Dear Paul,

  I’d like to say there was a good reason for the delay, but we both have been a part of this guild long enough to know that’s not the case. I’ll keep it short because I know you’ll appreciate it. Remember that little tit that got picked up for torching the shop in the first place? Turns out he’s the only son of the south regional director and his father was livid about the arrest. One of the last things he did before “retiring” (don’t ask me why, I’m too low on the ladder) was to take your chemist’s funding request and throw it away. I had to dig through his outbound trash to find the form and get it signed. Anyway, we’re back on track. Your man should be getting his letter soon.

  Warmest regards,

  Mich Lightfoot

  “You’re here for her.” The breath caught in Joe’s throat even as he said it. Arlowe nodded solemnly, looking no more pleased than Joe felt.

  “I’m sorry Mr.Alderbright, but heads higher than my own have decided that everyone would be safer if she was in guild hands.” Joe could feel the color rising on his face. He wanted to do something, anything to try and stop this from happening.

  Arlowe must have been able to read his expression, if not his thoughts. The minotaur gave a sad shake of the head and rested his hand on his warhammer. “Mr.Alderbright please. No good will come from whatever you’re thinking of doing. As I have said before, I promised on my guild honor that she would be taken care of and I do not intend to go back on that now. Crystal will be turned over to me and remain in my custody until this matter is resolved.”

  Joe’s shoulders slumped at Arlowe’s words, all the fight leaving him at once. “I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t say ‘wiser heads’” He commented dryly, getting a smile from the minotaur.

  “I did not.”

  “She may not go with you.”

  “Then it is up to you to get her to understand why she needs to.”

  “Have you got a payoff amount?”

  Arlowe shook his head. “That will take time, but I am hoping to have it for you in the next two days.”

  Joe gave a nod before bending down to talk to Crystal on her level. “Crystal honey? I’m going to need you to go with,” he paused for a moment, his mind running back to his conversation with Merrie Carrie. “Uncle Arlowe for a while. He’s got a little boy you are going to keep company for a few days ok?”

  “Papi?” The little core beast cocked her head to the side, her big blue eyes staring questioningly up at him.

  “Don’t worry baby, it’s only for a, a couple days. Then Papi will bring you the biggest stuffed animal I can find in the city ok?”

  Crystal looked at him, then slowly turned to regard Arlowe. The big minotaur smiled gently back at her.

  “Hello Crystal. I’m your Uncle Arlowe. We’re going to have some fun together. I brought you something myself.” He rummaged around in his belt pouch, eventually producing a familiar waxed paper bag. It was the kind Joe knew the local confectioner sold this worlds version of M&M’s in.

  Crystal immediately perked up upon seeing the bag. She glanced over at Joe before giving him a big hug. Goodbye thusly given Crystal toddled off to Arlowe, who held out his hand to her. With one more promise to take care of her, they turned and left. It almost killed Joe to watch her go.

  “Need a hug?”

  Joe just about jumped out of his skin. He whirled around to find Gretta setting her blowpipe down by the glass oven. He’d been so fixated on Arlowe Joe hadn’t even thought to look into the blacksmith shop. Now that he did, he found it was one smith short.

  “Where’s Moira?”

  “Off looking for you.” Gretta crossed her arms over her chest and leaned a hip into the back wall. “I’m surprised you didn’t run into her on your way back from Merrie Carrie’s”

  “Ah, that’s because I didn’t come from Merrie Carrie’s” Joe winced. “I went to the bank to see about a mortgage.”

  “A mortgage?” Gretta asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. “While your shop is a smoldering ruin? Do you really think that’s going to be a good idea?”

  Joe was taken aback. ‘Wait, does that matter? The guild is going to pay for it to be rebuilt, so it’s not like it’ll stay a ruin forever.” No sooner had Joe said it than his old banker mind kicked in. Of course it matters, it grumbled at him, do you think a bank is going to roll the dice on a shmuck like you?

  Gretta’s eyes widened before she shook her head. “I would imagine it makes a great deal of difference. My uncle is a brick mason out of Queen’s Gate and I’ve heard him complain on more than one occasion about jobs suddenly falling through, or last minute changes that put the whole project overbudget.” She shrugged, “plus I wouldn’t put it past the Bacarti’s to do everything in their power to make things more favorable for themselves.”

