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“This is quite clever,” Mira said.
“Thanks. I did the best I could.”
When Eli brought out the coffee Mira had requested, he learned that she was upstairs with Iris.
“I like her,” Sally said. “The woman asked all kinds of smart questions about my latest project.” She raised her knitting bag to illustrate the point.
“Your crafts are beautiful. You should ask Iris about selling a few pieces on her site.”
Sally stared at him. “Do you think people would buy them?”
“Absolutely! Handmade knit items are huge.”
“I was planning to make everyone something for Christmas… I never even thought aboutsellingmy work.” Sally looked thoughtful.“I don’t care so much about the income. I’m well enough off as it is. But …”
“What?”
“Would it make people happy to buy something I made?”
Eli smiled. “Absolutely. Not everybody has a relative who knits, and there’s something warm and comforting about wrapping up in a scarf that was handcrafted.”
“That settles it,” Sally said firmly. “I’ll talk to Iris later.”
Eli heard the voices in the stairway long before he caught a glimpse of Mira and Iris. Sally probably couldn’t make out the words, and she was working on her scarf again. “If that’s possible, then I think we can move forward,” Mira was saying.
“It’s no trouble. I can clear the room for you.”
“That would be great. I have stuff in storage now, but I’d rather use my bedroom furniture and my own bed.” She glanced around the house. “It looks like there would be room for some of my other decorative items as well, if you’re willing.”
“We can look at everything as a group,” Iris said. “But if there are no objections, I’m fine with it. The house should represent everyone, even the common spaces.”
“I doubt Henry Dale will care,” Eli said.
He wasn’t trying to be mean, but the older man just wasn’t a “pick out curtains” type of person. Sally agreed with an emphatic nod, her fingers moving in hypnotic patterns.
“That’s absolutely right. He’d have strong feelings about the type of kitchen tile we plan to use. Not the pattern.”
Mira glanced between them, seeming confused. “Are we replacing the kitchen tile?”
Sally flashed her a gentle look. “Just an example, dear.”
While Eli sat and picked up his own coffee, Iris went over the house rules, explaining about the condiment fund and general other points of clarity. Mira nodded along, seeming to approve of what she heard. Iris went on, “As for chores, I haven’t come up with a schedule or anything yet. Generally, we pick up after ourselves and wash our own dishes. The washer and dryer is in the basement. I’ll probably pay to have the house deep cleaned once a year, and I just had that done recently.”
“I noticed how clean everything is,” Mira said.
“It’s an old house, so there’s wear and tear—”
“I could help with that,” Mira cut in. “Fact is, I’m a bit short of cash right now because I had to pay for a storage unit. All of my stuff won’t fit here, so I need to keep paying for it, which means I was hoping you might be open to a barter arrangement for the deposit.”
Eli read Iris’s surprise, but she didn’t look annoyed. “I’m listening.”
Mira took a breath. “Damn. It feels strange being able to say this openly, but…I’m a witch. A tech witch, to be exact. And I can do all kinds of cool updates to the house, if you’re willing to accept my services in lieu of cold hard cash.”
Sally dropped her knitting needles, eyes wide. “Do you know Ethel? What about Gladys? No, they’re old, you probably don’t. What about Danica and Clementine? They own Fix-It Witches here in town.”
Mira glanced at Sally, seeming startled. “Actually, I do know them. Well,ofthem, anyway. We belong to some of the sameonline forums, and we’ve chatted about various projects over the years. I was hoping—eh, we’re getting off topic here.”
“Are you serious?” Iris asked.
