Page 18 of Must Love Lavender and Little Lies
JUNIPER
Iarrived at Thistle and Thyme to find Polly dusting the shelves and whistling merrily to herself.
“Oh! Mornin’, Juniper,” she called a little too loudly. Had I startled her?
“Good morning, Polly. Is Tansy in?”
“Oh, yes, Juniper,” she said, her voice still an octave too loud. “Tansy is upstairs and at work as usual.”
Confused, I felt my brow furrow. “Everything all right, Polly?”
“Yes, yes,” she said, her fluffy foxlike ears and tail twitching in tandem. “I just…I’ve been singing. Off key, as usual,” she said with a laugh. “So, you have a book club today, right? Still going?”
“Book club. I nearly forgot. Yes, at lunchtime. It won’t be a bother, will it?”
“Not at all. I’ll be busy with elderberries today. I’ll hardly notice you’re missing.”
“All right. If you’re sure,” I said, laughing lightly and feeling grateful for Polly. She was the best assistant a person could ask for. “Let me head up to talk to Tansy a moment. I’ll come back and help you get started on the elderberries.”
“No problem,” Polly replied, then turned back to her dusting once more.
I headed upstairs to find Tansy busy working on an onyx necklace. She’d been at the piece for days, a special order from one of the elder’s wives.
“Good morning,” she called.
“How is it coming?” I asked, my stomach suddenly knotting with nerves. I knew I needed to let Tansy in on the secret, but now, it felt hard to get the words out.
“Oh, this onyx keeps resisting me at every turn. I think it’s trying to tell me something. I’ll have to stop by and see Missus Oakridge later today. Maybe I can talk her into a nice tiger eye instead.
I chuckled.
Tansy eyed me closely, then asked. “Everything all right?”
“Yes. Well. No and yes.”
“What do you mean?”
“Something happened. Okay, there is something I need to tell you,” I said with a deep exhale, then began explaining orcish marriage traditions, the fact that it was Granik’s thirtieth year, and how the messenger had arrived with the news of his arrangement. Tansy listened carefully as I told her how I’d spoken up to save my friend.
“And now, we are engaged. At least that’s what his parents think. It’s a fake engagement. We’ll break it off later, of course. They’ll be here in a few days. Gosh, only afterward did I think about the people of Moonshine Hollow. We’re going to have to let the others think we’re engaged, or the truth will come out. That’s the only way it will work.”
“Agreed,” Tansy replied with unusual calm. At least someone wasn’t freaking out.
“I just didn’t want to lie to my friends. I’ll tell Polly, and I’ll let the others know today at book club.”
Tansy nodded thoughtfully. “Your secret is safe with me,” she said, then studied me carefully for a moment.
“What is it?”
“I know humans and orcs don’t believe in the glimmer,” she said, referring to the elven belief in soulmates, “but what you’ve done… It’s an act of pure love. I hope you realize that.”
“I just couldn’t let him marry a stranger. He’s far too special for that.”
Tansy smiled. “Yes. You’re right. And the two of you have a very special bond. I’m sure the thought of it broke your heart.”
“It did. The image of him marrying some woman he just met, having some stranger in his home, making a life with her… I just couldn’t let that happen. Granik is an honorable man, and I know he feels terrible about lying to his family, but it wasn’t something either of us could live with.”
“You felt it very deeply that it was wrong for him to be married to someone else.”
