Calisa halted in the doorway. “Rin offered, and I said yes.” She’d already decided that if Auntie Zee was mad, she was going to pretend it was just her and Rin who had done this. She’d deny that Jack was even there. He didn’t deserve any anger directed at him.
Seething so hard that she was practically hissing, Auntie Zee said, “I didn’t want it spread around that I am in need of help. I have always stood on my own two feet and I always will.”
“No spreading occurred,” Calisa insisted. “They wanted to do this. Theylikeyou. Can’t you accept at leastthat?” To be fair, Jack had warned her that Auntie Zee wouldn’t be happy about this, but couldn’t she at least see it was wonderful that so manywantedto help? She had people who cared and wanted her to be happy. Surely once she had a chance to think aboutit—
Auntie Zee snorted. “I’m not likable.”
“That was a half-dozen people who think you are.”
Despite herself, Auntie Zee smiled. It was, however, a somewhat vicious and not very mirth-filled smile. “You owe Rin now. I suppose that’s your problem. He’ll expect to be our primary supplier. You’re going to have to keep visiting the Night Market.”
That sounded great to Calisa.
Auntie Zee opened up the nearest basket, and the kitchen filled with the aroma of pastries—herbs, berries, and the thick smell of cinnamon. “Plate a reasonable amount and bring it to the dining room for the arriving guests. The rest of this we’ll store for later.”
Relieved that her great-aunt was done objecting, Calisa set to work, piling pastries on serving plates, arranging fruit, pouring the pearlescent juice into pitchers, and then arranging it all in the not-yet-used dining room. Joining them, Jack carried a stack of plates, while Calisa folded the napkins. She located a vase and filled it with flowers from the B&B’s gardens, and then she ran the vacuum over the carpet an extra time. If all the guests who’d made reservations came, the bed-and-breakfast would be full. She didn’t want a single one to be disappointed.
Once they’d finished setting out the welcome spread, they located tinfoil, plastic wrap, ziplock bags, and various containers and began bagging and boxing and sealing the gifted food to serve later. Soon, they fell into a rhythm: Calisa sealing the food into airtight containers and Jack finding room for them in the refrigerator or on the pantry shelves. It was almost a dance as they zigzagged through the kitchen and circled the butcher block island. Some food went into the refrigerator, some into the freezer—each item squeezed in like a complex puzzle—and the rest went into the pantry, labeled and on shelves: pastas and grains and rice, as well as potatoes and onions. She shelved several jars of sauces, as well as jams and preserved fruit. Shebegan to feel like a squirrel stocking up for winter. The vendors had beenverygenerous. There were even a few cakes to add to the chocolate one that Calisa had already baked.
Sitting on a stool watching, Auntie Zee muttered to herself throughout, but Calisa thought that her tone softened as she saw the wealth of delicacies that her old friends had sent. Every so often, she’d get up and begin to help. Just as often, Thomas would pass through the kitchen carrying his tools and bark at her that she needed to rest.
Finally, she sighed. “Oh.”
Calisa wasn’t sure what to make of that “oh.” She thought maybe, just maybe, she was pleased? Or at least exasperated with a tinge of amused rather than furious?
“You are…” Auntie Zee began.
Calisa expected to hear any one of a variety of adjectives, but Auntie Zee simply sighed and walked away, leaving them to their unpacking.
—
Midafternoon, the guests began to arrive from various realms. Calisa scurried from closet to closet, welcoming them and guiding them to the lobby.
Seated at the desk in the lobby, Auntie Zee checked everyone in, writing their names into her registrar and handing them room keys. She offered to close and reopen their portals as needed, typically the closets of their assigned rooms. As soon as the administrative details were completed, Thomas and Jack carried the luggage to the various rooms, while Calisainvited the new guests to tea. The enchanted teapot hummed happily in the corner.
First to check in were a silent couple, whose shadows spoke for them. The wife sank into a chair in the sitting area with a cup of tea, while the husband browsed the library, to the delight of the ladder. His shadow commented on each book the husband touched.
Second was the young couple of fishmongers, who, from the number of times they paused to gaze into one another’s eyes, looked to be freshly married. Auntie Zee didn’t ask, and Calisa merely offered them each a slice of strawberry cake. Carrying their slices to the conch chair, they squished into it together, bumping each other with their elbows as they ate. When they opened their mouths, Calisa saw sharklike teeth.
Third was the bone person covered in the pelt of a bear from the realm with the labyrinth. Calisa couldn’t tell if the pelt was fused to their bones or if they wore it like a cloak over their skeleton body. She supposed she didn’t need to know.
“Should I offer them cake?” she whispered to the mirror, as the bone person thanked Auntie Zee for their key. They had no throat or internal organs that she could see. She wasn’t sure if it would be rude to offer or not to offer.
Do it.
“You just think it would be funny.”
Absolutely.
She rolled her eyes at the mirror.
Peeking into the sitting room, Calisa checked on the firebird again. Occasionally it would flit up the chimney and thenreturn. Only once did it shoot sparks upward: five, which meant room five. Calisa alerted Jack, who went to check. “They want more pillows,” he reported back before heading for the supply closets.
Next was the family made of bark and leaves. Their two twiglike children scampered out the kitchen door into the garden, where they were greeted by Melidor, who had booked a room for the weekend. She introduced them to her seedlings while their parents checked into their rooms.
Nearly two hours later, after the other new guests had settled into their rooms and were either relaxing in the sitting room or outside admiring the view of the mountains, the two fae queens arrived, sweeping through their laundry room–closet portal. Jack scurried to settle their belongings in the largest guest room, on the third floor, with a view of the mountains and a canopy bed.
Their faces were painted as before: blue for one and bronze for the other. Gold was laced through their hair, and their dresses were draped in intricate folds. Welcoming them, Calisa led them to the desk in the lobby.
