And how hard was it for her to get those over her ankle?
“Those are special-order chocolates that I ordered for my grandmother, and they take six weeks to get in and cost seventeen dollars each,” Phoebe says, totally dead serious. “So we have two options here. You can forget everything you’ve seen, disappear from town for the six weeks it’ll take us to get new truffles in for Gigi, have zero communication beyond telling Teague that you’re going fishing up north while my temper settles, or we can solve this immediately, right now, the Lightly way.”
“He ate the truffles?”Tavi shrieks.
She’s twisting, so I grip her tighter.
“Honest mistake, and it won’t happen again, will it, Floyd?” Phoebe says.
The older man looks between me and Phoebe.
I shrug. “Don’t look at me. I thought she was getting better.”
“What’s the Lightly way?” Floyd asks.
“I’m really, really pissed at you right now, Floyd, and I still wish you hadn’t asked Phoebe that question, because it’sugly,” Tavi says. “Pebbles is actually Pebbles Two. I had to replace Pebbles One after I fucked up and asked her that question.”
The old man puts a hand to his heart like he believes that story. “Poor Pebbles.”
“Right? I still cry sometimes.”
I grunt.
She pinches my ass.
Floyd eyes Phoebe. “Are you still mad about the ghost thing too?”
“I’m currently undecided.”
Teague strolls through the door, looks at all of us, and then sighs and scrubs a hand over his face. “Told you this is what happens when you try to keep a secret in this town,” he says to Tavi’s ass, still on display over my shoulder.
“It’ll be worth it when we replace the Himalayan-gold-leaf-champagne truffles for Gigi and surprise her for ... Talk like a Pirate Day,” Phoebe replies.
Her eyebrows are saying something different, though.
They’re clearly saying,Shut up and just move things before I channel my grandmother.
“Really looking forward to the day your whole family’s souls are saved,” he mutters.
With four fully functioning adults who can get up and down steps and one hobbling adult who knows where all the supplies are stashed and is remarkably adept at getting around on one leg, it takes us about thirty minutes to load Teague’s truck.
He gives me the keys and a warning glare. “Hurt it, and—”
“He’s not going to hurt it,” Phoebe interrupts. She slips her hand into his. “C’mon. Let’s go home and try this getting-back-to-sleep thing again.”
Floyd mumbles something about leaving town for a few days for a fishing trip.
And then it’s me and Tavi, loading up into Teague’s truck. “I’m taking you back to the school, and then I’ll stash these for you until we can find you a new kitchen.”
She grabs my face before I can shut her inside the cab. “Thank you,” she whispers.
“This is what we do for the people we love,” I reply.
Her chin wobbles, and her eyes go shiny. “I do not deserve you,” she whispers.
She presses a kiss to my lips, then another, and a third, and I don’t care what she thinks she does or doesn’t deserve.
All I care about is that right now, she’smine.
