FUR FOR ALL, Book 5 in FIXED (10 page)

77

Christine Warren

“Hm. Any relation to your adorable little stalker?”

“Just dig up the info for me. I’ll fill you in on the rest later.”

“You got it. When does this rush job of yours need to be done?”

“Before seven tonight.”

Graham sighed. “Done. But you owe me, buddy.”

“I’ll pay up. Call me when you have something.” He hung up just as the shower turned off. Standing, he tucked the cell phone back into Tess’s jacket pocket and added the garment to the neatly folded pile of clothes in his hands. Then he schooled his expression into blandly pleasant lines and headed toward the bedroom. Maybe if he were fast and lucky, he’d get one last look at Tess’s luscious little body before she left for work. A man could dream.

Chapter Nine

Tess made it into the shop just after twelve-thirty, partly because she didn’t have to bother stopping home to shower, and mostly because Rafe had called a car service to drive her back to the East Village so she wouldn’t have to take the subway. For that courtesy alone, Tess was prepared to forgive a multitude of sins, especially since the October weather had turned rainy and chilly sometime after dawn.

She thanked the driver of the car service, took him at his word that his tip was included in the service, and tried to ignore the way he stared very surreptitiously at her braless chest. She debated spending her day with her arms crossed over them, but wasn’t sure that wouldn’t defeat the purpose of circumspection. Instead she tugged her jacket more firmly shut and turned away.

Cheeks flaming, she headed down the five steps to her basement shop on West 78

Fixed 5: Fur For All

Ninth Street. The sleigh bells over the door jingled as she entered, and the familiar, soothing smell of the shop greeted her as soon as she closed the door behind her. She inhaled the crisp, herbal fragrance and looked around for Bette.

“Well, well. Looks like I can call the National Guard and tell them it was a false alarm.”

Tess turned to the back of the shop at the sound of the familiar voice, and she smiled. Elbows deep in a huge paper sack of loose peppermint stood a young woman in her early twenties with more facial piercings than she had fingers and a head shaved to a blonde stubble. She had a talent for herbalism, a mind for numbers and didn’t mind working lousy hours, which was what qualified her to be Tess’s one and only employee. “Sorry I’m late. It was a long night.” Bette grinned. “Ooh, that sounds promising. Was the cause of the long night long as well?”

Tess blushed. “What makes you think I’m late because of a man? Maybe I got caught up in a good mystery novel or something.” Bette sniffed the air, raised an eyebrow and shook her head. “Nice try, but unless you’ve decided to switch from your usual honeysuckle soap to,” she paused and sniffed again, “mint, sandalwood and myrrh, no dice. That’s a hell of a nice masculine blend though. Maybe we should try a new line of it.”

“I don’t think so.” Tess started to shrug off her jacket and hang it on the coat rack behind the door, but thought better of it the second she felt herself shimmy.

“I think it would be a better idea if we just finished up those custom tea blends for the Sanderson wedding reception, don’t you?”

“No, but you’re the boss.” Bette finished emptying the last of the peppermint into a huge amber glass jar and screwed on the lid before replacing it on the shelf behind the counter. “So I guess that means you get to keep your naughty little secrets. Want me to go get the Sanderson trays now so we can get started?” 79

Christine Warren

Tess appreciated that Bette took her refusal to talk gracefully, as she took most things, but it still made Tess feel a little guilty for being snappish. She shook her head. “No, that’s okay. There’s not all that much left to do for them.

Why don’t you take a break and go and get lunch. I’ll watch the shop ‘til you’re finished, and we can do the Sanderson order this afternoon, okay?” Bette shrugged. “Sure. I think I’m going to run down to that new café on Seventh. Want me to bring you back anything? They have killer veggie wraps.”

“No, thanks. I had a big breakfast.”

“I see. So you’re back to taunting me about the secrets of your debauchery last night. Well, no matter. I’m a big girl. I can take it.” She wriggled her eyebrows at Tess as she grabbed her coat and opened the front door. “But if I die of curiosity over my avocado and tomato sandwich, I hope you know who’s to blame.”

Tess laughed and shooed her out the door. “Get lost, you little drama queen.

I’ll see you in forty-five minutes.”

