Page 17 of Midlife Animal Rescuer Dragon

Nora had never hexed a customer before, but as the hippie-looking man with the long, untidy beard continued to snap at her, she found herself seriously debating between teleporting him out of the park and giving him a temporary case of harmless warts.

“...incompetent behavior. I’ve never seen anything like this,” he was saying. “Why the hell wouldn’t you warn us that the animals might bite? Look what your creature’s done to my kid.”

He gestured, not for the first time, at the boy standing on his left, staring at the spot on his thumb where the rabbit had nibbled his skin. The boy, no older than eight or nine, didn’t look the least bit disturbed or in pain—if anything, he had a look of pure curiosity on his face, like he was considering petting the rabbit a second time. His father, on the other hand, was beside himself with fury, his face reddening by the second.

“Sir,” she began, with as much calmness as she could rally, “I’m really sorry, but—”

“You hurt my Dexter,” he seethed, flecks of spit flying from his mouth with each word. He jabbed a finger at Nora. “I want a damn refund, and I want it now. Heck, I might even press charges.”

Nora bit her lip, simply staring at him. In recent years, she’d had plenty of experience handling customers, particularly difficult ones. Just not many like this guy. The more he spoke, the more she considered giving him a little makeover, something to shut him up. The last thing she needed right now, when she was so busy worrying about her life expectancy, was some random customer trying to worm his way out of paying.

But the man’s voice was starting to attract looks from passersby, and if there was one thing she’d learned fromhandling yelling customers, it was that they were definitely bad for business. Where the hell was Henry? She glanced past the man, scanning the crowd for the dragon shifter. She caught sight of him making his way toward the tent. In a matter of seconds, he’d reached them, frowning at the scene before him.

“What’s going on?” he wanted to know.

“One of the rabbits nibbled the boy’s finger,” she explained, shooting Henry a look that said,Help!“His father wants a refund...and potentially a lawsuit.”

“Are you the one in charge?” the man asked.

Henry stepped closer, towering over him with a calm expression on his face. “Yes, sir, I am. I apologize for whatever distress you must be in.”

“Yeah, you’d better—”

“But from what I can see, your son isn’t really injured. There’s no cut.”

The man’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “You callin’ me a liar?”

“I’m saying you’re mistaken, sir.” Henry dropped to a crouch next to the boy, holding out his hand. “Let me see that, kiddo. Are you hurt?”

The boy glanced at him, then at his father. Then he shook his head slowly.

“Kid doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” his father insisted. “I want my refund.”

Henry sighed, and for a second, Nora thought he might give the man a piece of his mind. Instead, he simply straightened, a pleasant smile unfurling on his face.

“I can assure you, sir,” he said, “that all our animals are properly vaccinated and no harm will come to your child or anyone else. But if you want a refund, I’m willing to let you have it.”

The man’s face seemed to relax a little. He cleared his throat. “Well, when you put it that way, I guess that’s fair. We’ll take the refund. No lawsuit.”

Henry’s smile widened. A second later, he handed the man a wad of notes. “Thank you.”

“C’mon, Dexter.” The man put an arm around his son’s shoulders and led him away through the crowd.

Nora and Henry stared after them for a few seconds. Then he turned to face her.

“Thanks for the save,” she said.

“Don’t mention it. He was all bark and no bite. Plus I think I might’ve scared him a little without meaning to.”

Nora couldn’t argue with that. The sheer size of his muscles would intimidate anybody.

The corner of his mouth turned upward. “You looked like you were about to zap him into oblivion. Lucky I got here when I did.”

She could tell he was trying not to sound so disappointed about the refund. Itwasa setback, considering he still had a lot of sales to make before the day was over.

“We’ll get more customers,” she assured him. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.”

His dark eyes gleamed a little at her words, and she felt her chest constrict a little. The memory of Henry covering her mouth with his hit her then, without warning. It had been so sudden and unexpected, but she’d savored every second of it. Heck, if he hadn’t pulled away when he had, reminding her of the fact that they were still in public, there was no telling what she would’ve let him do.