Chapter Eleven #3
I shook my head. I’d been craving a cup of coffee all morning, but I’d been so preoccupied with the cookies I hadn’t had a chance to make one. Plus, hand-grinding the beans with a mortar and pestle wasn’t something I looked forward to.
“Come with me.” Rowena gently pulled me toward the kitchen door, her hand still locked in mine. “I haven’t made myself tea yet, either.”
“You haven’t?”
“Nope. I’ve been working on something.” Rowena opened the door and held it for me to pass through. “We’ll sit and have our drinks together.”
I followed Rowena up to the counter, where her tea display was nearly as messy as my failed cookie project. There were measuring spoons and dried bits of tea leaves everywhere, and several of the ingredient jars were pulled out of place with their lids off.
“Ignore the mess,” Rowena chuckled, placing the lid back on one of the jars. She pointed to the coffee percolator, which was tucked away near the sink.
And to my surprise, there was a little cylindrical device next to the percolator. It was made of metal, and it had a lever that was meant to be twisted.
“Rowena!” I exclaimed with joy. “You got a coffee grinder?”
She shrugged, that little casual smile sneaking across her lips. “I figured you didn’t want to keep using the mortar and pestle.”
“Thank you so much,” I smiled. I nearly wanted to pull her into a hug, although I feared that might scare her further. Especially since I’d wiped frosting off her cheek with my finger, and then stuck said finger into my mouth.
Though she didn’t seem to mind, I thought with a dreamy grin. I was ashamed to admit while I’d been licking the frosting off my finger, I’d been wondering how the soft skin of Rowena’s cheek would feel on my lips.
We worked side by side, me preparing coffee while Rowena prepared tea, like we had the previous morning. A warm trickle ran down my limbs every time our shoulders brushed. I loved how calming her presence was.
I could get used to this.
And that both scared and enthralled me.
Once we were finished making our respective beverages, we sat side-by-side in the high-backed chairs next to the fireplace and sipped our drinks in silence.
My whole body soothed as I took my first sip of piping hot coffee, and it soothed even further when I caught a glimpse of Rowena flipping through her book next to me.
Silence around others normally felt awkward. But with Rowena, it felt natural. Peaceful.
Gods, I sighed, studying her narrow jawline and her slightly hooked nose. You are so beautiful.
I sipped my coffee slowly, wanting this moment to last as long as possible. But as Rowena finished her tea and set the empty cup on the end table, I decided to finish mine off with a big gulp. After all, I had work to do.
“What are we going to do about the cookies?” I asked as I set my empty coffee mug next to Rowena’s teacup. It was a question I’d been pondering the entire time I sipped my coffee, but I’d been afraid to bring it up. I hated that it was almost opening time and we had no baked goods to sell.
“Well…” Rowena sighed. “Let’s go back and look at them. See what’s salvageable.”
Rowena took our cups up to the sink, and I waited for her by the kitchen door. And as we both walked in together, my jaw nearly fell off its hinges at what I saw.
A plate full of fresh blueberry cookies was perched on the countertop, squeezed between my messy, frosted sugar cookies. And next to the plate, looking very proud of herself, was Aria.
“Did you… make those!?” I exclaimed in disbelief.
Aria nodded eagerly.
“But… how?”
Aria lowered herself on all fours and scampered around the kitchen, miming out her process for making the cookies. She’d picked blueberries from Rowena’s garden, added them to the leftover sugar cookie dough I had on the counter, and rolled the dough into balls for Mavro to bake in the oven.
The more she explained, with her various squeaks and hand movements, the more it made sense.
I’d already seen earlier how handy she was in the kitchen.
Being a tiny mouse didn’t matter when she had the power of wind at her disposal.
She’d used her powers to pluck the blueberries from the bushes and to shape the dough.
She even used a cushion of air to transport the cookies into the oven.
“You brilliant little air elemental,” I cooed, offering my palm for Aria to climb up. I nearly cried happy tears as she peered up at me. Even without eyes, her expression was one of pure love.
She did all this for me.
Because she cared about me.
Aria squeaked and pointed to the cabinet, and I laughed.
“Yes, you can have a peanut.” I patted her on the head. “You can have as many peanuts as you want.”
A few minutes later, Aria was sitting on the countertop, happily digging through a pile of peanuts that was larger than she was, while Rowena and I carted the trays of still-hot cookies into the café.
Just in time for us to open.
I remembered what Rowena said before, how witches often overlooked smaller elementals for bonding, and I scoffed.
To me, Aria was the greatest elemental in the world.