“May I join you?” he asked.
“Yes.” Tanner shrugged off his backpack and set it the ground. He followed that with his computer bag and a messenger bag I hadn’t see him carry before. “You running away from home?”
He crouched in front of my legs and tucked his hands behind my calves. “I’m running toward you, Calliope. If you’ll have me.”
I leaned forward, taking care not to wiggle the rickety chair, and threaded my fingers through his hair. “Seems everybody wants to rent a bed tonight.”
His grin turned sober. “Wes filled me on what’s been happening.”
“And you’ve come to take charge and rescue this damsel in distress?”
“I’ve come to offer you my sword, my lady.” We both laughed at that.
“I didn’t think a knight could pledge his sword to two ladies at the same time.”
“I have been relieved of my duties and obligations to Ni’eve,” he said. “As of six hours ago. I would have been here sooner, but it took me a while to pack and once I was on my way, I decided to stop at my old apartment in Montreal to grab the rest of my things.”
I glanced at his pile. “This is the sum total of your belongings?”
“Not exactly. The place in Montreal belongs to Wes and it’s there for all of us to use. I couldn’t carry all this and my favorite chair, so—”
“I’ve never been to Montreal.”
“Then I owe you a date.” Tanner stood and offered his hands. They were warm when I grabbed hold and straightened my legs. “Is everyone here?”
I crossed the front halves of the sweater across my chest and gave him the roster. “I haven’t had the conversation with Harper and Thatch yet, y’know, the one about you and me and us sharing a bed.”
“I can take the couch or the swing on the back deck.”
“How about we set up the tent and I join you out here?” I asked. “You can park your stuff in my bedroom.”
“I’d like that, Calli.” Tanner handed me his laptop bag, shouldered the rest of his things, and held the gate for me to pass. “And I’d like it if tomorrow you could fill me in on why you’re having dinner with Odilon Vigne.”
“It’s not at all a romantic thing,” I said. “It’s more of an all hands on deck opportunity to get into his head.”
“I know. I understand. And I’m here to help, not get in the way.”
Waking up to the thundering of teenaged feet was normal. Spooning myself into a man’s naked backside was not. I snugged my arm around Tanner’s waist and pushed into the backs of his knees. The temperature had dropped overnight but the cold did not appear to be affecting the druid’s arousal.
I slipped my hand inside his sleeping bag, ran my fingers lightly over the silky skin of his erection, and kissed his spine. “I have to get up,” I said. “Four hungry teenagers will destroy my kitchen if left to their own devices.”
“Mmph.”
“What did you say?” I asked, peeling away from his heat and tucking the big duvet we’d carried from my bed to the tent against his back.
“Coffee?”
I laughed, kicked my legs out of the sleeping bag, and pulled on sweatpants, a stretchy bra, and a lightweight hoodie. “I’ll ring the gong when it’s ready.”
I set to making coffee and opening the refrigerator to see what we had as far as breakfast supplies. Harper and Thatcher were cranky without full bellies before they left for school. “Can we have a family meeting tonight?” I asked.
Thatcher reached over my back for the gallon jug of milk. “Sure, Mom, but not until seven. I’m taking over for Sallie at the farmers’ market.”
“Harper?” I said. “Did you hear me?”
“Sure, Mom.” He glanced up from his phone. “Can I bring Lei-li?”
“I’m pretty sure she’ll already be here. Her aunt wants her to practice using her imbuing magic on a sewing project.” I pointed to the dressmaker’s dummy behind him. “Maritza’s making me a dress. Mal might be here, too.”
“Can you give us a hint about the topic?”
“Sallie and Azura need a place to call home. For now. And they’d like it to be here. With us.”
Christoph shuffled through the kitchen, dressed in cropped baggy pants and an oversized long-sleeved shirt, and waved as he exited the house. “I’ll be in the yard.” A loud oof followed him down the front steps.
“Also,” I said, “Tanner’s back and I want to talk about what that means.”
“Sounds good,” said Harper. “Thatch, you almost ready?”
“I just got breakfast. Go work on disguising your wings.”
I shook my head and smiled to myself. That was easy. “Either of you want coffee or tea?”
“What, and stunt my growth?” Thatcher, easily the tallest one in the house, was standing at the island, noisily scooping cereal out of a mixing bowl with a soup spoon.
“Mint tea, then? Maté?”
“Coffee in a travel mug,” he said. “Please.”
I didn’t bother checking in on Tanner after I reminded all of the teenagers to exercise caution before they left for school and work. If the druid had plans to use his truck today, he was out of luck. The girls were long gone before I remembered he was asleep in the tent, his need for coffee gone.
I made my pot of tea and revisited my garden chair and the slice of sunlight warming its seat. The bottoms of my socks were dew-soaked. I peeled them off, stuck my toes into the grass, and noticed my skin was completely healed.
The yard work Tanner and I had done sent the message to living things underground, and above, that I was committed to this place. And the simplicity of the joining ritual—I swooshed my feet over the grass. Wiggled my fingers into the raised planting bed beside me in search of roots and soil. Raised my face to the sky.
My land was content. I was content.
Christoph’s earlier grunting had been replaced with the swoosh of
