Page 31 of The Heart of Moonlight Falls

To his credit, Sebastian seemed to be handling it well. It just wasn’t fair. James wanted to protect Sebastian from the pain of any more rejection. He knew he couldn’t. He just wished the world were kinder. He wished he and Sebastian didn’t have to fight so hard to get to the happy, simple life they wanted.

“Want some coffee?” he asked Sebastian once they were inside.

Sebastian flashed a sweet smile, dimples framing his face. “Sure.”

James went to make it, hoping Sebastian hadn’t noticed the customer’s reaction outside.

Hazel joined them a minute later. “Do I want to know how Storm House was this morning?”

“No,” James said before recounting everything for her anyway. “The fuel cell has dropped more too. Another big dip in energy.”

“Wonder if the bigger dips coincide with the hole growing,” Hazel said as she lined mugs up on the counter for James to fill. “Oh, guess what? Eleanor told me William wasn’t at work this morning, no explanation given for his absence.”

James grunted, his hate for the man clear. No words needed.

“We know he can’t have gone far,” Sebastian said with grim amusement.

Hazel laughed. “No, he’ll be lurking. Just figures he’d be all confident pointing his finger at you yesterday and then not show his face around town hall now that he knows not everyone agrees with him.”

“They don’t?” Sebastian asked, sounding surprised.

James’s heart pinched. “Of course they don’t.”

“Not at all,” Hazel agreed. “Especially after they were told the truth. Eleanor is way more respected than William. It’s one of the reasons she’s mayor. People listen to her. Seeing her support you changed people’s minds. The meeting was tense, but that wasn’t the end of it.”

The shop bell rang, and all three of them turned. There, standing on the retail side of the room, was William himself.

“Speak of the fucking devil,” Hazel muttered. “Hi,” she called loud enough for him to hear, making her way over. “Is there something you need?”

William narrowed his eyes at Hazel, probably picking up on her less-than-friendly tone.

Hazel leaned against the counter, pulling off a casual I-don’t-trust-or-like-you stance. William didn’t say anything, which wasn’t like him. James had never known the man to keep anything to himself.

William turned away from Hazel and scrutinized the store. James was glad he wasn’t starting in on Sebastian, but if he wasn’t planning to harass him, why was he here? Was his presence some sort of intimidation, like a warning that he was watching them?

“I don’t think you have what I need,” William said at last.

“Sorry,” Hazel replied, not sounding sorry at all.

William glared at her and then turned his narrowed eyes on James and Sebastian. “I’ll be seeing you around, unfortunately.” He left the shop without a backward glance.

Hazel returned to the work side of the shop and grabbed her mug. “He’s certainly using his time ditching work wisely.” She rolled her eyes.

James sat at his desk, preparing to type up the data they’d gathered from the clearing since Eli was working at the diner that morning. Sebastian grabbed a spare chair and settled in next to him, reading out the numbers. James found it hard to see the point in recording more of the veins’ energy flow. Was any of this information helping them?

Hazel assisted a few more customers at the pumps. By late morning, she and James packed up and left the shop to continue fixing the lights in town, starting with one in front of the post office.

Sebastian, who’d come along with them, got a phone call. James perked up, hoping it was Sebastian’s mom, even though he hated that Sebastian had to deal with her. She might have answers, and James was getting desperate enough to hope she’d help.

“It’s my lawyer.” Sebastian accepted the call and wandered to the grass by the stone to talk. James tried to fend off his disappointment.

“I’m beginning to feel like nothing we’re doing is worth the effort,” James admitted to Hazel.

She gave him a sympathetic frown. “We can’t do nothing.”

“I know.” James nudged the toolbox sitting on the sidewalk with his foot. “But take the lights, for example. Is replacing them pointless? They’ll probably get smashed out again. And that hand in the clearing today could mean shades resistant to daylight are coming or are already here.” He assumed the shade in the clearing had been banished by the daylight, but he couldn’t shake the fear it hadn’t been.

Hazel shrugged helplessly. “Not fixing the lights feels like giving up. We have to do what we can.”

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