I inhaled deeply. “Alright. It sounds less creepy when you explain it like that.” Keir barked out a laugh. I looked over at him then back at Geoffrey. “Thank you. I didn’t mean to sound…”
“Intimidating?” Keir supplied.
After giving my dinner companion a withering look, I said, “I was going to say harsh.”
Keir just chuckled and leaned back in his chair.
“Yes madam.” Geoffrey’s hurried exit seemed more like a retreat than a departure and I was genuinely sorry I’d unloaded on him.
With arms crossed over his middle, smiling like the Cheshire cat, Keir said, “Creepy, eh? Is that what you think of us?”
“That’s an overstatement. But I will say this. Having so many people know so much about me is…”
“Creepy?”
“I’m trying to find a synonym. But yeah. For twenty years I was married to a man who probably couldn’t tell you for sure whether or not I like tartar sauce with fish. But Molly, and Geoffrey, people whose last names I don’t know, for that matter I don’t even know if they have last names… These people know I like Mike’s Hard Cranberry Lemonade and tartar sauce with my fish.”
Keir’s eyes were still sparkling and his mouth was lifted at one corner, but he nodded agreeably and said, “I can understand how that could be off-putting for someone used to her privacy.” He paused for a drink of black something. “So your husband was a tosser?”
I looked justifiably confused. “I’m trying to imagine what that means and all I’m getting is an image of a game called horseshoes.” I could see he’d never heard of it. “You toss horseshoes at a stake in the ground.”
He chuckled. “Magistrate. You’re like a fresh breeze of delight. I can see why the Powers That Be chose you.”
“You can? Why?”
“When did you arrive? Yesterday morning?”
“Um-hmm.”
“Your world’s been turned on its ear and, from where I sit, you appear to be taking it well. Extraordinarily so, wouldn’t you say? I don’t think most humans would stick around after the initial…” he leaned forward, mischief in his eyes, and said, “introduction.”
“You mean my dinner at Lochlan’s house? Last night?”
“Is that how they did it? Fed you Beef Wellington and showed you their true forms?”
“It was pot roast, but what’s your point?”
He held up his hands. “No criticism. That’s as good an approach as any. There’s no easy way to tell a human that the world isn’t what they think it is. For most, it would be just as hard to accept as no solid ground, no gravity, no planetary revolution.”
“You’re not going to tell me that, are you?”
He laughed. “And that’s the other thing that makes you precious. Levity.”
“These things are only funny to you because you’re English and I’m not.” After a brief pause, I said, “Was that an assumption? You are English, right?”
“I’m not big on geographical boundaries. I’m at home anywhere on the British Isles. I can speak Irish and Welsh, and I can understand the Scots, which is probably harder than learning another language. And I suspect you’re funny no matter where you are.”
“I hate to disappoint you, but you should leave the psychic stuff to Esmerelda. If people who know me well were asked to list my better qualities, comedy wouldn’t even come up.”
He laughed silently. “I don’t see how that’s possible. But whatever you say. Did Esmerelda tell your fortune?”
“She tried.”
“What did she say?”
“That I’d be happy here.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes,” I lied.
A beautiful bottle of Mike’s was set in front of me before I’d even realized Geoffrey had returned. He set a glass mug of Guinness in front of Keir. I’d barely gotten in a, “thank you,” before he left without a word.
“Do I need to do some damage control where Geoffrey’s concerned?”
“I don’t know.” Keir was sitting back with his chin tucked. He looked at me through his lashes. “Are you staying?”
“I’m taking that to mean the answer is yes. If I stay, I need to smooth things over with Geoffrey.”
The multicolored locks moved beguilingly when Keir shook his head. “Just playing with you, Magistrate. Geoffrey’s fine. Nothing you’ve done requires forgiveness.”
“What is he?”
“What?” Keir asked.
I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t play dumb. You know what I mean.”
He turned the mug around and around on the table, seemingly deciding what to say. “Some of us are two-natured. I am. He is.”
“Maggie said that about herself. She said she’s fae.”