Page 25 of Buckle Up, Buttercup

Holy shit. It’s a level of thoughtfulness I would literally never have expected from my best friend. He’s always there for me, always by my side. He’ll back me up in a fight and come anytime I need him. But thoughtful gifts? Not in the Jasper Tucker wheelhouse.

This is wholly unexpected.

I stare up the street as he disappears into Lizard Lick Saloon. He’s partial to their burgers, but I’m more a fan of Whiskey Business myself. Maybe that has something to do with a certain blue-haired bartender, though. Not sure.

Movement in the Buxom Bodice’s front window catches my eye. A flash of blue hair confirms what I thought I saw as Bluebell comes into view, placing a giant metal cactus in the center of the platform behind the window. She spins it this way and that, eyeing it with an armful of belts looped around her left wrist.

Without really thinking, I stride across Main Street toward the Bodice. Sweet building that she is, she swings the door open for me. When I enter, Bluebell turns with a smile. No sooner has she done it than the Bodice jerks the entire platform Bluebell’s standing on. She goes flying off it, landing on the ground, but as soon as she drops the belts, all the floor tiles ripple, and the belts go flying like bullets around the room. A few land toward the back, one lands on my horn, and a couple end up on the ceiling beams.

Bluebell’s mouth drops open as she looks around.

Above us, the ceiling beams clatter.

The building is laughing. That much is clear.

Bluebell is decidedly not joining in that laughter as she crawls to her feet and plants a hand on her hip.

I pull a black leather belt off my horn and hand it to her. “You okay?”

She blows out a raspberry as she looks up at the laughing ceiling. “I don’t know how to get this building to chill.” She waves at the cactus in the window. “I brought that gorgeous gift home from Santa Alaya, but she won’t let me stage it. I thought gifts would be helpful, but nothing I’m doing is working.”

“It’s been about two weeks, right?” I pick up a couple belts off the floor and hand them to her.

“Yeah,” she says, frowning. Double lines between her dark blue brows tell me she’s stressed.

I glance up at the ceiling. “Hey, can you take it easy with my friend Bluebell? She’s the best person in this whole haven, and she really wants to be your friend.”

Silence.

“I’m serious. Would you behave this way toward a customer?”

More silence.

I point at the ceiling beams. “You want me to grab those?”

Bluebell shakes her head. “Nah. I gotta get my tall ladder anyhow because there’s a hole up there, and I need to patch it, even though she hasn’t wanted me to.”

Dismay and discomfort fill me in equal measure. It’s obvious the building and she aren’t on great terms yet. Falling from the front window platform is one thing, but what if the building messes with her when she’s on top of a ladder? It’s got to be fifteen feet to the beams.

“Let me help you,” I offer, looking back at Bluebell.

She frowns. “You think I might fall?”

I shake my head. “I think if you did fall from that height, it would really suck, and even though you could heal yourself, it would be painful and scary.”

She cocks her head to the side. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready for a game, Alk?”

I shrug. “I’m always ready, Bluebell. I can help you for a couple minutes.”

She looks between me and the ceiling again. The Bodice is still silent.

“Alright.”

Something inside me feels immense pleasure that she agreed to my help. I don’t like the idea of her up on that ladder. Not at all.

“I’m gonna put you on my shoulder,” I say, stepping close.

A clipped nod is her answer, but she’s visibly tense, rubbing the fingertips of her right hand together, the furrow still between her brows.