Page 20 of Forever Flustered

“Honey, I was just saying that…”

“Nope!”

Oh boy, Harley was in a royal snit – and this was probably a private moment that nobody should be witnessing between spouses, but here she was – stuck. The man glanced at Maureen almost like a silent glare of ‘Did you start this?’ written all over his face. Maureen shrugged. She looked at him innocently, picking up a spoon from the table and plucking the small piece of Post-It note off… which did not help the situation.

“Is. This. You?” Harley gritted out, holding up the offending spoon. “There were four of them in the ‘clean’ spoon caddy and so help me, if I pull a fifth one out…”

Thumper took two strides toward the table and yanked the spoons away before Harley could withdraw another one. He obviously knew the culprit – and the dangers he was facing. Coffee was apparently a very serious matter here at Flyboys, Maureen thought, watching the entire thing unfold as this big man ‘solved’ the problem temporarily. He was clutching it to his chest and carefully extracting a ‘clean’ one – holding it out toward her like he was placating a tiger.

“I’ll handle this for you. You’ve got enough on your plate,” Thumper began in a steady voice, looking at his wife in a silent communication that wasn’t hard to miss. “You should probably just sit there and enjoy your – No, Valkyrie. Not right now…”

The change was so abrupt, Maureen did a double-take and then craned her neck to see the newest arrival before the bloodbath. Perhaps clean dishes were the key to a happy marriage – or congenial workplace.

Harley angled her head to see what was going on, her eyes softening on her husband who was blocking the doorway – protecting her area while confiscating the dirty container of spoons. He moved slightly to the right to shoulder someone back again, continuing to block the door defensively.

It was sweet – in a weird, nerdy way… but still sweet, Maureen mused, fighting back a smile as Harley murmured a much calmer, ‘Thank you, Jackson’ from nearby, now stirring her coffee with a clean spoon. She was pretty sure that there would always be clean spoons from here on out – courtesy of Jackson ‘Thumper’ Sloan as a favor to his wife.

“What do you mean, ‘Not right now’. I can smell the coffee and…” a man growled heatedly, causing Thumper to look away for a second before dedicating his entire focus to the man trying to barge into the break room.

“Not. Right. Now… period.”

Thumper closed the break room door, nearly slamming it shut. Maureen could hear a commotion in the hallway and some frantic whispers spoken loudly between the two men, followed by a grunt, then the rattling of spoons, followed by a growled and alarming statement that made the hair on the back of her neck stand.

“I’m gonna shove every one of those spoons in that pipsqueak!”

Maureen turned to look at Harley in alarm. “Should we dial 9-1-1?”

“Nope,” Harley repeated once more, this time much gentler and much tamer than before. “My husband knows how I feel about my coffee. There are few things in life that I cannot budge on – him, our daughter, and my hazelnut coffee. He brings it to me in bed on the weekends; we never get a different flavor, and you don’t keep me from my caffeine when I need a refill… other than that? – I’m fine and dandy,” she said simply, stirring in a bit more milk from the ceramic cow before giving her a wicked smile. “But my brother is about to have a very bad afternoon – and I’m pretty sure his wingman is about to teach him a lesson… as long as my husband gets to him first – and not Valkyrie.”

“That was your brother’s doing?”

“Or Inferno,” Harley shrugged, putting the spoon in her mouth and licking it. “Jackson will find out either way, and it will be good for about six months – before one of those idiots tries to mess with me again.”

“You aren’t worried about your brother?”

“No,” she chuckled, tossing the spoon into the sink with a clatter again and winking at Maureen. “Hunter has Glory to back him up – and while he can be a complete turd sometimes, no one will touch him while she’s around. She’ll break a kneecap with that torque stick she wields like a scepter before anyone touches a hair on Hunter’s head.”

“Oh,” Maureen said simply, taking in the dynamics of the team in surprise and amazement. Harley pushed the almost empty box of donuts toward her with a much gentler smile than the ferocious look from only moments ago.

“Let’s finish these and talk. You have questions, remember?” Harley offered, smiling. “Oh – and a bit of advice, if you don’t mind me volunteering it?”

“Please, go ahead,” Maureen replied gratefully, picking up one of the donuts out of the box. “I’m all ears, and you have my complete attention.” Harley nodded – and waited until Maureen took a bite of her donut.

“Everything will come in time with your company,” Harley began and took a sip of her coffee. “But it never hurts to marry a man who would burn the entire world to the ground for simply looking at you sideways.”

The bite of donut lodged firmly in Maureen’s throat as she just stared at Harley in shock. A spray of powder flew from her mouth as she coughed, but nothing fazed the other woman. Instead, Harley sat there, watching her, and simply lifted an eyebrow before pulling out her cell phone and placing it on the table – never breaking eye contact.

“Interesting,” Harley finally murmured, smiling as Maureen coughed repeatedly to keep from choking on powdered sugar and dough. “I was talking about my own husband… and you were obviously thinking of someone else – dare I say, our very own Archangel?”

“Y’all should…” Maureen rasped, taking a sip of coffee before coughing once more. “Y’all need to…”

“It’s just us girls in here,” Harley said, leaning forward with an unholy light in her eyes as she grasped Maureen’s hand. “Get him to come back to Yonder, listen to some advice from a woman who’s seen it happen over and over again, and let’s get you some foot traffic so you don’t starve or have a mental breakdown from fretting about your business,” she offered, and she squeezed Maureen’s hand once more. “One businesswoman to another – I can appreciate the way you are pressing forward and the concerns you have, but you need to balance home and life… and we’ll get you there on both counts. I think you’ll be a smashing addition to our little family we’ve created here at Flyboys – once you and Archangel get hitched.”

Maureen choked again.

CHAPTER 7

ARCHANGEL