Page 66 of Potions and Proposals
Faye hesitated as she added a lemon slice to the cup. “Oh – I wasn’t supposed to say.”
Lucy hated the idea of her friend keeping a secret from her, especially if it was a secret about Benedict. She’d only started to trust him.
“Don’t look so worried! It’s nothing that concerns you. In fact, it’s rather silly. I don’t know why he doesn’t want me to tell you.” Faye shrugged, adding to Lucy’s curiosity. “He was probably embarrassed.”
“Embarrassed? Now I’mreallyworried,” Lucy said, leaning across the counter.
“It was nothing. He was stranded with his brother, Peter, on the side of the road between here and Willow Valley. They were covered in mud, like they’d been wrestling in it.”
“When was this?” Lucy asked.
“A week ago, more or less?” Faye shrugged.
Lucy remembered the meeting he’d missed after they’d tried to redo the potion.Was Peter the reason he hadn’t come to the meeting?But what were they doing in the road, and if they were covered in mud, probably in the woods?She really hoped he hadn’t been up to anything dangerous.
Faye distracted her from her thoughts. “I can see your mind spinning.”
Lucy shook off her questioning gaze. “Like you said, it was probably nothing. Who are we to question what they get up to?” Still, curiosity ate at her. She couldn’t ask Benedict without revealing that Faye had broken her promise to him.
“Could we keep it between us?” her friend asked nervously. “I don’t want him to think I was gossiping, after all he’s done to help.”
“Of course! I won’t say a word.” If Benedict wanted to tell her about his stroll in the woods with Peter, he would. There was no reason to think the incident had anything to do with her or their element. She hoped. “Stop by Hawthorne House whenever you want. Grams would love some company, and we have too many empty rooms.” She kept her voice low, just in case a friend of Ian’s was close by.
Faye hesitated. “Ian’s going to visit some of his extended family in the mountains next month. No outsiders allowed. I might stop by, for a night or two.”
Lucy rested her hand over Faye’s. It killed her not to be able to help more. The frustration made her want to light the counter or Ian on fire. But Faye had to decide to leave on her own.
“Stay as long as you want. We’re always here when you need us. Grams would love an excuse to cook a feast.” Lucy added a tenner to the tip jar and took the wrapped-up pie to the counter.
“Grams does make the best pot roast!” Faye pulled her sleeves over her hands. She was definitely hiding something.
“Rosie and I tend to go to the Dragon’s Inn for brunch on Sunday, if you want to join us.”
Faye’s eyes shifted away. “I might have to work.”
Lucy didn’t want to push her luck. “We’ll be there anyway, and we’ll save you a seat in case you can make it. No pressure.”
“Maybe next time.”
Lucy only made it a few steps down the street when Faye rushed up behind her.
“I hope you and Benedict are happy,” she blurted out, then looked over her shoulder, as though afraid she would be heard talking about another man. The fear in her eyes stabbed at Lucy’s heart. “He helped me, before. I think we were wrong about him at school.” Faye gave her a quick hug before being called back inside by another worker.
Lucy watched her through the window for a moment, but drops of rain fell onto the box, and she hurried along. She didn’t want to deliver a soggy pie when she had questions that needed answering.
Walking into the quiet of his quarters, Benedict heard a scuffle behind the archway entrance to his room.
“Greko! No climbing the curtains,” he warned the lizard automatically, only to spot his scaly best friend sitting on his favourite cushion beneath his desk. A thud stilled him. There was someone in his room. He rounded the corner, quickly trapping the intruder against the bookshelf so they wouldn’t be able to escape.
“Ow!” the intruder cried as a book fell from above and hit them on the head.
“Lucinda?” Benedict asked, relaxing his grip on her shoulders.What the hell is she doing creeping around my bedroom?
She leaned away from the bookshelf. “Thankfully that wasn’t a hardback,” she joked, rubbing her head.
“You could’ve used the door. Or knocked. Or called!” he said, wondering if appearing in his room was becoming a habit for her.
“Nice to see you too,” she said, putting the fallen book back on the shelf. “I thought teleporting would be better, so no one would see me coming and going. I tried to call you when I was on my way over, but you didn’t answer.”
