“Do?”
“You know. For work.”
“Oh.” She hadn’t even thought about it. “I don’t really know. I’m not sure what kinds of things Icoulddo.”
“It’s going to be tricky because you don’t have any paperwork. Actually, that’s something I should have thought of before. It’s the kind of thing your guide is supposed to help you with.” Tyr ground out the words, his face darkening as it always did when he spoke of the ways in which he felt their people had let her down. Cela simply tried not to think about it most of the time.
“Why do I need that?” She thought guiltily of the papers she had ground underfoot. She didn’t regret it; the idea of having Kav’s name anywhere near her own disgusted her. If there was one good thing about getting a fresh start, it was leaving him behind.
“It’s required. Mostly. Humans have a lot of complicated rules. I can look into getting documents for you, but what you’d need in the meantime is someone willing to hire you without the paperwork and just pay you.”
“Like we pay the kids to babysit?”
“Yes!” Tyr said. “Exactly like that.”
Cela smiled, feeling as if she was getting a grasp on things. “Maybe I could babysit?”
“Maybe ... but if it’s more than just one or two of your friends’ kids, that’s getting into running a day care out of your house and it gets complicated.”
“You mean your house,” she pointed out.
“I was speaking rhetorically. But no, I did mean ours. What’s mine is yours, Cela, forever.”
She had to look away from the sincerity in his gold-tinged eyes.How can there be a forever for us, when just being near you almost kills me?But she couldn’t say that; the idea of hurting him broke her heart.
“You know what we could do is talk to the few people in town who know about your situation,” Tyr said. “Paula knows, and I think Gaby does too. They both run businesses. Paula has a diner, and Gaby has a bakery. Maybe you could work at one of those for a little while.”
Cela perked up. She was willing to work as a caregiver for other people’s children, or haul heavy items with her shifter strength. But working in a bakery soundmuchnicer. “Can we talk to them today?”
“Sure can. Actually, I need to run into town and pick up some more things I need for the greenhouse renovations.Let’s stop by while we’re there and see if they might have some work for you.”
Cela was not at all sure he was telling the entire truth about a preexisting errand, but she was willing to accept the small fib. The idea of being able to meaningful contribute to her new life filled her with joy.
They had car seats for the twins now, as well as a stroller; these had been among the baby items Gaby had donated (scrounged up from some of her mom friends as well as her own things). Taking the babies out in public was a nervewracking process due to the risk of shifting, but the stroller helped a bit because of its fabric cover. Once the twins were inside, no one was going to be looking closely enough to notice if they shifted—at least Cela hoped not.
“If I’m going out regularly, I’ll need to have someone else watch them for me,” she said as they arranged the babies in their stroller after parking downtown.
“My kids will be out of school soon. We could see if they’d like to pick up some more babysitting money.” Tyr put a hand on the stroller bar and made a move as if to offer her his arm, then dropped it with a light flush. Recovering, he gave her a charming smile. “May I show you downtown Autumn Grove, ma’am?”
“You may,” Cela said, answering his playfulness with her own.
As they started walking on the sidewalk, she tried not to stare too obviously, but it was difficult to stop herself. The last time she was in the human town, she had been too exhausted and stressed to appreciate it. Now she gazed around in fascination and wonder.
It looked to her like a town from a storybook, a small downtown made up of low brick buildings containing shops and restaurants, mixed with residences. Most of thebusinesses lined the main street with angled parking on either side.
“How many people live here?” she asked Tyr.
“In Autumn Grove, you mean? I’m not really sure. Three or four thousand, I think?”
“Thousand?” The numbers staggered her. There had only been a few dozen griffins in her covert. Maybe a few hundred on the entire island. “And this is asmalltown?”
Tyr smiled. “Yes, by their standards. But I know what you mean. This is one reason why our people are supposed to leave the island as part of the growing up process, so that we learn how different humans are from us, and how many of them there are.” He spoke quietly, although the sidewalks were nearly deserted in early afternoon. “I was stunned the first time I saw a city. So many people, all living together. Eventually I got used to it, and even later, I came to like it.”
“Would you go back to the island if you could? Permanently, I mean.”
Tyr glanced down at his arm, where the tattoo was covered by his jacket sleeve. “No, I don’t think so. I like it out here.”
“I think I do too,” Cela said cautiously.
