Unamused Muse (Mt. Olympus Employment Agency: Muse Book 2) (18 page)

Chapter 18

I nearly dropped my juice. Probably the only thing that kept it in my hand was how stiff my body had gone from seeing how upset my mother was.

Honestly, I should have prepared myself for it. She’d done all this to herself on purpose, and I’d just taken it away.

“I’m…I’m sorry, Mom. I was so scared. I was losing you.”

She sighed again and led me to the table to sit down. “You’re right. Don’t be sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” She folded my hand in both of hers and gazed into my face with an earnest, worried expression. “How did you get food from the gods, honey? What don’t I know?”

My eyes filled with tears. I’d hated not being able to tell her about my life. It all came tumbling out. “I quit my job and dumped my boyfriend and Phyllis started talking. She made me go to Mt. Olympus, and orientation was really hard because I’m a loser—that’s why I was there. They made me a Muse, but everybody hated me and I cheated and they were going to fire me and send me to the Underworld forever until they figured out it wasn’t all my fault and then I made all my clients finish by helping them without magic so personnel loaned me to Hades for six weeks to cover Kris’s maternity leave and Mom, he’s really nice and he misses you so much.” I stopped and took a deep breath.

Mom’s face had gone ashen. “You’ve been working for Hades?”

I nodded. “But he’s not mad. He only wanted to help because you were…well, sick.”

She covered her face with her hands. “I’m so ashamed. How can I face him, now?” She dropped her hands. “And you. My sweet girl. You’ve been trapped down there doing who knows what.”

“I’m covering for his junior personal assistant. I’m fine. It’s actually one of the better jobs I’ve had.”

“You can’t possibly like it there.”

I shrugged. “Well, it’s not perfect, but it’s not terrible. Pretty lonely in the dorms, since the only other people staying there are never around. If I didn’t have Phyllis, I’d probably go nuts.”

The stricken look on her face melted a little. “Phyllis found you.” She frowned. “You brought her here once, didn’t you?”

I nodded. “She’s waiting in the car if you want to talk to her.”

“I do. I’m so glad you have her. She was my safety net. I gave her to an acolyte when you were a baby with the instructions to watch you and give her to you if you ever looked…lost.”

“Well, that explains a lot.” Some strange guy had appeared at a crowded swap meet a couple years ago, thrust the puny potted plant in my arms and disappeared. “She’s pretty bossy, but I love her.”

“Good.” She dropped her hands in her lap. “You can’t go back there.”

“Mom, I still have three weeks left in the Underworld.”

She shook her head so hard her hair came loose from its bun. “No. You need sunlight and tall trees. You need to stay here with me.”

“Mom, please. Just go talk to him. He loves you. And Otis and Lita miss you, too.”

Her expression softened. “I miss them, too. But I’m not going back. If you really insist, then tell him when you see him that I’m fine here.” She paused and bit her lip. “And tell him I’m so sorry.”

I wanted to shake her. But I’d told Hades I wouldn’t try to force her into anything, and I wouldn’t. “Alright. I’ll tell him. But I hope you’ll think about at least visiting sometime, even if it’s only to see Otis and Lita. They’ve been very kind to me.”

She nodded. “They have big hearts.”

“They gave me a room in the mansion. I don’t have to stay in the dorm anymore when I go back.” I took a sip of my juice.

She gritted her teeth. “That’s very sweet of them.”

We sat in silence while I thought about our life together when I was growing up. All the moving around made sense, now. Mom’s affinity to all things green and growing. Her insistence that we always eat foods from nature rather than anything processed—she had no idea how poorly I ate when she wasn’t around.

It all made sense knowing who she really was and what she was running from. There was only one real mystery left. “Mom? Who’s Terry?”

She blinked. “I completely forgot she was out there.”

“Who is she?”

The voice from the doorway behind me was soft and wistful. “I’m your grandmother, dear.”

“Demeter.” The word came out of me as a breathless whisper.

