Page 22 of Mountain Man's Muse
“That’s fine with me. I always wanted the stories to be longer anyway.”
When they disconnected, Josh started on the iron bullets.
He might be just the simple sidekick in this story, but he’d read enough to know he had two choices in the end: Win the girl.
Or die.
Chapter 9
Adelyn looked around at the disaster. Who could’ve guessed she’d need so many spoons? She glanced ruefully at the sink. A touch of glamour would be quicker than lemon bubbles. But when she left, the dirty dishes would reveal themselves.
If only that was her biggest mess.
Fortunately, she had watched Josh deal with such chaos, so she plunged into the work. The bubbles were almost like a glamour, silky under her fingertips and glistening with tiny rainbows. But when they popped, they left clean dishes behind. A simple magic, yet strangely satisfying in its own way. She had all the pots scrubbed and upended beside the sink to dry when Josh came through the doorway.
He looked around with a wary gaze that popped her own bubble. “Did you make something?”
“Lunch.” From across the room, she heard his stomach growl, and the tightness in her chest eased enough to let her laugh. “I thought you’d be hungry.”
He shifted from one foot to the other, hat in his hands, as if he wasn’t at ease in his own house, and her amusement withered. He seemed sorightin this place, but she had taken away his peace.
He gazed back at the doorway longingly. Somehow she knew, if she held out her hand, he would flinch, much as Wolly had at first. Now she and the dog were good friends. Which had made her think of cooking for Josh.
She moved the clay pot from the oven to the counter and lifted the lid.
Josh stepped forward with a sniff. “Since when do fairy princesses make cornbread?”
“Bread and wine and porridge appear in many fairy tales. The making is a kind of magic, really.”
He had been reaching for one of the muffins, but hesitated.
“Not actual magic,” she assured him. “Just yeast and sugar and plenty of butter. Some beans on the side, also not the magic kind.”
She pushed the little feast—a real feast, not the fae kind that left the guests hungrier when they left—toward him.
He pulled up a stool to the counter and glanced toward her, though he didn’t quite make eye contact. “You’re not eating?”
“I nibbled earlier. We fae really don’t need much.” Plus, she was queasy with worry. About the imp. About Raze. About what was happening between her and Josh.
Once, she’d never thought about humans, and now one ranked with the queen’s Ruiner on the heretofore short list of things that made her hyperventilate.
Josh focused on the food for a few bites, then said, “I talked to Vaile earlier.”
Good thing she hadn’t eaten anything or she might have retched. How had she even briefly forgotten that Josh’s neighbor was on her list too? “What did he say?”
“He and Odette are coming back. Something about traveling by mushroom.” He shook his head as he recounted the conversation. “Vaile had some suggestions for warding off the bastards.”
“Good.” Short as it was, Adelyn could scarcely force the word out.
Wards would isolate the valley. How would she get word to Raze? Would the Ruiner honor their agreement if he couldn’t retrieve the runaway fae?
What if she couldn’t return to court?
She startled when Josh put his hand over hers. “It will be all right, I promise.”
He couldn’t make that promise. In fact, just voicing it was the sort of thing that invited the forces that would crush them both. Queen Ankha’s forces.
“I shouldn’t have come here.” This time, the words came out against her will.
