She shook the bag again and it crinkled, paper shifting.
I was good at spotting gods. She didn’t have that look about her—didn’t have the glow of power. I could identify most supernaturals.
But I’d been spotting them while I was in spirit form, not in flesh. While having a body brought with it pleasures and advantages, there were some spirit-enhanced senses I missed.
“Let me guess. You have an offer we can’t refuse.”
“It’s a bar?” she said. “With an attached ice cream shop? A strange match, I’ll admit, but in small towns, it works better when people join together. Don’t you think?”
“I think we don’t need what you’re selling.”
“Have you been to the Blarney Stone? The community has done a fine job of setting it up in a nice little spot on Main Street. Great signage. I think you’d be impressed.”
“I want to see the Blarney Stone,” Abbi said. “And ice cream. Please. We’ll take two flyers. Maybe four? Is four okay?”
“Four is wonderful. I’m happy to give you a dozen.” The woman tried to peer around me to get a look at Abbi.
“Would you allow me to step…” She blinked. “Oh. Oh, you’re…”
I wedged more of my bulk into the opening, hiding Abbi. “Just hand me the flyers.”
“She’s...um, she’s very pretty,” the woman said.
I was sure she hesitated because Abbi had darker skin than either me or Lula.
“Is she your...daughter?”
“Family!” Abbi said from behind me. Like,rightbehind me. She’d snuck up and was trying to shove her face past my thigh.
“Abbi,” I growled. “Don’t.”
“Just. Move, Brogan.” She pushed, then huffed. Then she pinched the back of my knee. Hard.
“Hey,” I yelped and jumped.
She smooshed into the open space of the door.
“Hi! I’m Abbi, and I really like ice cream. Brogan is my family, he’s taking me on a road trip, and he didn’t steal me. But I really, really do like ice cream, so can I have some?”
The woman blinked and her hand fluttered up to touch the feathers caught in her hair, her gaze cutting between the little twerp and me.
“Abbi,” she said, “it iswonderfulto meet you. My name is Franny. Welcome here. Welcome withallmy heart.”
“Thank you,” Abbi said. “Can I have the ice cream papers?”
“Oh, of course. Here.” She pulled out a handful of the flyers and bent them all in half short-wise, then length-wise. She held them out like she was luring a skittish squirrel with a handful of nuts.
“Coupons for ice cream. Also, more than ice cream, but if you bring them to the ice cream shop, and Billy is there, he’ll make sure you get the best scoops in Texas.”
“Thank you,” Abbi said. She tipped her head sideways and considered the woman. “Do you know me?”
“We haven’t met. Not until now.”
“Do I know Billy?”
“I don’t think so.”
“How will he know the best ice cream for me?”
