Miss Frost Ices The Imp: A Nocturne Falls Mystery (Jayne Frost Book 2) (5 page)

Birdie’s eyes lit up, and she stood to shake my hand. “It is so nice to meet you. I’ve heard about you. You’re a real live princess, aren’t you?”

“I am.”

“Ooo,” Birdie exclaimed. “I’ve never met royalty before. Unless you count Myrtis Lobb the Peach Cobbler Queen, which I do not. What’s it like being a princess?”

“It’s…very nice. There are a lot fewer jewels than you’d imagine.”

“I’ve also heard Santa Claus is your uncle.” Birdie shook her head. “I can’t even. The North Pole sounds so magical.”

“He is, and it is. But then, so is Nocturne Falls.” And it was getting more magical by the moment.

Greyson cleared his throat. “Birdie, Jayne bought something at Francine Gresham’s estate sale this morning and would like a chance to talk to Francine about it. We thought you might be able to make that happen.”

Birdie sat back down. “I do know Francine, but she’s not much on visitors these days.”

“It’s sort of a royal emergency,” I lied.

Birdie’s brows shot up. “Oh?”

I thought fast as I leaned in closer. “I think something I picked up at her sale, a fancy box she used to own, has somehow put a spell on my cat allowing him to talk. Of course, my sweet little Spider would never share official North Pole information, but he’s overheard conversations between my father, Jack Frost, and me. I’d hate to think what might happen if word got out about Spider. Someone might kidnap him and force him to reveal all.” I shook my head. “Can you imagine if one of my uncle Kris’s proprietary secrets got out? It could ruin Christmas!”

Birdie had been nodding along as I’d unraveled that tangled thread. She clucked her tongue. “That would be awful. Just awful. I’ll see what I can do about taking you to visit Francine.”

“Thank you.” Who said I couldn’t act?

“Very kind of you, Birdie,” Greyson added.

She gave us a curious look. “You said you bought the box this morning?”

“Yes.”

“And that’s when your cat suddenly developed the ability to talk?”

“Right after I got it home and he knocked the top off.”

“You’re sure it’s related to the box?”

“I guess. I mean, he started talking immediately after the box fell off the table. Why?”

She glanced at the phone. “Piper Hodges, her family owns the local newspaper, the Tombstone, got out of the shower at the gym to find that she’d turned blue.”

“Blue?” Greyson repeated.

Birdie nodded. “As Princess Jayne’s hair. Oh! I was supposed to send a deputy over there. Hang on.” She snatched up the radio next to her phone. “Deputy Blythe, this is Birdie, come in.”

The radio crackled, and a female voice answered. “Go ahead, Birdie.”

“Can you swing by the Tombstone? Piper Hodges turned blue this morning, and her mother wants a deputy to take a report.”

A few seconds passed before Deputy Blythe responded. “Did you say she turned blue?”

“I did.”

“How about that,” Deputy Blythe said. “On my way. Over and out.”

Birdie put the radio down. “Like I was saying, your cat being able to talk isn’t the only strange thing that’s happened this morning, but then, this is Nocturne Falls. You just never know in a town like this.” She sighed. “I’ll reach out to Francine and see what I can set up. Leave me your number, and I’ll call you when I know something.”

I pulled out one of my brand new business cards and handed it over. Right there under
Jayne Frost, Manager
was my cell number. “Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.”

“I’m happy to help. My nephew, Charlie, loves to visit your shop and seeing you is a good reminder that I haven’t taken him in a while. I’ll see you soon, I’m sure.”

“Soon, then.”

Greyson and I said good-bye and were back on the sidewalk a few moments later. I turned to him as we headed for the store and my apartment. “What if this doesn’t have anything to do with the box? What if whatever caused that woman to turn blue is behind Spider’s new language skills?”

He seemed to think that over for a second. “Could be. But the reverse could also be true. What if the reason Spider can talk is also the reason Piper turned blue?”

“I don’t know. Spider said it was because I’d wished for it. I definitely didn’t wish for a woman I’ve never met to change colors.”

He snorted softly. “I certainly hope not.”

Greyson walked me to the warehouse door and said good-bye to me there with a too-brief kiss. While I replayed that, I went through the vestibule that held the Nocturne Falls employees’ only elevator (off limits to everyone else since it led down to a secret area of the town) and into the warehouse that held all the stock for the toy store, the employee break room, my office and the elevator that led to the apartments above.

I thought about going up to mine for a moment, maybe see if Spider was still talking, but I was already overdue to start my paperwork. There was only one more thing to take care of before I got those inventory sheets under control.

I veered right and straight into the shop. I could sense the magic in play that was causing the snow to fall in the store. I wove my own through it, taking on the heavy lifting of the shimmer, which was what we called that kind of magic.

Juniper was at the counter bagging a family’s items. I waited until she was done and the family was on their way out to put the bag from Mummy’s into her hands. “Here you go.”

She closed her eyes and inhaled. “Cinnamon roll. And I didn’t even ask.”

“Yep.”

She grinned and tucked the bag under the counter. “You’re the best. And I’m not just saying that because you’re my boss now.”

I laughed. “Sure. How’s it going? You need me for anything?”

“Nope, we’re good. I felt you take on some of the shimmer. Thanks for that.”

I looked toward the back of the store. “And Kip? How’s he doing?”

“Kip is great. I think he’s ready to be on the register.”

