“For now.” Tarex moved toward the door, then paused. “You always were lucky, Goraath. Getting things you didn’t even want.”
The bell chimed as he left.
Grall whistled low. “That was... interesting.”
Interesting. That was one word for it.
Goraath went back to shopping, but his mind churned. Tarex had wanted to enter the lottery. Had argued for it at the council meeting and then lost when the names were drawn.
He moved closer to the window. Juni had moved on to another stall. The vendor was showing her fabric. Bright and colorful fabric. The kind that would stand out against his dark stone walls.
His feet moved before he decided and he found himself in the depot’s back corner where Grall kept what he called “nonessentials”… decorative items. String lights that ran on battery cells. Preserved plants that kept their color when dried. Fabric in jewel tones that would fade in the brightness of the twin suns.
Draanthing stupid. She’d been here two days and already he was breaking his own rules.
But he remembered her face when she talked about Christmas. The way her eyes had lit up. The pathetic garland she’d made from scraps…
He grabbed the string lights. Three sets. The preserved plants, a vine with silver leaves that caught the light. A bolt of deep red fabric that served no purpose on a ranch but might make her smile.
“Thought you weren’t participating in her Earther traditions.” Grall’s voice came from behind him.
“I’m not.”
“Uh-huh.” The older male moved past him, pulling down a box from a high shelf. “My mate carved these from wood for midwinter. Frivolous, she said, but she’d always spend hours arranging them just so.”
He pressed the box into Goraath’s hands. He lifted the lid and his gaze flew to Grall’s in surprise. Inside, there were dozens of small carved stars and spirals, all nestled in soft fabric. They were delicate, and obviously made with care.
The kind of thing that had no place in a utilitarian ranch house… the kind of thing he already knew would make Juni’s face light up.
“I can’t?—”
“Take them. They’re just collecting dust here.” Grall’s expression softened. “Sometimes the little things matter most.”
Goraath added the box to his pile. The cart was overflowing, but Grall processed it quickly, putting the balance on his tab. It would be cleared when he brought the krulaati to market in the spring.
The sound of high voices greeted him as he pushed the door open and stepped outside. The females were saying goodbye, hugging again.
He loaded supplies quickly, his hands moving on autopilot. Heavy work usually centered him, cleared his head. Not today. His mind circled back… her laughter with the others compared to the silence when she was with him.
“An hour.”
He turned. Juni stood by the transport, a little out of breath and her cheeks pink from cold or from hurrying… he wasn’t sure which. She’d wrapped his jacket tighter around herself, and the sleeves still swallowed her hands despite being rolled up.
“You’re right on time.”
Her eyebrows rose. “I said I would be.”
He finished securing the last crate and closed the cargo area. The supplies only just fit in. He’d bought too much. She moved toward the passenger side, then stopped. “Did you get everything you needed?”
He thought of the string lights. The carved ornaments. The red fabric.
“Yes.”
Chapter 5
The transport door slammed shut and Juni settled into the passenger seat, pulling Goraath’s oversized jacket tighter. The cold had seeped through during her time in the square, but that wasn’t why her hands trembled. She pressed them flat against her thighs.
Ask him. Just ask.
