I’d never had a guest before. However, I knew my dad’s guests—drug dealers, politicians, gang leaders, and humantraffickers—still had coffee and muffins in the morning before business was handled. I shuddered as I remembered the smell of waffles paired with my father yelling, “No, no, no, he specifically requested they be under sixteen!” I couldn't have worse manners than that bastard.
He ignored me, continuing towards the tree line.
Without thinking, I grabbed the head of the axe to stop him, my palm barely kissing the sharp edge. It was hard to keep up with his long, tree trunk legs and I feltguilty.
Theo stopped and yanked the tool from my hand, turning in surprise. “You really shouldn’t grab a moving axe, Little Goddess. Best to keep all your digits unless you’re sure you can regrow them.”
…“Little”…?
That word had never been applied to me before. I was below average height, sure, but I’d been told I was a “big girl” my entire life. No part of me was skinny, frail, or delicate. My body and personality took up space. And to hear a term as reverent as “goddess” tacked to the back end of it felt wrong. “Little Goddess”?! I was a plus-sized street rat turned forest hag.
I fought the urge to assume he was making fun of me, my cheeks heating with instinctive anger from years of being mocked by people afractionas hot as he was.
“What’s wrong?” His deep brown eyes looked confused, lines creased between his horns.
“Nothing,” I replied quickly.
“I didn’t mean to criticize you. I just don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“No… sorry. I didn’t think you were criticizing me.” At least not for grabbing the axe. Jury was still out on the nickname.
“You look offended.”
“I’m fine, Theo.” He sounded concerned,surelyhe didn’t mean to make fun of me. After all, he was a giant. Maybe I wasn’t “little” per se, but I was small by comparison. I took a deep breath and reminded myself this wasn’t high school. “How can I help with wood chopping and cabin building?”
His mouth twisted in uncertainty for a moment before he let out a breath that matched my own. “You can start by telling me what you need. What would be helpful?”
I chuckled. “A roof, I guess? What are my options?”
“Nothing too fancy since I only have until the end of summer. Two rooms maybe? Living space and a bedroom? Cabinets for the kitchen. Some basic furniture should be easy enough to make...” He started mumbling to himself, looking to the cloudy sky as he considered his to-do list.
“A kitchen implies I have food to cook,” I laughed. “Probably can skip that one. Me and my berries are doing just fine.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll build you some garden beds and bring you seeds. Do you know how to garden?”
Not necessarily garden, but I had propagated alotof pothos in yogurt jars. “Sure! Can we make those first? Then I can work on gardening while you build the cabin. We’ll tag team this homestead!”
His eyes lowered, stopping to fixate on the top of my head.
“What?”
“You dyed your hair.”
How tired had he been to have just noticed?
“Yeah, you said I needed to. I’ll find some fabric to cover my neck and then I’ll be ready for town. Maybe I can trade berries for supplies…”
The berries likely wouldn’t earn me much, and they really weren’t how I planned to get supplies. However, I figured it would be bestnotto broadcast my intention of petty theft to Theo. Resorting to my old survival techniques around him would probably be a no go so I didn’t lose his favor. The thought made me a little sad, but it wasn’t like I could wait tables for money here. And I didn’t know how much cash Ida had laying around, if any.
“You really shouldn’t go into town.”
This again. “My throat and hair will be disguised. Am I missing anything else to fly under the radar? I don’t see any problems.”
He exhaled and turned around to continue towards the tree line. “Where is this ‘Ida’?”
“A few hours down the mountain and about half a day’s walk back up. I wish I could stay with her more, but I can’t bring myself to leave my field right now. I know it’s selfish.”
“Why is it selfish?”
