“Stop shouting,” I said, wishing his autumn vibes outfit wasn’t kind of working for me.
“She’s gone.”
“Gone where? She’s a Princess, she can do what she wants.” I finished wrapping a to-go order and slung it to James.
Berron stalked forward and faced me across the bar. “You don’t understand,” he said, enunciating each word. “She’s never been to New York.”
“So? A lot of people have never been to New York.”
“Yeah, well… most of them don’t think it’s a good idea to carry a bow and arrows around in public. Most of them aren’t used to issuingcommands. Most of them pay attention totraffic lights.”
“To be honest, most New Yorkers don’t pay attention to traffic lights.” I wiped my counter space, then glanced at Berron. He looked thunderous. “All right,” I said. “Don’t start throwing chairs. Not in the middle of the breakfast rush. You’re worried?”
He lowered his voice. “The Princess of Arrows does not understand anything outside the Forest of Emeralds. She has never been here.”
“She’s heard about it enough, between you and my mother telling her tourist stories.”
Berron winced.
I reached across the bar and patted his hand where it gripped the counter. “I’ll help you,” I said.
He swept up my hand and, cradling it in his own, pressed it with a kiss. “Thank you,” he said.
My face heated, and it wasn’t from the nearby grill.
A stricken look crossed his face. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I was so worried. I got carried away.”
“You’re—uh—still holding my hand.”
“Am I?” He looked down. “So I am.” He carefully laid my hand on the counter. “There.” As if to prove his good behavior, or possibly remove temptation, he put his hands in the pockets of the mustard-colored sweater.
“Right,” I said, looking anywhere but at him. “Let me get things squared away.”
“Of course.”
Somewhere in the wild, infinite universe, there was another version of me who still lived in Florida. Who worked the breakfast shift, perhaps, or maybe even slept late because she had to work the dinner shift. Who didn’t get roped into finding lost Gentry princesses who had taken themselves on a field trip.
Who was seeming more and more remote, like a distant second cousin you heard someone mention once, living a life misty and far, far away.
I saluted her and her much calmer life as I pulled off my apron and hung it up.
“Leaving?” James said.
“Call Jessica in,” I said.
“Do I have to?”
I ignored that. “Also,” I said. “I need to see the two of you sometime. Privately. I want to try something.” I got my hat, coat, and scarf, and rejoined Berron. “Where did she go, exactly?”
“That’s the problem,” he said. “I don’t know.”
“How long has she been gone?”
He pulled off his hat and ran one hand through his hair. “An hour? Maybe?”
“How much trouble could she have gotten into in an hour?”
He jammed the fedora back on his head. “I don’t even want to think about it—”
