Bright red dragons hugged the doors oof Little China, Rowena's favorite restaurant in Clarkton. Cross stared at the sweeping roofs in a xie-shan style he recognized from a documentary he once watched.

"You're going to love it here," Rowena claimed, pulling the heavy wooden door open. "I used to eat here all the time. I'm a regular."

Cross nodded, taking in the red walls, hanging Chinese lanterns, and bamboo plants. "I asked my family to meet us here."

Rowena froze, her eyes narrowing. "Why would you do that? I thought we were on a date?"

His lips turned upward. "Rowena, your pageant starts tomorrow. I thought it would be a good idea for everyone to get along. I want them sitting with me in the audience cheering you on."

"Why?"

"Because you deserve to have people rooting for you."

Rowena's cheeks heated. "That's really sweet. Thank you, Cross. I know your mother hates me and this will totally blow up in your face, which I will laugh about, but it's still a sweet gesture on your part. I thought we were going to be alone so we could brainstorm about the fairies. After what Little Mikey said, I'm pretty sure they're guilty. I say we kidnap the king and force him to make the police let Gina go."

Cross chuckled. "I don't think that idea would work, baby. We don't know whom Karen saw that day and we don't know who is involved or why. I've known Giles all my life. The man is not going to believe us or take action without solid proof."

"We're never going to free Gina at this rate."

"We will, but it won't be easy," Cross admitted.

"Well, well, well...if it isn't my favorite human," a familiar male voice crooned.

Cross glared at his brother, Selig, "Can you please stop trying to flirt with Rowena? She's my future mate."

Rowena turned her head to him. "Can you stop calling me your mate? It's weird."

"Not for us it isn't," Cross insisted.

"Fine, but if you call me your mate, I'm going to call you hot cross buns."

His mouth turned upward. "That's a cute nickname, baby. You can call me anything you want, and I'd love it."

Rowena bit her bottom lip.

Selig grimaced. "Liar! What if she called you Butt Munch? You'd like that too?"

Rowena swallowed her laughter.

"Be quiet," Cross growled.

"Boys, stop fighting," Winona, their mother called out from the entrance. She pointed at the host, who was staring at her phone. "You, are you going to seat us?"

The host, a young woman in her twenties, didn't bother looking up. "How many in your party?"

Abby, who was standing behind her parents, answered, "Eight people."

Liam and Matt waved.

"I thought it was family only," Winona huffed.

"We're family," Matt insisted.

Winona rolled her eyes. "I meant her." She pointed at Rowena.

"She's future family," Cross reminded her.

Before Winona could argue, Bruce stepped forward. "Well, that's the truth. Rowena will make a great Howler one day. I hope this place gives free fortune cookies. I love reading my fortune."

Rowena grinned. "Me too. I once won five bucks playing the lottery numbers on one of them."

"Five dollars?" Winona scoffed. "That's not enough to cover the price of a ticket."

Rowena stared in her direction, wearing a forced smile. "Do you kick puppies in your free time? Point out people's zits? Refuse to hold open the door for people behind you?"

"What nonsense are you speaking?" Winona snapped. "Cross, she's speaking gibberish."

"Tell people to give up? Never leave a tip?" Rowena continued. "Double-dip the nacho chips in salsa when you're with a group of friends?"

Bruce turned his face to hide his laughter while Winona's face turned a deep shade of red.

"Rowena," Cross chastised. "We're here to get along, remember?"

"Fine. I'll try as long as she does," Rowena compromised.

"Your table is ready," the host interjected. She saw Rowena and smiled. "Oh, I didn't know you were here. You should've said something. I would've sat you sooner."

"No worries," Rowena said, shrugging. "I know you're busy studying for exams. Are your classes going okay?"

The hostess sighed. "Accounting is kicking me in the behind, but you were totally right. All I needed to do was imagine myself graduating, and I can keep studying."

After she led them to a table, a waiter hurried over. "Hola, my name is Juan. I'll be your server tonight."

As everyone sat, he began taking drink orders. Then he passed out menus. Winona held up a finger. "Wait a minute, Juan. Are these the right menus?"

Juan glanced at the menus and nodded. "Yes, they're Little China menus."

"B-but these menus only have Mexican dishes listed," Winona protested. She looked around the restaurant decorated in Asian décor. "I thought this was a Chinese restaurant."

