“Again,” Mercedes stated. “Thankfully, the farm market isn’t that far out of town, and we got the truck towed to the shop.”
“Magnus needs to upgrade his vehicle,” Phineas remarked. “Especially now that he can pretty much go wherever he wants.”
“I agree,” Mercedes said emphatically. “Where are you off to?”
“Nowhere.” Which was true. He didn’t have a set place to go, other than walk around town and see if there was any work he could do, at least until three when he had to swim out to Sandbar Island to assist Finn with his fishing clients.
“Oh, well come by the dead-and-breakfast when you can. I think the pump in the koi pond is acting up again,” Mercedes said, switching her heavily laden bag from one hand to the other.
“Yes, I believe so,” Flo agreed. “I really like the fish and I would hate for them to get sick.”
“Or die and haunt your dead-and-breakfast?” Phineas stated in a half tease.
“Yeah, we don’t need ghost fish,” Mercedes said.
“Okay. I’ll stop by in an hour. I’m going to check in with Mona at The Clothes Spin and then I’ll head over your way.”
“Good. We’ll see you later,” Flo said brightly.
Phineas stepped aside and watched as Flo and Mercedes continued on their walk to Room with a Tomb.
It was a complete lie that he was heading to Mona’s, because he didn’t have a destination in mind, but he might as well start there and see if she had anything she needed him to do. Gabe, a fox man, did a lot of odd jobs in town, and Phineas filled in the gaps where he could.
There was only so much peat moss and other aquatic plants he could harvest. It never really bothered him before about how he barely scraped by, but lately it seemed important.
It’s because of Pearl.
His father had always told him the importance of taking care of your family.
“Phineas, bring me that moss,” his father called out.
“Sure, Dad.” Phineas scooped up the moss and carried it over to his dad, who was working on their house. Phineas loved working with his dad. They’d always laugh and joke, and it was the best day, spending it outside.
As his dad layered the moss on thickly, Phineas cocked his head, watching.
“Dad, why do we need this much moss on the house?”
“To keep our home hidden and safe.”
“Why?” Phineas asked, handing his dad the moss.
His dad smiled sadly. “It’s my job to protect you and your mother. I won’t…”
“Won’t what?”
His father sighed and smiled at him. “It’s cold this far north. Moss will keep us warm, so we won’t freeze. I won’t let you and your mother be cold.”
“Oh. I see.”
“One day you’ll understand, but it’s important to protect your family. At all costs.”
It wasn’t just his late father who had taught him that lesson, but also Mr. Clague, Finn’s father. He watched how hard he worked to take care of his family and then take Phineas, who had lost his family, under his wing.
So he knew firsthand how important it was to take care of those you cherish. And he wanted to give Pearl the world.
It was just a matter of figuring out how to do it, because she was all he wanted.
“Hi.”
