“Finding a hot mage in Moss Hollow isn’t the difficult part of the equation.”
Nadine taps her fingertips together like a greedy raccoon. “I love this place.”
“Good. Move here and work at the tea shop. At the beginning of August, I’m going to lose my help.”
She glances toward the living room, instantly concerned. “Why?”
I sigh, feeling a little gloomy. “Rowan needs to go back to Mablemyer to finish his degree. His old professor got him a job as an aide in exchange for free tuition. He said he’s not going to accept it…but he can’t afford to pay, so he kind of has to.”
“What about the bond? Will you be able to handle a long-distance relationship when you need to touch himall the time?”
I move the salt and pepper shakers to their spot on the table. “He’s trying to figure out how to break the bond.”
“What?” she gasps even though she’s only been invested in our fated relationship for five minutes. “Why would he do that?”
“He says it’s not fair to me. He feels like he's trapped me in a relationship.”
“Who cares? Has he ever looked in a mirror? You won the mate lottery.”
“That’s basically what I told him.”
“So, he thinks the bond is making you like him? That your feelings aren’t your own?”
“That’s pretty much it.”
Her eyes become soft and sad. “Does that mean we don’t know if he really likes you?”
“He claims he liked me before we bonded.”
She clutches her hands to her chest. “He fell in love with you while he was an owl? That’s soromantic.”
I laugh, in a strange, melancholy sort of mood.
“Don’t worry, Kit,” she assures me, infusing her autumn gifts into the words. “It’ll work out—I’m sure of it.”
The calming, peaceful magic affects me, making me want to believe her. But the encouragement feels slightly empty, based on nothing but blind optimism.
We don’t really know that it will work out. Rowan might break the bond, realize he was never in love with me, and go running back to Keira with apologies and open arms.
Thanks to Nadine’s magic affecting me, I feel resigned to that possible fate. Iacceptthat it might be in our future. But I’m not happy about it, and her magic can’t artificially bring me joy.
But I probably shouldn’t dwell on the worst-case scenarios or I’ll start a summer storm. “We should get back in there so he doesn’t feel like I deserted him.”
Suddenly interested in her cup, Nadine asks, “Were you serious about me working for you?”
I perk up. “Do you want to?”
“Maybe. I’ve felt a little unmoored these last few months, like I don’t know where I belong.”
“You don’t like the gift shop anymore?”
We both started working at the ocean-side tourist store when we were in high school. It’s owned by a nice wolf shifter couple that treated their employees like family.
“The Wilsons closed the shop last week,” she says. “They decided to move to Montana with Nathan’s parents.”
“They’re closing?” I exclaim. “For good? But the shop has been around since we were kids.”
Nadine runs her finger over the rim of her mug. “I know.”
