Page 96 of Shift of Morals
Moira sucked in a breath. “Evie. This is beautiful.”
“Gorgeous,” Ash murmured. “Gianna is a fool.”
“The pièce de résistance,” I said, triggering a button at the centerpiece’s base.
A warm golden light encased the centerpiece as edible crimson and white glitter shot up from the middle, appearing and disappearing in an endless cycle.
“This is astonishing,” Moira said. “How is the glitter doing that?”
I wiggled my fingers. “Magic.”
“The Shifter Lord will love it,” Tess said firmly.
I hadn’t told the Lord everything about the piece. He’d seen the floral part, minus the crystals and glass berries, but I neglected to mention the lights and glitter.
“If the wedding isn’t blessed, I won’t trigger the glitter or lights.” The device was activated by a tiny remote control I could hide in the palm of my hand.
“Good call,” Moira said, “but I doubt Caelan will have that problem. The man was born blessed by the gods.”
Maybe in other areas, but from the way he talked about the ceremony, I had my doubts about this one.
“Either way, I’m proud of this.”
“We’re going to be rich!” Ash exclaimed. “Especially when everyone books you once they see this piece.”
Moira grimaced. “As long as they ignore everything else.”
I laughed. “Even so, the cost of the wedding will sustain us for a long time, if need be.”
“Caelan’s checkbook must be on fire these days.” Moira grinned.
Wasn’t that the truth. I’d told her about Caelan’s attack and the resulting damage to the house. True to his word, he’d sent over a more than generous check that covered the damage and then some, along with a recommendation for a dryad woodworker who worked as a contractor for people like me.
I’d called him over, told him what I wanted, then hired him on the spot because he knew exactly what I wanted and how to do the work.
“Good for us,” was all I said. “He’s good for it.”
Despite my mixed feelings on the upcoming wedding, the Shifter Lord had been good for business, and once we’dannounced our shop was the florist, our foot traffic had exploded, forcing us to implement new store hours and be much more diligent about our calendar.
Little Shop of Florals was booked months in advance.
Things were looking up.
“Don’t forget we’re closed tomorrow. I’ll be out of pocket for most of the day, though I don’t plan to stay for the reception.” My contract required me to be on hand for the bonding ceremony and the exchange of vows to keep everything running smoothly. But once those were over, I planned to hightail it out of there ASAP.
Moira grimaced. “Gianna is a bitch for making you stay,” she grumbled.
I shook my head. “I appreciate it, but we all know having the florist there is common. I plan to keep to the background as much as possible.”
“Good luck with that,” Ash murmured, an amused glimmer in his mossy green eyes.
“Away with you,” I said, flicking my fingers at all of them.
Ash laughed and tugged on Tess’s arm. Moira lingered behind. When everyone was gone, she leaned forward. “How are you doing? The truth this time.”
Grief tugged at my heart. “Even if I wanted something, I can’t have it with him. It’s too dangerous. He’s intelligent enough to put things together. The further away from him I am, the better for us all.”
Her mouth turned down in a frown. “He might surprise you, you know.”
