Stella stared at him for a long second and turned on her heel and marched back to the counter.
“Vivienne!” she called. “One more cup!”
“That man is either very brave,” Skonk muttered behind me, “or extremely foolish.”
Gideon reached the table a moment later, and I couldn’t help but wonder what was going through his mind.
Up close, the resemblance I’d noticed earlier was harder to ignore. Something about the way he carried himself, the quiet steadiness in his expression…it echoed something I’d already seen tonight.
I forced myself not to stare as Keegan pulled out the chair across from me.
“Sit,” he told Gideon.
Gideon sat.
Just like that.
The most uncomfortable tea party in Stonewick history began.
Nobody spoke right away.
Stella arrived with the teacup and set it in front of Gideon with a solid thunk.
However, she didnotput the skillet down.
“Thank you,” he said.
“You’re welcome,” she replied and remained standing there for another three seconds before finally stalking away.
Nova leaned back in her chair and folded her arms.
“Well,” she said.
Gideon glanced at her. “Well?”
“You showing up tonight definitely wasn’t on my list.”
He gave a small, almost apologetic shrug. “I hear that a lot.”
But his attention moved to me.
It was subtle, but I felt it the moment it happened.
Concern.
The real kind.
“You’re hurt,” he said.
He wasn’t asking, just stating the facts.
I lifted the compress on my shoulder a little in response.
“Technically just scorched.”
Nova snorted. “That’s one way to describe it.”
Gideon leaned forward slightly, studying the edge of the mark where the cloth had shifted.
