Page 1 of Hero's Prize

CHAPTER

ONE

“Listen, damn you. You’re going to do what I say, or I will literally destroy you.”

Ella O’Conner didn’t tend toward violence, but today was an exception. She was running on her twenty-five-thousandth night of no sleep and couldn’t get the scent of fondant and modeling chocolate out of her nose.

“Oh shit, Elly-Belly is cursing to herself. That is not a good sign.”

Ella grimaced at the childhood nickname, even though her friend Lilah Collingwood didn’t mean it with even one iota of malice.

Lilah had had a crappy nickname too. ButLilah-Crylahhad been used a grand total of twice by Jonathan McMahon in second grade before Lilah popped him in the nose and put an end to that.

Ella wasn’t a pop-someone-in-the-nose type of person. In second grade or now. But the modeling chocolate on the table in front of her might truly send her into a life of violence if it didn’t start cooperating.

“You okay over there, Ella?”

Ella set down the carving tool and got up off the stool at her workstation, stretching her shoulders and neck. She smiled over atBecky Mackay, who had been her best friend since before either of them could walk.

“I just want these to be perfect, you know? Sugar and Spice are such a huge part of the bride’s life. They’re even in the wedding, for crying out loud.”

She glanced back down at the mini-Aussiedoodle and yellow lab dressed as a bride and groom she’d been trying to create out of a mixture of modeling chocolate and fondant icing. She wanted the cake topper to be absolutely perfect for her friend Eva.

Ella wiped the back of her hand across her forehead, studying her not-quite-right creations. “I shouldn’t have left this to the last minute. And now you guys are bogged down with me.”

Lilah let out a snort from where she was making delicate flowers out of icing to go on one of the tiers of the cake. It was amazing that a woman known all over the world for her fighting prowess could also be good with work so delicate. Not only that, seemed to really enjoy doing it.

“You didn’t leave it to the last minute,” Lilah said. “You didn’t expect the last week to be taken up with every past, present, and future resident of Oak Creek wanting you to supply them with Fancy Pants sweets while they were here.”

That was true. When Ella had agreed to make Eva Dempsey and Theo Lindstrom’s wedding cake, groom’s cake, and treat baskets for all the families coming into town for the wedding, she hadn’t expected to also have a mad rush at her bakery every single day.

Great for business, not so great for Ella having any time to sleep.

“And we don’t mind helping.” Becky shot Ella a gentle smile. “It’s kind of nice to be away from all the madness for a little bit.”

Eva and Theo’s wedding was in two days. The ceremony was being held on the Linear Tactical property since Theo ran the survival and defense training center and Eva worked there full time as a vet, taking care of the therapy animals Linear had incorporated in the last few years.

The reception would be about an hour away in the glory of Wyoming’s Teton mountains. Since so many people were coming infrom out of town, they’d decided to make it a weekend extravaganza, full of parties and fun and…stunts.

Stunts.

No, Ella wasn’t going to think about that, lest it derail her entire day.

“Are you sure Eva doesn’t need you two for anything today?” Ella sat down on the stool again and turned back to the chocolate dogs. “Isn’t a bride supposed to be surrounded by her bridesmaids every waking moment two days before her wedding?”

Becky was arranging different treats into small white boxes that would be going up to the Tetons tomorrow. “You know Eva—she doesn’t want a big production. And after so many years of being separated from her parents, I think she’s really wanting to spend time with them right now.”

Lilah cracked her knuckles, and Ella and Becky shot looks at each other. They both knew the action meant their friend was envisioning using her fists on someone—in this case, the man who’d kept Eva separated from her parents all those years.

“Her bastard ex is in jail, Lilah,” Ella said. “Don’t ruin your beautiful flowers over him.”

Lilah took a steadying breath. “Five minutes alone with him. That’s all I would need.”

They’d all like five minutes alone with the man who’d spent years gaslighting and emotionally abusing their friend, making her a shadow of the woman she’d once been. Ella might not be able to fight as well as Lilah, but she could get a few good blows in.

“Let’s not think about that,” Becky said. “Let’s think about how much Eva and Theo love each other and how she has been absolutely glowing the past few months.”

Lilah went back to her flowers. “And how fucking fantastic Eva is for choosing amazing bridesmaid dresses instead of ones we’ll never wear again and that make us look frumpy.”

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