Page 39 of Of Potions and Honey
“Harper? Are you open?”
There was anoomphfrom behind the counter, and Harper’s curly head appeared from behind.
“Yes, as much as I would prefer drowning my sorrows in wine right now.”
Mira made her way over to her. “I thought you’d be more of a cider kind of person.”
“I like to looksophisticatedwhile I lament the state of the world, dear.”
“Lamenting the yellow parrot?”
Harper made a noise that vaguely sounded like an angry dog. “That thing is an eyesore, and I wouldn’t mind if someone took it down and tossed it on the bonfire during the fair.” She eyed Mira. “I assume you heard?”
Mira toed at the floor. “The tail-end of it, I think. Can’t say I disagree.”
“Good to know thatsomeonein this town still has some sense left, even if it’s not the people making decisions.”
“I heard you’d like to be the one making decisions next election.”
“Hah!” Harper’s grin was feral. “I’d love to, but I already lost last time, I don’t know how much of a chance I’ll have next time.”
“If it wasn’t a popular decision to give Golden River a business permit in town, maybe.”
Harper shrugged. “Might be. But a lot of the people who were really mad about that have left. You’ve seen the empty houses. The farms where nothing’s growing but weeds. Just a matter of time until they buy up the land, too, and then where dowego?”
“Have they been doing that?”
“I’ve heard they were knocking on doors not too long ago, but I haven’t seen it myself.” Another grin. “Cassia said she’s considering getting a nice, big dog to chase them off if they ever come around again. She even asked Kayden to borrow Poppy, but he just said she’d probably just corner the poor representative to play instead.”
Mira snickered. “I think the only reason Poppy would chase anyone is to beg them for food.” She put both her basket and herlist on the counter. “Listen, I’d love to stay and chat, but I need to get back to the store, can I put down an order?”
“Sure, what do you need?” Harper studied the list and pulled out her notebook. “So the shop is going well?”
“Ah.” Mira tried not to feel too embarrassed. Compared to Harper’s shop, hers was a fledgling operation at best. “It’s going fine. For what it is.”
“What it is is one more place to shop that isn’t that infernal Golden River store,” Harper said, “and as far as I’m concerned, that is good news either way.”
With her basket full and a delicious flaky pastry already half gone by the time Mira left the square, she didn’t have it in her to hurry back. Five more minutes wouldn’t matter, would they. Besides, she still needed to stop by Kian’s for a honey restock. Whatever it was about the local honey, it did make every potion come out just a little bit better. Maybe the flowers were just that good. Though that also meant she went through a downright absurd amount of it, now that business was picking up a little.
“There you go.” He came out with a stack of five jars. “That’s thirty.”
Mira blinked rapidly. “What? Last week it was twenty-five.”
“Ah. I know.” He sighed. “My bees haven’t been as productive this year. Until I can figure out why, I’ve got to raise my prices. I hope it’s not forever,” he added quickly, “but I have some repairs coming up, so…”
“No, no, I understand.” With a groan, Mira dug through her purse. “I’ll live. Here.”
“Thanks. And I really am sorry.”
With a nod, Mira left him to his daughter, who was calling from somewhere inside the house. Well. That wasn’t the worstfinancial hit, but if everything else followed suit, she’d have to do a whole new expense calculation, and perhaps raise her own prices, and if people thought she hadn’t earned that yet…
Mira laid her head back and sighed towards the heavens. Why couldn’t things just go smoothly at least for a little while?
Seventeen
Thefollowingweek,aftersuccessfully integrating a hair growth tonic into her selection, which she had tested with great and annoyingly persistent success on a spot on her left leg, Mira finally got around to putting together the large batch of tree fertiliser Eren had asked for. She finally felt confident that not only would it not kill any trees in the Baker orchard, but it would, in fact, be beneficial to their growth. A pannier strapped to her back holding a large jug of the bright orange liquid – this time a completely normal colour, as she had confirmed with both her recipe book and Yoni – Mira headed for the Baker property in the late afternoon. If she didn’t dawdle, she’d make it just in time for Friday dinner at thePeckish Pelicanwith Kayden and Yoni. There was a roast special on the menu, with caramelised carrots and gravy, and it sounded positively divine.
When she approached the house, there was barking somewhere nearby. A moment later, Poppy shot out from behind the greenhouse, bounding in circles around Mira until she grabbed the dog by the ears and began scratching, much to Poppy’s delight.
