AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She stuck her tongue out at him, but instead of a come-back, said, “So, you guys have the energy to head out to the cemetery tonight? We’ve got a whole lot of shaking going on. You’d think it was near Samhain.”
Halloween and Samhain—the festival of the dead—were celebrated in Otherworld a bit differently than by the humans over Earthside.
For one thing, on Samhain Eve, our dead dropped in for a visit—visibly. They were loud, sometimes obnoxious, and left no room for speculation as to whether they were there or not. But Halloween itself was moot. In OW, we didn’t do the costume party dress-up thing, and candy might be dandy, except we left the big sweet bash until Yule. Santa Claus—aka the Holly King—was a big hit at parties because of his stash.
I shook my head. “We’re still over a month from the holiday, and the dead don’t usually walk on the equinox. At least not like this. Okay, let’s get our butts home so we can tell you all the crap going down back over in OW. You aren’t going to believe what happened.”
By the time we walked through the door, it was a little after one. I decided to wait to spill all the news until Menolly was awake. Iris headed to her room for a shower, and I aimed myself toward the stairs, also desperately in need of a shower and change of clothing. I wasn’t sure what I was going to say once I was alone with Trillian and Morio, but they saved me the trouble.
“I’m hungry for a big, thick sandwich with mustard and mayo,” Trillian said, his eyes lighting up when he glanced down the hall at the kitchen.
“Me, too,” Morio said. As I dashed up to my room, they were hauling out supplies for what threatened to be towering sandwiches.
I was toweling off when my phone rang. I spread my towel on the bed, sat down, and picked up the phone, once again appreciating my mother’s world. Earthside had its advantages and no way would I dispute them.
It was Henry Jeffries on the line. Henry had been a regular at the Indigo Crescent since the OIA first opened it as my Earthside cover. Once I took over the bookstore for real, we’d gotten to know each other better.
A somewhat older gentleman—by FBH years—in his mid-sixties, he loved golden-age science fiction and fantasy. A few months back, I’d hired him on part-time. He made the perfect employee: He didn’t need the money, he loved the work, and he was polite and fun to talk to.
“Hey, Henry, what’s up?” I expected him to give me a rundown on what was going on at the bookstore.
“My mother died, Camille.” He didn’t sound choked up about it—his mother had been a harridan who ruled his life and kept him locked into his perpetual bachelor existence—but I could sense an underlying melancholy.
“I’m sorry. I imagine you need some time off to attend to affairs?”
Surprise number two.
“No, thank you. Mother wanted a simple service, and to be truthful, since she had no friends, there isn’t anybody to contact. I buried her this morning. The lawyers will attend to the will but it’s fairly straightforward. My mother was a wealthy woman, you know.”
“No, I didn’t know that.”
“In fact, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I’m her sole beneficiary. I’m going to be a rich man, Camille. Very rich. I’ve got nothing to occupy my time—I’m not a traveler. I don’t want to go adventuring. So I thought of buying the shop next to yours. You know, the bakery that went under?”
“Um-hmm,” I murmured, wondering where he was going with this. I was getting chilly sitting in my birthday suit. The second floor was drafty and we hadn’t gotten around to having the house insulated yet.
“I thought I’d turn it into a coffee shop and hire someone to manage it. Then I could focus on helping you run the bookstore more. We could put a door inside, between the two shops—really tie them together. That should bring in more business for you. Sort of like me buying into your business without really buying into it.” His words came out in a rush and I could hear the excitement behind them.
Touched that he cared so much about the bookstore and wanted to help increase sales, I said, “What a lovely idea. We’ll talk about it in a couple of days, but I’m interested. Are you sure you don’t need some time off?”
“No,” he said softly. “The work is good for me. My mother lived a long life. And you know what she was like. I’m not going to play hypocrite. She was overbearing and sharp-tongued. I’ll miss her, of course, but she never gave me the room to love her. She pushed everybody away.”
“Okay. Well, if you’re up to working this afternoon, that would be great. Iris and I just got back from Otherworld. We had to talk to my father for a bit. So we’re both a little tired.”
He laughed. “Now there’s one adventure I’d love to take. Someday, promise you’ll take me on a trip to your home-world?”
I smiled. Henry was a sweetheart and in his own, gentle way, he brought a grace and good manners into our lives. “Henry, I promise I will do my best to make sure you get to visit Y’Eírialiastar. You’d love it.”
As I hung up the phone, I thought that if anybody deserved to see their fantasies come true, it was Henry. Though he’d never see the fantasy of marrying Iris come to light. Our man had a bad case of unrequited love, but as much as Iris liked him, she didn’t return the affection. And there’s never been a way to force love where it won’t blossom.
I finished drying my hair and slid into clean, comfortable clothes, then headed downstairs to see if the boys had thought to leave me a sandwich, or if I’d have to lick the crumbs off their plates.
By the time I got downstairs, Chase was there. He had his arm draped around Delilah and they were snuggling in the living room. Trillian and Morio glanced up as I entered the room. I leaned down to plant a kiss on Trillian’s lips, then Morio’s, but drew the line at sitting between them.
“You both need showers. I’m not going to curl up with you now that I’m all squeaky clean.”
Trillian grumbled, but then laughed. “I’m not taking a bubble bath with Fox Boy, but I’ll head up for a shower now.”
Morio let out a snort. “I’ll use the shower in Iris’s bathroom. I think she’s done with her bath.”
