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“Then who was it from?”

“Why, it’s the Fates!” she said, tapping the seals. “Obviously. The way it arrived on your doorstep so mysteriously when you needed it most, the seals, the timing of it.” She pushed it toward him. “When the Fates give you something, Dan, you take it. You don’t give it back and you don’t try to account for it. That’s not how it works. You can’t cheat Fate, and it’s poor manners to try.”

He picked up the envelope and glanced inside. There was just enough there to cover for the permissions and wards needed to host the Samhain tournament. He tucked the envelope into his jacket pocket. He was grateful for the cash, and if there was any issue, if anyone wanted it back, he’d be able to pay it back in under a week.

They sat in the shade of the chestnut tree.

“Will came to see me this morning,” Dan said.

“Did he?” Luna asked.

“He had a few choice things to say to me about how I’ve been interacting with both of you lately.” Dan squirmed uncomfortably in the too small seat.

“Ah.” Granny refilled his cup without asking.

Dan looked down at the table. “I’m sorry I haven’t been a better grandson, Luna.”

“What are you talking about?” Luna shook her head.

“I’ve been so self-absorbed. I haven’t been thinking enough about the other people around me. I don’t want to be like my parents.” He was gripping the handle of his tiny teacup so tight he was afraid it might shatter.

“Dan,” Granny peered up at him, over the rim of her teacup, “if anyone should be apologizing, it’s me. I wasn’t there for you. I wish I’d done more.”

“Well, you didn’t even know I existed, Granny, so how were you supposed to do anything?”

“I should have known.” Granny sighed. “I should have felt you existing in my bones! To think of a poor wee baby grandchild of mine being left in the orphanage!”

Dan said nothing more. The truth was it had been a relief each time his unreliable mother left him in the orphanage. She treated the half-blood facility like free childcare. Eventually the issue wasn’t being left there anymore. It was being dragged away again and fed false hope when someone came to pick him up.

He hadn’t talked to his parents in over a decade, and he didn’t think of them often. But genes were tricky, and apparently, despite his best intentions, he’d been acting just like them.

“You are nothing like your father,” Granny said, reading his mind. “Or your mother either, for that matter.”

“Sometimes, I still resemble them, despite my best efforts.” Dan scowled.

“Well, of course you do, you can’t deny your kin. But that’s not all bad, Danny! What you got from your father’s line, the ability to retain and sort through so much knowledge, the protectiveness, the courage to roar when someone crosses a line with you… Those are all his best qualities in you.”

A warmth spread through Dan’s chest.

“And from your mother’s side,” Luna’s voice changed slightly, she was choosing her words more carefully, “you got the family charm. The wit. A way of charming a room when you choose to use it. Come to think of it, you probably got all the good stuff from me…” She paused. “But your mother had all of it too. She just invested her gifts poorly. That doesn’t have to be your lot.”

Another acorn landed on the table with a thwack.

“You are the best of what both of them could have been,” Luna said. “If they had been better.”

“Thank you, Granny.” Dan laid his hand on top of hers.

“Now about those plants,” Granny beamed. “I was thinking we could do some ferns and something trailing above the bar. And how do you feel about polished brass for the sconces?”

“I like polished brass,” he said.

“Good, because it’s going to look so lovely reflecting in the crystal glasses.” Granny’s eyes were twinkling. “Just you wait and see.”

UNCOMMON CURES FOR COMMON AILMENTS

When warts refuse to go away, prick them with a pin.

Stick it deep in an old ash tree,