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“Yes, they were, weren’t they? But I couldn’t pinpoint anything, except that whatever it is, it seems to be sequestered in the graveyard. I should go search through it, except that I have to get ready for Grams’s visit. I’ll try to make time tomorrow to walk through it. Want to come?”
“Your idea of showing a dragonette a good time is to drag him through an active cemetery?” Fancypants snorted.
“Don’t sweat it, you don’t have to come.” I rolled my eyes.
“Thank you. I really don’t enjoy hanging out with ghosts. They tend to be a nasty bunch, on the whole. Especially human ghosts. Cat spirits I can hang with. Dog spirits—they’re usually all right. Even bird spirits can be fun. But no, I don’t want to go boogie in the graveyard,” he said. “So, what do you want me to do around here?”
I glanced around. Dragonettes weren’t great at housework, although the stunt with the dusting earlier made me think he could handle that. “If you want to, you could help me by dusting anything and everything you see that needs it. I thought I’d gotten the house relatively clean, but after seeing the dust from that hutch today…”
“Same cloth?”
“Yes, and I have more, if it gets too dirty.”
Fancypants picked up the dust cloth and flew off into the kitchen. I glanced around. While the house was already tidy, I straightened the throw pillows on the sofa and rocking chair. After clearing the coffee table of the usual accumulation of miscellaneous stuff, I did the same for the foyer table near the door. A glance out the window reminded me that I needed to turn off the sprinklers, so I ran outside to do so. While I was there, I cut a few stems of mint—enough to make fresh tea—and then turned back to the house.
My phone rang, startling me. I juggled the herbs as I glanced at the screen.Faron. Blushing, I answered. “Hey, what’s up?”
“I’m at work, but I was thinking about you,” Faron said. “Want to grab dinner tonight?”
I hesitated. Given my great-grandma was coming to stay for a while, I didn’t want to make plans for her first night here.
“I can’t, I’m sorry. Remember? I told you my great-grandmother’s arriving this afternoon. She’s been staying with my mother for a week and now she’s coming down to see me.”
“That’s right,” Faron said. “I remember. All right, but what about tomorrow? I’d like to meet her.”
I froze, sinking down on one of the chairs on my patio. “Youwant to meet my great-grandmother? I don’t know if that’s a good idea.” I wanted plenty of time to get her used to the idea that I was dating a wolf-shifter. Witches and wolf-shifters had issues, and I didn’t want to get into it with her yet.
Faron was silent for a moment, then said, “Oh…right. I forgot.” After another pause, he changed the subject. “Did you know that Sheriff Parker has asked my help in the murder case? Given the coroner thinks the suspect is a shifter—he’s not so sure about awolfshifter anymore, but it could be any number of types—the sheriff wants to know if my men will join the patrol force, keeping watch through the town. They enlisted the Quinault Forest Bear Sleuth to help them. We’re going to be instituting night watchmen duties, in groups of three.”
“How do you feel about that?” I asked, heading back in doors.
“Rather odd, given she was eyeing Elroy as a suspect for a while. But he’s made peace with her, and so I decided to take the high road and agree.” His voice dropped. “I wish I could see you today. I miss you.”
It had been almost a week since I’d seen Faron and, while we weren’t exclusive, our conversations had been growing deeper. We were getting more physical, although I hadn’t been open to climbing in bed with him yet.
“I miss you too,” I said. “But now, I have to go. I’ll try to introduce the subject that we’re dating to my great-grandma, but I can’t promise how she’ll react.”
“Are you going to introduce her to Bran?” Faren’s voice dropped, irritated.
I hesitated.Landmine territory.“I don’t know. See you later.” I ended the call. If I introduced Bran to my great-grandma, but not Faron, Faron would be pissed. The pair had developed a rivalry over me, but they were keeping it civil. They knew I’d kick both of them to the curb if their antagonism turned physical.
I carried the mint inside and washed it, setting it on the counter to dry. Fancypants had finished dusting. I could tell, which meant the room had needed more care than I thought.
“I dropped the dustcloth in the laundry basket. You need to wash it before it’s capable of being used again—” he paused. “What’s wrong?”
I shrugged. “Faron wants me to introduce him to my great-grandmother.”
Fancypants snorted, steam rising from his nostrils. “Oh,does he? I’d like to be the dragonfly on the wall for that conversation.”
“Not me. Anyway, I’ll wash the dishes from breakfast. What should I give her for lunch? I’m not sure if she takes tea, or what. While she’s written to me a few times, I don’t know much about her.” But before I could do anything, the doorbell rang. It had to be her.
I glanced down at my outfit. I was wearing a pair of black denim shorts—not so short they showed my goodies but short enough, and a hunter green halter top. I had paired the outfit with a pair of handmade roman gladiator sandals. Each strap around my calf had its own buckle, though the back strip of leather up my leg had a cleverly hidden zipper so it wouldn’t take me forever to get them on and off. The front strip had diamond cut outs where the straps crisscrossed, and a flip-flop like toe strap. I’d pulled my hair into a long ponytail, and my makeup was good.
“I guess I’m ready,” I told Fancypants, taking a deep breath.
He winked at me. “You look good. For a biped.”
Laughing, I answered the door.
