“If I could convince my friend Nadine to visit, my happiness would be complete.”
“Nadine is the one who makes the weird pinecone hedgehogs?”
“They’re not weird,” I laugh. “They’re cute.”
“I hate to break this to you, but there’s a substantial amount of crossover between cute and weird.”
“You wouldn’t make a very good pixie,” I say solemnly, heading back to the counter to help another customer.
Rowan grins, shaking his head at the idea. “On that, we both agree.”
Maknihl follows another small group into the tea shop. He lifts his hand in greeting but hangs back, not here for tea.
“I can take care of the customers,” I tell Rowan. “Do you want to help Maknihl?”
The mountain dwarf who owns the hardware store said he’d drop by sometime today to patch the roof. It’s a temporary solution, just enough to get us by until we can afford a full roof replacement.
Rowan agrees and meets Maknihl at a table. The men chat for a few minutes, and then they head to the tea garden together.
The roof repair reminds me again of Russell’s check. If the Department of Fae Code and Ethics released the mage, does that mean I can now cash it? And even if I can, do I want to accept the mage’s money?
For now, I push the uneasy thought away and focus on making tea.
Exhausted,I lock the front door and then wipe down the tea tables. As I walk back to the counter, I say to Rowan, “If it’s this busy in late June, I can’t imagine how crazy Moss Hollow is going to be during the Fourth of July.”
“It’ll be chaos for days,” Rowan confirms. “But it will be good for our finances.”
My mood falls a little. “Speaking of money, do you see any harm in depositing Russell’s check? The Department of Fae Code and Ethics already let him off the hook, so it won’t make a difference now.”
“It would certainly go a long way toward fixing the roof and attic.” Instead of sweeping, Rowan uses his wand to create a breeze that blows dirt and dust into a tidy pile for disposal.
I watch him, intrigued. “The money feels kind of gross, though.”
He makes the pile levitate and then turns his wand toward the cupboard where we keep the trash. It rolls across the space and comes to a stop under the orb of dust. With a flick of his wrist, Rowan deposits the dirt and then returns the trash can to the cupboard. “Will you feel better if Russell keeps it?”
“Not really.”
“Then you have your answer.”
“I suppose.” I gesture toward his wand. “You know all sorts of useful tricks.”
He rolls his shoulders as if they’re stiff and then leans against the back counter, crossing his arms. “Cleaning spells are hardly the height of my skills.”
“I don’t know. They seem a lot more useful than turning yourself into an owl.”
A smirk toys at Rowan’s lips, distracting me. The mage is handsome. Stupid handsome. Get-a-nice-pixie-into-trouble handsome.
Goodness, I want to kiss him again.
As if he can read my mind, he meets my eyes and cocks his head ever-so-slightly. Smug looks good on him.
“I’ve been thinking,” I say.
“About?”
I walk over to him, fidgeting with the thin chain of my bracelet. “Our…bond.”
I still stumble over the word. Just the feel of it on my tongue stirs my magic. But for now, I suppress the sparkles. I need to be smart about this—calm and convincing.
