Page 28 of Love, Magic and Misfortune
In the kitchen, he set the bag on the countertop and started rummaging through. “Yes. You didn’t?”
“Not at all,” she said, falling into their established routine and moving toward the stove, turning the fire up high. “I had no idea. I mean, no one ever said anything. Your parents were always pretty nice to me—”
“Because that was four hundred years ago, Vi. You and me, we don’t have anything to do with it.”
Violet grabbed the cups from the cabinet and the tea bags from the white canister. “But still. My great, great-great—her name was Victoria. She ended up being burned at the stake in the center of town. It was a gruesome thing, in the midst of a famine and typhus epidemic. There was a lot of bad blood between my family and yours. Very old grudges like that… Do they just die out?”
The kettle on, Violet turned to watch Jasper. He was busy digging in the bag and removing his groceries. He almost seemed too focused on the task, with his dark brows drawn tightly together. She sighed. “It’s just been eye-opening, but I’m—”
“Did you get more pumpkin seeds?”
“Did you eat the entire bag I bought last week?”
“Yes… So, no?”
“No, Jas, that was a giant bag. I got you a bigger bag than usual, so I didn’t think you’d need more that fast. You’re going to turn into a pumpkin if you don’t slow down.”
“The list is the same every week. Everything, every time, please?”
Violet rested her hands on her hips. “Jasper Oliver Laurent, are you scolding me?”
“N-No… When you say my full name like that, though, it feels like you’re scoldingme.”
“I might be.” She winked, smiling. “I’ll make an extra trip and bring some tomorrow—”
“You don’t need to do that, I’ll just wait. Or I can go myself.”
“I’ll take care of it,” she assured him, turning back to the stove. “But as I wassaying, reading about the town’s history has been interesting. And even though our families didn’t get along, I’m glad we’re friends, and that we can do mundane things together… like me screwing up your grocery list without anyone being burned at the stake.” She peeked over her shoulder to catch him watching her. He rubbed his fingers against his scalp and through his thick hair, glancing away.
“I’m glad, too. Thank you for helping me.”
The teakettle whistling, Violet turned and shut off the heat. When everything was arranged on a tray, they went to the study. Violet had brought her laptop and charger this week, wanting to do research and get Jasper’s opinion, because friends sometimes saw things clearly that you yourself couldn’t discern. She settled onto the leather couch, sinking down in the smooth softness of it and leaning back with her computer on her thighs. As usual, Jasper sat at his desk just a short distance away and near the curtained window. The weather was even colder now, so he’d lit the fireplace, casting the room in warmth, orange light and shadows.
“Do you think,” Jasper began, “that if cockroaches were furry, people would like them?
Violet’s stomach lurched. “I think I would like to burnyouat the stake for putting that image in my mind.”
Jasper laughed. “I’m serious. Furry things get such positive PR. Caterpillars, bees, all manner of woodland creatures. Squirrels are rodents, but they have fluffy tails so people like them. They don’t call squirrels, hamsters, guinea pigs or gerbils ‘pests’ like they do rats and mice. It’s because of the hairless tail and lack of fluff. So maybe the fur factor would help roaches?”
“I don’t know where this is coming from—usually I encourage random introspection like this and am admittedly guilty of it myself—but this is making me nauseous.”
“Okay, okay,” Jasper conceded, but then folded his arms. “So that’s a ‘no’ on my theory?”
“A resounding no. And I don’t think mice and rats are bad. They’re just associated with diseases, sewers and would potentially eat people or other rats if it came down to it. You don’t hear that about squirrels?”
Jasper frowned. Violet wasn’t sure, but it almost looked as if he was pouting? “Anymammal can get rabies,” he said. “Or eat something they normally wouldn’t if food is scarce.”
Violet shook her head. She rested her fingers against the keys of her laptop, then looked down at the glowing screen. An Internet search engine poised and ready for every possibility.
“If I quit my job,” she began, “what would I do with my life? How would I create enough income to address my basic needs?”
“Do you have savings?”
“I do. A decent little nest egg.”
“Gloria has presented you with a lot of options,” Jasper acknowledged. “A greenhouse, dried flowers and herbs of every kind and clients who want to buy them. Land, a house. Would you want to pick up anything she left behind?”
“I don’t know. I do like learning about the herb stuff—for instance, I made dried valerian root into tea the other night. I had to soak three grams of it in a cup of hot water for fifteen minutes.”