Juan laughed, waving a hand at her words. "You must be from out of town. Little China is a Mexican restaurant."

"Then why are you called Little China? Shouldn't you be called Little Mexico?"

Juan looked at Rowena. "Was that a racist remark?"

Rowena shook her head. "It's okay, Juan. I'll explain."

He winked at her. "Whatever you say, Rowena."

"Did he just wink at you?" Cross asked suspiciously. He was following Juan's movements with narrowed eyes while clutching his fork.

"Simmer down," Selig said, smirking. "They have to be sweet to get a tip."

"Juan's always nice," Rowena shared. "I once saw him save a turtle from a sewage drain."

"I can save turtles," Cross mumbled to himself.

"How is this not a Chinese restaurant?" Winona exclaimed, her arms stretched out to both sides. "Look at this place. It screams Chinese cuisine."

"To be fair, it used to be a Chinese Buffet," Rowena explained. "Then the owner killed his wife and went to prison. Their daughter inherited the place but she couldn't cook. She married her husband who is Mexican-American. Instead of closing the place down, they changed their menu."

"Does this mean we won't get fortune cookies later?" Bruce asked.

Rowena chuckled. "Yes, you'll get a fortune cookie. The owner did keep that tradition alive. Otherwise, this is a Mexican restaurant but there are some dishes that combine both types of food." She pointed to a section on the menu titled "fusion frenzy." "I would suggest the ginger beef tacos."

"I prefer chicken," Winona said, examining the menu.

"They also have Kung Pao Tacos," Rowena suggested. "Those are delicious if you fancy some chicken. I promise you'll love them."

Winona bit her bottom lip before nodding. "Fine, I'll try the Kung Pao Tacos."

Rowena bit back her smile and Cross squeezed her thigh before giving her a secret thumbs-up signal.

They were about to request the check when Rowena looked up to see her cousin Carmen with her parents, Lorena, and her abuela.

"Did you know they'd be here tonight?" Cross asked.

Rowena shook her head. "No, and I didn't tell them I'd be here either. I'm not going to say anything. I don't want to make a scene in front of my grandmother."

Bruce turned to the group who were being seated. "Is that your family, Rowena?"

"Yes." She looked to Cross who raised his hand to catch the waiter's attention.

It was his raised hand that drew Lorena's eyes to them. She smiled and waved. This caused the rest of her family to turn around. Her abuela grinned and waved her frail hand. Her parents and Carmen looked at her as if she'd eaten the last tamale in the restaurant.

Carmen leaned over and whispered something to her parents before standing and making her way to their table. When she reached their table, she placed her hands on her hips and glared at Rowena.

"You have some nerve showing up here," Carmen spat.

Rowena sighed. "Carmen, I'm here with my boyfriend and his family. Can you, for once, not cause a scene?"

"Me? You think I'm the one who causes scenes? After what you did to Bennie, I can't believe you still come here."

"Bennie is the owner," Rowena explained to the people at her table. She turned back to Carmen. "Bennie, Gracie, and I are all friends. You dated him, You broke up. He started dating Gracie and you started stalking him. If anyone shouldn't be here, it's you."

"That's not how I remember things," Carmen argued.

"It's not?" Rowena asked, feigning interest. "You should see a doctor for that."

"You lied to Bennie so he'd break up with me. Then he started dating Gracie. He was the one who got away!"

"No, he was one of many who ran away. There's a difference, Carmen."

From her peripheral vision, Rowena caught Winona laughing behind her hand.

"If you wanted Bennie to stay, you shouldn't have cheated on him," Rowena explained. "You definitely shouldn't have sent him all those nude pictures of yourself."

Liam choked on his water.

"Ahhh yes, that reminds me," Rowena said, snapping her fingers. "Can you please stop sending Liam naked pictures of yourself? He's not a doctor. He can't help you identify your STIs and he definitely doesn't want to see them."

Carmen gasped. "I am clean!"

Rowena shrugged.

"You're sending Liam naked pictures of yourself?" Selig asked, shocked.

"Unwanted naked pictures," Abby chimed in.

"Can you please leave?" Cross asked.

Carmen ignored him. "I know you're behind all the bad things happening to me, Rowena. I can't prove it, but I know it."

"Again, you really need to see a doctor," Rowena said. "Maybe a therapist too."

