Page 34 of Power Shift
I watched him. “Why are you being so agreeable?”
The other Lord’s eyes flickered. “Evie is Moira’s best friend.”
A surprised laugh burst from me. “Right. On the surface it’s a good idea, but I suspect Moira is as hard-headed as Evie in different ways.”
“I think you’re right, but I can throw everything at the wall, can’t I?” He thumped the wall once and disappeared down the hall.
Evie and I were barreling toward something. Whether it was good or bad remained to be seen.
Chapter
Nine
Things were calm at the shop the next morning. Ash and Tess had their heads together coming up with ideas for next week’s seasonal arrangement. We didn’t do those every week, but our business boomed during the holidays and people who normally didn’t bother decorating started coming in asking for table arrangements and holiday centerpieces. With Caelan’s wire transfer sitting in the bank account and all the extra business coming up, I was thinking about doing something special for the others in the form of a trip or a large bonus.
Moira was making tea for both of us, and I was putting the finishing touches on Hattie’s bouquet, this time with a joint pain spell. As my spells went, this one was mild, but my favorite customer should get some relief in her hips once we delivered the newest bouquet.
We’d opened the doors twenty minutes ago and hadn’t had any customers yet, but it was Friday morning, and things tended to be a little slow those mornings. Once lunch time came around, we’d get slammed with people looking for flowers and plants for the weekend.
Moira handed me a cup of tea, the scent of bergamot and lavender rising from the steaming mug. I inhaled and smiled my thanks. “New blend?”
The scent was a touch different from her normal brand.
“Lir added a touch of lemon balm. I’m dubious about it, but he gave me a deluxe sample to try.” She stared down into her mug. “He said he made it special for us and that he hoped it would calm us a little bit.”
Moira snickered. “I didn’t have the heart to ask him why he thought we might need calming for fear he might actually answer.”
I snorted. “Everyone’s heard about naked Caelan by now.”
The vampire whistled low. “You could bounce a quarter off dat ass.”
“Moira!”
She rolled her eyes. “If you weren’t so prim and modest, you could have looked your fill.” A sip of her tea, then, “I know I did.”
Ash chuckled from the corner.
“I don’t want to see anyone naked,” I mumbled. “Especially not in my shop.”
“And that is the reason why you are still single,” Moira said. “You don’t have to date them to see them naked.”
“Hush.” I waved her words away and sipped the tea. “This is surprisingly good.”
Moira frowned at her cup. “It is, but I don’t want to tell Lir. He’s too full of himself already.”
Like most merfolk, Lir was tall, handsome, tan, and he knew it. I didn’t think he was a bad guy, but he could be insufferable, especially every time he launched a new blend.
“Maybe that’s his magic. We shouldn’t deny him his successes just because he’s annoying.”
Moira shot me a look. “Spoken like a true kind-hearted person.” She made a disgusted noise. “Let me finish the cup and I’ll decide then.”
Grinning, I reached for a coaster before setting my cup on top of the worktable. With Hattie’s bouquet finished, I needed to pot the pothos I’d propagated. Since it was so easy for me to do, we’d all decided to start selling more plants. There was no cost for the plants because they were all cuttings of my pothos, and we’d reached out to a local potter to source cute pots at a wholesale discount. The cost of dirt was negligible, and I didn’t need to buy fertilizer because all the nutrients they needed were in my magic.
Ten bucks a pop could net them an adorable, handmade little pot, and a healthy pothos for their home. We were netting a healthy profit and were thinking about adding more plants to the list. I had plenty I could propagate, but some would be more difficult to take care of because of their finicky nature.
For now, we were content enough with these. I listened to Ash and the others chatting with half an ear while I worked. Soon enough, I had twenty potted cuttings, and once I boosted their growth a touch, they were ready to be put on the shelves for sale.
Moira reached for them just as the bell above the door rang.