  Joe removed his glasses to scrub his face. He could feel a headache developing behind his eyes. Great, that’s just what I need to hear. Like this could get any worse. Unbidden, the words of Paul came back to him.

  “She’s not even your daughter.”

  Maybe I should just give it up. The more I look for solutions, the more this seems to be an impossible task. Joe’s heart immediately rebelled against his traitorous brain. What am I even saying? I can’t do that. I couldn’t look myself in the eyes again if I just let Crystal go without a fight. He took a deep breath to steady himself. It helped a little, but he felt a nervous sort of restlessness bouncing around his body. I don’t think I’ll be able to sit still. “I’m gunna go see if I can’t find Moira. I feel bad she’s out there looking for me.” Joe turned and left. Behind him he heard Gretta call out that it would be better to wait there, but he pretended not to hear.

  <><><>

  No matter what he told himself about finding Moira, Joe’s feet took him in only one direction. With no real conscious thought or intentions Joe found himself standing in front of the ruin of his shop. He stood there, letting the afternoon traffic flow around him like a stone in a river. It’s definitely been a hell of a lot more interesting here than back on Earth. Although I think I’m about ready for it to settle down into a routine again, thank you very much Universe. Joe glanced down. Seeing an innocent stone minding its own business, he kicked it, sending the pebble skittering off to disappear into the hole where his floor once was. I wonder if the insurance would pay to cover the balcony and get a few proper bedrooms in there.

  Joe let his mind unspool, picking out which windows would be to Crystal’s room, which would be his, and if there would be enough room to move Becky up from the basement. Maybe she'd prefer it if I had a section of basement partitioned off into a proper room for her. Yeah, maybe sink a window well in the side alley and give her a cozy little fireplace. I know the manafurnace takes care of the heating, but you can’t beat a nice fireplace. His musings were interrupted by a familiar voice off to his right.

  “Joe? Joe! It’s good to see you!”

  Joe didn’t manage a full turn before he was hit by the feather weight of Cha’Takal. The smaller man embraced Joe with the exuberance of a long lost brother. “What brings you here? Have you come to check on Goober?”

  “No, although I hope the big lump is behaving for you,” Joe said with a smile, returning the kobolds hug as best he could. There hadn’t been room for the gnollhound in the cramped confines of Moira’s home. Even if he had been smaller however, his general pervasive smell of warmed up dead fish and near constant flatulence made staying in a confined space with him particularly unpleasant.

  In the end the Meadowbrooks had agreed to look after him until the shop was up and running again. Goober really hadn’t given them much of a choice. He had simply moved to the next unlocked gate and refused to be budged from their back garden.

  “Oh he has been a darling. He’s been busy keeping the croarks away and the hatchlings enjoy how warm he is.” Cha’Takal scratched his muzzle, cocking his head to the side in though. “Although my darling dislikes the smell after they have basked on him. Our children have never been so well scrubbed.”

  Joe let out a heartfelt laugh. Despite all that had been going on in his life, it was hard to stay glum in the presence of the irrepressible kobold.

  Cha’Takal finally released Joe from the half hug around the hip that he had been maintaining. “Why not come and say hello to him? I’m sure he would like to see you.”

  “I doubt it, but why not? It’s not like I’ve got anything else going on.” Joe followed the kobold back to his shop.

  Meadowbrook Pawn was exactly as he remembered it. The stock and trimmings may have changed as things were added and taken away, but the cramped and stuffy, yet somehow homey atmosphere remained the same. Mi’Takal sat at the counter scrubbing furiously at a darkly stained onesie while hatchlings skittered around her feet like the insects they hunted between the shelves. She looked up when her husband and Joe entered, a smile playing across her scaly face when she spotted their guest.

  “Joe! It’s good to see you. No mail yet, sorry.”

  “That’s fine,” Joe said, giving her a smile of his own. “I’m actually here to check on Goober, make sure he’s not causing too much trouble.”

  “Oh he’s no trouble at all,” Mi’Takal chuckled, flapping the soiled onesie as if to clear the air of his concerns. “He’s in the back garden if you want to see him.” She abandoned her task, leaving the stained garment on the counter as she slid off her chair.

