Was she that worried about his reaction? “Do you want Myra and me there with you?”
She bit her lip then lifted her chin like she wasn’t bothered by any of this. Liar.
“I think, maybe I won’t.”
“Won’t tell him about the gods?”
“About anything. Gods. Creatures. The whole thing. Just. Nothing.”
“Why are you changing your mind?”
“I don’t think it’s a good time. I only wanted to tell him because I hate keeping secrets.”
This was true. She was terrible with birthday gifts and surprise parties. If it meant keeping her mouth shut and her excitement locked away, she could only handle it for short periods of time.
“You like him. You want to keep him in your life.” I made a rolling motion with my hand, trying to get a response out of her. She finally nodded. “You want to tell him all about your life, which includes…well, everything. I don’t see the problem. You should tell him.”
We were walking again, our reflections warped and wiggly in the glass windows of the shops.
The Pop Shop was one of the last shops in a strip of touristy places on the bay. The smell of fresh caramel and salty popcorn mixed with the clean green overlays of the ocean and sunlight was all it needed to draw hungry visitors in through their door. Although the fact that a siren owned the shop didn’t hurt either.
Jean stopped outside the door. “I…can’t tell him. Not right now.” Her gaze roamed over me like she had to make sure I was still in one piece, even though I hadn’t been out of her sight for a second.
“I am fine.” I put as much warmth and comfort into those words as I could. “And you should totally talk to Hogan about your life and about the secrets you don’t want to keep from him. Whether I’m fine or not.”
“It’s not that easy.” Yeah, I knew she was going to say that. The Reed stubbornness ran strong through our veins. “Let’s just get popcorn, okay?”
“Sure,” I said. A declaration of temporary ceasefire.
She opened the door and stepped inside.
The Pop Shop was one long counter of popcorn machines and popcorn-related mixes with nuts and chocolates. On the back wall sat candies, soda, and a slushy machine. There was floor space for maybe six people in the shop at one time, no chairs, no tables.
A mom and two little kids were inside, taking up half the available space. Gladys, the blonde-bombshell siren and co-owner of the shop, poured sample popcorn into the little outstretched hands. They clutched at it with sweaty fists before shoving it in their mouths.
Gladys loved working here on the edge of the bay during the day. During the night, she helped out at the bar just a few doors down.
She and her mortal husband, Cordova, had been together now for twelve years.
I wasn’t sure if Cordova knew she was a siren. We left it up to each creature to decide if they wanted to tell a human companion who and what they were.
The default in Ordinary was secrecy. But when it became clear that a few dates would slip into years of sharing a life, every creature had the right to share what they were with their loved one. Heck, they had the right to share before then too.
One would think we had droves of people spreading the word about all the supernaturals who lived in our town, but oddly, no.
I chalked it up to the nature of Ordinary. Created by the gods for the gods to put down their powers and vacation as mortals, and settled by creatures and humans alike, I had a theory that folks sort of…forgot about the unusual bits of the town when they moved out.
They remembered the good time they had here, the sand and sun and seashells. But they didn’t remember buying popcorn from a siren, or living next door to a genie.
“Hey, officers,” Gladys said as she handed the mom two little bags of popcorn. “What’s your pleasure?”
The mom and kids left the store and the clang of the brass bell mounted on the side of the building rattled out twice, as each kid gave it a ring.
“I need an extra-large caramel and extra-large cheese, extra cheesy, and no comments on my love life.” Jean dug in her back pocket for her card. “Oh, wait. You’re paying, aren’t you, Delaney?”
I rolled my eyes behind her back and then leaned in with my card.
Gladys fought a smile. “You got it. Do you want to sample the pumpkin and vanilla spice nut mix? I’m testing it on customers before the holidays. See if it’s worth stocking up on.”
