Lila: How was the vineyard???
Lila: Did he try to get you drunk? I bet he tried to get you drunk.
Lila: Mari. MARI. It's been four hours. Either you're dead or you're having a really good time. ANSWER ME.
Despite everything, she grinned, then hit the call button instead of texting back. Lila answered on the first ring.
"Finally! I was about to send Torin on a rescue mission."
"Please don't. He'd scare Thallos half to death."
"I doubt that. For one thing, they already know each other. And for another…" She could almost hear Lila shrug. "I don't think Thallos is that easily scared."
"How do you know?"
"I've heard people talking about him. He's basically a walking fertility symbol. The legs of a goat and probably the?—"
"I'm hanging up."
"You won't."
She wouldn't. They both knew it. She settled back down on the sofa, tucking her feet beneath her as she tried to figure out what she actually wanted to say.
"The vineyard was beautiful," she offered finally. "Really beautiful. Rows and rows of vines, all perfectly tended. And his wine shop—it's got these old stone walls and wooden beams and actually comfortable seating. Not those terrible metal chairs you find everywhere now."
"Uh huh."
"The wine was good too. Really good. Everything I tried was delicious."
"Mhmm."
"And the space for the festival is perfect. Open and flat with this incredible view up into the mountains. We could fit the dance floor, the vendor booths, even a small stage for music?—"
"Marigold Bloom."
She stopped.
"You're describing a real estate listing," Lila said flatly. "I asked how it was, not for the square footage. What happened?"
*He kissed me. I kissed him back. Then I panicked and spent the entire walk home three feet ahead of him like a coward, and when we got here he made my roses bloom with literal magic and I was still too afraid to let him touch me .*
"Nothing happened," she said, trying to sound convincing. "We talked about the festival. I tasted some wine. He walked me home. That's it."
The silence on the other end of the line stretched long enough to become uncomfortable.
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"Mari. I can hear it in your voice. Something happened, and you're doing that thing where you flatten everything down so it doesn't sound important, which means it's actually very important." A pause. "Did he do something? Say something? Because I will absolutely send Torin over there if?—"
"No! No, nothing like that. He was…" She searched for the right word. "Fine. He was fine."
"Fine."
"Yes."
"You're saying fine the way you said 'fine' when your mom left you to run the shop alone."