  Joe held up his hands. “I’m good Mi, I know where the back door is.”

  Mi’Takal bobbed her head and led him behind the counter regardless. “All the same, I’ll come with you, if for no other reason than to keep the little ones from getting out.”

  “Oh has that been a problem?” Joe asked, falling in behind her. He had to watch where he stepped as the hatchlings followed their mother like a chirruping comet tail.

  “Not so much now that Goober is here, but you know how mothers can be.” Mi’Takal shot him a smile over her shoulder.

  Joe did, but was still wholly unprepared for the mad dash for the door the hatchlings executed as soon as they smelled the fresh air. They were checked in their headlong charge by their mother, who put herself squarely in the doorframe. Whether it was Mi’Takal’s maternal glare, or the looming presence of the gnollhound behind her, Joe wasn’t sure. Either way the combined might of the two was enough to cause the hatchlings to execute a cartoonish sliding stop.

  Mi’Takal said nothing, instead extending a single taloned digit to point back the way they had come. The hatchlings broke for cover, skittering back into the shop to hunt spiders in the shadows of the shelves.

  Joe had just enough time to get one good laugh out at their antics before a blast of waste bin halitosis combined with about 200 pounds of gnollhound worked together to knock him off his feet. “Pth, well hello Goober, you big sack of shit.” Joe sputtered, trying to avert his face from the gnollhounds breath and tongue.

  Mi’Takal crouched next to Joe where he lay sprawled on his back just inside the rear door. A smile played around her snout. “I think he really missed you.”

  “Oh you think? Pth! Stop it you great lump!” Joe pushed with all his might, finally dislodging the beast who relented with a grumble. “I’m glad he’s been good for you. There’s just no room for him to stay at Moira’s. At least not long term.” Joe looked up at his former neighbor to see a far away look in her eye. “Mi?”

  “Hm?” Mi’Takal seemed to come back to herself at Joe’s prompting. “Oh yes, he’s been just a dear. How are things with you and Moira?”

  “Good, why?” Joe raised an eyebrow, which only got him a shrug from the little kobold.

  “Just curious. Something came into the shop the other day that got me thinking about you two.”

  “Really now. What could possibly have come in to do that?” Joe reached over and started scratching Goober around the jawline. The gnollhound closed his eyes and leaned into the scritches, a happy grumbling noise rattling Joe’s fingers to the knuckle.

  “Oh just something small.” Mi’Takal chirped with a mischievous smile. “Here let me go get them for you.” She stood and disappeared into the bowels of the shop.

  “‘They’?” Joe called after her, but got no reply. He would have followed her, had Goober not been leaning into him to hard to risk moving. If Joe stopped pressing his hand into the gnollhound the force it was applying on him would send Goober straight into him likely knocking them both back over. Instead Joe focused on giving Goober some much deserved attention.

  “Sorry boy,” Joe crooned in the pseudo baby voice all pet owners use even if they wont admit it. Joe dug his fingers into the skin rolls around Goobers broad shoulders, right where his almost neck connected into the rest of his body. It was just the spot Goober liked, causing him to emit an even deeper happy groan. “I hear that I owe you for protecting Becky. You’re a good boy Goober, yes you are. You’re a good boy even if you do smell like warm fish wrapped in shit.” Goober’s eyes closed, completely lost in the feeling of neck scritches.

  “Here you are Joe!” Mi’Takal chirped, slipping in next to him once more. Whatever ‘it’ was she had for him was clasped too tightly in her tiny hands for Joe to make out until she opened them with a dramatic flourish. “The pair came in together just yesterday and it would be a shame to separate them.” It was a pair of plain gold bands, one slightly wider than the other. Their buffed surface was polished to a mirror shine so perfect Joe could see two tiny versions of himself staring back from inside the rings.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  “They’re nice,” Joe said at last, looking from the rings to Mi’Takal, “but I’m not much for jewelry. Besides, I don't have the money for them right now.”

  Mi’Takal’s shoulders slumped, her mouth hanging open for a moment before she pursed her lips so hard it left crinkles around her eyes.

