Chapter 8
Know Your Gnomes
“Maybe your aunt just wants you to be happy?” I suggest.
“No, that can’t be it,” Ash says immediately. “She’s highly invested in our safety but doesn’t particularly care about our mental state.” He frowns. “But, perhaps, she’s worried about her own discomfort? If Rowan were to disappear again, she would be beside herself.”
Rowan slowly nods.
Ash turns to me. “It might be worth noting that despite evidence to the contrary, I do believe our mother loves us.” He clears his throat. “In her own way.”
“I was getting that.” I wince. “Sort of.”
“We still need to visit Emerson,” Ash reminds me.
“I’ll meet you downstairs in a few minutes,” I say, desperate to talk to Rowan alone.
Ash’s eyes go between us, and he nods. “Emerson goes home early on Saturday, so don’t take too long.”
The councilman looks resigned, like maybe he’s finally given up hope on the two of us getting together. I cannot help but wonder if Rowan’s speech had something to do with that.
As soon as he closes the door, I turn to Rowan. “You know, if you don’t want me throwing myself at you, you really can’t say things like, ‘I loved her before, I love her now, and I’ll love her after I undo the bond.’ How is a girl supposed to control herself after that?”
A smile plays at the corner of Rowan’s mouth. “The conversation went better than I could have hoped.”
“For everyone except Keira. She’s not happy.”
“She needs to be told no occasionally—it’s good for her. Heaven knows I should have done it long before now.”
“Do you think your aunt is actually okay with our relationship? After all, I’m just a ‘little tea pixie.’”
He groans, tilting his head back. “I’m sorry she keeps calling you that.”
“It’s okay,” I laugh. “I’m a petite pixie who serves tea. I’ll own it.”
“I think she is okay with it, but I need to figure out why. Something spooked her.”
“Maybe Ash is right, and she doesn’t want you to risk any more dangerous experiments?”
“Maybe,” he says thoughtfully.
“Ash is waiting. I should probably talk to Emerson about that restraining order.”
Rowan follows me down the stairs. “Should I leave Ryder here and go with you?”
“I’d like that, if you don’t think he’ll mind.”
We walk into the tea shop just in time to overhear Ryder say to a customer, “I’m not actually sure what the difference is between green tea and black tea. I think it’s just the color of the bush. Like the leaves, maybe?”
“Never mind,” Rowan says immediately, looking pained. “I should stay.”
He hurries to the counter to do damage control, and I join Ash near the bulk tea.
“Are you ready?” he asks me.
“Yeah,” I say heavily. “Let’s get this over with.”
The tea shop is closed by the time Ash and I return from the sheriff’s office.
Emerson spoke to us about the restraining order.
On Monday, I have to go back to fill out a petition.
After we submit it, there will be a preliminary meeting—and Russell is allowed to be there.
If a temporary restraining order is granted, we’ll move on to the next step, which will require a final hearing.
It all sounds incredibly exhausting, especially when half of the evidence against Russell can’t be submitted in a human court. I can tell them I was kidnapped, but I can’t tell them why.
Ash says it’s enough—more than enough. But it all makes me so uneasy.
“Let me know if he contacts you before Monday,” Ash says, walking into the empty tea shop with me, preparing to leave.
“I will.”
The councilman glances toward the back. “Rowan’s still here, isn’t he? I can take you home if you need a ride.”
“He said he’d wait for me when I texted him about thirty minutes ago.”
“Make sure he’s here before I go.”
I’m halfway across the tea shop when I hear footsteps on the stairs—more than one set. Rowan appears first…and then my dad.
“Hello there,” Dad says when he sees a new face. “Who might you be?”
“Dad, this is Ash, Rowan’s cousin,” I say. “Our city council treasurer. He works at Town Hall.”
“It's a pleasure to meet you.” Dad crosses the tearoom to shake his hand. “What were the two of you up to?”
I glance at Rowan, nervous. I haven’t told my parents about Russell, nor do I particularly want to.
“Kit was helping me with something that came up this week,” Ash says smoothly. “I heard you’re here to take care of Kit’s gnomes?”
“I am,” Dad says cheerfully, happy to be redirected to his favorite subject. “I’ve been working on a new habitat in the cottage’s backyard, but I came by this afternoon to check their type before I got too carried away. Wouldn’t want to put a fishpond in for fire types, after all.”
“Gnomes have types?” Ash asks.
“Stars, yes,” Dad responds. “Wood, mountain, desert, riparian…you get the point. The most prevalent around here are common and wood, but you can get stray types. Gnomes are wanderers, you know.”
“I see,” Ash says. “And what are Kit’s gnomes?”
“Oh, just common gnomes.”
“What were you doing upstairs?” I ask.
“Having a chat,” Dad says cryptically.
