Page 5 of Christmas with a Chimera (Claw Haven)

E mma had been hoping for outrage. For her mom to gasp and her dad to swear vengeance.

She was not expecting her mom to lean closer to the screen and ask if she could get an autograph.

“Mom,” Emma said, scandalized. “I’m not asking him for an autograph!”

“I’m just saying,” Bitsey Curt said from the phone screen, adjusting her floppy sun hat. “He was in that In Too Deep movie! You know, the one with that mermaid we love?”

“She’s kidding , hon,” Glen Curt said. “Of course, your mother doesn’t want an autograph. We liked him—”

“I know,” Emma said icily.

“And In Too Deep was great, but that damn chimera broke your heart,” Glen finished.

“He didn’t break it,” Emma argued. She stretched her shirt over her knees, pulling her comforter farther up.

She had to get dressed soon, and she was still psyching herself up to head out into the cold.

The snow had stopped, but it was even colder than yesterday.

Just because Emma was used to this cold didn’t mean she liked it.

Her parents looked at each other knowingly.

Emma didn’t know why she bothered to lie; they’d been right there picking up the pieces.

Feeding her soup and putting up with her yelling at romantic movies.

The breakup had affected her an embarrassing amount.

She should’ve been able to get on with life.

Instead, she’d halved her hours at the supermarket and moved back in with her parents.

Emma sighed. “How’s the cruise going?”

“It’s warm,” Bitsey replied, as she always did.

They’d started on the cruise just as Claw Haven tipped into winter.

Bitsey loved pointing out how warm she was, and at Christmas , no less.

Emma tried not to take it personally. She would hate being on a cruise—there was nowhere to escape when she needed to clear her head.

All those quiz nights and games and annoying sunbathers.

But for the first time, she regretted turning down her parents’ offer to go on the cruise with them.

They wouldn’t get back until the New Year. She could’ve avoided Arthur entirely.

Bitsey continued, “Are you sure you don’t want us to cut the trip short? We’re docking soon. We could get a flight back.”

“No,” Emma replied instantly. “It’s fine.”

Her parents traded another look.

“It’s just,” her dad started, “when we decided to leave you alone at Christmas, we didn’t think you’d be stuck with the guy who broke your heart for weeks on end.”

“Only two weeks! And I’m not alone at Christmas . I have, like, eight different invites to people’s houses. And I don’t even need to see him if I don’t want to. I could just let the others take care of the café—”

“Which you won’t,” Glen said. “You’re going to be there every day, just in case someone tries to put something in your fridges again.”

“You don’t need to worry,” Emma said over him. “I’m totally fine. Honestly, I couldn’t care less that he’s around. He’s nothing to me.”

Bitsey hummed, pushing her floppy sun hat out of her eyes again. “Isn’t that his shirt?”

Emma glared down at her sleep shirt. Shit .

This was the shirt she’d stolen off him in junior year.

It was so faded and worn she’d forgotten about its origins.

She would’ve thrown it out with everything else if she’d found it earlier, but she’d only rediscovered it a few years ago when she was sifting through her parents’ garage for a yard sale.

“No,” Emma insisted. “Of course not.”

“Of course not,” Glen echoed, looking like he didn’t buy it in the slightest. Then he sighed. “You’re talking to people, right? You’re not holing up in your room and yelling at romantic movies?”

“No,” Emma said, pushing her DVDs out of view. “I’m talking, Dad. Don’t worry about me.”

Her parents traded yet another look.

“Daisy said you were particularly snappy the other day,” Glen said. “You only get like that when you’re upset, hon. I thought you were trying to be nicer to that new human.”

“I’m not upset! And Daisy needs to quit texting you. It’s weird!” Emma rolled her eyes. “I have to get to the café. Shooting starts soon, and I wasn’t there yesterday.”

“They might’ve burned the place down,” Bitsey agreed.

“Bye,” Emma said flatly.

She waved at her sunscreen-sticky parents and ended the call.

Then she sat back, growling with annoyance.

Her parents needed to stay out of her business.

Daisy, too, that little backstabber. Who cared if she was snappy?

Hazel needed to quit pissing her off. Everybody did.

If people stopped being so annoying, she wouldn’t have to yell at them.

She got up and paused, plucking at her traitorous sleep shirt. It didn’t mean anything. It was just really, really comfortable.

It didn’t stop her from throwing the offending garment in the trash after she got out of the shower.

* * *

The café was full of lights, the camera crew, and local extras, who were all way too excited to be on a movie set. Most of them avoided Emma’s eyes as she came in, the bolder ones sending her a sympathetic glance.

