“It involves food.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.” I bounced on my toes. “Are you in, or are you out?”
“That sounds dangerously like a dare.”
“I would never dare a gwyllgi.”
“Mmm-hmm.” He took my hand and shook on it. “I’m in.”
“Excellent.”
Keeping hold of him, I dragged him through the rear door of another restaurant that spat us out into the kitchen. An old man with weathered brown skin who hunched to avoid his shoulders brushing the ceiling stirred sauce in a pot on the stove. His limbs creaked when he twisted to see who had joined him, and the green leaves of his hair stuck out from under his chef’s hat.
“Hadley,” he rumbled, a smile curving the strips of bark that formed his lips. “Did you get turned around in the alley? The takeout window is up front.”
And I made good use of it to get my grabby hands on his epic pies whenever the craving struck me.
“I have a huge favor to ask.” I clasped my hands in front of me. “Pleeease.”
“A favor?” Knotty eyes fixed on me, he chided me. “After I haven’t seen you in weeks?”
“Sadly,” I confessed, the Choco-Loco blaze fresh in my mind, “business has been booming.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” He turned slowly, his rootling feet long and thin. “What would you ask of me?”
Twisting my sneaker on the tile, I pressed my clasped hands to my chest. “Teach us to make pizza?”
The us made him curious enough to rake his gaze over Midas. “This is your boyfriend?”
“Her mate.” Midas touched the small of my back. “I’m Midas Kinase.”
“Kinase.” The buds near his hairline unfurled, glossy and bright. “Tisdale’s boy?”
Finding a genuine smile, Midas aimed it at the chef. “You know Mom?”
“Your mother and I are of an age.” His grin exposed the dark age rings striping his teeth. “And her pack keeps me in business.” He made a slight bow. “I’m Fergus Crann.”
“Is that a yes?” I wheedled. “We wanted to do something special for a date night.”
“I would have loaned you my Seanan even without the heir apparent.” He checked on his sauce. “I hope that will suffice?”
“Thank you.” I blew him a kiss that flushed his cheeks a muddy brown. “You’re the best.”
“Wait for her in the small kitchen.” He turned back to his stove. “She’ll be along shortly.”
Hand in hand, we did as we were told. The small kitchen was the one original to the building. Fergus loved the old brick pizza oven and refused to part with it, so it was more decorative than anything these days. He kept it operational for parties where people, like us, wanted to learn how to make their own pie the right way.
Midas pulled out a chair at an empty table for me. “How do you know Fergus?”
“You’d be surprised how many trees are sentient.” I kicked the leg of the chair opposite me, and it popped out for him. “Then again, being gwyllgi, maybe you wouldn’t.”
“We’re taught to respect nature, but that doesn’t mean nature gives up all its secrets to us.”
That wasn’t an answer, but just because he was part fae didn’t mean he had taken everyone’s measure.
“There were two kids tying firecrackers to a cat’s tail then lighting them last Fourth of July.” Humans, both of them. “The cat was understandably terrified and shot up a tree to escape them. His fur had caught fire, and it was a dry summer, so the tree wasn’t far behind.”
A growl built in Midas’s throat, sympathy for the cat and the tree.
“It happened in Centennial Olympic Park, and I got lucky. I was able to dig a few large cups out of the trash to fill with fountain water. The cat didn’t appreciate my efforts, or the trip to the vet’s office, but what can you do?” I was amazed the scratches from the experience didn’t scar. “Anyway, I saved the tree, and Fergus paid me a visit the next day with an offer of free pizza for life.”
“I have noticed you eat a lot of pizza…”
“I’ll have you know, even at my lowest, I didn’t take him up on the offer.”
Interest brought him in closer. “Why not?”
“I was doing my job.” I rubbed my thumb across the glossy table. “No perks required.”
“She saved the grove,” Seanan told Midas as she joined us. “One wrong move from that cat, and the whole stand of trees would have gone up in smoke. Most weren’t sentient, but we would have lost three elders who are meditating.”
Behind my hand, I explained to Midas, “That means sleeping as a tree for a decade or two.”
“It’s not a bad gig, honestly.” She anchored her hands on her hips. “I’m looking forward to my time.”
From what I could tell, Seanan was a sapling compared to Fergus. Her skin was a warm brown, so were her eyes and her hair, but she wore a human glamour in front of customers that made it impossible to guess her true appearance. “When will that be?”
“Two centuries, give or take.” She winked. “They make us earn our vacations around here.”
While she built up the fire, Midas and I helped two of the waitstaff carry in the supplies for our lesson.
The evening didn’t go as Midas had planned, but we had a good time. Seanan awarded me winner of the prettiest pizza, which wasn’t saying much, then challenged us to a race to see who could eat their lopsided—but delicious—creation the fastest.
No surprise, Midas won. He was a gwyllgi, after all.
As we tidied up our workstations, Seanan reappeared with two boxes, one balanced on each palm.
“Dad made these for you.” She presented the top one to Midas. “This is apple streusel.” Then handed me the other. “This one is really just a giant chocolate chip cookie disguised as a dessert pizza.”
“I would have asked for lessons sooner if I had known we got prizes.” I leaned down and inhaled. “This smells amazing.” Ambrose smoothed his hand reverently along the lid, and Midas mostly hid his jolt of surprise. At times, my shadow still managed to unnerve Midas when he popped in. “I’ve never seen it on the menu.”
“There’s not a big dessert pizza market,” she confessed. “He makes them for family, but that’s about it.”
A wide smile blossomed across my face. “Now I feel even more special.”
“Before your head gets too big to fit out the door, I should remind you that Midas’s family orders our pie by the dozens.” She turned to go. “Nightly.”
“You’re saying I’m only special by association?” I clutched my pizza tighter. “That’s harsh.”
Tossing a wave over her shoulder as she left, she chuckled. “That’s small business for you.”
Juggling his box, Midas removed two twenties from his wallet then placed them on the table.
You could tell a lot about a person by how they treated others, particularly those in the service industry.
Fergus would get his trunk in a twist over it, but Seanan had earned the tip for salvaging our date night.