“What about paint cans?”
“Paint?” Tom Doorhandler scratched the back of his head.
“Yes. If I need to get a can of paint open. Can your can opener do the trick?
“What size of a paint can are we talking about?”
“Gallon.”
For an instant, the young entrepreneur looked truly stumped. Nigel watched his eyes as they seemed to spin slightly, faced with the reality of a can which his invention might not, in fact, be able to open. His jaw sagged, and his mouth moved a few times in an effort to summon speech that would not come. “Um . . .” he began.
Just in the nick of time, Luna manifested as though from thin air at his elbow. “Mr. Doorhandler!” she said. Tom jumped, swallowing a little yelp. Luna folded her arms and trained upon him a stare so stern, even Nigel felt the urge to wince. “Are you invited to this wedding, sir?” she demanded.
Tom ran his gaze up and down her slender figure, not without admiration. Nigel couldn’t blame him. She was a lovely sight,after all, even with her arms crossed over her bib apron and that spinster-auntie-coded expression on her face. “Who are you?” Tom demanded uneasily. “The bouncer?”
“I’m the florist,” Luna answered at once. She raised her head a little higher. “We both are.”
A warm something unfurled in Nigel’s chest at this declaration of mutuality. Which was foolish, yes, but he couldn’t help it.
Tom turned a confused look his way. “Why does a florist need a can opener?”
Nigel drew a blank. “Erm. Fertilizer?”
Tom opened his mouth, but Luna jumped in again, drawing his attention back to her. “If you’re here to see Miss Lambert, I was just with her. In the broom closet.” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “Hurry and you might catch her.”
The young man’s face flooded with sudden color. “Gee, thanks!” he gasped and took off at a gallop down the hall, making for the back passages of the cathedral. He vanished around a turn in a trice, the sound of his footsteps echoing softly in his wake.
Nigel glanced sideways at Luna. “Is Miss Lambert truly residing in a broom closet?”
“Not anymore.” Luna smirked. “But hopefully it’ll take him a hot minute to figure that out.”
“Where is the lady now then?”
Luna lifted both thin shoulders. “I’m not altogether certain.”
“Did you scry a future for her?”
“Maybe.”
“Did it help?”
She made a face.
Nigel nodded but didn’t press. He knew how helpless Luna felt sometimes, reading futures about which she could do so little. Bad futures, good futures, or utterly mundane, she couldonly offer up what her Sight revealed. Even when that revelation spelled disaster, any effort on her part to bring about a different outcome could result in greater disaster still. It was the curse of a tea witch.
Resisting the urge to reach out and take her hand, to give her fingers a comforting squeeze, Nigel slipped both hands into the front pockets of his apron. “Do you know, had I the funds, I’d be halfway tempted to invest in the Doorhandler can opener business.”
Luna rolled her head to one side, shooting him a look from under her brow. “Oh, Mr. Grimm.”
“Wait and see, Miss Talbot.” He shrugged and rocked on his heels. “Thaumatic can openers are the future!” He met her disappointed gaze then and offered a sympathetic half-smile. “Shall we be off?”
She nodded.
Turning, they started back up the passage together. Sounds of mayhem met their ears long before they reached the narthex, all the frozen activity through which they’d passed now resumed at full throttle. They stopped to peer out into a scene of much violet satin and scattered flower petals and confusion, all dominated by Mrs. Lambert’s loud voice, declaring for all to hear, “This isyourfault! She gets her wishy washy temperament fromyou!”even as Mr. Lambert whimpered, “Now, now, dear . . .”
Suddenly, someone shouted,“Eugenia!”
And lo! There she was. The bride herself, appearing in the doorway, her massive gown silhouetted by the afternoon sun. Her head was bowed, her veil was over her face, and she gave off an aura of contrition and resignation which even Nigel found undeniably pathetic. If she was rumpled from her time spent in the broom closet, the dress was so massive, it was hard to tell any difference.
