Page 1 of Sugar and the Skeptic
CLEMENTINE
I’ve never walked into a bar and been immediately invited to a wedding before. But that’s exactly what happens when I find my way intoValentine’s Bar and Grillon the outskirts of Whisper Valley. I came here looking for my childhood best friend, Fanny Longbottom akaSerenity, and within five minutes of arriving, I’m watching two strangers marry to the delight of all gathered. It feels like a blessing.
“Bet your cards didn’t tell youthiswould happen the moment you got into town,” Serenity says, beaming beside me as the happy couple are pronounced husband and wife.
“I beg to differ. They told me I’d find love, actually,” I say, fighting my grin at the way her brow arches when I share what my most recent Tarot reading revealed.
“Love, you say?”
With a laugh, I nod to where her brother-in-law Ajax and his bride are enjoying their first kiss as a married couple. “Yes. And I’m thinking I found exactly that.”
She angles herself toward me and takes my hands in hers. “Oh, but what if this isn’t what the cards were suggesting? What if it’s a special love just for you?”
Grinning at her, I shake my head. “You and I both know that I’m just a witness in this world. My destiny is to be the fun, free-spirited,singleaunt who travels the countryside and never stays in one place long enough for people to realize I’m unexciting.”
“Unexciting?” She scoffs and shakes her head. “That isn’t a word I would ever choose to describe you, Clem.”
“Precisely my point. I don’t set down roots for good reason.”
Pressing her lips into a smile, she releases a deep breath. “Maybe Whisper Valley is the answer your wandering soul has been looking for.”
“Wandering is the answer, my sweet friend. But I do have to admit that I love the vibe here. These mountains have a certain kind of energy about them. I felt it as soon as I arrived here.”
Her eyes widen. “I have to introduce you to Jade. She’s got a theory about that.”
“You fillin’ our guest’s head with soulwink ideas the moment she gets here?” her husband, a burly man named Nelson says from her other side.
“Soulwink?” I ask, leaning forward so I can meet his green eyes. “That sounds like something that’s right up my alley.”
“Right?” Serenity says with a girlish giggle. “It will blow your mind, Clem.”
“Maybe give her a chance to settle in first?” Nelson suggests lowering his voice to add, “Just let it run its course.”
I sit back and frown slightly, but I don’t question him because I’m quite sure that last part wasn't for my ears. Still, I’d like to know exactly what he means by that. What kind of nature needs to run its course? And what on earth is a soulwink? Once I find out who this Jade woman is, I’m going to have to find some answers.
Applause erupts from the tiny gathering as music starts playing from the sound system and the happy couple join hands and walk down the makeshift aisle. Within moments, the chairs are spirited away, and we’re all moving toward the bar where a dark-haired man is handing out bottles of beer and pre-prepared cocktails.
“Oh, no. Not for me, thanks. I don’t drink,” I say when I’m offered a drink by a jovial bearded giant.
“Do you eat?” he asks with a slightly narrowed eye as he pours me a glass of lemonade instead. “We’re gonna have a problem if you say you don’t eat.”
Tossing my head back, I laugh. “I definitely eat. A woman doesn’t get curves like these without enjoying a good meal on the regular.”
With a smile, he hands me the ice-cold glass. “You’ll fit in just great then, sugar. Name’s Kellen, by the way. My wife is the stunning blonde over there fawning over her new soul sister. You’ll find they’re all the nicest, most welcomin’ ladies you’ve ever met.”
“Soul sister, huh?” I turn to where he indicates and find almost every woman in the room is gathered around her with a cocktail glass held aloft in cheers. It’s then I realize that every single one of them is also plus-sized. Interesting.
Taking another quick scan of the room, I note that every single man is huge but in a muscular way. And if that isn’t enough to get my mystic senses tingling with interest, they also all have the most wonderful forest-green eyes. Uncanny.
“Exactly what is a soulwink?” I ask, turning back to Kellen but finding him no longer there. He’s moved along the bar and is now talking—well, debating something—with the man in the kitchen with short, cropped hair. He also has the green eyes, so I’m guessing they’re brothers or something.
“How is everyone related here?” I ask the only other person near to me, a man with messy light brown hair and tattoos all over his exposed forearms who’s nursing a half-drunk bottle of beer from his stool at the bar.
He looks at me in alarm. “Me?”
I can’t help but laugh. “Is there someone else next to you?”
Glancing to the other side of him he bounces a shoulder. “Guess not.”
