“Wonderful! I’m Dina and I’ll be taking care of you today. Right this way,” she says, waving two menus over her head and power walking into the packed diner, “and so sorry that it’s a mad house in there today. The whole town is in a bit of a tizzy.”
That has my ears perking up. “A tizzy? Whatever for?”
“Well, we’ve got...ah, a social club in town, yes, that’s it. The Bitter Root social club and a few of them went out into the woodsfor, ahem, a camping retreat and they haven’t been heard from but you know how those woods are.”
“They’re treacherous indeed. We’ve heard many a foul telling of those woods,” Jaak tells her with an understanding nod. “Isn’t that right, Meadow?”
I nod and pick up my menu quickly. I don’t know where to look. By the way that Dina is saying ‘social club’ I know that she knows it was mages. She’s just sanitizing it for Outsiders, that’s all. “Yes, a lot of foul things and stuff.”
“You said it but that’s just how it is around here. In any case, we are so glad you came to visit us in Bitter Root. Can I get either of you a cup of coffee to start?” Dina puts down the menus at a small table by the windows and jerks a thumb behind her towards the counter where most of the action is going on. There’s a few diners there and other servers getting coffee and ringing up orders. Behind that I can see and hear the sounds of cooking and laughter through the window behind the counter.
“Yes, that would be wonderful. Thank you…” my voice trails off when the waitress darts away before I’m done. She doesn’t go to the counter but right into the swinging door that leads to the kitchen. “Are we sure they don’t know it was us?”
Jaak picks up his menu and starts paging through it. “Us what?”
“That, you know,” I lean forward and drop my voice to a whisper, “that delayed their social club,” I say, using the words the waitress chose.
Jaak looks up over his menu at me. “We did no such thing, Meadow. Now, do you think we should stick with pancakes or try the waffles? They have them stuffed here.” His eyes cut to the left towards the doors our server vanished through.
I don’t need to be a mind reader, or in our case, soul-bonded to Jaak to know what he’s saying. Don’t bring it up. They’re listening.
“Um, stuffed? That sounds interesting.”
A second later, our waitress comes out with two cups of coffee and an apologetic smile. “So sorry, I ran off on you both. We have a new cook that’s filling in. Our normal cook is my husband and he was in that, um, social group, uh, a business social group. You know, for the small business owners in town. That’s it. I had to go run back to check on the cook and make sure he was doing all right. So he’s taking a minute to learn the paces. He might take a little bit longer but I swear he’ll be just as good. I promise you that.”
My stomach twists into a knot. Oh my god.Did Jaak explode Dina’s husband?How am I supposed to eat stuffed waffles now knowing we possibly offed her husband? Has she been worried about him? Oh, I bet she has. I’m a terrible person. Oh my gods, what if we did and now he’s ash?
“No worries, thank you,” I tell her with a strained smile and pick up the mug of coffee to take a sip. It’s piping hot and brewed perfectly. “This is perfect.”
“Do you need a few minutes to decide or would you like me to take your order now?”
“Now is good, right?” I look over at Jaak who is studying his cup of coffee like he’s going to be tested later.
He glances up at me from the mug he holds in both of his hands and nods. “Now is a wonderfully perfect time.”
“Great! What can I get you folks?”
“I’ll take the stuffed waffles and a side of bacon,” I tell Dina. “What about you, Jaak?” I ask as I hand the menu to Dina.
He doesn’t look up from his mug of coffee and leans forward to sniff it. “I’ll have the same as her. Double the bacon, if you please.”
“Heard and heard. Coming right up! I’ll be back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail, okay? Enjoy your coffee.” Dina clicksher pen after scribbling down our order and bounces off again towards the kitchen doors.
“She seems nice,” I tell Jaak.
“She is very nice. I’ve seen the inside of her husband’s mind, who is, by contrast, not nice at all. It will be a blessing to her that he never returns.”
That makes me freeze. “What?”
“A blessing,” he says and finally takes a sip of his coffee. His eyes drift closed and he nods with a hum of appreciation. “Yes, I understand it now. They say knowing and understanding are two entirely different things and I agree when it comes to this.” He gives his mug a little shake before he takes another sip. “Damn, that’s good.”
I snap my fingers at him to get his attention off his coffee. “Focus. What do you mean a blessing? How did you get in her husband’s head?”
Jaak opens his eyes with a slightly dazed expression. “This coffee is mind-addling.”
“That’s it. Next time we’re getting you decaf.”
“The blessing is that the fair Dina will never have a man so lecherous as her husband darken her doorway. As I’ve said, I’ve seen in his mind when he came to the clearing on occasion with the other mages. Dina’s husband was not a regular, my interaction was brief, only a brush but he was not a good human. She’ll be far better off with the cook she’s coaching right now. Clyde, I believe his name is.”
