The bunny hopped forward once, and Tasia shrieked. Next thing she knew, she was perched on Mitch’s back, holding on for dear life. She didn’t remember the actual act of climbing, but the laughter that shook his frame told her he hadn’t been part of the process.
As Tasia checked their surroundings, Mitch bent over to rest his hands on his knees as his laughter continued. When he started almost wheezing because he couldn’t stop, she slipped down and stood on her own two feet. Sometime during the kerfuffle, the rabbit had disappeared.
Eventually, Mitch regained his breath and wiped a thumb under his eye. “That was—great. Just great.”
Tasia set her hands on her hips with a huff. She couldn’t prevent the growing smile, though. “I take it bunnies aren’t really dangerous.”
“Well”—he looked her in the eye and nearly managed to look contrite—“theydohave fangs.”
“Hmm, right.”
Mitch cleared his throat. He scooped up her basket and the knife and held them out. She accepted both with pursed lips and narrow eyes, then ruined the effect by grinning.
“That was pretty funny,” she admitted.
“Right.” Her reluctant bodyguard seemed to recall his role. His whole demeanor shifted as he regained the tough-as-nails attitude he had been wearing before the bunny incident.
But it was too late. Tasia already knew he was kind; now she knew he possessed a sense of humor. In time, she might discover he had other human qualities, too.
Chapter Seven
In Which Many Things Shift
Tasia knew Mitch’s advice about bunnies was tongue-in-cheek, but it made her watch Bianca/Bunny a little closer during tea the following week. The self-appointed social queen always looked like she knew something no one else did, and it amused her. She also wasn’t above inciting strife.
Until Tasia started her deliberate observation of Bunny, she had believed that Claudia was clumsy in addition to being shy. Now she knew better.
Two days after surviving her furry bunny encounter, Tasia watched the queen bee Bunny place one intentional foot on Claudia’s hem. When the poor girl moved to stand, she stumbled into the tea table. The plates and cups were empty by that time, but everything rattled. Then the other girls scoffed and made comments.
The next day, Bunny slid a teaspoon handle under the base of Claudia’s saucer. Her movements were subtle, and the slant wasn’t readily apparent until Claudia tried to set her teacupdown and splashed a fair amount on the table. More remarks and eyerolls followed.
Despite the fact that interfering had gotten her banished from her home in the first place, Tasia couldn’t help herself. The following day, she managed to keep Claudia from sitting next to Bunny by asking the mousy girl to help carry the final tray from the kitchen counter. That prevented Claudia from claiming a spot directly next to Bunny, but sitting across from her was still too close to keep the snide comments at bay. And when the girls were leaving, Bunny made sure that Nomiki and Claudia were the first ones out the door. As Claudia moved through the door, Bunny reached out and hooked the other girl’s shawl on a loose nail in the jamb.
She managed the thing while bidding Pagona an elaborate goodbye with gushing compliments and air kisses. If Tasia hadn’t been vigilant in her spying, she wouldn’t have noticed the sleight of hand. The others didn’t notice the cause, but everyone saw Claudia jerk backwards as her shawl failed to come with her. Tasia frowned at the instigator as Bunny offered false sympathy and real contempt while Claudia and Nomiki fussed over the snag.
“Why is your face scrunchy?” Chara asked.
Tasia slapped on a smile and looked away from the young ladies at the door. “Do you want to play the silly face game?”
That distracted the toddler and kept her entertained for several minutes. Tasia stewed over the situation through dinner and the washing-up. She couldn’t see a way to help Claudia, and questioned whether it was her place. The last time she had interfered, she had been kicked out of her home. Her savings were growing every week. Not enough, however, to establish herself somewhere else.
Chara caught a mild cold, and the rest of the week was spent catering to the demands of a pint-sized tyrant. Her tendency tocough or sneeze right in people’s faces convinced Pagona and the others to seek entertainment outside of the Galanis home. Tasia was run ragged trying to entertain a cranky Chara and looked forward to her next delivery for multiple reasons.
If the wet-boot incident had shifted their working relationship in a negative direction, the bunny episode moved it into a realm that Tasia hoped meant friendship was on the horizon. The rest day after discovering Mitch had a sense of humor, she arrived at their meeting spot to find him relaxed and calm. He didn’t smile, but he did return her greeting.
Such a sense of optimism welled within her that it was hard to restrict herself to a humane number of comments and observations per minute. When she judged his guard was as down as it had ever been, based on the lax posture of his shoulders, she ventured a question that required a real answer, not a simple yes or no. When he admitted that he was an only child, she contained her whoop of joy with effort. Not wanting to scare him off, she didn’t react beyond what was appropriate and waited several minutes before asking anything else.
Over the course of the four-hour journey, Tasia gradually pulled out several facts and opinions from her protector. Mitch liked spring and summer best. He had his twenty-third birthday a few months ago. Chocolate cake was his favorite treat.
By the end of the day, Tasia was feeling rather optimistic about making a real friend.
The fourth week Mitch escorted Tasia through the woods felt crunchy. The frost defied the encroaching sunlight and took its own sweet time melting away. A few gentle rainstorms had visited the forest prior to today, hinting at the soaking to come, but the day remained dry in spite of the cloud cover.
Each week, Tasia had offered to pay Mitch for escorting her through the woods. And each week, he had turned her down. Mitch knew he was sliding into dangerous territory because he no longer viewed their arrangement as blackmail and, indeed, began to look forward to their time together. Understanding that the deliveries couldn’t last forever, Mitch began wondering what she would do after.
“Good morning, Mitch!”
Half a smile tugged at his lips for a moment as the embodiment of sunshine greeted him. “Mornin’.”
