Page 4 of Must Love Lavender and Little Lies
And then, the effect of the chocolate took hold. For a brief moment, the spell inside the cherry blossom candy made Juniper’s hair shift to a shade of soft pink, and a cloud of ethereal blossoms circled her.
“Now it feels like spring,” she said with a soft smile, opening her eyes. She laughed at the magical coloring of her hair and tried to gently catch one of the blossoms, but it faded away, the enchantment brief. Laughing, she turned and looked at me. Herbrow furrowed in confusion as she looked at the chocolate in my hand. “It’s melting. Everything all right?”
“I was waiting to see if it was poisoned.”
She rolled her eyes.
I popped the chocolate into my mouth and chewed.
“Savor it,” Juniper told me with a laugh.
“Tastes like flowers.”
“Ugh. You’re impossible,” she replied.
A moment later, the spell washed over me as well.
Juniper giggled. “An orc with pink hair. Now, that’s a first.”
We were both laughing when Ginny returned with our ales.
“Here you are,” Ginny said with a grin, setting down the tankards. “Oh, the cherry blossom chocolates are out already?”
Juniper lifted the box and gestured. “Just today, or so I hear. Here. Have one.”
“I couldn’t.”
“Of course you can,” Juniper replied with a smile.
That was my Juniper, kind as ever. If she wasn’t careful, she’d give away every chocolate in the box with no thought for herself. But that was her way. I supposed that was why she and her mother had been the first in Moonshine Hollow to adopt me. While my family hadn’t been thrilled I’d moved so far away from home, the farm in Moonshine Hollow had been just what I was looking for. They’d worried I would not have an easy time of it so far from orcish lands, but the people of Moonshine Hollow had been endlessly kind to a would-be orcish flower farmer, Juniper and Noelle most of all. Noelle introduced me to everyone, and Juniper was the one who’d helped me select the best species to grow in Moonshine Hollow, helped me through blights, and tolerated my farm animals. From day one, Juniper and Noelle had made sure I never felt alone. And after Noelle had died, I made sure Juniper never felt it either.
We had one another, which was why I had no intentions of marrying. Yes, it was my marrying year, but was I really bound to orcish traditions? I didn’t live in orcish lands. None of the orcs in Moonshine Hollow pressured me to adhere to old ways. And I’d heard nothing from my family. Perhaps they found the tradition as dated as I did. At least, I hoped so.
“You’re not drinking,” Juniper observed.
“Thinking.”
“That must have been a deep thought to keep you away from larkflower shandy.”
“Yeah,” I said, trying to keep the tone of discomfort from my voice.
But Juniper missed nothing and knew the problem at once. She gave me an understanding smile, then turned and hoisted her mug. “To spring and all its possibilities.”
“And to old friends.”
“And shrieking goats.”
We both laughed. “To shrieking goats,” I agreed.
We tapped our mugs together and drank.
“They really are cute, even if they make you spill all your secrets,” Juniper agreed, making me laugh.
We spentthe rest of the night enjoying the food, music, and companionship of the others who frequented the tavern. Pig and Piper was a favorite haunt of local farmers and growers of all kinds, so the conversation was always good and the food even better.
On that particular night, Linden Windsong stopped by our table and handed me an unusual leaf from a lavender species I’d never seen before.
“What’s this, sir?” I asked the Sylvan elf, who always had some interesting finds.
