“I’m headed there for dinner. I stopped to get desserts at Dorvak’s.”
Mercedes didn’t know what Dorvak’s was, but she could only assume it was a bakery which sounded like it might be run by an orc, given the name.
“Oh good. Want to walk together?”
Phineas nodded, picked up a white box tied with string that she hadn’t noticed before, then stood up, tossing his empty coffee cup into a garbage can. “I was headed that way. I hope Hetty will like what I picked out.”
“I’m sure she will.”
“It’s nice to have company and they’re like family, even if they’re not… I mean…I’m not related to them.”
“What does that matter?” Mercedes asked, falling into step beside him. “Blood doesn’t make family. I mean, I have a bunch of biological relatives and I would not call them family.”
Phineas glanced at her skeptically. “Really?”
She nodded. “Why do you think I’m here in Harmony Glen? I’m trying to get away from all that.”
“I can respect that. Kind of brave of you, especially with Magnus and that outburst.”
Mercedes groaned. “Oh, please let’s not talk about the revenge date, which I don’t even know what that is.”
Phineas laughed. “I don’t know either, but I haven’t seen Magnus riled up like that in a long time. I mean, he’s usually so laid-back and a bit of a ladies’ man. Well, he tries to be…”
“Is that so?” Mercedes was having a hard time picturing Magnus as the laid-back type of monster. Ladies’ man, yes, she could see, because she kind of fell for his big Viking-type looks, but laid-back? That was hard to picture. He was so intense and seemed uptight about everything.
Maybe he’s only uptight around me?
She seemed to have that effect on a lot of people.
“Why do you insist on being such a failure?” her mother shrieked, staring at the remnants of the potion Mercedes was meant to have been watching, but now all that was left of said potion was the charred circle on the expensive Berber rug after the cauldron exploded.
“I don’t insist, mother,” Mercedes snapped back. “I don’t want to be a witch.”
“You won’t be at this rate!”
Mercedes shook that thought away. She hadn’t seen her mother in years and it was better that way.
For her. Probably for her mother too.
She hada pleasant conversation with Phineas all the way down to Hetty’s little apartment at the back of Monster Catch Bait and Tackle. Now she had a better understanding of why Pearl adoredPhineas so completely. It was also nice to have a few moments not thinking about Magnus, his naked body, the awkwardness of their encounter, and that she was going to have to work with him.
As she opened the door, she caught the scent of dinner cooking and her stomach growled. Then she saw red hair at the kitchen sink and realized Margaid was there.
“Hi, I found a straggler on my way home from work,” Mercedes announced as Phineas stepped inside with the box of baked goods.
“I brought dessert,” Phineas announced.
Hetty beamed. “Oh, Phineas dear, you didn’t have to do that. You’re so sweet.”
Phineas gave Hetty a peck on the cheek, set the cake box down and gave the same little kiss to Margaid, who giggled.
“Finn is in the living room with Magnus, Phineas,” Margaid stated. “Go harass them while we get dinner on.”
Mercedes stomach knotted.
Magnus? Of course.
Her heart began to race and her ears had that weird, sensitive, thumping thing that always drove her nuts when she became a bit more anxious. The idea of Magnus having dinner with them just amplified that. Mercedes tugged on her ear a bit.
