Page 34 of The Baby Dragon Cafe
“Where are you going all dolled up?” Lavinia asked. Saphira’s face grew warm.
“I amnotall dolled up,” Saphira protested. “And I’m just going to the garden.”
Lavinia was surprised by that. “Why? It’s a total mess.”
“Oh, didn’t I tell you?” Saphira said, voice high. “Aiden is actually going to help clean it up a bit.” Saphira knew for a fact she had not mentioned this to Lavinia before.
“Oooooh,” Lavinia sang, obscenely pleased by this tidbit of information. “No you didnottell me, little Miss Sneaky.”
“There is nothing sneaky about it!” Saphira replied defensively.
“Mmhmm. How long has this been going on?”
“Only since yesterday!”
“Which means you could have told me this yesterday, or this morning …”
It was a fair point. Lavinia was Saphira’s only good friend, even though she was younger than her. They had worked together for years, and—since they saw each other every day—they were used to updating each other on every minute detail of their lives.
Saphira had been the one who had checked over Lavinia’s essay applications for veterinary school; Lavinia had been the one who had been there for Saphira when Nani-Ma passed away. They were there for each other through everything, which made it hard to hide anything from her.
Saphira had already discussed with Lavinia earlier the revelation that her mother had died whilst racing, but she had not mentioned the development with Aiden and the garden.
Which begged the question: whywasshe hiding this from Lavinia?
Lavinia seemed to be wondering the same thing, looking at Saphira expectantly, but Saphira didn’t say anything. She knew Lavinia would tease her incessantly, something she seemed already keen on doing.
“Now the lip gloss makes sense.” Lavinia gave Saphira an evil grin.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Yeah, sure.” Lavinia wrapped an arm around Saphira and made kissing sounds.
“PLEASE. Your brain isn’t even fully developed.” Saphira shooed her off, but she couldn’t help laughing, too.
“No, but seriously, this is actually great,” Lavinia said, putting an end to the joke. “We could use the garden space for extra seating the way you originally planned to, especially since the weather is so good!”
“Exactly what I was thinking,” Saphira concurred. “See, I am making such astute business decisions.”
“Yes ma’am! She is a girl-boss and a yearner—a true multitasker!”
Saphira laughed out loud. “You’re the worst.”
“Thebest.”
Lavinia really was the best.
“And Aiden is going to be part of Sparky’s training, too!” Saphira said.
“Yay, I love that! How did you manage it?”
“Aiden’s family is apparently super involved in dragon racing,” Saphira explained, then felt guilty for revealing such information. But it was more of an open secret, she reminded herself. “It was why he was scared that if he bonded with Sparky, he would get pressured into racing and it would put Sparky in danger, but I told him not to worry about that now, since it’s more important for him to bond with Sparky.”
“Oooh. Yeah, I know a bit about the Sterlings’ intensity for racing because of Ginny,” Lavinia said, referencing Aiden’s younger sister Genevieve, who was Lavinia’s good friend, and any guilt Saphira felt about mentioning the Sterlings’ involvement in racing vanished.
“Anyway, were you looking for me?” Saphira asked. “It looked like it before.”
“Oh.” Lavinia blinked, a little hesitant. “Actually, yes.”
