Page 48 of Holiday Cheese and Capers
“However,” Zephyr continued, “we’re not sorry for the general premise. You two really needed to talk. I’m guessing you still do. Actually talk. Not dance around each other, not make excuses, not pretend everything’s fine when you’re both clearly miserable.”
“We’re not—” Bayard started.
“You look like you haven’t slept,” Minerva said gently, looking at him. “You’ve been awake since—what? Three? Four in the morning?”
Bayard’s silence was answer enough.
“And you,” Zephyr said, turning to Exandra. “You’ve been pacing the grounds since dawn. Don’t think I didn’t see you from our window.”
Exandra glared into her coffee.
“Look,” Minerva said, “we know this isn’t easy. Transitions never are, especially when there are so many years of history and hurt between you. But Zephyr and I—we didn’t just slide into our happy ending, either.”
Bayard looked up, surprised. “What do you mean? You two found each other again and everything just... worked.”
“Oh, is that what happened?” Zephyr raised an eyebrow. “Minnie, did everythingjust workwhen we reconnected?”
“Certainly,” Minerva said dryly. “If by ‘worked,’ you mean I got stuck in mouse form in a disapparated house with no way to communicate who or where I was, and you nearly died in an extended coma from a true love’s kiss hex, then yes. It all went swimmingly.”
Bayard blinked. “I... I didn’t realize...”
“That’s because you weren’t there,” Minerva said. “You heard the happy ending version. Two childhood sweethearts reunited after decades apart, living happily ever after at their fromagerie. But the actual process was messy and terrifying and required both of us to be extraordinarily vulnerable and brave.”
“We almost lost each other multiple times,” Zephyr added. “Because we were both so scared of being hurt again. So scared of admitting what we felt for each other.”
Exandra was staring at her coffee like it held the secrets of the universe. “That’s different,” she argued. “You two had a first time. A childhood romance. Something real to build on. We never really—” She stopped herself.
“Never what?” Minerva asked gently.
“Nothing. It doesn’t matter.”
“It clearly does matter,” Zephyr said. “Bay, Exandra—we also know something else. Something we probably should have confronted you about earlier instead of trying to engineer a romantic revelation.”
Bayard went very still. “What do you mean?”
Minerva took a breath. “We know you’ve both been sabotaging the cheese production. There’s no Culture Vulture.”
The silence that followed made their ears throb.
Fred quacked nervously.
“I…ummm… don’t have any idea what you’re talking about,” Exandra said, but her voice lacked conviction.
“Don’t,” Minerva said firmly. “We overheard your ‘theoretical sabotage’ discussion. We’ve watched you both acting guilty and confused. We’ve noticed that every incident has coincidentally occurred when one or both of you were not present and accounted for.”
“Not to mention the fact that the ‘trouble upstream’ someone named ‘Mayard Pontaine’ phoned in was complete and utter nonsense.” Zephyr chuckled. “I pulled a few strings and read the report. ‘Suspicious loitering near cheesemaking facilities’ is hardly the stuff the Society normally sends its top agents toinvestigate.” Zephyr did his best impression of a headmaster, raising his eyebrows and looking down his nose, first at Bayard and then at Exandra.
Bayard’s face was burning. “Zephry… Minerva…”
“We’re not judging you,” Zephyr interrupted. Then he bit back a smile. “Okay. Well, maybe I’m judging a little.Mayard Pontaine? Really? The point is, youbothdid this. You both have kept this whole ridiculous Culture Vulture scenario alive because you were desperate to stay near each other. And now you’re both too stubborn and too scared to just admit it and talk about why you did it.”
“So here’s what’s going to happen,” Minerva said. “You’re going to talk to each other. Really talk. Figure out what you want. Because we can’t keep locking you in rooms together?—”
“You’d better not,” Exandra rumbled.
“—but we also can’t watch you both be this miserable when the solution is sitting right across the table from you.”
“I don’t know if I can,” Exandra whispered.
