“Oh. Maybe it was the person you were with.”
“I am not going to do a skill test. I am good now.”
Ambera nodded. “I get it. I love Delphine, but if I hadn’t had a misspent youth, I wouldn’t have had half the heartache I did before she was with me.”
Bethany smiled and nodded. “I get that.”
Breakfast was presented with a smile. “There you go, Bethany. Eat up. If you hang out here, you will need your strength. Delphine is exhausting.”
Ambera laughed. “She’s not wrong. But Delf comes by it honestly. I am exhausting as well.”
Delphine walked in with a tablet in one hand and a phone in the other. “Thanks, Mom. Bethany, did you sleep?”
“Yup. A solid three hours. Thanks.” She attacked her pancakes.
“Your car is in the garage, but your stuff is in your room. Mom wants to take you shopping on her tab. Please let her. I have a meeting at Twilight around eleven. You are welcome to swing by and join the meeting. We are trying to wrangle funding for a new free clinic for low-income families.”
Bethany lifted her head as she nibbled her bacon. “Accountant to do financial assessments so you don’t just end up taking care of folks who are avoiding the law or paying. Your application process and department need to be under guard so no one tries to force access. Sort of like applying for a library card, with stitches, x-rays, and drugs in the library.”
Delphine walked up to her. “Do you want to come with me to the meeting?”
“I really don’t have the wardrobe for it.”
“Mom can fix that, and you two can meet me there.”
Bethany was holding her waffle. “Are you sure? I don’t want to get in the way, and I have to be at work at one.”
“Nessa is going to be at the meeting as well. She’s been in touch, and she’s deeply regretful that their conversation about you reached hostile ears. Orvis is beside herself with recrimination.”
“Well, I should set their minds at ease.”
Ambera grinned. “And you will do it in style. Finish breakfast. We have an appointment with Cale so that when your magic displays, the clothing will reflect it.”
“Wait. What?”
Delphine smiled. “I said she could. I don’t change my wardrobe often enough for her shopping inclinations.”
Ambera snorted. “She uses magic to make what she wants.”
Bethany finished her food, and Mara pulled the plate away, leaving her with another cup of coffee, but this one was fixed the way she liked it.
Bethany turned to look at the two ladies who were squabbling about how fancy the clothing could be. Delphine was erring on practical, and it seemed Ambera wanted to mother the hell out of her.
Delphine paused in her gentle argument and said, “My mom will have you looking like a million bucks. I am trying to rein her in to five hundred thousand bucks. I know you work for a living.”
Bethany grinned. “One way or another.” She saluted them both with her mug. She looked to Delphine and asked, “Have you heard from her?”
“No. She’s close, though. I can feel her.”
“Me, too. I haven’t seen her since we fell. I confess to wondering what her face is like.”
Ambera frowned. “I can’t believe you don’t know what she looks like.”
Bethany shrugged. “If she hadn’t seen me dancing at that business event, Delphine wouldn’t know what I looked like either. I give off energy when I dance, so it was obvious.”
Delphine smiled. “She glows, and she gives so much to her audience. Lord Rez has... collected the men who were around you.”
“Oh. Good. They were creepy.”