Bette called out a cheerful good-bye and disappeared into the world above, leaving Tess in peace and quiet. Which, she soon learned, was not all it’s cracked up to be.

She found that if she had something engaging to do, like bookkeeping, that required all her concentration and considerable cursing, she could go almost forty-two seconds in between thoughts of Rafael De Santos. If she tried to get by with just placing orders, filling orders, or organizing the shelves, she topped out at around fifteen. Which meant she had all her bookkeeping done twenty-five minutes after Bette left and was going crazy after another five.

When the shop door jingled for the first time that afternoon, it caught her once again staring into space like an idiot with a dust rag in one hand and the other itching to touch Rafael De Santos one more time. Swearing at herself, Tess turned toward the entrance, glad of the distraction and more than a little curious.

80

Fixed 5: Fur For All

The Apothecary did a good, steady business, but it wasn’t the sort of store that drew crowds, and the five customers who piled into the shop at the same time definitely constituted a crowd.

“Hi,” she said to the room at large, offering them all a smile. “Can I help you with—Missy?”

One of the women, a petite, curvy thing with auburn hair and dark sunglasses, laughed as she furled a black umbrella. “You’re very sweet to offer, but if you want to help us with anyone, let it be Ava. We’ve been trying to find a way to deal with her for years, but no luck. I think Ava is beyond help.” Tess looked from the redhead to the tall, elegant woman in the tailored pantsuit and back toward the only face she recognized. “Missy? What are you doing here?”

The petite blonde smiled and hurried over to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “You got me so curious last night that I had to come out to see your shop.

I hope you don’t mind. Especially since I told a few friends about it this morning, and they insisted on coming to see you and your shop for themselves.” Tess’s eyes widened and she shifted uncomfortably. “Um, just so I understand, what exactly about last night did you tell your friends about?” Missy grinned and winked at her. “Why, that you own an herb and teashop and give a mean tarot reading, of course. What else would I tell them?” Those big, innocent brown eyes gazed back at Tess, twinkling so brightly that she instantly stopped wondering how this woman went about managing a man like Graham Winters. She clearly had the power to wrap him around her little finger without breaking a sweat. He probably thought his wife was sweet and innocent and malleable, too.

She snorted.

“I hope you’ve not too busy for us?” Missy asked.

81

Christine Warren

Tess looked pointedly around the small shop, empty except for her and Missy’s friends. “Well, I think I can squeeze out a few minutes for you in between pressing nothings.”

“Good. Then let me introduce you to my friends.” Missy smiled and turned toward the four other women. “Ladies, I’d like you to meet Tess Menzies. Tess, this is Regina Vidâme, Ava Markham, Danice Carter-Callahan and Corinne D’Alessandro.”

Tess offered each woman a smile in turn and made mental notes to help her remember who was who. Regina was the one who had made the joke about Ava, and Ava seemed to be the tall, elegant woman with the silky dark hair and exotically shaped eyes. She was the sort that usually intimidated Tess, but at the moment, her expression looked perfectly pleasant, if a little remote. It was odd, actually, because while Tess would have to say Ava was more beautiful than Regina, something about Regina’s pale skin, auburn hair and Mona Lisa smile gave her a striking quality Tess couldn’t quite define. It niggled at the back of her mind while she turned to the other two women, quickly filing away that Danice had the gorgeous café-au-lait complexion and Corinne had the exotic, Mediterranean coloring and features.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Tess finally said, nodding to them. “Did you all come in looking for something in particular?”

Danice snorted. “You might say that…”

Missy stepped in front of her friend and gestured to the shelves of huge amber jars that lined the walls of the shop. “I just wanted them to get an idea of the sort of things you have to offer. Maybe let them sample a few of your blends.”

“Absolutely.” Tess never let curiosity keep her from making a sale, though she did look back at Missy and hoped she hadn’t misinterpreted the woman’s reassurances. “Let me put a kettle on and we’ll have some fun.” 82

Fixed 5: Fur For All

She kept an electric kettle on a shelf behind the counter, next to the sink and water cooler. Being able to brew up her wares for customers to sample made sense to her and had earned her a reputation for being friendly and accommodating. In the retail business, those qualities counted for a lot. Getting the kettle ready only took a second, and when she turned back to her customers, she found them watching her intently. She blinked and stifled the urge to touch her hair. If they were staring at her wild, strawberry-blonde curls, they’d just have to deal. Her hair didn’t do tame.

