Snowspell

Chapter 6: Thinking of Me

Chapter 6: Thinking of Me

Not ten minutes later, Judd Maxx entered Avery’s Corner Thrift. He had snow on his shoulders, the top of his head, and Timberlands. Near the front door, he brushed and kicked the snow off and stomped two times. Then he looked up, meeting eyes with Avery, who had just exited his office, hearing the bell jingle on the front door.

Judd walked to the counter, grinning. “We meet again, Mr. Gauge.”

Avery felt impressed that the innkeeper remembered his last name. “Glad to see you.” And he was happy to get a good look at Judd again, finding him alluring for all the right reasons, handsome, and friendly. Some patrons entered his store who weren’t really likable or wanted to be ogled or even talked to. Avery could think of six particular women and two snotty men he could have lived without. He always came across as polite to them, no matter what hoops they forced him to jump through regarding a sale or how vile they could be. Business matters were like that, and some days were grueling.

Judd carried a thermos at his left side and placed it on the counter, next to Avery’s waist. He pulled out a Hall coffee mug from the left, front pocket of his North Face jacket, then a matching mug from its right pocket.

While pouring coffee, he told Avery, “Thunder Café is closed for the day, so I thought I’d bring the coffee date to you. What do you say?”

“I’d say you’re a creative man. Thanks for thinking of me.”

“How do you like your coffee?”

“A little cream with sugar. Don’t even tell me you’re hiding those in your jacket.”

Judd kept grinning. He withdrew two plastic creamers from a pocket and four sugar packets, two natural and two sucralose synthetics.

Avery laughed, swimming in his crush for Judd. He scooped up the two creamers and natural sugars, opened the quartet, and added them to his coffee. Then he took a sip, nodded, and said, “Tell me the worst thing you’ve ever done in your life, because this treat is the sweetest.”

“I dropped my sister off at Hill House Rehabilitation. She cried. I cried. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life, and the worst.”

“What does she use?”

“Cocaine.”

“Snow.”

Judd nodded. “Unfortunately, she’s been under a snow spell since she was fourteen. Addiction has given her a hard life. I help her stay alive every day. It’s a task for me, but I love her enough to help her through it.”

Avery watched Judd take a sip of his coffee and said, “It sounds like a sad situation. But you love her. We’ll do anything we can for our siblings.”

“What was the worst thing you’ve ever done?”

They made dreamy eye contact with each other, which caused Avery’s heart to do flip flops within his chest. “Let’s just say I called the police on my last boyfriend. I didn’t want to, but felt that I had to.”

“I get that. You’re talking about the Zachary Barnes trial.”

Avery nodded. Everyone knew about Zachary Barnes and the reasons for his arrest. The news story became splashed in the media for over a month when the arrest of Zachary happened. The scandal eventually ended after Zachary’s first week in prison. Embarrassed, Avery looked down into his mug of creamy-sugared coffee.

Judd lifted Avery’s chin with two fingers and said, “It’s all right. I’m not here to judge you, and I’m not here to pity you. I would have done the same thing if I had learned that one of my boyfriends had a secret life of being a thief. You have nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“I just want to forget that it happened. The whole situation has controlled my life for the last eighteen months. I want it done and over with.”

“Neither of us can change the past,” Judd clarified. “If I could, I would go back to when Tilly, my sister, was fourteen, and prevented her from trying coke.”

“And I would have never gone on a date with Zachary Barnes.”

Judd finished off half of his coffee, topped it off with some fresh liquid from the thermos, and blushed. “Enough of the blues. Let me tell you why I’m really here.”

Avery could hardly wait. No wonder the guy came across as magnetic: full of surprises, cheerful, handsome as hell, and mysterious. Part of Avery believed that Judd wasn’t real, an apparition visiting the thrift store, a winter ghost haunting him. No matter what, Avery became winded by Judd, in a good way, and felt his stomach do two more flip flops.

“Tell me why you came here, Judd.”

Judd pulled out two hockey tickets from his jeans and placed them next to Avery’s mug of steaming coffee. “The Templeton Tritons are playing the Erie Daredevils. It’s supposed to be a great game. The tickets are for the twenty-first. Two days from now. Would you like to go with me?”

Honestly, Avery hated hockey, but he wanted to get to know Judd better. He wouldn’t pass up some quality time spent with the stud. Therefore, he agreed to the date, picked up the tickets, studied their purple and yellow Tritons colors, and challenged the innkeeper, “Now that I’ve said yes to you, how about you say yes to me?”

“How so?” Judd answered, raising an eyebrow and becoming sexier by the second, if such a thing was even possible.

Avery fingered the tickets, leaned over the counter, and rubbed the tip of his nose against Judd’s in an Eskimo kiss. “I’m going to an auction this evening near your inn. They have a few paperweights you might want to bid on. What do you say?”

“What about the eight inches of snow we’re going to get by dusk?”

Avery shrugged. “We become snowbound in my Jeep or your truck and…who knows what might happen between two adult men trapped in a storm.”

“s**t,” Judd whispered. “You’re flirting with me, aren’t you?”

Avery pulled his nose away from the man’s and told him, “You started it.”

Judd continued to blush, nodded, and said, “Don’t make me like you any more than I already do, Mr. Gauge.”

“Too late for that, my new friend. So are you going to the auction with me tonight or not? I need to know.”

“You’re pushy, interesting, fun, and you didn’t ask me to leave your store. I’ll go with you tonight.”

“Sounds like I have you under my spell,” Avery said, enjoying his time with the man, and the hot coffee that Judd brought with him.

“Or vice versa, Avery. You never know what spells I have up my sleeve.”

“But I’ll soon find out.”

Judd reached across the counter, collected one of Avery’s warm hands within his own, and gave it a squeeze. “Good. Let the spells begin.”