Kendra pivoted and strode to the front room.
Calisa and Jack exchanged looks and then followed a second later. The teapot was already steaming, and Kendra had a cup in her hand.
“Earl Grey,” she said with a sniff. “Acceptable.”
How had it brewed that fast?It must have already been heating up. Perhaps Auntie Zee knew her guest would want tea and flipped the on switch earlier?
“Kendra…” Auntie Zee began.
“I heard mention of cake? Will that be offered with tea?” She addressed Calisa without even glancing at Auntie Zee. “I am tired of being disappointed.”
“That’s up to Auntie Zee,” Calisa said pointedly.
Kendra raised a sculpted eyebrow at the innkeeper.
Auntie Zee sighed heavily. “Calisa will be baking a cake with tea tomorrow. I’ll take care of obtaining the ingredients later today.”
Don’t cheer. Play it cool.Calisa glanced at Jack. He cheered silently and then stopped when Auntie Zee glared at him. Heroically, she kept herself from smiling. It was only one moreday that she’d won, but it still felt like a victory worthy of an Olympic athlete.
With a nod, Kendra swept out of the sitting room. In the foyer, by the stairs, she looked back, every inch regal, despite the dripping bathrobe. “Also, I wish to thank you for your rehousing my unwanted companion. It was never my intention to attach him to me.”
Calisa stared at her, unsure what she was talking about but not wanting to admit that in front of Auntie Zee. “Um, you’re welcome?”
“He has not yet come into his fire, but he will serve you well when he does,” Kendra said. “I hope you will enjoy his companionship in the meantime.” She then proceeded upstairs, leaving a trail of droplets behind her.
There was silence for a moment.
“Calisa,” Auntie Zee said behind her, much closer than before, “what did you do?”
She turned to see that Auntie Zee had crossed the room and was standing only inches away. “I’m not entirely sure,” Calisa said.Unwanted companion?She didn’t know what Kendra was talking about, unless she meant—
Jack let out a nervous false laugh. “Just a little hiccup. We took care of it.”
Lower, softer, Auntie Zee repeated,“What did you do?”
—
Together the three of them trooped out to the greenhouse, with Jack in the lead and Calisa just behind him. Auntie Zeefollowed, and Calisa tried not to feel the weight of her stare boring in between her shoulder blades. She’d already explained how she hadn’t wanted to simply release the unidentified reptile into the wild, since she didn’t know whether it was either an invasive species or not suited to the environment.
Auntie Zee merely huffed as she strode through the grass, which could have been either from exertion or disapproval, Calisa couldn’t tell.
“So, Kendra arrived with a pet and then decided she didn’t want it?” Calisa asked Jack in a low voice. What kind of person did that? Not a nice one. Or maybe there was another explanation? “What did she mean about ‘come into his fire’?”
“Ahh…” Jack said.
Behind her, Auntie Zee said crisply, “We don’t ask questions of guests.”
She wasn’t asking the guest; she was asking Jack. But Calisa pressed her lips together and decided it didn’t matter if Kendra was being cryptic deliberately or accidentally. All that mattered was whether Auntie Zee was going to be pissed at her when she saw the relocated lizard. Jack opened the greenhouse door, and Auntie Zee waddled past Calisa to enter first. Calisa followed.
It was crowded inside with the three of them.
Four, if you counted the uninvited lizard.
The lizard was lounging next to the tray of water. His loose leathery skin hung from his back—he still hadn’t finished his molt yet, if that was what the excess skin was. Calisa wasn’t certain now that she saw him again. The flaps seemed firmlyattached, and she thought she saw a hint of a bone running along the edge of the leathery skin. He lifted his bulbous head as they entered but otherwise didn’t stir.
Auntie Zee’s hands were on her hips. She grunted.
A friendly grunt?
