Then, somewhere inside she found a pawhold and dragged herself out of the sea.
She pushed the mug away decisively. “Gods, it’s just adrink. You gotmarried?”
Viv slapped the table and leveled a finger at her. “There’s Fern. It’s so damn good to see you again.”
And then it was okay.
“You should have led with the cinnamon rolls,” Fern mumbled around a mouthful of one. She closed her eyes, and an involuntary shiver found its way from her shoulders to the ends of her whiskers. “Gods, it seems like you’re really burying the lede with the name of this place.”
She glanced at Tandri, who stood with one hand braced on the end of the table, eyeing Fern with a small but amused smile. A pair of horns the dusty magenta of the succubus’s skin parted the hair at her brow, and her whiplike tail swayed languorously. Potroast lay curled around one of Tandri’s feet, and she’d made no move to disturb him, even though she probably had something better to do. Fern thought from the start that she liked Viv’s wife, but this clinched it.
She licked a sticky claw. “Put another one in front of me, and I might marry you, too.”
The succubus laughed, tucking a lock of hair behind one ear.
“Paws off,” called Viv, opening the front door just long enough to hang a closed sign on its nail. She grabbed a cloth off the counter as she returned to the long table that Fern occupied very little of.
Fern affected a speculative look. “Tandri, did Viv ever tell you about the summer fling she had when she was still swinging metal around?Thatgirl was a baker, too. Probably a wholeovenloadof jilted bakers in your wife’s wake, I bet. So, when the inevitable happens, just know I’m here for you.” She fluttered her fingers magnanimously.
“Oh, I’m no baker. That’s Thimble’s handiwork.” Tandri’s smile became secretive. “You’ll meet him soon enough, I’m sure.” She switched her attention to Viv. “How did you never mention him in your letters?”
Viv settled across from Fern and scrubbed at an imaginary scuff on the table with the cloth. “Spent most of them conning an old friend into moving her bookshop next door, that’s how. There must not have been room on the page.”
“Have you seen the shop yet?” The succubus used the toe of her other shoe to scratch between Potroast’s shoulder blades, to his audible, but dozy, approval.
“Honestly? I must have passed it on the way in, but I was so, um . . . flustered at the thought ofthis,” Fern waved a guilty paw at the both of them, “that I couldn’t pay much attention.”
“Dread’ll do that,” said Tandri.
“Dread?” Viv’s brows went up.
“Yes, I wonder what it’s like to leave your entire life behind and move to a new city where you don’t know anybody, and then start a new business?” observed Tandri wryly.
Fern shot her a surprised and grateful look.
“I’mhere. She knowsme,” protested the orc.
Tandri gently extricated herself from Potroast and moved to wrap her arms around Viv’s broad shoulders, delivering a peck to her temple. “I think she’s just getting to know this version,” she replied, in a whisper meant to carry.
Ferndefinitelyliked her. Double-clinched.
A sharp rap at the entry elicited a hooting bark from the sleeping gryphet, and they all glanced that way as the door swung wide.
A hob entered first, clad in coveralls and a cotton shirt that had both seen a lot of hard wear. Tugging the brim of his flat cap in greeting, he held the door for a sleek gray rattkin laden with bags, boxes, and tins.
“Kid wouldn’t let me carry a thing,” complained the hob.
The rattkin squeaked something indecipherable, paused to stare at Fern with wide eyes, and then disappeared around the counter.
Fern thought Tandri’s expression turned positively smug.
Viv cleared her throat. “So, that was Thimble. I’m sure he’ll be back. And Fern, this is Cal, who IknowI’ve mentioned.” She leaned close and held a hand beside her mouth. “He’s therealreason you don’t have anything to worry about.”
“Hm,” said Cal, whose long ears heard just fine.
Fern thought he looked both put-out and pleased at the same time. “Glad as hells to know you,” said Fern, rising and approaching to extend her paw. They were both about the same height.
The hob took it in a firm, dry grip and pumped it once, offering the grizzled ghost of a smile. “Plain speaker. Ain’t that a relief.”
