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Tessa pulled on my arm. “Jeff, you didn’t have to buy them all. I would’ve decided.”
I gave her a smile. “Yeah, but this way you don’t have to decide, and you can try them all. What you don’t finish, I’ll eat.”
“Thanks. That’s very nice of you.”
My smile fell. “You haven’t gotten to see my good side yet. For that I’m sorry.”
“Same.”
I paid for our purchases and took Tessa’s hand to lead her to an empty table in the corner. I sat so I could see the room but Tessa couldn’t, hoping to save her from all the stares.
“I’m so excited.” Her deep voice had risen in pitch. She sat forward on the edge of her seat and rubbed her hands together. I couldn’t help but laugh at the cute sight in front of me. The girl before me was a totally different person from the one who’d wanted me dead, and I couldn’t wait to get to know her.
Jeff’s laughter was a beautiful thing, and I relaxed more at the sound of it. It didn’t take a genius to know that everyone behind me was staring. The noise level hadn’t yet returned to what it had been when we’d walked in. The warrior-healer didn’t let it bother him, though.
“Which do you want first?” He asked, pushing my goodies toward me.
“Well, if I start with the lemon, it may taint the other tastes. And chocolate might do the same to blueberry. So, I’d better start with the blueberry and then do chocolate and then lemon. Oh, and of course, hot cocoa along the way.” I bit my lips between my teeth as my cheeks heated. That was embarrassing, me running my mouth like that.
Jeff just chuckled and unwrapped the specified muffin before handing it to me.
“I feel a little awkward,” I admitted, picking at the muffin.
His eyebrows drew down and he looked around. Everyone was almost back to normal as far as I could tell. “How so?”
“Well, technically, I’m older than you in years, but as far as physical and mental maturity, I’m younger than you. It’s a little weird.” A sense of horror hit me. “I don’t mean to insinuate—"
He held up a hand. “Hey, it’s okay. Though, I hope you’re not too upset about something I need to talk to you about.”
I pushed the muffin away, needing to talk first so my stomach wouldn’t be sick on the muffin.
“It’s not that bad, I hope.” He smiled, so I relaxed a little and pulled the pastry back.
“Okay, what’s up?”
Jeff let out a sigh and paid more attention to his fritter than he did to me. “That speech of Nate’s was informative.”
“You didn’t know any of it before?” That seemed hard to believe.
“No, I knew most of it. I just didn’t know how you found your Consorts. Actually, I had never heard the term before. For thinking I knew a lot, I didn’t know something very important to your people. From your conversation with Nate, I gather the man who is your father wasn’t your mom’s Consort.”
My mood plummeted. “No, he wasn’t. My mom never found her Consort. I don’t even know who my father is.”
“Your mom never told you?” Now he looked up at me. Right when I tried to pull myself together.
“I don’t know if she knew. Mom had a lot of boyfriends. None of them wanted a child, especially one they’d be the loan parent of. Well, all but Nathaniel.”
“Nate and your mom were a thing?” He looked surprised.
“Yeah, they were on and off again for over a hundred years. I’ve been too afraid to do a test to see if he’s my father. We’ve been together most of my life. Mom and I lived with him for a lot of the time she was around, and since then I’ve been under his care. I think we’re both happier living how we are.”
“I can understand that.”
For the rest of the time we were at the café, Jeff kept a light chatter going. Something told me we hadn’t gotten to the original conversation he’d wanted to have, but that was okay. The conversation we did have was pleasant and allowed us both to eat and drink.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so full! It was delicious.” Happiness made tears prick my eyes. “I don’t have many friends. Okay, I don’t have any friends. The ones I have made over the years have all stabbed me in the back and used me to get close to Nathaniel. Gosh, that makes me sound so pathetic.”
The happiness I’d felt for the past half hour washed away, and I bit my bottom lip to keep it from quivering. I’d spent my time plotting and planning while learning my magic so I could do what I did last night. Only, I now knew it wouldn’t work, and I didn’t want it to. Had I killed Jeff last night, I wouldn’t have had such a fun time right now.
