Page 31 of Merry Christmas, You Filthy Animal
“Yes,” he groans.
“Well, I was fucking right. Turns out the girl who nailed me in the head with the two-liter is dating Dwight, my nemesis.”
“Christ.” Cole runs his hand over his jaw.
“And apparently there’s some sort of sign out on her property now. I told you something fishy was going on. I fucking told you.”
Before Cole can respond, the door flies open, and all eyes land on BKJ, standing tall, proud, and stoutly in a brown leather coat with sheep wool lining the collar and a Santa hat on his head.
In his giant black galoshes, he stomps into the coffee shop, shaking off the snow that must have started, and heads in our direction.
Intimidating is all I can say. And I’m four inches taller than him. But there’s something about him being the son of the most powerful man in Kringle that has my nuts turning in on themselves.
“Merry Christmas,” he says in a bellow.
“M-merry Christmas,” I answer. “Uh, snowing out there?”
“Just a little sprinkle.” He pats Cole on the shoulder. “Good to see you.”
“How you doing, man?” Cole asks, dropping the pinch in his brow and smiling like a damn fool.
“Good. Good. Taking a break from the market for a moment to grab some coffee.” He looks around, holding on to the belt of his jacket. God, he really has the mannerisms down, already puffing his chest, ready to shout out aho-ho-hothat could shake the very timbers of this establishment.
“Let me grab that for you,” Tanya says, passing Florence back to Cole.
While Tanya is pouring him a cup of coffee, adding his signature peppermint stick in the cup, BKJ says, “So I’ve heard you’ve had a rough go of it lately. Seems like you’re on the naughty list, Atlas.”
I feel myself cower, but before I can answer, Sherry says, “I’ll walk you back to the Christmas market and fill you in, because I have something important to ask you.”
Tanya drops off his drink and says it’s on the house. BKJ offers her a wink and then takes a sip without even blowing on the liquid. Wow, incredible. What a metal mouth.
“Is this a private conversation?” BKJ asks.
“No, it’s a conversation that I must have in front of everyone.” Clearing her throat, she says, “I heard you speaking to your dad this morning about a new girl in town and a sign. Could you possibly inform us of what you were talking about? Because I think it has to do with the girl who Max had an interaction with.”
“Betty?” BKJ asks.
Betty.
Huh, I kind of like that name.
“Yes, the girl living on the property next to Max, dating Dwight.”
“Dating Dwight?” BKJ lets out a wallop of a laugh, so much that he starts coughing. “They’re not dating. She’s his niece.”
“Niece?” I ask, surprised. “No, we can’t be talking about the same person. She is not that much younger than Dwight.”
“Her dad is Dwight’s brother. Her grandfather had two marriages. One of those situations.”
“Oh,” I say. Well, that makes more sense, because there is no way Dwight could pull a girl like her. Not with how he eats his food, like a fucking chipmunk hovering over a nut.
“But, yes, that’s Betty. New to town. Just moved onto the vacant lot that Dwight has owned for a long time.”
I sit taller, dread starting to fill me. “He owns that land?”
BKJ nods. “Yup. I drove by this morning on my way out of town for some supplies, and I saw a sign out on the property, aComing Soonsign.”
I dramatically grip Cole’s arm. “What did it say?”
