Covet (Clann)

shower, Dad let me take his car over to the Junior Livestock Barn at the edge of town to help the other Charmers get everything ready for our annual masq ball fund-raiser for that night. Since I would only get dirty and no one cared what I wore anyways, I’d decided to go as my own scary self this year and wear my Charmers windsuit. Somehow the thought of putting on last night’s fairy costume and fixing my hair in a bun again didn’t seem like a lot of fun.
    At the huge barn, I threw myself into scrubbing the corrugated metal walls and cement floors free of dust and cobwebs, refusing to think about how a certain boy dressed in plastic shining armor had once caught me as I fell off the rickety ladder. We spent several hours decorating and setting up folding tables for the desserts the Charmers had brought to be given out as prizes for costumes and musical chairs. It took another hour to unload and prepare all the snacks, candy and sodas I would be supervising the sale of in the concession stand all night.
    And then all too soon it was time to open the front door and let the dancers in.
    When Tristan and Bethany arrived, I made sure I was too busy stirring a Crockpot full of cheese sauce to look up. I didn’t need to see how perfectly matched their costumes would be, or how happy Bethany probably looked on his arm.
    Later Carrie, Michelle and Anne showed up and stopped by the concession stand to say hello. By the looks of their wildly varying costumes, Carrie and Anne had managed to talk Michelle out of her idea for them to all dress alike.
    “Why don’t you two go on in and I’ll catch up?” Anne suggested to the girls, and they took off for the dance room. Anne turned back to me. “Look, about our argument the other night…I didn’t get a chance to apologize at your party last night, what with a certain Clann boy showing up and all, but I wanted to say I’m sorry. Maybe you’re right, and this whole thing with Ron does have me a little too weirded out.”
    “Have you called him yet?” I asked.
    Her gaze darted from one side of the snack lineup to the other, like she was pretending to shop. But I knew her better than that. She was avoiding making eye contact.
    “Anne,” I said on a sigh.
    “I’m working on what I’m going to say, okay?”
    My, but someone was feeling snippy tonight. Because she knew I was right. “Fine. But when you do call him and he does take you back right away, remember, I told you so.”
    She snorted. “Yeah, well, just remember what you promised if he doesn’t.”
    A hog hunt. “Never going to happen. Now hurry up and call him already.”
    She drummed her fingers on the countertop. “Aw, why bother when he’ll probably show up here tonight anyways? I can just talk to him then.”
    “Unless you chicken out again,” I murmured with a smile.
    “I’m not chicken,” Anne muttered.
    The front door opened to admit a new arrival. It was Ron.
    “I’d better go find the girls,” Anne said, turning the other way and pretending she hadn’t seen him.
    I made chicken sounds at her as she all but ran into the dance room. She didn’t look back during her escape.
    Ron sauntered up to the counter, dressed as a giant black cat, swinging his fake tail like a propeller. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who had decided to go as themselves tonight. “What bee flew up her butt?”
    I choked down the laughter. “Oh, she’ll probably tell you about it later.”
    “Hmm, maybe I should go hunt her down and say hi.”
    “What a great idea! Tell me how it goes, and good luck.”
    He headed for the doorway that connected the foyer with the larger back room, waving a paw goodbye over his shoulder.
    I fell into a rhythm then of taking orders and dishing them out to the customers. The work was a good distraction, keeping me on my toes and moving without thinking about anything personal for a few blessed hours.
    Until Bethany showed up to work her shift at the concession stand.
    The room behind the open window was small, made even harder to move around in by the folding table full of food and the numerous stacks of sodas and ice chests full of drinks. She was avoiding making eye contact with me tonight for some reason, but that was just fine by me since I didn’t know what to say to her, either.
    Did she really not know that Tristan thought they were just friends?
    Part of me wanted to warn her. But what good would that do? Everyone knew she was crazy about him. She was headed for