Page 34 of Must Love Lavender and Little Lies
Nikida laughed, then went to the stove. “There is even proper food here,” she said, lifting the lid on Rosalyn’s massive kettle. “Not just sandwiches. Wait, is this boggy stew?”
I smiled. “It is. A friend has an orcish recipe book.”
At that, they all cheered. And then, they took over the kitchen like a swarm of bees, clearing out the icebox and unloading the goods my friends and I had prepared. The speed was so astonishing that I realized I was going to need to send another order to town for a refresh of, well, everything.
Cheering and talking in such a cacophony of noise, they made their way back outside. I floated along with them like I was drifting on a wave.
“Juniper,” Kika, the teenage daughter of Gruffton and Sophilla, said excitedly, joining me. “I love your dress! Oh, look how the flowers move. Did you make it yourself?”
“Thank you, but no. There is a talented stitch witch in Moonshine Hollow. She makes lovely things.”
“You have to take me to her shop.”
“Kika, on about clothes again,” Sophilla said with a laugh.
“But a witch’s dress shop, Ma!”
“I’ll be sure to point it out when you come to town for the Greening,” I replied. “The festivities open tomorrow.”
“That’s what Ma told me. I’ve never been to a Greening festival before. We don’t have them in Mossy Bottom. We just celebrated Leek Day. Do you know Leek Day?”
“It’s a spring orcish holiday, isn’t it?
“With food! So much food! But the Greening is a carnival, isn’t it? With a faire and such?”
“Dancing, music, food, and the stuff swap, which is my favorite.”
“What’s a stuff swap?”
“Well, people set up a table outside their home or business, or bring a wagon into town, and everyone just trades goods for goods.”
Kika squealed. “That sounds like so much fun.”
“It is,” I replied with a smile.
Kika beamed a warm smile at me. “I’m so glad to meet you. Everyone said you’re such a lovely girl, and perfect for Uncle Granik, even though he was too dense to see it. They are right. I’m glad for my Uncle Granik…and for you.”
“Thank you.”
She grinned then called out to her mother, “Ma! Did you know about the stuff swap?” she asked, rushing to catch up to her mother.
“Stuff swap? What’s a stuff swap?”
I giggled then made my way into the pavilion, setting down my basket of bread while Granik’s mother organized everyone and everything.
Granik, who was lingering with his brothers by the roasting pig, turned toward me. He gave me a soft smile, excused himself, then crossed the pavilion to join me.
Behind him, his brothers elbowed one another and laughed, but I could see it was not out of malice but out of brotherly love.
“You all right?” Granik whispered.
I nodded. “It’s a lot of names, but I’ll get them all…eventually.”
Granik chuckled. “Yeah. They’re…a lot.”
There was a flurry of action. Someone pressed drinks into mine and Granik’s hands, and then came the call for a toast.
Granik’s father, who had been checking the roasting meat, stepped to the front of the group and raised his mug of ale.
