Page 47 of Of Potions and Honey
“Uh. I have a lot, and I thought… maybe…”
Hm. Perhaps she should have prepared a little better. There was a smudge of dirt on Yonis face that highlighted her cheekbone, and the fact that she had chosen a shirt sans sleeves this morning wasn’t helping matters, either. Watching her train of thought disappear in the distance, Mira folded her hands behind her back to hide how badly they were shaking.
“Sorry. I just needed some stuff for the shop, and…” And what? Right! Radishes! “My garden was very generous this morning, and I thought maybe you’d like some? I haven’t seen any vegetable beds back here, and I figured…”
Mira trailed off, suddenly acutely aware of how strange that sounded. Just because she hadn’t seen any didn’t mean they weren’t there. She wasn’t in the habit of snooping around people’s gardens, was she.
“I keep them behind the hedges.” Yoni pushed a stray strand of black hair behind her ear. A tinge of pink appeared in her cheeks. “But I don’t have any radishes.” An awkward pause. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome!” Mira nodded at the open door. “So, uh. My ingredients…?”
“Yes! Of course.” Much to Mira’s surprise, Yoni turned abruptly and went back inside. “Come in.”
This was certainly new. Mira quickly emptied the basket and followed Yoni inside. The greenhouse was warmer than outside, and more humid, too. Mira could practically feel her curls unravel. Grimacing, she tried to smooth them down as she went to join Yoni by the purple wormwood. Yoni was already digging around the pockets of her apron for her scissors.
“You didn’t even ask what I need,” Mira reminded her. Yoni stilled. After a moment, she released a grumbling sigh. But rather than ask for Mira’s list, she crossed her arms in front of her and turned to face her.
“Right. Listen. Now that you’re here anyway, can we talk?”
Mira tried to swallow the frog in her throat. There was no reason for that sinking feeling. They’d spent a nice evening. And maybe Yoni hadn’t been very communicative after. It happened. She’d just been busy. Right?
“Talk about what?”
Yoni raked a hand through her hair, visibly frustrated. “You know. That. The thing with the–” She huffed. “Us.”
Ah. So she had been nowhere near as subtle as she’d thought, it seemed. Mira bit her lip.
“’Us’ as in…?” she asked cautiously, to which Yoni’s face reddened noticeably.
“You’re doing this on purpose,” she grumbled, not meeting Mira’s eyes. “There is no way you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
“I do. I think,” Mira admitted. “I was just… not sure, you know, if you… were aware. Or were…” She made a fluttering gesture. “I didn’t want to mess anything up.”
Yoni inhaled sharply. “Well. Yet here we are. Maybe about to mess things up.”
Mira tried to squash the disappointment seizing her chest. Not yet. She had to know first. “Would it mess things up?” she asked. “If I told you that I like you?”
“’Like me’,” Yoni muttered. “We’re not in school anymore.”
Mira snorted. “What?Youstarted dancing around the subject.” She cleared her throat. Now or never. “Fine. I’ve gotten to know you a little these past few weeks, and yes, I’ve started to think I might be catching feelings. Is that what you wanted to hear?”
The tips of her ears felt hot as she waited for Yoni to respond. Say anything at all, really, because she had grown very, very still, and was now not moving at all. Just when that started to become a little worrisome, she let out a deep breath.
“Yes. Sort of. But also not?” Yoni pinched the bridge of her nose. “Listen, I’m not stupid. I noticed. And I’m not… It’s not that I’m not interested, but…”
“...but?” Mira prodded gently, when Yoni trailed off in unintelligible noises. Nostrils flaring, Yoni glared at her.
“I’m trying, all right? Give me a moment!”
So Mira did. Her heart was hammering an uncomfortable staccato in her chest, and the humidity in the greenhouse suddenly felt a little suffocating. Still, she waited, at least outward patiently, for Yoni to continue while she felt like she was dying inside with each passing second.
“I was engaged,” Yoni said abruptly, turning away from Mira to look at flowering vines trailing down from wires under the greenhouse roof. “Alexander, I think I’ve mentioned him before.”
“You have,” Mira said cautiously. “You said Marigold didn’t like him.”
Yoni’s laugh was sharp and cut short. “No, she did not. I should have listened to her, she’s a smart creature.” Yoni’s gaze remained fixed intently on the flowers. “We’d been together for a while. I thought we were on the same page. Stay here, get married, start a family. He sure never let me think otherwise. A few months before the wedding, he dumped the news on me that he had an offer of employment in Willow Harbour, and that he wanted to move there. With me.”
Mira blinked rapidly. “He… didn’t tell you before that? At all?”