  Is she trying not to smile? A nameless sort of embarrassment welled up in Joe. He could feel his face heat up. The blush must have been pretty bad, as Mi’Takal caught it almost immediately and gave Joe an apologetic look.

  “I’m sorry Joe, but that was something Cha would say. Do you really not recognize them?”

  Joe shook his head. “Rings?” he hazarded.

  Mi’Takal made a half strangled little chirp. It sounded like a songbird being sucked through a vacuum cleaner. “They’re a pair of wedding rings.” She finally explained. “They came in as part of an estate bundle. Cha just finished polishing them up.”

  “Wedding rings,” Joe echoed, the coin finally dropping with the force of a cinderblock. His heart leapt as his mind shut down. ‘Wedding, I don’t, we’re not there, I’d love to sometime.”

  “Joseph Alderbright.” Mi’Takal tittered, playfully punching his arm with the none ring wielding hand. “You’ve been dating her longer than Cha and I did. You met her parents and came back unscathed. You’re currently living with her in her house. Gods above, her daughter calls you ‘Papa’. What do you mean you’re not there yet?”

  Joe gaped, completely at a loss on what to say. In the empty space where his response should have been Mi’Takal leaned forward and knocked their heads together. The blow wasn’t hard, her diminutive size robbing the gesture of a lot of power on it’s own. But the feeling of her eye ridges hitting his forehead brought Joe back from overload. “Moira clearly likes you.” Mi’Takal gave another tittering laugh. “I heard what she does to men that displease her, so why not prove you’re a better man than that brainless c’thal?”

  Joe stared down at the rings in Mi’Takal’s hand. She’s got a point. Moira has already had to deal with one lover who strung her along. She doesn’t deserve that again. It’s not like I don’t love her, it’s just. A picture of Mary in her wedding dress flashed through his mind. Her smile, so different from Moira's, filled his vision from horizon to horizon bringing with it a deep guilt that he’d not felt in months.

  As Joe came back to reality Mary’s smiling face was replaced by Mi’Takal, still holding out the rings waiting for him to make his decision. “I don’t have the money.” He said at last.

  Mi’Takal shook her head. “Take them,” she said softly, “as a gift between friends.”

  “Mi, I can’t”

  “You can and you will.” She took his unresisting hand and dropped the rings into them, closing his hand around them before he could fight back.

  Joe chuckled, squeezing the rings in the fist she’d put his hand into. “What if I’m not ready to marry her?” He used a joking tone, but deep inside there was still a lot of tension knotted around his heart.

  Mi’Takal knew none of this and likely wouldn’t have changed her answer had she known. “Then you would be a cretin and a fool, and I would advise you not to wait forever trying to find something better.”

  Joe gave a snort, “like that’s likely to happen. I don’t want anyone else.” To his own private surprise, he realized the words were true.

  “Then…” Mi’Takal tapped his fist with one claw.

  “You’re really not going to let me leave until I promise to marry Moira are you?”

  “No, you don’t have to promise anything,” Mi’Takal shrugged, spreading both hands out as if presenting something. “Just, think on it. Don’t leave poor Moira hanging on forever.”

  “I will,” Joe blinked then amended, “think on it that is. I gotta get going though. It was nice talking to you.” He dropped the two rings into his mostly empty money pouch before turning to Goober for one more good scritching. “And you, you big lug. You better keep on your best behavior or I’m not giving you any more treats you hear?”

  Goober sneezed into Joe’s face.

  After a quick pitstop to clean gnollhound snot out of his beard, Joe bid his neighbors goodbye. He’d made it to the door when there was a tinkle from the mail flap and a letter fell onto Joe’s foot. It was addressed to him.

  <><><>

  “It came!”

  Moira bobbled the strike and ended up with a nail shape like a spoon. Heaving a sigh she cut the reject off the stock she was working with and pitched it into the quenching bucket. It screeched accusingly up at her as the red hot metal sank into the cold depth. “What came in Joe?”

  “The guild approval!” Joe said with an apologetic smile. “I dropped it off with Paul and he promised he’d get the ball rolling on ordering materials for the reconstruction. I really need to do something nice for him. He’s been nothing but helpful this whole time. Do you know what he might like? I’m sure that, since he runs the general store, he can pretty much order whatever he wants.”Joe wasn’t aware he was rambling until Moira reached over the table and gently squeezed his arm. “Ah, sorry. I’m just. It’s just.” Joe took a deep breath. “If we get construction going, maybe the Bacarti’s will loan on the shop.”

