what you are, do you?” His face spread into a gorgeous, boyish smile just before he shook his head. “Okay. It’s a mystery. This could be fun. So, question? Would I find you in the book?”
“The book?” He cocked his head.
“Yeah, there’s a book. A wonderful book. As a matter of fact, it’s the reason why I was running late for dinner tonight. It’s like an encyclopedic catalog. A compendium of magical people and, um, creatures. Lochlan told me it’s the final word on everything I want to know and am afraid to ask.”
“Lochlan said that?”
“No. That was paraphrasing. But it’s true. So would I find you in the book?”
He thought about that for a couple of beats and said, “I’ve never seen the book, but you shouldn’t shy away from a bet that my kind are represented therein.”
“Geoffrey, too?”
“Geoffrey, too.”
“But you don’t want to tell me.”
The smile returned. “If you stay, I vow that I will show you the other side of my nature. When you come to my house for tea.”
“Strawberries and clotted cream?”
“Let’s not lose sight of priorities.”
“Okay. Then I’ll add that to the items in my plus column.”
He looked interested in that and sat up straighter. “What are the other things in your plus column?”
Before I could start through the list, Geoffrey returned with two large oval-shaped plates and a cutting board with fresh baked bread, soft butter, and a small pewter container of tartar sauce. The fish was accompanied by mashed potatoes, peas, and carrots.
“This looks perfect,” I said to Geoffrey, who didn’t respond. “Geoffrey.” He looked up when I used his name. “I’m sorry if I was too abrupt earlier. Please don’t hold it against me.”
His eyes widened. “No, Magistrate. I was afraid I’d given offense.”
“Not in the least. I’ve spent my life doing things for other people and having people try to anticipate what will please me is very new. It’s the best kind of privilege, but it takes some getting used to. Thank you.”
He flushed like he was embarrassed, glanced at Keir, smiled, nodded, and hurried off.
“Would people who know you well list kindness as one of your well-known qualities?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.” I slathered some tartar sauce on the fish, squeezed some lemon on top of that, took a bite, and groaned out loud. “And I understand you’re newly single. We have that in common.”
“You’re newly single?”
He grinned. “I meant the single part. Not the new part.”
“Well, yes. I’m newly dumped. Single part is a legal status I look forward to.”
“Dumped,” he repeated. “It’s hard to imagine a man giving you up voluntarily.”
I smiled, took another bite, chewed, swallowed, and said, “Exactly the kind of thing a player would say. You don’t have to flatter me to persuade me to stay, Keir.”
“I’d tell you that it’s not flattery, but I strongly suspect you wouldn’t believe me. So, let’s get back to the plus column. I want to hear what’s on the list.”
“Well, it’s surprisingly long.”
He brightened. “All the better.”
“Alright. Let’s see. This is not in any particular order. If I stay, I’m set for life financially. I like the house. I like the store and, um, what’s in it. I like Maggie. I like Lochlan. And Ivy, I think.” He raised an eyebrow at that. “It’s not a judgment. I just don’t know her as well,” I added. “I like Molly. I like Fie.”
“Fie?”
“You don’t know him?”
“I do know him.”
“Well, he and I had lunch here yesterday. He paid, but that was before I knew about the bribery rule.” Keir looked unhappy about that development. “Is something wrong? Do you not like Fie?”
“I suppose he’s a decent sort.”
“Not exactly a stellar endorsement.”
He shrugged and looked unlikely to say more on the subject. So I continued.
“The village is almost like time travel to a nicer time. I like walking Lochlan’s, um, ‘dogs’.” Keir grinned when I put that in air quotes. “He said that if I stay I could buy one of Aisling’s puppies that would grow up to be a nice, lovable medium-sized dog. I was all in for that when I thought we were talking puppies. Then I saw them with my shoes on. I can’t lie and say that having domestic help isn’t an offer almost too good to refuse.” Looking around, I said, “I like the food. Oh. I like the car.”
“The car?”
“Yes. He was given to me at the airport.”
“He?”
Being caught at having assigned gender to an inanimate object made me blush. “Yeah. Romeo. It sounds