Emma forced herself not to glare at them.

They meant well. They didn’t know that their sympathy felt like a slap to the face.

Emma didn’t want sympathy . There was nothing to be sympathetic about .

She was fine! Who cared if her ex was back in town?

It didn’t affect her. And if her breath caught as she watched him swagger out of the back rooms with a makeup guy following behind and brushing out his mane, it was totally unrelated.

Daisy sidled up beside her, looping a furry arm under Emma’s. “I won’t ask how you’re doing.”

“Good,” Emma said. “If you did, I’d fire you. Quit texting my parents.”

“ They texted me ,” Daisy protested with a smile.

Emma sighed. Daisy was bright and bubbly and incredibly efficient, the perfect worker to offset Hazel’s well-meaning ditziness.

Plus all the customers loved her—she was always there with an agreeable smile, ready to get you whatever you needed.

Even if that was a listening ear. Some locals came in just to talk to Daisy, who was all too happy to listen.

It was her one flaw—sometimes she got too tied up in chatting to concentrate on the growing line.

“But I’m here if you need to talk,” Daisy continued, her ears flattening in dreaded sympathy. “About anything.”

“Do me a favor and shut up.” Emma pulled at her apron. “Wait, no. I want to talk about these stupid uniforms they gave you. What’s wrong with ours?”

“Not movie-looking enough, I guess.” Daisy did a little spin, apron swishing out around her.

Hazel appeared on the other side of her, waving excitedly. “Boss! Hey! Sorry you couldn’t stick around yesterday. It was super fun. We just did the same stuff over and over for every scene. It got really relaxing. You sure you don’t want to try it? I’m sure they’d let you!”

Emma gritted her teeth, trying not to think about what her parents had said this morning. She was being nicer to Hazel. When Hazel deserved it, anyway.

“I’m fine,” Emma replied, then clamped her mouth shut.

She could see Arthur out of the corner of her eye, leaning on the counter to talk to that damn director who’d told Luna to keep his star’s identity a secret.

If he’d let her talk about the casting, they could’ve avoided the whole mess.

Arthur would be at some other Claw Haven café, and Emma would be able to ignore him properly.

“I hope you and Arthur get to catch up today,” Hazel continued, twisting her apron nervously. “He said you guys didn’t get much of a chance yesterday.”

Emma stared at her. “He said what?”

Daisy cut in. “He just mentioned that you two talked.”

“And that he wanted to keep the conversation going,” Hazel added. Then she winced. Daisy had just dug an elbow into her side. “Ow! What? He did say that! And he seems really nice. I don’t see why the boss is so against it.”

“He’s not nice ,” Emma said flatly. “He’s a self-centered jackass who only cares about his next close-up and having someone around to buff his claws. Don’t let him trick you just because his mane is shiny.”

“It is very shiny,” Hazel said. “And soft.”

Emma felt a ridiculous stab of jealousy at the implication, followed by an even bigger stab of frustration. Why should she care if Arthur was letting impressionable young extras touch his mane?

Arthur’s carefully trimmed ears twitched. He turned away from Rusty to look at Emma, face splitting into an infuriatingly smug grin.

Emma very maturely resisted the urge to flip him off.

“I’m going to do some office work,” she said darkly. “Don’t let them touch anything important.”

“On it,” Daisy said.

Emma paused and turned to Hazel. “And don’t fall for the mane trick again. It’s Chimera Flirting 101. He is not worth it.”

Hazel’s eyes widened. “Oh! Oh…kay?”

She looked genuinely shocked. Like she hadn’t picked up on being flirted with at all.

Emma swallowed a sour taste in her mouth. “You know what? Do whatever you want. Touch his mane all over. Touch his wings while you’re at it. He likes that.”

“Um,” Hazel said.

Emma didn’t stick around to hear her reply. She stalked into the back rooms, away from the extras shooting her awkward looks and Daisy trying to find something to say and a strange pressure she was sure was Arthur’s gaze on the back of her head.

But when she turned to glance through the door that led to the back rooms, Arthur was looking at Rusty again. Nodding and laughing, his eyes creasing so beautifully it made Emma’s breath catch.

The door swung closed.

Emma squeezed her eyes shut, forcing the warm coil in her stomach to go away. She just hadn’t gotten any in a while. That was the problem. If she’d been satisfied recently, she wouldn’t have any reaction to his stupid, sexy face at all, ex-boyfriend or otherwise.

* * *