“The fewer people who know, the better,” Auntie Zee said. “People aren’t always kind when they discover you have a power they don’t. It…changes things.”
Calisa thought of Mom-Kate. Was that what had happened between them? Maybe Mom-Kate had left because she couldn’t handle not being a traveler cat. Or maybe Auntie Zee had pushed her away because she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to handle the disappointment.
“You truly went from realm to realm to search for me? Without any knowledge of what you’d find?” Auntie Zee asked Calisa and Jack.
Calisa couldn’t read her emotion this time. She didn’t seem to be angry anymore. Surprisingly, Calisa realized she didn’t feel angry anymore either. “Um, yes?”
“The unearned confidence of youthful ignorance is remarkable.” She shook her head.
“It’s because of Calisa’s bravery that you’re back,” Jack said. “It’s because of her that my dad is home. And I believe that if you give her a chance, she can save this inn.Wecan save it.”
Auntie Zee raised both her eyebrows. “You do, do you?”
“Her idea about a grand reopening,” Jack said. “It’s a goodidea.”
“A lot of people out there know you,” Calisa said. “They know this inn. If we invited them…said we were taking new reservations for a grand reopening. Made it an event.”
“We’ve already done a lot of work fixing up the inn,” Jack said. “Calisa has cleaned all the front rooms, she’s restarted afternoon tea with cake, and we’ve restored a lot of the outside.”
“It looks a lot less like it’s being eaten by the forest,” Calisa said. “The guests like it. If we tell other people that the inn has been restored and is ready and waiting for them, just as much a peaceful refuge as it used to be…”
She couldn’t read Auntie Zee’s expression. The innkeeper could squash the idea right here. She had the right to close the inn and retire if she chose, but Calisa didn’t think that Auntie Zee wanted to let it just crumble away, her life’s work.
“Thomas, what do you think?” Auntie Zee said. “Is it a fool’s plan?”
Both Calisa and Jack looked at him. On Calisa’s shoulder, the little dragon made a whirring chirp that sounded like a question, and she saw the ladder give an extra shake. The statue, of course, was motionless and silent, and she didn’t bother looking back at the mirror. Everyone had an opinion, but it was Auntie Zee’s choice, and she was looking to her old friend.
“I think you have been given a second chance, one you thought was lost,” Thomas said. “What you choose to do with it is up to you.”
Auntie Zee snorted.
“Yes, you should do it, you stubborn old woman,” Thomas said, but there was a softness and affection in his voice. The ladder wriggled back and forth.
“Ask the mirror,” Auntie Zee said to Calisa. “If that old pessimist thinks I should…”
Calisa stepped into the lobby. “Mirror, mirror…”
It already had its answer displayed within the smoke:
Save the inn.
Obviously.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Over the course of the next week, Calisa and Jack returned to the various realms they’d visited to spread the word and take reservations: a room to a fishmonger couple from the mermaid-friendly village, one to the bone-like creature who covered its body in the pelt of a bear, another to the family made of bark and leaves, and another to the jewel-drenched fae queens from the Night Market.
Every time they returned to the inn between trips, Auntie Zee put them to work on preparing. Sitting on a cushioned chair behind the lobby desk, she issued orders while sipping tea from the enchanted teapot:
Excess seawater needed to be mopped up.
Towels stacked and folded in the bathrooms.
Pillows fluffed and bedsheets smoothed.
Bathrooms sprayed with room freshener made by mermaids.
Otherworldly flowers that smelled like sunshine on a perfectJuly day should be tucked into glass bottles and placed in every guest room on the mantel and windowsills. A sprig of lavender on each bed. Check for cobwebs. Lay a piece of fresh firewood in each hearth for the firebird—that was, Auntie Zee said, part of their arrangement. In exchange for fresh logs, it would flit around the bed-and-breakfast from fireplace to fireplace and send up sparks when Auntie Zee was needed. The number of sparks would indicate which room number required the innkeeper’s attention.
