Page 66 of Love, Magic and Misfortune
“No, you take care of your elbow. You should have let me walk in backward like I said.”
“Well, hindsight is twenty-twenty, isn’t it?”
“You’re stubborn.”
“Am not.”
Jasper looked up at her, grinning openly. So much so that it reached his eyes, which was rare. “Are you intentionally proving my point?”
“Maybe.”
After that, Jasper went to work. He studied the instructions in silence for a few more minutes, then placed them to one side and started fitting parts together: quickly twisting, turning and manipulating screws and metal pieces with his long fingers. Before Violet knew it, the tree stand was whole. He set it on the floor, stood, and moved toward the tree.
“Where do you want this set up?” he asked.
“I can help you lift that.”
He smiled. “You take care of your elbow. Where?”
“Maybe right in front of the window? Gram always displayed it there.”
“She did indeed.” He slid the stand a little closer to the window with his foot, grabbed and lifted the tree, then placed it in the stand. When he had it straightened, he looked at Violet. “Okay, now I need your good arm, just to hold the tree upright while I tighten the screws in the stand.”
Laying her ice pack to the side, Violet stood and took over the job of holding the tree. While Jasper was bent down, he exhaled a muffled yawn.
“You alright?” Violet asked.
“Mmhm. It’s just, I think I’ve moved around more today than I have in over a decade… as a human, anyway. I’m much more active when I’m a rat.”
Violet shook her head. “You cater to your mouse form, don’t you? You even eat like a mouse—hardly any real meals.”
“If I eat like a human, have a giant meal and then shrink down later, it makes things more awful in that form, so I just snack all day. I don’t drink alcohol either. I had to learn that lesson the hard way.”
“Yikes, that makes sense, I guess.”
Jasper stood, dusting off his hands against his trousers. “I’ll sleep well tomorrow. Probably all day? If Freddie comes by, let him know I’m fine.”
“I don’t plan on speaking to Freddie until this party thing, if I can help it. Maybe not even then. Jas, why wait until tomorrow morning to sleep when you’re tired now? Just find a safe spot in the house to sleep in your mouse form.”
“No, I feel too anxious about it. It’s alright, I’m used to this—and December is my month off from writing, so I can sleep all day tomorrow and go right back to being a rat at night.”
“When will you eat?”
“I’ll put an apple out for myself. Sunflower seeds. Easy things.”
Violet nodded. There was no use arguing with him. He was set in his fifteen-year routine. Trying to convince him to do otherwise was a losing battle.
“Should I cut the twine off?” he asked. “Can we start decorating it?”
“If you’re not too tired?”
Jasper looked up at the wall clock, which drew Violet’s attention to it as well. 3:02 p.m.
“I’m fine,” he said. “I should leave at about four thirty, though, to make sure I’m back home by five. Is that okay?”
“Of course. I’m happy to have your help and company, especially given this sudden elbow injury.”
“At least you don’t fall out of trees anymore… Or have a concussion—”
