Page 30 of Fresh Old Bounties

“What?”

“That makes sense.”

“Thanks,” I said smugly. “It was my idea she practice that.” I had also offered Key the use of one of the shop’s stools to practice burying big things deep into the earth, in case a bounty got out of hand, but she’d given me an odd look and said she wasn’t ready for that step yet.

“But why is she practicing in your backyard?” Dru insisted.

“She felt tacky using the cemetery as a training ground.”

Dru nodded in acknowledgment and took another sip of her soda.

“So, you want the Corner Rose to show your parents what you’re capable of?” I asked.

She rolled her eyes. “What do you think?”

“That they made a big mistake by not giving you the job.”

Dru snorted but relaxed against the chair. “They did.”

“Do you ever visit them?” Ever since moving cross-country, I missed my sister, mom, and stepdad, but I hadn’t had the urgent need to visit them yet. Maybe because they hadn’t understood my need to take over the shop, and I wasn’t looking forward to an inquisition about how the shop was doing.

My sister, though. Her I missed fiercely. Emails and calls weren’t enough, and I’d invited her to visit. Had even promised her I’d get an air mattress and she could take the bed.

“I haven’t visited in a couple of years,” Dru admitted.

“Not even for the holidays?”

“Especially not for the holidays.”

I thought about that for a moment. “Ah, everyone in your family knows about your ex.” No boyfriend, no baby, no job at the family business. No, family holidays couldn’t be easy.

“I’d rather stick a fork in my eye than go to another family reunion. Weekend FaceTime is as much as I can take.”

“Until you open your own shop?”

Her grim expression transformed into one of pure, evil glee. “Yes.”

I lifted my soda can in her direction, and she clinked it with hers. “To showing our families what we’re capable of.”

“Damn right.”

We took a sip of our drinks.

“How long did you go out with Preston?” I asked.

Dru made a face. “Six months.”

That was a long time for someone to fake date. “Are you sure he was with you only to get closer to your parents?”

“He dumped me the day he signed on the offer.” Her clipped words could’ve cut glass.

“Ouch. And you didn’t see it coming?”

“Do I look like the kind of woman who would’ve stayed if she’d seen it coming?”

“Young love hides many defects,” I agreed. “Didn’t your parents retract the offer once you told them about the reason he’d gone out with you?”

Dru answered with a stoic silence.

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