She nodded. “Come to my farm with us, Wynter. I want my family all together. I’ve waited such a long time.” Her expression was filled with yearning and a touch of anguish.

I knew her story, at least as it was told today. Hades had kidnapped Persephone and dragged her to the Underworld to be his bride. Demeter, Persephone’s mother and goddess of the harvest, fought to get her daughter back. When Zeus refused to help her, she held the entire human race hostage by not letting anything grow. Zeus agreed to make Hades give Persephone back, except for the amount of months equal to the pomegranate seeds she’d eaten. Demeter was an all-or-nothing kind of goddess, so continued to throw a fit three months out of the year.

Which was how winter began.

The meaning of my name hit me. I was horrified.

I frowned at Demeter. “I’m not going with you. And neither is she.”

Mom patted my hand. “Shh. Don’t raise your voice to your grandmama.”

“Mom, promise me you won’t put the house up for sale, at least. Can you do that much for me?”

She nodded. “Yes, baby. I can do that much.” She brushed a few loose hairs from her brow and smiled.

“Ridiculous. You don’t need to rattle around in this big clunky place alone. I have plenty of space.” Demeter folded her arms across her chest. “Just sell it and be done with it. Then we can all come home.” Her face was rigid, her jaw clamped in stubborn refusal to compromise. “All of us.”

I opened my mouth to argue, then snapped it shut. Arguing with her hadn’t helped Hades thousands of years ago. It wouldn’t help me now.

“Mother, there’s no harm in leaving it vacant.” Mom smiled at me. “I could always sign it over to Wynter.”

I didn’t want her house, especially to live in it. I liked my apartment. But at least she’d agreed not to sell it.

Now that I knew Terry was actually the goddess Demeter, it put her in a different perspective for me. Like Mom and I, Demeter’s hair was blonde—so we got that from her. Her hair was a darker shade, more of a warm honey color. The gray I’d noted last time I’d seen her was gone. She wore a baggy sweater and shapeless skirt, as if trying to hide extra pounds, but now that I knew what I was looking for, I could see she’d been trying to avoid standing out as a graceful, lithe goddess.

She narrowed her eyes at me. “What are you looking at?”

I raised an eyebrow at her defensiveness. “I was looking for family similarities. And differences.”

She made a harrumphing sound and returned her attention to Mom. “Dear, why don’t you get a suitcase together? Nothing needs to be decided today. Come back with me and sleep on it.”

My mom looked from me to her mother and back again. “How long are you staying, Wynter?”

That was an excellent question. Hades hadn’t said when he expected me back. That could mean I needed to be back in the morning, I had the weekend to sort this out, or that I shouldn’t come back until Mom came with me. We should’ve discussed it. That left me to make the decision myself—which may have been his intention all along.

“I have to be back for work Monday morning.” I gave Demeter a sickly sweet smile. “So, I could actually stay here for the next three or four days.”

Mom clapped her hands. “Wonderful! I’ll tell Shona we’re still discussing it and send her away.”

Demeter waved her hand. “I already did that when I realized what was going on in here.” She gave me a pointed, irritated look, then moved her gaze to my head. “I don’t understand why you would cut your hair so short.” She touched the spiky ends of my pixie cut, her nose wrinkling in disapproval. “From now on, I’d like to see you grow it out. This is far too severe.”

I ran my hand over my head self-consciously. “I don’t like it long. It’s too much work.”

She clucked her tongue. “Beauty is worth the effort, dear.”

I had to make an effort not to roll my eyes so I didn’t come across as a petulant teenager.

“I think it’s adorable,” Mom said. “Wynter’s always had a certain quirky style.”

Demeter scowled. “We’ll see.”

I didn’t argue. Instead, I turned on my heel and stalked to the front door.

Mom trailed after me. “Wynter, come back, sweetheart. She didn’t mean it.”

I flung the door open. “I’m not going anywhere. I just need to get my plant out of the car.”

