off that apron?Or you thinkin’ ‘bout whippin’ up some biscuits for whoever or whatever is waitin’ for us?”

ChapterFifteen

Following the sound of cabinet doors being jerked open then slammed shut, Hel noted that she needed to put some WD-40 on those squeaky hinges then stopped procrastinating and gave herself a stern talking to.“Look, Hel Frigga Odinson, you are gonna get your shit together.You are gonna stop being a whiney baby.You are gonna throw those shoulders back, put on the happiest face you can, and go talk to one of your best friends in the whole world.There will be no more pity parties.There will be no more avoiding the issues.You are gonna talk to Liv, tell her what you’ve been feeling for the last, oh, I don’t know… forever, and why you’ve been avoiding your One True Fated Mate.You are gonna get some good advice because that Valkyrie is the wisest and most levelheaded person you know.Then you are gonna Magick yourself to the Realm of Promise, tell that gorgeous Omnipotent Being who fills out a pair of Wrangler jeans like no one else could that you have been a fool.That you have loved him since the moment you laid eyes on him.And most of all, you are gonna get down on one knee and ask him to be yours forever and ever and amen.”

“I gotta say, my girl,”Carys’s happiness filled Hel’s soul as she beamed.“You make me damn proud to know you.I knew you would come to your senses.I am just… Well, I said it right the first time.I am so damn proud, and I couldn’t be happier for you.You, my sweet girl, one of the true loves of life, my daughter in so many ways, above everyone I’ve ever known in my very long life, deserve all the happiness, and I just know in the depths of my heart and soul that you are taking the first step to getting it.”She paused, the smile on her snout widening.“I love ya’, Hel.I love ya’ so much.”

Walking into the kitchen with more pep in her step and spirit in her heart and soul than she’d had in longer than she could remember, Hel sat down in the huge wooden chair.Throwing her legs over one of the thick, hand carved, light ash arms, she propped the elbow of her dead side on the black velvet cushion on the other and what was left of her cheek on her knuckles.

Smiling as she watched Liv do everything possible to avoid looking at her while raiding her cabinets in search of only the Great Goddess knew what, Hel waited exactly five seconds before asking with a chuckle, “So, how about you tell me what you’re looking for before you rip the doors off their hinges?I mean, come on, Girl, sometimes you don’t know your own strength.”

“Mhm,” was all Liv grumbled.So, Hel continued her monologue while working very hard not to laugh out loud.

“I know you know how long it took for the Wood Nymphs to carve them the first time because you had to listen to me bitch and moan.So, I am also sure that you can only imagine how long they’ll make me wait when I tell them that you were hangry and foraging for snacks when you ripped off a couple of the hinges.”

“Well….”Stopping what she was doing and with her hands still inside the cupboard, the Valkyrie snapped her head to the side with such sass that the long black waves of her hair flew behind her like a veil as she huffed, “…I am looking for those stupid rye and brunost cheese crackers Eir makes for you.I swear to Frigga I have never eaten anything like them and can’t find them anywhere but here.”Rolling her barely blue eyes that were already swirling with unspent Magic, the Valkyrie added with a barely contained growl.“I have been craving them since the last time I visited, and you had them on the table.”

“In the pantry.”Hel pointed by wiggling the toes of her foot of her live side.“The one on the far side of the refrigerator.She puts them in that dark brown canister with the sunflower on the knob on the top.According to my lovely little friend, she made the container with her own hands and put the sunflower on the top to keep them fresh forever.”

Moving so quickly that she was little more than a blur, Liv had the double doors of the pantry opened and the thick-walled pottery in one hand in the blink of an eye.In the next, it was on the counter while the Valkyrie’s other grabbed a handful of the succulent homemade crackers.More than one silly comment floated through Hel’s mind, her favorite being,‘are you a Valkyrie or a hungry Mama Bear?’but she kept them all to herself.Yes, teasing each other was something she and the Valkyrie always did, but waiting for the perfect moment was what made their bantering so special.