“So what sorts of qualities were you looking for?” She began scanning her shelves and pulling down jars, placing them on the counter. “I need to know if I have the right stuff.”

She thought she heard a choking sound coming from one of Missy’s friends, but when she looked up, they all wore suspiciously bland expressions.

“Oh, we’re sure you do,” Missy said. “It’s just a matter of getting you to show us.”

Now that sounded significantly odd. Tess shook her head and pulled out a mesh tea basket. “Okay, let’s try it this way. Who are we aiming to please here?” This time she was watching closely enough that she saw Danice’s shoulders jerk and her hand come up to cover her mouth.

“Sorry,” the woman said, looking not at Tess but at Missy. “Allergies.”

“Well, that’s a good place to start.” Tess forged right through the odd energy in the room and reached for a jar of mullein. “Do you have high blood pressure?” Danice gave a puzzled laugh. “Only when my husband is giving me grief.

Why?”

“If you did, I’d be blending up a different formula. No Ma Huang with high blood pressure.” Tess dragged out her small electronic scale. She laid a creased square of parchment paper on it and zeroed it out. “Does that cough ever go anywhere? Ever bring anything up, or is it usually dry like that?” 83

Christine Warren

“Dry.”

“And it ends up irritating your throat after a while, doesn’t it?” Danice’s eyes widened and she stepped up to the counter to watch Tess more closely as she dipped into several jars, weighing each addition to the parchment with precise care. “Yeah, especially at night. I used to just blame it on the cigars the senior partners smoke in the lounge at work, but since they instituted the no smoking policy it hasn’t really gotten any better.”

“It will, but smoke is a stubborn irritant. It’ll take a bit for your lungs to recover from a long period of exposure.”

“And in the meantime?”

“Well, if you like this tea, I’ll make up a batch for you to take home. But try these, too.” Reaching under the counter, Tess withdrew an opaque plastic bag that rattled slightly when she set it on the counter. She smiled at Danice’s curious expression. “Horehound candies. They taste pretty darn good, and they’ll make your throat feel better and soothe your bronchus. Give ‘em a try.” Tess automatically poured her herbal mix into a small pan, added water and set it on a portable burner, but her eyes were on Danice. The other woman broke the seal on the bag and shook out one of the small lozenges, examining the rather unappealing brown candy with its powdery coating. Tess grinned.

“They’re better than they look, I promise. The dust is powdered sugar. It keeps them from sticking together in the bag.” Giving her a doubtful look, Danice took a deep breath and popped the small candy into her mouth. She sucked for a moment before her eyes widened. “Hey!

These are pretty good. They taste sort of…mapley.”

“I add extract to the syrup when I make them. The horehound itself doesn’t taste all that bad, but it’s not exactly exciting, either. Take the bag. They really will help your throat.”

84

Fixed 5: Fur For All

“How much?”

Tess shook her head as Danice reached for her purse. “On the house.”

“That’s no way to run a business.”

“Don’t worry about it. If you like them, you can buy the next batch.” She grinned. “Besides, I can always over-charge you for the tea.” Regina laughed. “Now I know why Missy likes you so much. You’ve definitely got the goods to handle…whatever crosses your path.” She cleared her throat. “You got anything behind that counter to help a woman deal with a ridiculously Alpha male husband?”

“Sorry, but I don’t think so. Well, not unless you want to try some damiana.” Reggie leaned her forearms on the counter and watched as Tess filled the tea basket with loose, black leaves and set it in a ceramic pot. “What’s damiana do?”

“He’ll be so busy thinking about sex, he’ll probably forget about being king of the mountain for a few hours.”

Corinne laughed out loud. “Oh, yeah. That’s all Reggie needs. For Misha to have an ever
harder
time keeping his hands off her.”

“I can always add some valerian. He won’t know whether he’s coming or snoring.”

Her offer met with a brief silence, then an explosion of laughter from every party in the room. Even Reggie appeared to be smiling just a bit. “Um, thanks, but I think I’ll pass.”