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"Right now? More food in my stomach before I attempt any magic." Ella took out her keys and opened her garage. "Let's go to the pub for lunch and wait out the tide."
* * *
The local villagewas a short ten-minute drive away. When Ella had been a child, it had been a grim little place full of old people. Over the last decade, it had been transformed into a picturesque weekend getaway town.
It was off season for tourists, but there were still enough day trippers to keep the cute cafés, the pub and craft wares shops open. In the summer, if Ella put her grandmother's old sign up on the road, she would make more money in a day than she usually would in a month.
Mananan looked about curiously but didn't ask any questions. Ella wondered how strange it would be to him to be back in the human world after so long. They pulled up in front of the local pub that was filling fast thanks to the shift workers coming in off the boats or about to go on them for the night.
Ella took a deep, steadying breath, her hands gripping the steering wheel.
"What's wrong?" Mananan asked, reading her easily.
Ella chewed the inside of her cheek. "I haven't been here in about six weeks. I go through stages where I can't handle being around anyone."
"I understand that," Mananan replied with a soft sigh. "I love my family, but gods, there are so many of them. It's like I can't think."
"What do you do to calm down?" she asked.
"Sit under the sea in the silence until I can only hear my voice again."
Ella turned to look up at him. "That sounds amazing. I wish I could do something like that. When I'm feeling too on edge, crowded restaurants become a bit of a nightmare."
Mananan's frown deepened. "But you want to risk it today?"
"I'm craving a chicken burger, and this is the best place to get it. I'm sure I'll be fine," Ella replied.
"If you aren't, we can leave at any time. It's not worth your peace of mind," he said firmly.
Ella knew she didn't have a lot of experience with men, but the fact he didn't seem to be bothered by any of her oddities made her little heart flutter. Her ex- boyfriend, Dan, had always made such a big deal about the things that made her different to the point that she'd begun masking every second of the day. She was a wreck of a human by the time she finally got the courage to dump him.
Don't think about that asshole when you are having a nice time, she snapped at herself. He'd wasted enough of her life.
Mananan opened her car door for her, and she startled, too lost in her own head to notice he'd gotten out.
"Thanks," she said, grabbing her bag and stepping out.
Inside, the pub was full of voices but thankfully not too rowdy. She found a table for two, tucked away from the main areas and sat down.
"Ella! I haven't seen you in ages, love," Gayle said. She was one of the waitresses who had been working in the pub for about thirty years. She pulled out a notebook from the pocket of her apron and eyed Mananan over. "Who's this?"
"This is my friend, Manan," Ella replied, her cheeks going red.
"Herspecialfriend," Mananan emphasized, making Gayle giggle.
"Oh, I bet you are. What will it be?"
Ella ordered a chicken burger and fries with a beer. She was trying hard not to slide under the table and hide as Mananan asked for a steak. Gayle was harmless, but Ella had no doubt that the rumor of her mysterious fae male companion would burn about the town like wildfire. He was smiling at the older woman, and she looked more flustered than Ella had ever seen her.
"You keep smiling at the women in this town like that, and you'll cause a riot," Ella teased once they were alone again.
"Freya said I need to try and be friendly when I'm around humans. Apparently, I have a threatening face," Mananan replied.
A giggle escaped Ella. Threatening was putting it mildly. Mananan frowning would put off the toughest of men and put every woman on her guard.
"You do have an excellent glare," Ella admitted.
Mananan toyed with his fork. "It doesn't seem to bother you."
