Page 89 of Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore
By the time they finally made it down to the greenhouse, the tea had gone cold and Nathaniel’s fresh shirt was irredeemably rumpled, but he couldn’t bring himself to mind.
“Now what is it?” he asked, looking around as though she might have left him a surprise wrapped in colorful paper and tied with a ribbon. But there was nothing except a pile of fresh-cut sage on her worktable.
“I’ve been doing some more thinking about my magic,” said Violet.
“Have you?” He wasn’t sure where she was going with this.
“I can pull energy from plants, but if I take it all, then it causes the blight. So I started thinking, what if I intentionally took only a little from a plant? Just enough to…” She reached for the sage and held it tightly in her fist, then closed her eyes. Nathaniel watched as every part of her seemed to come to life, her hair growing lustrous, her cheeks rosy. Magic suited her, as did the bouquet of purple flowers she’d grown from thin air.
“Beautiful,” he said, but she only laughed at him.
“Don’t you see?” she asked, and held up her other hand. The sage had dried up, looking exactly like the bundles he had wrapped and hung from the rafters to eventually use in the apothecary. “Nathaniel, I can help you restock the apothecary. If you can get me live plants, I can dry them for you in an instant,without any of the waiting. Teas, medicines, even ingredients for your alchemical products, as long as they’re plant-based. And if you get me some seeds, I can grow them for you on the spot. And I can use the excess magic I pull from the plants to growmoreplants.”
Understanding wove its threads through him. Seeds were much cheaper and easier to procure for most of his ingredients than the entire plant.Growingthem was the costly part, for it required so much time, space, and effort.
“If you could help me keep my shelves stocked…”
“Then the money you’re saving on supply would cover the gap in your bank payments, wouldn’t it?” Too casually, she added, “Plus what you’ll make from the increase in my rent.”
It took him a moment to catch her meaning. “Violet, no. You’re already doing more than enough. I don’t want your charity.”
“It’s not charity,” she said firmly. “I’m not going to let you lose the shop when I have more than enough money—taken from the estate of an evil sorcerer who certainly did not gain it lawfully himself, I might add—to help you.”
He prickled with the uncomfortable sense that he was being managed—but no, he corrected. He was beingcared for.There was a difference.
Nathaniel Marsh had made a lot of mistakes in his life, but what he had come to realize recently was that good things lay buried beneath the wreckage, and being scared shouldn’t stop him from digging for them anyway. He could grow, he could change. He could learn to accept help when it was offered. Nathaniel was already so different from the man he had been when he and Violet met, and he was beginning to look forward to who he could become. Someone unknown, yes, and perhaps that was frightening, but with the right people beside him, Nathanielknew he could find it in himself to be excited about change rather than afraid of losing what he once had.
After all, love had nothing to do with holding on tight for fear of letting it escape. Love needed space to grow, to put down roots, to blossom. He was finally giving himself that space, and it was due, in large part, to the witch who had captivated his thoughts and his heart.
“Besides,” Violet cajoled, “once you’re out of this hole, you can hire someone to help you in the shop and won’t need to rely on Pru so much.”
This, more than anything else, decided the matter. “She could finally travel.”
“Andyoucould focus on your alchemy.”
Nathaniel weighed the image Violet painted against the one he wanted for himself and found that the scales balanced almost perfectly.
“On one condition,” he said. “Instead of rent, you let me sell your half of the building to you.”
That caught her by surprise, he could tell.
“You said you moved here because you wanted something of your own. Well, here it is, if you want it.”
For a moment he thought she’d say no. Maybe Rough Around the Hedgeswasn’twhat she wanted for the rest of her life. Maybehewasn’t. Maybe she had plans to leave someday or—
“Is the greenhouse part of the deal?”
Hope bubbled in his chest like a cauldron about to boil over. “Of course not,” he said sternly. “This is myworkspace, madam. I have delicate experiments in here that aren’t to be disturbed.”
She stepped closer, nudging him playfully. “Well, thisisa greenhouse and Iama florist, you know. I’m afraid I must insist. Besides, the advertisement did promise it to me…”
Nathaniel narrowed his eyes and huffed as he pretended to consider. “Well, I suppose you could have half.”
“Half?!” Violet gasped, taking another step until their chests pressed together. “You mean I’d have to share? With whom?”
“A rather grouchy alchemist, I’m afraid. He’ll decide to dislike you from the moment he lays eyes on you, but that’s only because he’s a stubborn fool.” Nathaniel hid his smile, but she saw it anyway.
Violet looked him up and down like she was sizing him up. “Do you think I could win him over if I tried?”
