Rasker was quiet for a moment. “Then who would want you to fail at cooking?”
It was a good question. Holly didn’t have an answer.
She sighed and got to her feet. “I don’t know. But I have a pot pie that needs to be cooked and an oven that’s useless.”
Rasker glanced at the baking dish on the counter, then back at Holly. Something in his expression shifted, becoming almost thoughtful.
“Harry,” he said.
“What?”
“Harry’s mushroom shop. He has multiple heating units for drying and roasting his fungi.” Rasker moved to help her push the oven back into its alcove. “They should be able to cook your pot pie. Is it hard to get a new gel…thing?”
“No.” She smiled, oddly charmed by his lack of mechanical knowledge. “Not hard.” Holly turned the cylinder over in her hands. “Need to get the fire mitigation system back up, too.”
The gills on his neck lifted once, then settled. “Of course. I should have realized when the lounge was filled with smoke but there were no alarms or dampening mist.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Holly, if you didn’t know this gel becomes flammable, the lounge could have…caught fire?” His gaze lingered on her, brows furrowed.
“Yup.” Holly brushed stray hair from her face. “But don’t worry. I’ll take this to Sam for proper disposal.”
“Someone tampered with the fire mitigation and rigged your oven to catch fire.” His gills flared again. “And you’re telling me not to worry.”
“I don’t know that the fire system was tampered with,” she said firmly. “Only that it doesn’t work. And, yes, I’m telling younot to worry.” She raised one eyebrow. “You think Harry would let me use his equipment to cook my pot pie?”
Rasker’s scowl remained intact as he nodded. “I think he’d be ecstatic to let you use his equipment.”
“Good thing I don’t have a full schedule, then.” When she’d gone into Harry’s shop a week earlier to ask him his personal thoughts on Moone’s Landing, she’d been there for hours. He’d served her mushroom tea and delicious, sautéed lion’s mane mushrooms that tasted like crab cakes, and made her feel completely at home in his unique shop. The man was a delight.
“Okay. A visit to Harry’s Fungi Haven, then.” She retrieved the pot pie from the counter, holding the dish carefully in both hands. The filling was still warm, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long.
Rasker held the lounge door and then the hotel door open for her, and they stepped out into the midmorning light. The square was quiet. Harry’s Fungi Haven sat across the way, its painted mushroom sign and “open” sign beckoning them.
They walked together in comfortable silence, Holly cradling her uncooked pot pie like something precious. Because it was, in a way. It represented what she was trying to build here. Warmth and welcome and the simple comfort of a good meal.
They reached the shop door, and Holly paused before he could open it, turning to him.
“Thanks,” she said. “Itrulydon’t believe you sabotaged my oven. You’re just the only one who wants me to fail, here.”
His eyes narrowed, but not in anger. It was more like they tightened, along with the rest of his features. “I do not want you to fail, Holly.”
“You want me to give up and sell Moone’s Landing,” she said with a knowing smile. “It’s the sole reason you’re here.”
“But why areyouhere?” His question was intense, as if he’d been wanting to ask it for a while. “That’s the thing I can’tunderstand. You have no sentimental connection to the man you inherited it from and you stand to make a fortune if you sell it.” He shifted closer, crowding her. She knew he wasn’t trying to intimidate her, but was trying to understand something that baffled him, so she stayed where she was, letting him into her space. Letting his close presence flood her senses with zings of chaos.Stars, he smelled good, like sea spray and sun-warmed wood. “Look, I know what my client is willing to pay for this property. Workwithme, Holly, and I can get you whatever you want.”
There was no missing his sincerity. It was right there, along with a twist of confusion and, unless she was completely mistaken,interest. The kind of interest that bypassed professional and stepped over into personal. Because she was old enough to know better, she stepped back and allowed herself to feel the full-body squeeze of regret and frustration that followed. “It’s about more thannits.”
His brow furrowed and his gills flared. “What else is there for you?”
She wished she could tell him about the will. About the fact that the more his client offered, the farther they were from getting what they wanted. But the terms of Charles’ will were minor in comparison to the sensation that had only grown since she’d first stepped foot on this moon:she belonged here. Thwarting Charles’ statue ambitions may have been a spark that motivated her to come here, but saving Moone’s Landing had become about reviving a place that Holly knew in her gut was worth saving. For the people who lived here. For the people whousedto live here. And for her.
She smiled at Rasker, knowing it was a sad smile. “This place is special, Rasker.” She nodded toward the quirky mushroom sign hanging above the door. “And so are the people. I think you know that. And I think you’re not so far gone that you knowthere are things more important thannitsin this great, wide galaxy we live in.”
“If that’s the case, why are you paying for a residential unit on Nova that you aren’t living in?” he challenged. “Why haven’t you officially quit Sol-Arc Industries?”
“You’re monitoring me?”
“Everyone with an interest in this location is monitoring you.” He lifted his hands, then let them fall to his sides. “You’re still listed as an employee on Sol-Arc’s dataweb and your living unit is still registered to you. It’s public knowledge, not espionage, and my client isn’t the only one watching.”
Holly sighed and shifted her pot pie, which was becoming heavy. She couldn’t name the ingredients in the soup of emotions bubbling inside her, but it made the truth fall from her lips. “Because I may fail at reviving Moone’s Landing. And I’m afraid to fail. Terrified of it, in fact.” She swallowed hard and pushed on. “And if Idofail, I need to know that I have choices. Coming here was the biggest risk I’ve ever taken. This is all new to me, and keeping a foot planted in the old life I understand is keeping me from feeling like I’m falling off a cliff.”
