Pansy did as instructed, flopping down into one of two cushioned chairs arranged on either side of Blossom’s kitchen table. Her seat proved less comfortable than expected due to the honeycombed ball she found lodged beneath the embroidered cushion. One of Belladonna’s toys, judging from the bell lodged at its center. Blossom really did spoil that cat rotten…
“She tried to set me up with her nephew in Oakton, youknow,” Pansy said, tossing the ball onto the floor, where it landed with a too-cheery jingle.
“Councilor Millwood?” Blossom asked.
Pansy nodded.
“Oh. Well, is he handsome? The nephew, I mean.”
Pansy shot her a wretched look – not that Blossom could see it. She was too busy clattering about the kitchen, her long, cornsilk-yellow braid swinging behind her as she moved from one cabinet to the next, searching for the box of cookies she’d stashed among a veritable avalanche of herbs. Doubtless, none of them were meant for cooking: elixirs and tinctures, more like. Blossom’s other trade of choice.
“She wanted to make sure that I ‘give my parents grandchildren before they fall into their graves’,” Pansy said, her lips twisting in a scowl.
That got Blossom’s attention. She looked over her shoulder, blue eyes gone wide with shock. “Councilor Millwood said that? Those words exactly?”
“Well, maybe not exactly,” Pansy said after a beat, ducking her head slightly. “But the effect was the same, I assure you. To think, I finally got my own mother to drop the subject of my love life only forCouncilor Millwoodto take up the mantle in her stead! And she’s also convinced that I’m going to sabotage Haverow’s chances with the Festival Committee. Because of what happened last year with the fireworks.”
Blossom’s brow furrowed. “With your grandmother, you mean?” At Pansy’s nod, the perfect bow of Blossom’s mouth flattened into a straight-razor line. “That old bitch.”
Relief washed over Pansy, unraveling the tension that had knotted between her shoulder blades. It felt good to hear her feelings validated. Because sometimes even she couldn’t helpbut doubt herself, picked apart by the most insidious question of all:am I overreacting?
Letting out a breath, Pansy sagged into her seat, one finger coming up to trace the tiny sunflowers that had been painted along the table’s rounded edge. “I almost couldn’t believe she’d said it, to be quite honest. But then she started going on and on about how my moving into my grandmother’s old cottage was making people start towonderabout me.” She spat the word, whetted into the same pointed barb the other residents of Haverow had lobbed her way more times than she could count, charging it with the collective weight of their judgment – and dismissal.
“Howisthe cottage?” Blossom asked, abruptly changing the subject as she pushed a plate of gingersnaps towards Pansy, a two-pronged approach to lifting her best friend’s mood that soon turned into three when she returned a moment later with a steaming cup of tea. If only the cottage had been the happy topic she’d thought it was, rather than one newly tainted by frustration…
“Ugh. Honestly, it’s a disaster, Blossom.”
“Oh, no. Is it the roof? I know you were worried about that.”
Pansy shook her head. “No. Worse. It’s—” She snapped her mouth shut.
Even squirreled away upstairs, away from the shop proper, she couldn’t shake the feeling of scrutiny that dogged her every step through town. Call it paranoia, but when it came to the subject of her new goblin housemate, the sayingbetter safe than sorryimmediately sprung to mind. The last thing Pansy needed was for this to become the latest bit of hot village gossip.
That being said, maybe she was being ridiculous. The shop was closed. No one would be coming in. And even if someonehad taken it upon themselves to stand beneath Blossom’s kitchen window, unless they actuallyscaledthe side of the building, which would be far too much of a spectacle for any well-bred halfling, they wouldn’t hear much of anything.
It all seemed perfectly safe. And yet, when Pansy opened her mouth again, the words came out as barely more than a whisper: “I found a goblin living there.”
“A goblin?” Blossom repeated, far too loud for Pansy’s comfort, her eyes blowing wide. If she’d been taking a sip of her tea, instead of simply cradling it in her palms opposite Pansy, she’d have surely spat it out.
“Shh! Not so loud!” Pansy hissed, fingers tightening along the table’s edge. “And yes, I know I’m being paranoid, but considering the circumstances, can you really blame me?”
“I suppose not,” Blossom conceded after a beat, the reproach unscrewing from her features. “Does that mean the goblin’s still there? In the cottage?”
Pansy nodded, her lower lip catching briefly between her front teeth. “They refused to leave, and I couldn’t really… I mean, I wasn’t going tofightthem.”
“Of course not,” Blossom agreed.Very sensible, said her expression, now far more staid.
“So, we made a deal instead,” Pansy explained. “For now, we’ll live in the cottage together, and the first one to leave forfeits their claim.”
Blossom’s eyes widened. “Wait. If you’re here, does that mean you’ve—”
“No! I’m just here to do some shopping. The note I left behind is very clear on that.”
“And you think this goblin will honor that?”
In truth, Pansy had known the answer to this questionbefore Blossom had even opened her mouth. But still, she took a moment to consider – if only for appearances’ sake.
“I wouldn’t have agreed to this deal otherwise. Plus,” Pansy added with a shrug, “it’s not like they can lock me out. I’m the one with the key, after all.”