Struck by her miraculous attitudinal one-eighty, she paused and held perfectly still.She wanted to make jokes.She no longer wanted to be alone.The thought of sulking was nowhere to be found.Damn!She didn’t feel sorry for herself, didn’t want to have a pity party, cry and yell for no reason.She most assuredly didnotwant to act like one of those silly women in the stupid movies she made fun of that Charity always watched.

Best of all, she wanted visitors.No…check.She wantedfriendsaround her.

But she had to make a decision.Was she going to call her friend out?Tell the Valkyrie that she knew why she was there and that she was wasting her time because she was going to grab her love life by the reins and ride it all the way to happily ever after?Or was she going to wait and see how long it took Liv to get to the point?

Maybe she’d wait just a little while.It would be fun to watch Liv squirm as she tried to broach the subject.

Settling back into her relaxed pose, Hel watched the Valkyrie tuck the cannister under her arm, grab a two-liter bottle of Diet Coke from the refrigerator and made her way to the table.The foot on her dead side bounced up and down.It was hard to wait when all she wanted to do was jump up, hug her friend and share her newfound outlook.

But waiting had its advantages.At the very least, it would keep her mind off what Carys was cooking up.Wait.Was the Dragoness even still planning anything after Hel’s inner pep talk and kick in the ass?Only time would tell, but the goddess was planning a super surprise of her own for her alter ego, a thank you for all the bullshit Carys had put up with over the years.

The crisp pop and fizz of cold Diet Coke splashing against the side of one of the crystal glasses that always sat in the center of the table drew Hel’s gaze.She watched Liv staring at the bubbles and wondered what exactly was going on in that steel trap of a mind of hers.Just like it was with the Dragoness who shared her soul, Hel could feel the wheels of the Valkyrie’s mind turning.Once again, she was pretty sure that she knew what her friend was thinking but would not eavesdrop to confirm her suspicions.

Inhaling through her nose, Hel held her breath while letting her head fall to the side, once again resting against the large velvet cushion covering the tall, straight back of the chair it was hard to hold still.But she had to do it.Or did she?

Nodding to herself, she instantly decided that she did.I was the right thing to do.So, settling in for a long wait, her eyes were at about half mast when Liv finished drinking half of her soda, loudly cleared her throat, and set her glass on the table with more force than was absolutely necessary.

Opening the eye on her live side as wide as it would go, Hel’s head snapped to the side, and she speared the Valkyrie with what she hoped was a scary glare.It had been so long since she’d actually teased some one other than Carys and Ari that she had to keep herself from laughing at the stunned look on the Valkyrie’s face.

Sadly, her resolve was too unpracticed.She just couldn’t hold back.Waiting for a single beat of her heart, the goddess was just about to speak when Liv blew out a long-suffering breath.

Turning her body so that she was completely facing Hel, Liv tilted her head to the side and matter-of-factly stated, “I know you know that Desi sent Dare and I here to make sure you’re coming to her ‘party’.”The Valkyrie raised her right hand from the table, leaving her elbow on the wood, and made air quotes with her index and middle fingers.“And I know that you don’t want to go.”As her hand fell back to the table with a dull thud, she added, “So, how about you tell me how to help.”

“How to help?”She squeaked, so shocked that Liv had been straight with her that her mouth started running before her brain engaged.Her filter was off, she’d forgotten where the switch was, and she didn’t care if she ever found it.All pretense of trying to banter and tease was gone.She just blurted out what she was thinking in a stream of conscious unlike any other.“Wait.What?I finally get my shit together and want to impress you with my new found “Go Get It, Girl” attitude and come all the way down here to tell me that you want to help?”

Shock and awe had the Valkyrie’s eyes open wide, her back as straight as a board, and her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.After three tries, she finally breathed, “Umm, yeah, I think…”

“Dude, you are something else, and I love you.”The words were coming double time.Hel was even happier than she’d been five seconds before.She couldn’t believe her ears, and she couldn’t stop talking.“Youreallywant to help me?Hot damn!This is a truly great day!”

“Okay.”The Valkyrie’s look of surprised was slowly morphing into concern.It was written all over her face.She thought Hel had lost her ever-loving mind and was trying to figure out what to do to help, and it made the goddess all the more giddy.