We looked at each other, both of us knowing that we had been all of those things together.
But maybe we could be something new, apart.
James, who had been keeping quiet and out of the way, piped up. “Yeah, there’s nothing that can go wrong with a crush on Jessica. I should know.”
“Thank you for the input, James,” Daniel said.
James waved. “Anytime.” He turned and looked out the window. “Table for”—he counted by pointing—“one, two, three… do dogs count?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Five, then. Table for five.”
Shadows flicked across the floor as a bustling group passed in front of the windows. Two tall silhouettes, one short. Then the door opened to the shuffle and huff of Jester and Georgiana leading the way, followed by Berron, Poppy, and my mother.
A fuzzy black blur cannonballed into me.
“Jester!” I cried, scooping him up. “Did you keep everyone safe on their big trip? Did you guard them from fierce monsters with your buffness?”
“He is a hero to all,” Berron intoned solemnly.
“Of course you were,” I said, kissing Jester’s wooly head and running my hand over his silky ears.
“I can take none of the credit,” Berron added.
“I wasn’t giving you any.”
Berron noticed Daniel behind the counter. “Daniel,” he said.
“Berron,” Daniel replied.
“James,” Poppy said, holding out Georgiana’s leash, “could you hold her for a moment so I can get some coffee?”
“I’ll get the coffee,” Daniel said.
“Slicing tomatoesandserving coffee? We’ll make a restauranteur of you yet,” I said.
“Yes, I’ve always had a secret dream of leaving my high-paying job to serve sandwiches.”
“You had him slicing tomatoes?” Berron asked.
“Jessicahad him slicing tomatoes,” I said, raising one eyebrow and giving him acan-you-believe-itlook.
“Fascinating,” Berron murmured, although his gaze lingered on me rather than shifting to Daniel.
The door swung open again, admitting the vampire in question. She froze in her tracks, taking in the crowd, then put her head down and speed-walked to the back room.
I followed.
She had pulled out a clipboard and was already checking produce bins when I stepped into the small space and closed the door. “Are you here to suck away the rest of my powers?” she said, concentrating on a very uninteresting bin of russet potatoes. “Or did you get enough earlier?”
“Jessica, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
Her pen tap-tap-tapped on the clipboard.
“I’m not going to insult you by saying ‘I don’t know what came over me,’” I said.
“You don’t need to tell me what came over you. I know how you feel about Daniel.”
