Page 48 of Of Potions and Honey
“Not a word,” Yoni said, bitterness lacing her tone. “Just presented this plan to me that we’d move, and he’d make money, and I’d raise our children, and that would somehow be fine for both of us. It wasn’t, and he really should have known better. HeknewI meant to stay and run the greenhouse. He knew how much that meant to me after my parents had to give it up and move so my father could be closer to his physicians.” Yoni’s tone became more heated, the red spreading down her neck. “He thought he could just tell me how much money he would make and that would change my mind. That I could ‘grow flowers on the balcony if I really wanted’. Those were his words. I can stillhearhim say that.”
Mira felt like she had lost her footing by this point. Unsure where this was going, butverysure of what she thought of Alexander, she dared a response.
“He sounds a little selfish.”
“Hah! You don’t know the half of it.” Yoni turned back to look at her. “He hid it well, or maybe he really was trying when he promised me all those things. I don’t know, and I don’t care. I told him if he was moving, I wasn’t. He tried to change my mind, but in the end, I gave him the ring back and told him to get out of my house. To his credit, he did. He sent me a letter from the city, even, and because I was stupid and heart-sick, I read it.” She snorted. “He said he was sorry, and if I changed my mind, Icould let him know.” She shrugged. “I turned it into mulch and used it on my sunflowers.”
A strangled laugh escaped Mira. “So he was useful after all.”
Yoni rolled her eyes. “Vanishingly so.” Her shoulders dropped. “Do you understand why I’m telling you this now? Why you need to know that about me?”
Mira chewed on her lip, thinking back to all those little comments. If she meant to stay. If she was here for good.
“I think I do,” she said slowly. “You don’t know if I won’t do the same. Go back to Willow Harbour and leave you here.”
“I wasn’t sure that you wouldn’t,” Yoni said quietly. “I’m still not, if I’m being honest.” She took a deep breath. “But… I’m less doubtful now, I suppose. Which is why we’re even having this conversation.” A crooked smile appeared on her face. “And Marigold likes you. You’ve got that over him already.”
“Approved by a cat,” Mira said dryly, “thank you.”
“Don’t let that get to your head, she’s still just a cat,” Yoni muttered. She sighed. “So, I suppose what I’m saying is…”
She trailed off, but Mira knew. “You need to hear it from me. That I’m here to stay, and that I won’t just leave you like he did.”
“Yes.” Yoni rocked back on her heels, and her shoulders seemed a little lighter. “I do. I did. I… had to be sure, you know. I mean, you’re never really sure, are you, because I was with Alexander, but-”
“But talking about it is better than not,” Mira said. “I understand, I really do.” She blew out a breath. “You know, there’s no reason to… do anything. Not right now. We could just… keep doing what we’re doing? And see where it goes?”
Yoni looked like a startled deer. “You mean love poems and walks?”
“It was that obvious, huh.”
“Nobody talks aboutflowerslike that, Mira.”
“I never said subtlety was my strong suit,” Mira muttered. “My readers usually prefer it when I’m more direct.”
“I could never have guessed.” Yoni pulled at what was left of her braid. “So. We’d just… spend time?”
“I’d like that,” Mira said. “Even if it never goes anywhere else.”
Yoni ducked her head. “Yes, me too.”
Mira rocked on her heels. “Sooo… Once I have what I need and there’s a pot simmering away on the stove for a few hours… How about we go and have some tea? I heard Matteo is making doughnuts, and he made the raspberry filling himself, I really need to try those.”
“Oh, they’re putting those on the menu? I didn’t notice.” There was a glimmer in Yoni’s eyes, and her tentative smile lit up her whole face. “Yes. Tea and doughnuts. I’d like that.”
Twenty
Forthefirsttimein forever, Mira found herself humming while she was getting dressed. It was finally the weekend, the weather was getting ever warmer so she could finally wear one of her nice summer dresses, and downstairs in her kitchen, a picnic basket was waiting.
This was part of why she was excited to wear a nice dress again, something she hadn’t found an occasion for since she had moved here. Shortly, she was supposed to meet up with Yoni, and they would go on their usual walk to the spring. This time, though Mira had taken care to get Yoni’s favourites from Matteo, and presently, she was attempting to make herself look as presentable as she possibly could for a walk in the woods.
“Hm.” She pursed her lips, studying her mirror image critically as she swapped out the braided belt for a leather one. “You are prettier. But you-” She adjusted the leather across her waist. “-look better with the boots.”
Leather belt it was, then, because for all her vanity, she could not in good conscience make her way to the spring in sandals.She refused to embarrass herself so thoroughly on what may well be her first real date with Yoni.
Of course, neither of them had called it that, and Mira would not say those words out loud. They had agreed to take things slow, and just see where time would take them. Still, now that they were bothaware, she wanted to make a good impression. Which admittedly included venturing into the forest with freshly washed hair, but she was allowed a little bit of foolishness in the name of impressing a woman, wasn’t she.
So maybe she was just a tiny minute or two late when she finally made it to the spot past the empty house behind hers, where the path diverged from the road and Yoni was waiting. Mira paused ever so briefly when she saw her, before she realised what had thrown her off. Yoni was wearing her hair down. She couldn’t recall ever seeing her like that before. Granted, she had still tied it back with a wide band, but the style suited her. It went well with the leisurely trousers and the soft fabric of her shirt, both of which Mira had also never seen on her. She wasn’t even wearing her usual apron, and not a speck of dirt on her hands or face.
