Page 2 of She is the Darke

“Then that would be on you. I am not the one to put on speakerphone without a warning.” She punched the words out through loud chewing.

“What are you eating? Where are you?”

“Funnel cake topped with spiced apples. At your momma’s house.”

Normally she would think that was a “your momma” joke, but the pumpkin patch made funnel cakes with spiced apples. It was the new it-thing on the menu at the snack shack this year.

“I thought you were working today,” Demi said, pulling forward to make her way to her next client’s house.

“I needed a mental-health day.”

“Why? Everything okay?”

“Yeah. That Matthew guy keeps hitting on me, and I got annoyed and took off after lunch.”

“Oh my gosh, Rachel. You need that job. You can’t get fired.”

“That job needs me. Where are you? I thought you were working at the patch today. I came to say hi, and buy you a hard apple cider.”

“Rach, even if I was working at the patch today, I wouldn’t be able to drink with you on the job. I’ve told you that like nine hundred times.”

“Well, I was just testing if you were still a Goody Two-shoes. Still boring, I see. I tried to get your mom to hire me, but she said I’m a horrible influence on you, so I told her thank you and offered to buy her a beer, but she said something under her breath and walked away. Now I’m just a dandelion seed in the wind, just floating around and not doing—”

“Does your dad still do Christmas lights?”

“That man will do Christmas lights until he is a hundred. Mom keeps telling him to slow down, but he doesn’t understand that word combination. This year he has more contracts than ever, so some of his mini-mes are coming back to town for it.”

“Whoa! Your brothers are coming back to town?” She tried to remember what they even looked like. All four of the Durock boys had left town right after high school, and only came back occasionally for short holiday stays.

“Yeah, crazy right? This town isn’t ready for this.”

Party animals, all of them. “Do you think you could ask your dad if he can help me out with the All Hallows Lights Festival? I have some clients asking if I could do a package deal.”

“I don’t know,” she drawled out.

“Can you ask him? Or do you mind if I ask him? I won’t ask for any discount, he can charge his normal rates.”

“Honestly, he’s still being kind of a dick about the shifter stuff,” Rachel said, seriousness washing through her tone.

Crap. Some people had reacted well about the discovery that there were crow shifters in town, and some people had not. Mac Durock was one of the latter.

“Look, maybe if he works with me, he will like me again.”

“Look at us, being grown-ass women whose parents both think we’re bad influences on each other.”

“Yeah, well, you actually are a bad influence,” Demi deadpanned.

“Fair. Look, I’ll ask my dad. No promises though. He’s a grumpy old badger set in his ways.”

“Yeah, okay. Hey Rach?”

Her friend slurped loudly on some kind of drink. “Yeah?”

“Which brothers are coming back?” Oh, she’d tried for nonchalance in her tone, but had failed.

“Not Tyler.”

“Good.” Good? She cleared her throat, and rushed out, “I love you, and we can do a girls’ night soon. I could use one.”