Page 38 of Roses Are Dead
“A few,” Kate settled on a vague number.
“This month?” I said it with a smile on my face and a joking tone. Inside, I was seething. But reminded myself that this was temporary. It was a blip on the radar. I shouldn’t read anything into Bear’s plans or the arrangement we had.
“Good to see you’re not the jealous type.” Kate’s smile wavered nervously.
“I’m not. How long have you lived next to Bear?”
“Since late June.”
That explained the straw on the sod. “Would you like to come over? It would be more comfortable than hanging on a fence.”
“Heck yeah!” Zoe’s head disappeared and a portion of the fence moved open. The wooden slats of the gate melded perfectly into the pattern.
“Zoe! Are you sure it’s not an imposition?”
“Not at all, you can keep me company while my hair dries.”
Kate did another scan. “That’s a lot of hair. I’d kill for that thickness.”
“If I could, I’d let you borrow half.”
Kate almost looked like she was going to take me up on that. Zoe on the other hand, plopped down on the picnic table where I’d spread out my conditioning oils and braiding supplies.
“What’s all this?” She picked up the castor oil and sniffed it. “Gross.” Her gag stopped short as she looked at me. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I need to infuse it. Smell the yellow one.”
She picked that bottle up and sniffed. “Lemon… and flowers?”
“Lemongrass, sage, and pennyroyal.” I picked it up and sniffed, forgetting what else I might have blended with it. “Oh, and I found a jasmine essential oil for that the unfinished one. The other bottle is a coconut oil-vanilla blend. I was trying to decide which I was going to use today.”
Zoe took her time comparing the two scented versions.
“Bear loves food, I’d vote for the cookie smell.”
Kate joined us. “Ditto. If you smell like a cookie, he’ll never let you go.”
I laughed. We sat in the sun, watching the leaves rustle and talking about their Wiccan friend, Crystal, and the times they helped out at her shop in Maine. They reminisced about the festivals they took part in.
My side of the conversation explored similarities of practice and finding out more about these two. They’d moved here when Kate reconnected with Zoe’s father. He’d been the leader of the Destroyers chapter here until that point, then got a promotion and was now the regional president.
“This is the first trip he’s gone on solo.” Kate said with a furrowed brow.
“Are you worried about him?” I kicked myself as soon as I said it.
“He’s quite capable, I worry about everyone else. He’s bound to be short-tempered by the time they make the next stop. He called last night to check in. I kind of have a confession that I knew your name already. I didn’t want to seem like a creeper or anything.”
“How’d he find out my name?”
“Bear,” Zoe offered. She busied herself by helping me crush the wild mint and chamomile I’d found.
“Oh, right. That must have been who he was talking to.”
Kate mused with a shake of her head, “They gossip worse than we do. Oh, that reminds me, there’s a ride this weekend. Are you going with Bear?”
He hadn’t mentioned it. “I don’t know yet. I guess, if I can.”
“Where do you work?” Zoe asked.