"You think you're all that because you have a rich boyfriend and you're here at a fancy restaurant with his parents. You're not, Rowena. "She turned to Winona and Bruce. "Did you know she bragged about dating a millionaire? She's a gold digger."

"Rowena never told your family I was rich. I did," Cross corrected her. "She cares more about the nickname I call her than the money I spend on her."

"And this isn't a fancy place," Rowena added. "It's more like mid-tier."

Carmen rolled her eyes. "You should leave. You make everyone uncomfortable."

"Is she on medication?" Bruce asked.

"I think she escaped a mental asylum," Selig replied.

She ignored all of them to keep shouting at Rowena. "You're nothing. Your parents didn't even bother to say hello to you. You're such a joke," Carmen hissed.

"I've done nothing to you," Rowena said softly. "Why are you being so ugly to me?"

"Everything has always been so easy for you," Carmen snarled. "Growing up, the boys always wanted to date you. Even my husband wanted to befriend you. Abuela said you were going to do great things one day but I refuse to believe that. I hate you, Rowena!"

Cross stood. "That's enough. You need to leave. Now."

"You can't make me do anything I don't want to do," Carmen argued.

"Dear," Winona called out to Carmen. She smiled and pointed to her own teeth. "You have something right here."

Rowena chuckled.

Bruce and Selig also stood just as Rowena's parents and Lorena approached.

"Carmen, we could hear you insulting Rowena from across the restaurant," Lorena said, censor in her voice.

"You'll need to calm down and take a seat or I'll need to ask you to leave," a petite waitress said to Carmen.

"Me? You'll expect me to leave?" Carmen shouted.

Rowena's parents both look tired and annoyed. "Carmen, go sit down," Rowena's mother instructed. "I've told you before not to fight with Rowena."

"You must be Rowena's mother," Winona said, extending her hand. I'm Winona, Cross' mom. This is his father, Bruce."

"I'm Gloria," Rowena's mother replied, pointing at her husband. "My husband Fernando Flores. We usually come here on the weekend with Fernando's mother. You'll have to excuse Carmen. She's always had a temper and she's had a rough week."

"So, that makes it okay for her to come to our table uninvited, be rude, make a scene, and insult your daughter?" Winona asked. "If I didn't know better, I would've thought Carmen was your daughter, not Rowena."

Gloria's mouth tightened in a line before she replied. "Carmen and Rowena have never gotten along. Even when they were kids."

"Which makes it even odder to me that you're standing next to her instead of your daughter," Winona said. "I've known Rowena for a few weeks now and she's been nothing but pleasant to me. I find it hard to believe that she's the villain in this scenario."

Liam, Cross, and Matt started coughing.

"Then you don't know Rowena," Gloria said. "Rowena is wild and unpredictable."

"Even if that were true, she's the woman my son has chosen, which tells me she has many good qualities," Winona said. "Now, I would appreciate it if you and your niece left our table. We were having a wonderful evening until it was rudely interrupted." She turned to Rowena. "Rowena, dear, can you please order some of the coconut shrimp and flautas to go?"

"O-of course, Winona," Rowena said, nodding. She walked to the register.  Rowena glanced around the restaurant and she did a double-take when she saw Sylvia Finch, the assistant manager at Sweeter Homes, also at the restaurant. Had she been there the entire time?

Rowena was waiting for the dessert when Carmen approached her again.

"You think you've won this round?" Carmen asked.

"Are you mentally insane?" Rowena asked. "Your obsession with me and being upset with me is unhealthy. Maybe you need an exorcist?"

"I can't wait until your boyfriend dumps you," Carmen said, smiling. "Maybe he will once I win the Sweeter Homes pageant. I'll ask him to go to Hawaii with me."

"That's it. I'm done." Rowena turned to her. "I hex you, Carmen. I hex you to be kind to me until the pageant is over."

Carmen cackled and began coughing. A waiter handed Rowena her dessert in a to-go box before she walked back to Cross. She stumbled as she approached the table.

"Are you okay?" Cross asked, steadying her. She handed the dessert to Selig.

"I don't feel so well," Rowena whispered.

"Rowena?" Cross asked, concern etched on his face.

"Are you strong?" Rowena asked him.

His brow furrowed. "Yes. Are you okay? You look pale."

"Strong enough to carry me?" she asked. He nodded. "Good." Rowena grinned before her eyes rolled back and she fainted. 

.