That Fayne had been called away to supervise in other areas before I could ask for information on dragonsbane wasn’t helping my mood either.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Goldie scrubbed flour off her cheek. “You’re growling at the pecans again.”
“I’m fine.” I bit down on the lie. “Mostly.” I exhaled slowly. “I’m nervous to meet everyone.”
And worried one of the smiling faces hid a killer’s grin.
“You don’t have to be scared, okay?” She puffed out her chest. “I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again.”
“Thanks,” I rasped, wiping her clean with a damp rag, marveling how the simple ability to connect with someone never got old. I was starting to comprehend just how touch starved I had been my whole life to find such comfort in small acts. “You’re a good egg.”
“Dragons don’t lay eggs,” she informed me primly. “That would be weird.”
“You’re right.” I smothered a grin. “It would be, wouldn’t it?”
“Show time,” Liam boomed from behind us, shaving ten years off my life. “Goldie, are you ready to greet your friends?” He made eyes at the steaming tray of pigs in blankets before getting back on point. “Remember, your job is to tire them out, so they’ll be calm enough to sit still and listen when it’s their turn to hear the new rules.”
“They’re not my friends,” she mumbled, but hopped down and removed her apron. “They’re only here because Rían made them come.”
“The kids look up to you, the same as the adults look up to Rían.” I might have taken liberties with my cheerleading but oh well. “That’s why he’s counting on you to keep the kids occupied while he discusses the new rules with the parents.” Her lipsmashed into a mulish line, and I sensed I was about to lose my audience. “When I was your age, do you know who I played with?”
“Kids who wanted to suck up to your dad the way parents want to suck up to my brother?”
Ouch.
This kid was too sharp for her own good.
“Lightning bugs.” I hadn’t thought about them in years, since they were almost nonexistent in Brentwood. “They were fun to chase, but not great conversationalists.”
“You didn’t have any real friends either?”
A crack split my heart in two, the break so loud I was shocked no one else heard.
“Friends or not—” Liam braved the awkward silence, “—the kids need someone to watch out for them.”
“What do you think?” I rubbed my breastbone to ease the ache. “Can you help out, just for tonight?”
“I can handle them.” She tapped the side of her head. “I used to be a kid, so I know how they think.”
And just like that, I was fighting off laughter, the best medicine for what ailed me. “Thank you, Goldie.”
“Liam.” She zeroed in on him. “Rían will be busy, and I can’t be in two places at once. That means it’s up to you to make sure none of the adults are mean to Ana.” She set her fists on her hips. “Can I trust you?”
“Ana is going to be fine,” he promised us both. “No one will be mean to her.”
“No one—” Sloane sidled up to me, flashing a smile that was all teeth, and Goldie returned it, giving me chills, “—who wants to leave the party in the same condition as they arrived in anyway.”
That would explain the lack of foot traffic. I had been working hard to ignore the enforcers and hadn’t clocked whenthey quit coming around. Sloane must have been here awhile to have gotten her updates and taken control of the situation, but I hadn’t noticed her until now.
“You’re the best.” I rested my head on her shoulder. “You know that?”
“I am, in fact, aware of that.” She hummed to herself. “But it’s good to know you appreciate quality when you see it.” Closer to my ear, she whispered, “I can’t get rid of your shadows, not after Becca, but I can give you some breathing room.”
A door banged open behind us, and Rían entered balancing a stack of boxes. “Sorry about that.”
“Rían.” I jerked upright so fast, I clipped my temple on Sloane’s jaw. “Hey.”
“Smooth, Ana.” Behind her, Liam snickered and went to help Rían with his burden. “Real smooth.”