  Moira squeezed his arm again, favoring him with the sort of indulgent smile reserved for children and husbands. “We’re due a bit of good news,” she said before tugging on his arm to bring him closer to her face. The table got in the way and Moira had to stand on her tip toes to complete the maneuver, but in the end she got their lips to touch.

  Their kiss was as chaste as any public kiss was, but it still got an ‘oooo’ from the peanut gallery working the glass kiln.

  Moira spared a glare for her nosey assistant, which did nothing to dampen the orc’s amusement. “Here,” Moira turned, rummaging in her shirt top for a moment before extracting something from its depths. She ignored the wolf whistling from Gretta and took Joe’s hand. “Why don’t you go to Merrie’s and pick Paul up something nice as a thank you?”

  Joe felt the weight of two warm coins fall into his hand. He looked down to see she’d given him two bronze manacoins. “Moira, I’m not going to use your money to-mph!”

  Moira didn’t so much put a finger to Joe’s lips as pinch them between thumb and forefinger. “Hush. It’s two bronze, it won't put me in the red and he deserves something nice.”

  “Plus if you want to pay her back, you can call it a reservation fee on your body!” Gretta called from a safe distance.

  Moira spun, retort on her lips when she was brought up short by Joe leaning as far over the table as he could and kissing her lightly on the neck. She let out a quiet little sigh and shimmied backwards, making it easier for him to sprinkle a few more over the top of the first one.

  “Hey, hey not here. Save that for later!”

  If Moira had a response to her cheeky assistant, she didn’t bother with it. Instead she tilted her head to the side ever so slightly so Joe could have a bit more fun.

  “Excuse me, how much for the box of nails?” The words cut through the moment making Moira’s back stiffen immediately.

  “Five iron,” Gretta answered, moving to the counter where a daph in a leather apron stood holding a small cardboard box like a lost child.

  “It’s written on the side of the gods damned package.” Moira growled in a voice only Joe could hear.

  He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “You know customers are deaf and blind.” Joe took the opportunity to nibble her earlobe, causing Moira to bite back on a moan.

  She turned, pushing him back over the table and glaring at him, hands on her hips. “You better stop that and get a move on or by all the gods I’ll drag you upstairs and make you regret that bite.”

  With a bark of laughter and a kiss on her nose, Joe left his blacksmith love to her customers.

  <><><>

  Merrie Carrie’s cafe was as busy as ever on a weekday afternoon. While it was some distance from the college campus, nothing was truely far away in Academyway. The cafe did a brisk business around the school's afternoon lunch breaks as both students and staff made the journey from campus to the little cozy space that was Merrie Carrie’s.

  Joe joined the end of the line, being careful to give the appropriate amount of room to the lamia in front of him. The warm atmosphere and wonderful smells wired to lull Joe into a meditative mindset as he waited his turn. So lost in a pleasant fog was he that it wasn’t until Merrie Carrie spoke to him that he realized the line had really moved at all.

  “Afternoon hon, what can I get for ya?”

  Joe looked up and had to do a double take. The voice was right, but the lanoli before him had about half the thickness of his friend. The effect was very much like seeing an old friend after they had lost a tremendous amount of weight, or perhaps a wet pomeranian. The lanoli in front of him let out a bubbling belly laugh. She ran her fingers through the much shorter fleece on her head and gave Joe a wink.

  “What? Never seen a lanoli with their summer coat?” Joe shook his head which got another laugh from Merrie Carrie. “Well it doesn’t help I’ma good wool gatherer, all the ladies in ma family are. I’d keep it year round but blow me if it don’t get hot as hell in the summer.”

  “How often do you get your hair cut?” Joe asked, trying hard to not stare at how baggy her clothes were now.

  “Twice a year. Once about midway through spring and again around the middle of summer.” Merrie Carrie gave a shrug. “The summer fluff ain’t long enough to sell but it still gets uncomfortably hot. Now whatcha want hon? I could sit her jawing all day, but you got people behind you.”

