Poor Mabel; I knew she had been quite down over the state of the library. I hoped she was all right. “Oh,andThandor and Bortie have decided to rename the tavern.”
“What’s the new name?” I asked. The wind picked up again, and I had to hold my garden hat atop my head.
“They are still fighting about it and will be for the next fifty years, I’m sure. Anyway, I just wanted to pop by and drop off dinner for you all and see what you’ve done with the place. I’ll be on my way; I hope you two have a lovely eveningcelebratingyour gardening success.” He winked. “And stay safe in the storm!” Off he went.
Everyone seemed to be at odds this week.
The familiar pinch of guilt sprung up in my stomach like an unwanted weed.Anything will do? I didn’t want to give themanything. I wanted to give them everything.
A roll of thunder, long and ominous, sounded. Any second, the rain would begin.
“How shall we celebrate, princess?” Hesper eyed me with mischief.
“Don’t.” I rolled my eyes.
I was not in the mood for her to playfully tempt me only for nothing to come of it. I was hanging on to my willpower by a shredded thread. My heart was bruised from how often I squeezed it shut when it tried to open for her.
“Working together side by side for days on end does nothing for you?” Hesper asked as she made her way back into the cottage.
Fire erupted along my skin.
“Um, excuse me. We’ve already discussed this,” I said, trying to keep up with her long-legged gait.
“Discussed what exactly?” We were in the kitchen now, and she tore open the parcel. A bacon-wrapped chicken lay on a platter, buttery-gold potatoes adorning it like a crown. I’d have to focus on that later.
“The wholeusthing,” I said, somewhat abashedly. Hesper removed the chicken from the box, then took out the kitchen knives we’d been gifted by Thandor and Bortie. She began carving. “Are you listening?”
“Of course,” she said, still carving away.
“Are you really going to cut up a chicken at a time like this?”
“A time like what?”
“Hesper!”
Warty and Edge, who had been reading next to the hearth, startled. Without another word, Edge plucked up Warty in his beak and flew upstairs.
Hesper set the knife down next to the platter and looked me in the eyes.
“It was a joke, okay?” she said easily. Always so fucking easy with her.
“It’s not funny,” I quipped back.
“Fine,” she conceded. “I won’t tell you another joke for the rest of our time here.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
I pushed my hair behind my ears over and over again. Hesper angrily cut the chicken.
“It isn’t easy being around you all of the time,” I finally said, not looking at her, biting at my cheek.
“Do you think it’s been easy for me?” she asked, a shot of anger in her voice, the knife clattering back onto the table.
“I don’t know what it is for you,” I said, not yelling, but verging. My heart pounded in my chest.
“Does it matter? You made your feelings perfectly clear in the wagon. You didn’t want anything more.” Her voice rose.
