Page 54 of Of Potions and Honey
“I’m not sure he’s looking at a long and prosperous career in the hospitality industry,” Mira mused. Yoni chuckled.
“He’s not. That’s Clara and Hamish’s son. He’s studying to be a teacher, and he’s come to visit to spend the summer and make some pocket money for the coming semester.”
“Oh? I haven’t seen him around, when did he get here?”
“Last Saturday.” Yoni took a slow sip of her tea. “Have you left your kitchen at all this whole week?”
Maybe it was a simple observation, but Mira felt guilty nonetheless. She needlessly stirred her tea, watching the decorative mint leaves go under in the swirl.
“I’ve been pretty busy,” she finally said. “I saw someone come by, but I didn’t know it was their son.” She peered up to find Yoni’s hawkish eyes on her. “I’m sorry, I kind of lost track of time. I shouldn’t lock myself away so much.”
“Why are you apologising to me?”
“Because I wanted to see you, I just… forgot.”
“Well, fortunately you didn’t make any promises, so consider yourself forgiven.” She paused. “Itwouldbe nice though to see you a little more often.”
Mira ducked her head, cheeks red. “Noted. I’ll be sure to remember that the outside world exists, not just stare into a pot all day.”
“Very courteous,” Yoni replied. “What has you so buried in new recipes, anyway? The shop seems to be going well as it is, why the sudden desire for new potions?”
Mira’s hands froze around her cup, and her throat felt suddenly tight. It was one thing to change the subject, but quite another to ignore a direct question – or lie about it. But Yoni didn’t have to know. That was Mira’s problem to solve. Not like she could do anything, anyway.
“Mira,” Yoni said slowly. “You have that look. Spit it out.”
“What look?”
“The ‘there’s something we need to talk about’ look. You had that in the greenhouse, too. What is it?”
Mira lowered her eyes. “It’s nothing. Nothing that matters right now, anyway.” She forced herself to look back up and smile. “Just some kerfuffle with the inheritance. I’ll figure it out.”
“With the inheritance?” Yoni’s brows knitted together. “Do you need a solicitor? I can ask my parents if they-”
“No!” Mira sighed. “No, legally, it’s all in the clear.” She looked away. “I was being stupid. I missed a loan that Uncle Lochlin took out, and I just got the notice.”
“A loan?” There was an odd undertone in Yoni’s voice. “Is that going to be a problem?”
“It already is,”Mira muttered. “If I’d known, and not just skimmed the papers like an idiot…” She grimaced. “It’s enough that I considered selling the house and moving back home for a hot minute.”
“Sell the house.”
Mira raised her head. Yoni’s tone was hard, and so were her eyes. “Well, it’s not an immediate concern, I just-”
“You just thought that taking the money and moving away would solve that problem.”
“It’s not like that. But I wiped out my savings trying to fix this, and it’s not like I can brew money in a pot, can I?”
“No, of course not,” Yoni said curtly. “You can just gallivant back to your big city and find it there instead.”
A spark of anger ignited in Mira’s chest. “That’s not what I said!”
“Youconsideredit,” Yoni replied. “You said you were here to stay.”
“I am.” Acutely aware of the glances from the surrounding tables, Mira forced herself to lower her voice. “I want to! I wouldn’t have said that if I didn’t. But this won’t go away just because I’d like it to. I had to consider every option.”
“Naturally.” Something shifted, and now Yoni sounded so, so calm. She grabbed her bag off the bench. “This was a mistake. Ishouldn’t have tried, that’s on me.” She dropped some money on the table and stood. “I’ll know better in the future. Enjoy your tea.”
“Yoni-”
