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That solid poker face again.
“You kids going out looking for a legend and think it’s going to take you two days?” She cocked her head to the side. “Met plenty of folks who tried, and they all give up after a few hours.”
“We’re not plenty of folks.”
“So I’m gathering.” Bess tapped her pen against the desk, showing no sign of writing anything else until we satisfied her in some way. “Last thing I need is the two of you going out and only one of y’all coming back, you know what I mean?”
I glanced at Wilder. “You’re worried he’s going to dump my body out in the bayou?”
“Ain’t worried about him, sweetheart.”
Wilder cracked a smile, showing emotion for the first time since we’d arrived. “She’s got you figured out,” he told me. “Your sinister plan to bump me off is all for nothing.”
“Oh, shut up.”
“That’s not going to convince her otherwise,” he tsked.
“I hate you so much.”
“Temper temper, Princess.”
I looked at Bess with an exasperated expression. “You know what, you’re right. I am going to murder him and leave him to the gators. Is there an extra charge for that?”
“You’d still need to return both life jackets,” Bess said.
“He won’t need one.” I whacked Wilder in the arm and he chuckled.
“Are you really looking for La Sorciere?” She gave me an up and down look as if trying to figure out what a girl like me might want with a witch.
“I am.”
“Why?”
I put my hands in my pockets, hunching my shoulder self-consciously. I wasn’t sure I wanted to admit to her what I was doing here, but I also didn’t know any other places I could rent a boat this late in the year. “She’s my great-grandmother.”
Bess lifted one white-blonde brow at me. “Can’t say as I ever heard that line before. Had plenty of folks say they needed love spells, needed missing people found, needed the dead brought back to life.”
“We need the opposite of that,” Wilder muttered, just loud enough for Bess to hear.
“Have a feeling you two are trouble.”
“I’m not saying you’re wrong, but we aren’t trouble intentionally, I promise,” I said.
“You gonna sink my boat?”
“I hope not, I can’t swim,” Wilder said.
I hit him again. “No, we’re not going to sink the boat.”
“Costs extra if you sink the boat.”
“Does that happen a lot?” I gaped at her.
“Can’t ever been too sure with people. Need to know the costs up front.”
“Can we just buy a boat?” I pleaded.
“Nah, rental only. Princess.” Seemingly satisfied that we weren’t here to murder one another, dump a body, or ask for a love spell, Bess picked up my credit card and resumed filling in the details on the form. “Two days, you think?”
