Bookshops & Bonedust (Legends & Lattes, #0)(40)

“For lunch? Oh, the leg.” Viv shrugged. “I trust my body to tell me what it’ll put up with. Got to listen to that before anybody else.” She set a wrapped paper parcel on the counter and a stack of books beside it. “Besides, I talked to Highlark yesterday. He rebound it and made a lot of grumbling noises, but this time I think he was annoyed because it’s healing well.”

“And why would that annoy him?” asked Fern as she examined the parcel.

“Nobody likes a showoff,” Viv said with a grin that she knew would annoy the elf if she were fool enough to flash it in his presence. “Especially not surgeons.”

“And what’s in here, hm?” Fern fingered the twine binding the package.

“Maylee said she tried something from the gnomish cookbook. That’s all I know. Open it.”

Fern needed no further prompting and untied the neat bow. Unfolding the paper, she revealed several flaky pastries, scored across their tops, oozing preserved fruit. She picked one up and took a bite. “Eight hells,” she breathed. “If you were sweet on Maylee for nothing but the food, I’d hardly blame you.”

“Everybody’s got an opinion on that, don’t they?” grumbled Viv, coloring slightly.

“Kiss who you want. You’re grownups. I’m just grateful for the side benefits.” She patted the books with a paw. “You’re done with these?”

Fern withdrew a book from under the counter and set it next to Viv’s pile. “I’ve been meaning to spring this on you, and I think you’re ready.”

Viv ran a thumb over a rich green clothbound cover. “The Lens and the Dapplegrim?”

“It’s a mystery.”

“You mean you don’t know what it’s about?”

“No, it’s a genre. The book is about a mystery and how it gets solved.”

“And they need this many pages to do that?”

Fern laughed. “Well, it’s also about the investigator, and he’s one of my favorites. You might relate. He’s this grizzled old mercenary who lost a leg. And he’s got this clever companion, who’s a chemist.”

“I should relate to grizzled and old, huh?” Viv pretended to be affronted.

The rattkin stuck out her tongue and slapped Viv on the arm. “Have I steered you wrong yet? And if you like it … well, there’s more where that came from.” She took another huge bite of the pastry and closed her eyes in dreamy pleasure as she chewed, then swallowed. “Fuck,” she said appreciatively.

Viv undid the buckle across her chest and slung the saber behind the counter. Fern hadn’t said so, but she seemed more comfortable having the weapon around, which made Viv feel a complicated mix of pride and guilt. They didn’t speak of the man in gray often, but neither had they forgotten him.

When Viv straightened, she fidgeted some curls out of her face. “Look, I’ve been meaning to talk to you.”

Pausing before her next bite, Fern said, “That sounds serious.”

Viv sighed. “I don’t feel right about this, the longer it goes on. Sitting in your shop. Borrowing your books. Sweeping and painting the things you can’t reach. How much of that is there to do? I don’t like feeling useless.”

“But you’re not—”

She held up a hand. “I know what you’re going to say. I get it. But tell me seriously, how are things really going around here? When I met you, you were positive the ship was going down. I feel like I’m scrubbing the deck while you bail water. And I don’t like it.”

Fern stroked the clasp that pinned her cloak in place. It was a nervous gesture that Viv recognized.

“The shop … will last a little longer. It’s been better lately. A bit. More visitors. A few more books.” It seemed to pain Fern to say this. There was a long pause while she marshaled further thoughts. “But in another way, it’s the best it’s ever been. It’s been better for me. Having you here is connecting me to why I do this. To why I used to love it. I don’t know if I can explain it, but watching you read what I give you, putting a book in your hands and seeing what happens to you once you put it back down … I can’t make you understand how that gives me something I didn’t know I had to have.”

When she fell into silence, Viv was wise enough not to fill it.

“You help me remember why I bother,” concluded Fern, almost in a whisper.

Another long silence.

Viv nodded. “Okay. I’m glad. Feels like I’m taking advantage, but I guess I’m not stupid enough to disbelieve you. But another couple of weeks, at most, and I’m gone. So … maybe I help with something else, too, so the boat sails on even longer? I’m used to making a difference with my hands. Let me do that.”

“I know that’s what you’re used to,” said Fern, “but you don’t have to use your hands to matter.”

“Maybe not.” Viv smiled faintly. “But it’s nice when you need to paint the top of the door.”

Fern shrugged resignedly. “Fine, I’ll—”

The door slammed open and Gallina dashed inside.

“Oh thank the Eight, you’re here. C’mon, Viv, you gotta see this,” she said breathlessly.

“See what?”