  “Oh sorry,” Joe glanced behind him to see the line went almost out the door. “I’m picking up a present for Paul. Something to say thank you for how much he’s been helping me. Do you know what he likes?”

  Merri Carrie tapped her chin theatrically for a moment before turning and disappearing through the kitchen door. “I got just tha thing. Becky! Get to taking orders while I put this together for Joe.”

  “Oh is Joe here?” The head of Joe’s mozish assistant peaked around the corner, her multiple earrings jingling as they caused her soft ears to sway back and forth. “Hey Joe!” Becky came out all the way, taking up her station at the counter after snagging a step stool. “Can you step over here so I can help the next customer?” Becky gestured to the space next to her where Joe would be out of the way.

  He took up the indicated post and waited patiently for whatever it was Merrie Carrie was putting together for him. Joe wanted to tell Bekcy about the construction approval, but she was hip deep in customers so he held his peace.

  Becky had worked her way through the backlog by the time Merrie Carrie came back. The large lanoli held a basket in her arms so piled high with baked goods it blocked her torso. “Here ya go Joe,” Merrie Carrie called, setting the monstrous thing down on the counter, “ain’t nothing says ‘thank you’ better than a whole boat load of carbs.” Becky had to abandon her perch in order to not be rolled by the rolls.

  “Yeah, that’ll do it.” Joe said, awe in his voice as he eyed the pile of confections. ‘How much do I owe you?” He held up a finger before Merrie Carrie could say anything. “And don’t say it’s free to a friend. You do that too much already.”

  Merrie Carrie crossed her arms over her still considerable chest. She huffed out her nose, but didn’t try and argue. “Let’s call it a bronze and eight iron then.”

  Pretty sure that’s cost, but I doubt I’ll get her to take any more Joe thought as he upended the meager contents of his coin purse. Out fell the two bronze manacoins Moira had given him, the smattering of iron ones he could still claim as his, and the two gold rings.

  There was an immediate intake of breath from Merrie Carrie and Becky that confused Joe before the lanoli baker swept the rings from Joe’s hand.

  She held one up to the light, inspecting it like a gemologist inspecting a rough stone. “Why Joseph Alderbright, took ya damn time but I’m happy ya finally got the stones to do it.” Merrie Carrie gave him a huge wink. “Of course I’ll marry you.”

  Joe’s mouth opened and closed a few times, his brain desperately trying to find a tactful way of telling Merrie Carrie that she had the wrong idea.

  “Merrie, stop picking on the poor guy,” Becky put her hands on her hips, glaring up at her employer in a way that would have gotten her an HR visit back on Earth. “Look at him, he’s as red as a bushberry.”

  “I know,” Merrie Carrie cooed not guilty in the slightest. “Ain’t he just the cutest?” She gave Joe’s cheek a pinch before finally letting him be. “All right, all right. I’ll let’m be. Seriously though Joe, I’m glad ya finally decided to tie’re down.” Her wink left nothing to the imagination on what she really meant.

  Joe rolled his eyes. Stepping further to the side to get out of the flow of customers, he reclaimed the rings from Merrie Carrie’s outstretched hand. “Thanks, so does that mean I have your blessing?” Joe deadpanned as he secured the rings in his money pouch.

  “Course you do!” Merrie Carrie laughed, slapping Joe on the back so hard he was forced to take a step forward. “When are you going to do the ask’n?”

  “I,” Joe faltered, and not entirely due to the strength of the blow. The smile drained from Merrie carries’s face to be replaced by a serious look that Joe did not like at all.

  “Ya are plannin’ on givin’ her the rings right? I mean ya bought the damn things for a reason.” Her abrupt change in demeanor startled Joe, and he found himself shaking his head before he even realized he was doing it.

  “No, that’s not it. It’s just.” Joe glanced sideways, looking out over the crowded seating area full of people pretending they weren’t listening. ‘Can we talk about this somewhere else?”

  Merrie Carrie followed his gaze, nodding as she took in all the people. “Alright, come on up to ma apartment.” She turned and lead the way back through the kitchens, not looking back to see if Joe was following.