Rowan meets my eyes, swallowing. He looks like he’s been through a battle.
But it must have been a productive “chat” because Dad clasps his shoulder with manly affection and then turns toward the tea garden. “I’d like to check one last thing, and then we can go.”
“It looks like you’re all set here,” Ash says to me, not wanting to stick around for whatever this is. “I’m going to leave as well.”
“Thanks for your help.”
He nods, showing himself to the door. As soon as he’s gone, Rowan turns to me, widening his eyes.
“What happened?” I whisper, looking around him to make sure Dad is still in the garden.
“You know that conversation we had with my aunt earlier?”
“Yes…”
“Apparently, your dad had just come in from the tea garden and overheard the whole thing.”
I gasp. “All of it?”
“All of it.”
“Even the part about the bond?” I’m going to pass out.
Rowan looks haggard. “Even the part about the bond.”
I sink into a chair. “What a mess. I’m sorry you had to navigate that on your own.”
“It’s all right. I made it out alive.”
I laugh despite myself. “I’m proud of you.”
“I’m proud of myself, too.”
“What are you doing this evening? Do you want to join us for dinner again?”
“I’d rather stand in the middle of the tearoom and sing ballads to our customers tomorrow.”
I grin. “You can do that too, if you’d like.”
“I have magic to research tonight. I promised your father I would do everything in my power to set you free.”
I want to argue with his word choice, but I have a more pressing question. “Speaking of magic, did your aunt really pay your tuition?”
Rowan sighs. “I haven’t called, but I imagine she did.”
“Does that mean…” I don’t dare get my hopes up.
He raises a brow, knowing what I’m asking. “That I can stay here with you and visit the college once or twice a week?”
Holding my breath, I nod.
Giving in to the pull of the mate bond, he sets his hands on my shoulders, smiling down at me. “That’s exactly what it means.”
My relief is tangible. A burst of summer magic spreads through the room—a joyful bomb.
Rowan inhales sharply as the magic hits him, laughing as euphoria clouds his senses. “That was potent.”
“Sorry.”
“Are you that happy?”
“I’m so happy,” I whisper.
He sets his hand on the side of my head, affectionately brushing his thumb over my cheek. I think he’s going to break his own rules and kiss me, but then the back door opens. We leap apart, the picture of guilt.
Dad pauses, assessing the magic in the room. Then he narrows his eyes, suspicious. “You’re awfully happy, Kit.”
Thank goodness I’m not sparkling.
I clasp my hands, trying to look innocent. “I’m just excited to see the gnome habitat you’re working on.”
“Sure.” He eyes Rowan and me, not believing it for a minute. Gruffly, he says, “Let’s head home.”
“If Rowan isn’t leaving for college, does that mean you don’t need me?” Nadine asks, her face falling.
I watch my friend in the mirror’s reflection. She sits in front of me on my bed while I braid her hair like we used to do when we were kids. It’s almost bedtime, and the cottage feels cozy with all my family here.
Mom’s crocheting in the living room, and Dad is making chocolate-covered almonds for the gnomes. Chester sleeps on the couch, soaking up my mom’s comforting vibes. The only one missing is Rowan.
“No, I do,” I say to my friend. “He’s still going to be incredibly busy with his studies, and I can’t run the tea shop on my own.”
She turns to look at me, nearly yanking the tail of her braid from my hand. “You’re sure?”
“I’m positive. In fact, why don’t you come down Monday, and I’ll start showing you the ropes.”
“Really?”
I was hoping Nadine might visit this weekend, but she’s helping my mother reorganize my kitchen cabinets—a project that holds no allure to me but makes the autumn pixies in my life abundantly happy. To each their own.
“Of course,” I say. “And we can walk to the library. You said you wanted to check it out.”
“I do. I made a few little hedgehogs before we left, just in case.”
Nadine has a very specific, unique hobby. She crafts darling pinecone hedgehogs and leaves them for people to find. Libraries are her gift location of choice, but she’s left them in neighborhood book exchange boxes, visitor centers, parks—anywhere safe from the weather that isn’t a store.
I have one on my nightstand.
“Oh!” I exclaim, realizing he’s no longer alone. As soon as I place the hair tie at the end of Nadine’s braid, I leave the bed to admire my new hedgehog. “She’s darling.”
The body is a pinecone, but Nadine used thick dry grass to construct the head, legs, and other features. She’s wearing a cute gingham dress that I know Nadine made herself, and she holds a miniature muffin tin. She even has tiny oven mitts over her paws.
“I worked on her for quite a while,” Nadine says proudly. “I’m glad you like her.”
“I love her. Thank you.”
She leaves the bed, stepping into her slippers. “Let’s try one of your tea cocoa recipes.”
“Should we? My list is in the kitchen.”