She looked Mr. Grimm’s way again, finally meeting his gaze. She shrugged and made a face, which he answered only with a short shake of his head and a gesture she didn’t understand atall. Was he hiding something? Were they on the verge of being—what was the word for it?—busted?
Squeezing her fists tight, she turned, only to catch the wardsman looking at her closely from between bunches of forsythia. He smiled, showing a lot of strong, white teeth. She answered with a nervous smile of her own, checking to make certain her cuff was properly pulled down. Moving to the counter, she leaned over and whispered from the corner of her mouth, “Mr. Grimm, is there anything I ought to be worried about?”
“Certainly not, Miss Talbot,” he replied, turning the page of his book.
Luna didn’t believe him.
Determined not to watch the wardsman, she slipped back into the nook and fished the teabags from the mugs. The tea was rather over-brewed, she feared, but not so badly as it had been yesterday. Keenly aware of Officer Ward’s presence, she returned to the kitchen, fetched the milk, and added splashes to each mug. She set one mug close to Mr. Grimm’s book and gripped the other with both hands, raising it to her lips several times, but never quite managing to take a sip.
“Everything looks right enough,” Officer Ward said suddenly, approaching the counter.
Luna gave a little jump and set down her mug with a bang as she turned a bright smile the wardsman’s way. “Did you find all to your satisfaction, officer?”
“Why yes,” he replied. “No sign of fayfane anywhere, nor any other suspicious flowers. It’s quite a nice place you have here.”
“Thank you,” Luna replied, as Mr. Grimm did not seem inclined to answer.
“Yes, indeed,” the officer nodded, pursing his lips as he cast another look around. “Glad to know it’s here, actually. A fellow never knows when he’ll need to nip around the corner and buy acouple of long-stems for his girl. Speaking of . . .” He set a bunch of frilly pink carnations on the counter. “I’d like to purchase these while I’m here, if it’s all the same to you.”
Mr. Grimm stepped forward, not meeting the officer’s eye as he murmured, “That’ll be two crowns.”
The wardsman fished the payment from his pocket and dropped it in Mr. Grimm’s hand. “Would you like them wrapped?” Mr. Grimm asked.
“No, thank you,” Officer Ward said and swiped up his purchase. Then he turned and held them out to Luna.
Luna blinked, surprised. “Oh,” she said, reaching tentatively for them. “Do you . . . do you need some ribbon?”
“No,” the wardsman answered with a grin. “I need you to take them.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because a pretty lady like you deserves to be given flowers now and then.”
Heat positively roaredup Luna’s cheeks. “My gracious!” she gasped, and hated herself for sounding both completely prudish and painfully provincial, but also uncertain what else she possiblycouldsay under the circumstances. “I, um . . . why, thank you, officer.”
The wardsman offered a neat little half-bow. Then, with a nod to Mr. Grimm he said, “Congrats on the new place. Just what Eastside needs, I’m thinking. But I can’t have you dealing infayfane,got it?”
Without waiting for a response, he strode down the aisle and out the door, bells pealing behind him. Luna watched through the window as he set his cap on his head, straightened his majestic shoulders, then disappeared up the street. Like a dream, come and gone.
She stared after him. Then down at the carnations in her hands. Her romance-starved life back in Crimble could not have conceived of such a gallant gesture! It was like something right out of one of Auntie Arabella’s trashy novels, though there would have been rather more bosom-heaving and bodice-rending between those pages. Her bodice was still neatly intact, she was relieved to note, though her bosom definitely felt a bit more heavish than usual.
“Well!” she exclaimed, turning the flowers around in her fingers. “Well, I suppose . . . I suppose that makes three sales now. But, Green Mother bless me, whatamI supposed to do with these?”
She glanced at Mr. Grimm, half-expecting him to offer a solution. He, however, was not looking at her. He appeared to be very busy suddenly, organizing the debris behind the counter.
Luna frowned a little and firmed her resolve. “Mr. Grimm,” she said, “are there any magical flowers in the shop which I should know about?”
He glanced sidelong up at her. “No, Miss Talbot.”
“But youdouse magic to source them. Don’t you? And to keep them fresh.”
He hesitated. “Maybe.”
Luna heaved a sigh. “Please, Mr. Grimm. If I am to work here, I really must know what exactly I’m getting myself into.” She held up her wrist, allowing the cuff to slide back and reveal the ugly heptagram mark. “I can’t afford to get into any trouble with the law. You know if someone like me gets mixed up with even ahintof sorcery, it could mean absolute disaster.”