  <><><>

  Merrie Carrie’s home was pink and smelled of lavender. The walls had all been painted a pastel shade of pink with lighter pink accents on the wainscotting and windowsills. What furniture wasn’t pink by design was covered in pink either in the form of knicknacks or artfully draped table cloths. The whole picture put Joe in mind of the bedrooms of certain little girls who went all in on the princess theme.

  “A’right, we’re all alone.” Merrie Carrie said, shutting the door and turning to Joe. She crossed her arms over her chest again, all levity gone from her face. It was the most serious Joe had ever seen the lanoli be.

  Joe took a deep breath and just got to the point. “Did Moira ever tell you I was married before?” Merrie Carrie blinked, then shook her head no. “Well I was. I would still be in fact if, if she hadn’t died.”

  “Oh Joe, I’m sorry.” Merrie Carrie’s expression softened, taking on a much more concerned and less hostile look.

  “No it’s ok.” Joe found it easier to talk to Merrie Carrie if he looked at her feet instead of up at the sad expression in her eyes. “But that’s the point. I still love my wife. She’s been gone for years, but I still love her. Asking Moira to marry me feels like a betrayal to Mary.”

  Merrie blinked, her arms unwinding from each other in her surprise. “What, ya wife’s name was Mary?”

  “Yeah, M-A-R-Y.” Joe spelled it out, already sure of where this was going.

  “Aw hells Joe, I’m sorry for pulling your leg earlier. I didn’t know.”

  “Exactly,” Joe said, cutting her off with a nod, “you didn’t know so there’s nothing to apologize for.” Joe smiled, patting as far up her arm as he could reach. “Although if we’re being honest with each other, I’m a little surprised you got so serious all of a sudden.”

  Merrie Carrie shrugged, placing her hand over Joe’s and giving it a little squeeze. “Can ya blame a girl? Moira may not be my sister by blood, but I’ve stood by her mosta my life.” She looked away from Joe, but left her hand over his. “Tha idea that she might be gett’n jerked around again wrinkled me more than I like to admit. I know ya nothing like that idiot Minsk and I shoulda had more faith in you. I’m sorry.”

  “Now that’s an apology I’ll accept.” Joe said with a smile, getting a snort from the big lanoli.

  Merrie Carrie reached out and ruffled his hair. A move Joe was powerless to get away from as she still had his hand. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You’re an absolute sweetheart Joe.” Joe was confused by where that comment had come from, but Merrie Carrie went on before Joe could ask. “Any lady worth their pretty white knickers would love to have you all to themselves, and Moira’s a lucky lady for being tha one to throw ya over her shoulder.” She ruffled his hair again and for a moment Joe knew how Sarah felt when he did it to her.

  “But you gotta let yourself love again hon. Sitt’n there pine’n away ain’t doing either of you any good.” Merrie Carrie withdrew her hand and scratched the side of her head, seeming unsure of what she was about to say. “An, I may not’ve known ya Mary, but if she was a good enough woman to hook ya this hard, she musta had a heart big enough ta forgive ya for moving on after she’s gone.”

  Joe sniffed and rubbed at his eyes. “Thanks Merrie. I do think Mary would have approved of Moira if they’d met. It’s just, hard to move on.”

  “It should be, if there was real love in tha relationship.” Merrie said still running her fingers through her shorter fleece. “So,” her tone shifted back to her normal playful timber. She inserted an elbow into Joe’s ribs slightly more forcefully than she had intended. “When are ya gunna do the asking?”

  “I don’t know,” Joe rubbed his side as nonchalantly as he could. “I want it to be special.”

  “‘Special’ he says.” Merrie Carrie rolled her eyes theatrically. “Can I tell ya a little secret?” Joe nodded and gestured for her to continue. “If ya don’t ask her in the next fortnight, she’ll probably go out and get herself her own set a rings.” Merrie Carrie sniffed and rubbed her nose. “An’ if you let her do that, when she does the askin she’ll likely hammer tha damn thing into ya forehead for makin’ her wait so long.”

  Joe couldn’t help but laugh. Talking with Merrie Carrie had helped Joe unload a weight he didn’t realize he was still carrying. He stayed and chatted for a few more minutes. With the lunch rush in full swing however, Merrie Carrie couldn’t be gone long. Joe left the shop weighed down by a bread basket, but lighter a lot of guilt.