“Go ahead and let him, then. You’re here, so if he runs into any issues, you can help him.”

“You got it. You headed into your office?”

I nodded. “I’m hoping to do four hours’ worth of paperwork in two. Think I can?”

“I don’t know.” She cocked her head, a coy look on her face. “Does that include schedules for next week?”

I groaned. “Make that five hours of paperwork. I forgot about that. Which reminds me, I need to see what’s going on with our new hire.”

“Guy or girl?”

“I don’t know. My dad was supposed to tell me today.” And just like that, I did have to run back up to the apartment. “Okay, if you need me, you know where to find me.”

Juniper gave me a thumbs-up as Kip came up to the counter.

I gave them both a wave. “Later.”

I left them to their work and about two minutes later was walking into my place. Spider wasn’t immediately visible, which meant he was probably sleeping in one of his current favorite spots, the walk-in closet or the bathroom sink.

I opened the fridge to get a Dr Pepper and stopped mid-reach. The six-pack was full. I could have sworn I’d only left five bottles in there this morning. I’d taken the sixth one into the shower. Had I imagined that?

I closed the fridge and checked my recycling bin. The empty bottle sat right on top. Huh. That was weird. But right on track for how today was going.

I got my drink and headed for the couch and my snow globe. I twisted off the top of the DP and took a long sip as I shook the globe.

The snow flew, and some seconds later, my dad’s face appeared. “Hi, honey. How’s it going?”

“Good. How are you and Mom?”

“We’re great. And it’s good to hear from you, but I don’t have too much time to talk, unfortunately. I have to meet your uncle at the stables to look at how training the new reindeer is going.”

“No problem. Tell Uncle Kris I said hi.”

He smiled. “You must have called about something. What is it, honey? I can spare a few minutes.”

“I’ll be quick. Does ER have the name of the new employee yet?” I’d sent three acceptable possibilities last week to Elf Resources. It was their job to figure out who was the most available and where they were on the wait list, then contact whoever was in the top spot, give them the good news and make all the necessary arrangements. Being a Santa’s Workshop employee was a pretty sought-after job.

“Not yet. I’ll get that for you by next week, I promise. Even if I have to go down there myself.”

I grinned. “That’ll shake them up.” Not that my dad wasn’t a hands-on kind of guy. He was, but anytime the Winter King paid a personal visit to a department, it was a notable event.

“Anything else?”

“Any chance I can get another snow globe? Now that the office is mine, it would be nice to have one down there too. It would make it easier for me to contact you instead of having to run up to my apartment all the time.”

He nodded. “Good idea. I’ll send one through the Santa’s Bag today. I’ll make sure the box has your name on it so it’s not mixed up with any inventory.”

“Cool. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He hesitated. “I do need to get going, but since I have you, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Sure.”

He smiled. “Your mom and I know you can’t come home. You’re too busy. But we’d like to come for a visit.” He held his hands up. “Not immediately. You’re still settling in, and we don’t want to complicate that process for you. But maybe in a month. You don’t have to answer now, just give it some thought and let me know.”

“I don’t need to think about it. There’s plenty of room for you in the guest apartment. And Mom would love some of the stores here.” It would be great to see them. I had a good relationship with my parents, and it would be a lie to say I didn’t miss them. “A month from now sounds good. Things will be much smoother in a few more weeks.”

And maybe Spider wouldn’t be talking by then. Because I could only imagine what kinds of things he might say to my parents.
Jayne eats doughnuts for dinner
. Or,
That vampire your daughter likes to kiss brought me a nice catnip mouse
.

Yeah.
No
.

“Great,” my dad said. “Your mom will be happy to hear that. Do you need anything else?”

“No, I’m good.” They’d already sent the rest of my summer clothes, which wasn’t much, through the Santa’s Bag. “I bought some stuff for the apartment with the money you sent me. Much appreciated.”

“Happy to do it. If you need extra—”

“Nope. My salary is more than enough.”

He laughed softly. “Jay, you’re the Winter Princess. It’s okay to ask. Or want. You don’t even have a car.”

“No, but I have the company bikes in the warehouse, and if I need to go farther, I just call iRyde.” Not that I had any plans to be spending money on that service for a while. “Besides, we both know my driver’s license is a poor indicator of my ability to drive.” It was really just for identification purposes, having been obtained in a somewhat magical manner. Technically, I wasn’t even a resident of Alaska.

Now, a sleigh pulled by reindeer? I could hold my own against just about any other winter elf who wanted to challenge me to that race.

“All right, honey. But promise me that if you need something, you’ll ask.”

“I will. Love you. Go meet Uncle Kris before he tracks you down.”

“On my way. Love you too.”

The snow settled, and he was gone.

I sighed happily and picked up my Dr Pepper. It would be fun to show my parents my new hometown.

I was about to head out when I got the urge to check on Spider. Maybe the talking thing had been a temporary fluke. Like a weird drift of random magic had caught him. As I’d heard several times this morning, anything was possible in this town.

I walked toward the bedroom to look in the closet. “Spider?”

A sleepy meow answered me.

I found him on the shoe shelf second up from the floor. The shelf was empty, because even with the new pairs of flip-flops I’d recently purchased, I didn’t have enough shoes to fill it. He rolled over to look at me upside down. Maybe he was back to being a regular cat. “Hey, baby.” I rubbed his now-exposed tummy. “Just checking on you.”