Page 6 of Must Love Lavender and Little Lies
“I…um… I’m still full from dinner. Thanks, though.”
Juniper gave me a confused look, then smiled. “Okay. Tomorrow, then?”
“Tomorrow.”
She reached up on her tiptoes then and gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “Thank you for walking me home.”
“Just keeping you safe from the brownies.”
“Always a good idea,” she said with a giggle. “Good night. Come on, Pippy, let’s go,” she said, cracking open the door. Yipping with excitement, the dog bolted inside.
“Good night,” I replied, then waited until she was safely inside before departing once more.
I made my way out of Juniper’s garden, then down the country road that led from her home to my farm. As I went, my mind turned again to the Greening and my marrying year.Surely, my parents wouldn’t insist. They hadn’t intervened with my siblings. Of course, all of them had found their own partners before their marrying year. But it was such an old-fashioned ritual. There was no way they would force me to marry someone I didn’t love. I knew I was slow to find someone. I just hadn’t found that perfect fit. It wasn’t like I ever felt lonely. I always had Juniper with me.
A fleeting, but very inappropriate, thought of Juniper inviting me in flickered through my mind once more. What if she had invited me inside for…that? Would she let me carry her to bed? What would she be like? How would she feel?
I shook my head.
Juniper was my best friend. That was all. I had no business thinking of her like that. I felt guilty for even allowing the random thought to stroll through my mind.
I sighed.
If I could find someone just like Juniper, I could be happy.
Maybe, in that case, I would marry.
Too bad there was only one of her.
CHAPTER 3
JUNIPER
While spending the night with Granik at the pub was usually restful, somehow, when I returned home, I felt out of sorts. I made my way to my kitchen and set my copper kettle on to boil while I pulled down clay jars from the shelves and selected herbs to calm whatever odd tension was ailing me.
Granik had been dancing around the subject of his marrying year since Barnlight Days, but now I could see he was barely keeping his tension in check. Despite his smiles and good cheer, I could see he was worried. That, and something else, had been on his mind. While I was no mentalist, I could have sworn I feltsomethingbetween him and me tonight as we said goodbye. There was a pause, a linger, that felt too long and too charged.
That was not Granik and me.
He was like a brother to me…right?
Blending my herbs, I poured the hot water over them, then sat at my wooden kitchen table and allowed them to steep. As the steam drifted upward, perfuming the kitchen with the rich scents of chamomile, mint, honey bush, and sparking sunset flower petals, which made my cup shimmer with hues of pink and orange, my thoughts drifted.
Gazing out the window, my mind puzzled over whatever thatsomethingwas.
Had I imagined it?
What was that?
I looked down at Pip, who was sleeping in his basket by the big stone oven.
“It was nothing, right? He’s probably just worried, and I misinterpreted things. The last thing I need to do is turn it into something.”
Pip raised his head and looked at me, his tail wagging softly.
“Right,” I said, answering my own question, then blew across the surface of my tea. And yet, my mind continued asking questions I had no business considering.
Probably nothing.
