Page 104 of A Light in the Dark
Her father-in-law had been willing to send her off if he could have his baby boy for a whole day all to himself.
As such, Coraline would spend the evening and night at my place before heading home the next day.
“It really was. I thought it’d be like five hundred dollars or something. It’s notthatfar.”
“Once you count pit stops, lunch, and the border crossing, it’s not far. Six to eight hours, depending on how often you stop.”
“We could go to the rose garden,” Joel muttered.
While my garden sported every kind of Earth rose to exist, there was a botanical garden in Moonriver near the border with every species of rose Korsania Minor had to offer. As I’d brought the cage of luna moth containment, if Joel opted to get skunked, we had a way to make certain he didn’t fly off. “I’m okay with a trip to the garden if Coraline is.”
“If you last the two hours to the border without throwing up in the vehicle, we can go to the garden. There’s a really nice restaurant inside, too. Valerie, get on your phone and see if you can get us a reservation. Joel can transform after we eat and investigate the roses while we digest. Joel, so help me, if you overproduce silk this time, and we can’t fit it all in the SUV, I will end you!”
“Please don’t end Joel. I like him, and I wish to keep him as my hostage.” I checked my phone, determined there was a mailing service not far from the garden, and that the restaurant could fit a reservation for three in two and a half hours. I claimed the table before saying, “If he overproduces silk again, there’s a shipping place nearby. We’ll just box up the silk before we leave. It should fit if we just let it overrun the seats until we’re done at the gardens.”
“Damned luna moths,” the wolf muttered. “Don’t overproduce silk again, Joel.”
“I don’t want to overproduce silk any more than you want me to. I’d like to have a normal shift for a change.”
Poor Joel. “And if you don’t, I’ll take you home, hold you captive in my house, and only let you out when you’re cleared to go back to work. Until then, you’ll have to cope with my tender, loving care.”
Coraline giggled. “It could be worse, Joel.”
“You two enjoy my suffering.”
I really did, especially when his suffering meant he stayed in close proximity. “You’re the one who talked to the reporters. Now I have to go back to Stonecreek and dowhat?”
“You have to run the place,” he replied.
“I don’t know how yet, Joel, but you will pay for this. To start with, you’re grounded, and you have to serve as my live-in nightlight until further notice.”
Coraline burst into laughter. “You’re rewarding him, Valerie.”
“How is that a reward? He has to do what I want in the comfort of my home.”
“You have the equivalent of a crack house for luna moths. You’re basically telling him he gets to get skunked on roses as often as he wants, and all he has to do is sleep nearby and glow for you. You’re giving him quite the prize, actually.”
“But it’s onmyterms rather than his.”
“The wily shifter men do not care if their women entrap them in such a fashion. This one has his eyes on the prize, and he’ll be more than happy to quietly steal the win whileyou think you’re ahead of the game. In reality, you’re just handing him the victory.”
“I don’t mind in the slightest. If she wants to set me up for an excellent life, I’m not going to complain. I just want access to my crafting supplies and my cameras.”
“At least he’s an easy enough man to care for. Mine gets surly if he isn’t fed rabbit at the appropriate intervals, he’s a downrightbeastif he’s separated from his bunnies for longer than eight hours, and he can’t be consoled if he doesn’t get reading time.”
Damn it. Calden had the right idea. “I can’t blame him about the bunnies, I can’t be consoled if I don’t get reading time, and having eaten rabbit at your place, I’m going to be joining him in becoming surly without rabbit on the menu at least once a week.” I twisted around in my seat to stare at Joel. “We’re having rabbit once a week, and I will learn Coraline’s tricks to hunt them if I must.”
“Our area of Stonecreek doesn’t have a lot of rabbits,” he reminded me.
“You can drive us to where the evil meat rabbits live, and we’ll thin the numbers. How do we get rabbit licenses?”
Joel sighed. “I’ll handle the rabbit licenses, but you’re going to have to figure out how we’re hunting the rabbits and what’s involved with cleaning them and preparing them to eat.”
“I have a license for Moonriver and Stonecreek, and my hunting kit is in the glovebox. After we get Joel skunked on roses, I’ll take you out, hunt a rabbit, and teach you how to skin it and clean it. I can catch three in Stonecreek a day, so we can just have rabbit for dinner tonight.”
“Rabbit sounds good. Joel, we’re going hunting.”
“I prefer hunting with a camera,” he grumbled.
