“Like what?”
“Like you want to hit me a few times.”
“Well, don’t say things that make me want to hit you a few times.”
“I said he seemed nice.”
Rune almost lost the thread of his conversation with Claudia but managed to make the right response at the right time because she was typing things into her phone.
“You and I both know that inflection and tone are everything.”
“And just what did mytonesay?”
Rune wondered if he needed to intervene because he could almost feel the anger gathering over the sisters like a thunderhead.
“Your tone said that you were being a judgmental asshole,” Astra replied, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Just…give him a chance, okay? He’s the first man I’ve really liked in a long time.”
Devorah remained silent for a long moment before she finally said, “Okay. We’ll go to lunch after this, and I’ll try to keep the interrogation friendly.”
“Good,” Astra said with a sigh.
Claudia caught his attention. “Let’s go into the living room and discuss what you want done there. But, first, what do you want to do with the floors?”
It took Rune a minute to catch up with what she asked. “Well, I like the carpet and it’s pretty new, so I’d like to leave it if we can.” He saw the look on her face and asked, “Is it that bad?”
“No, it’s not bad at all. It’s very good quality. It’s just…a lot of homes like yours have good quality wood floors under the carpet.”
He paused and thought for a moment. “Is there any way to check without screwing all the carpet up?”
Claudia smiled. “Yeah, I can pull up a corner and look. But it’ll probably need to be refinished, which means workers in here making a mess.”
He nodded. “Okay. Let’s see if I actually have wood floors first and then we’ll decide.”
Claudia grinned at him. “I can tell I’m going to enjoy working with you.”
“How?” he asked.
“You’re not fussy and you listen to what I have to say and to my suggestions.”
“Uh, don’t most of your clients do that? I mean, isn’t that why they hire you?”
“Not always,” she said, going back to her phone.
They went into the living room and Astra and Devorah remained in the dining room, sitting down together at the table.
As Claudia made more notes on her phone, he tuned back into their conversation.
“How did you break it to Mom and Dad that you were marrying Claudia?” Astra asked. “I was away at college, so I missed the whole conversation.”
“I just told them.”
“And Mom didn’t care that Claudia wasn’t a Viking or demigod?”
“Well, she was a descendent so that seemed to be enough for Mom. Are you asking because your guy is a vamp?”
“Yes,” Astra answered.
“And you’re worried how Mom will react?”