If I were staying for any length of time, Phyllis needed to come out of the stuffy car. But more than that, I needed her for moral support. Demeter was likely to pick at me as long as she was there. Phyllis would back me up.

I stomped down the walkway to the street. The BMW was gone now that the Shona had left. Of course, the goddess of the harvest would drive a Prius. It was more environmentally friendly.

Phyllis was surprised to see me so soon. “You’re done already?”

I made a face. “Yes and no. Mom’s mind is fine, but now we have to battle for the rest of her. I need your moral support in there. My grandmother is a difficult woman. I feel like we’re going to war.” I wiggled her pot from where I’d wedged it between the front seats for security.

“Demeter’s in there with her? That complicates things.” She reached out a branch and patted my hand. “I’ve got your back, Wynter. Don’t you worry.”

I truly hoped she did. I’d never felt so out of my league in my life.

~*~

After an awkward family dinner and numerous attempts to convince Mom and me to stay at the farm, Demeter finally went home and left us alone.

She gave Mom a tender kiss on the forehead at the door. “Now, you call me the minute you’re ready, okay? I’ll let the two of you spend some time together, but then I’ll be back.” She turned to me and wrapped me in an awkward hug. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you better, Wynter. I think we have more in common than you think.”

When the door closed behind her, a weight on my chest lifted, and I felt like I could breathe properly for the first time in hours.

Mom wove her fingers through mine. “She’s gruff, but believe it or not, I think she actually likes you.”

I tilted my head and pressed my cheek against her shoulder. “I don’t see how that’s possible. I’m not sure
I
even like me when she’s around.”

She stroked my hair. “You’re lovely and perfect.” She planted a kiss on my head. “And your hair suits you.”

“She could let it grow out a little.” Phyllis sat in the window watching Demeter pull out of the driveway. “And maybe she could stop bleaching it and let it go back to its natural color.”

My cheeks grew hot. I’d been lightening my hair for so many years, I’d forgotten how close my real color was to my grandmother’s. “I’m not changing my hair. Talk about something else.”

Mom brightened. “Yes. Let’s talk about what I’ve missed. Are you really a Muse, now? Tell me all about it. Who’s in charge, now? Do they still use those bubbles to inspire people?” She paused, then clapped her hands. “You get to be invisible sometimes, don’t you?”

I told her everything she’d missed. I barely stopped talking the whole night. Whenever I told her something a little less believable, Phyllis was there to back me up.

“How does a person fall into a chocolate fountain?” Mom’s face was pink from laughing so hard at my dating horror stories.

Phyllis’s branches shivered with her own laughter. “I have no idea how she did it, but I can vouch for how she looked when she came home. She had graham cracker crumbs stuck to the back of her hair, and a mini marshmallow in one ear.”

Mom gasped and crumpled over, her sides shaking. “She doesn’t even like marshmallows. Wynter, what were you planning to do with it?”

I tried to keep my face serious and feign offense. “I can’t believe you’re both laughing at me. That was a terrible night.”

Phyllis snorted. “You’ve had so many horrible nights. I can’t believe you still date at all after the whole Freddy episode.”

Mom sat up and dried her eyes, still grinning. “What happened with Freddy? I thought you broke up with him months ago.”

I had. But Freddy had been working at Mt. Olympus in the Dreams and Nightmares department the whole time we’d been dating. When I started working there, he’d used his departmental mojo to look like a completely different person, then proceeded to date me with a brand new name and face. And when I stopped dating that persona, too, he kind of got ugly and sabotaged my clients into nearly failing to complete their tasks.

Could I pick them or what?

“I really don’t understand how we could have missed the clues,” Phyllis said. “It’s not a big jump from Freddy to Rick. And he knew things about you.” Her leaves shuddered. “Breaking up with him was a good move. Twice.”

Mom sobered and took my hand. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you through all that.”

I brushed a strand of hair from her eyes. “It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re okay now.”