Shadows of the Redwood - By Gillian Summers Page 0,50
didn’t want to be there.
“We’d like two coffees,” Laurie told her.
The top of the purse opened and Laurie’s Vera Bradley wallet poked out. Keelie took it. “Do you want a shot in your cream?” she whispered into the bag.
The girls waiting for their coffees stared wide-eyed. Keelie grinned at them. “Just kidding.”
Laurie took her wallet. “What do you guys want?” she asked Sean and Risa, who seemed confused by the menu.
“What do you suggest?” Sean asked.
“Coffee is good.” Laurie didn’t sound sarcastic.
“I’ll have green tea,” said Risa. “What is venti?”
“Big.” The bored barista swiped Laurie’s debit card down the register’s side.
Keelie placed the bag on a nearby chair. “I’ll have a venti latte with six shots, and an espresso con panna.”
The purple-haired girl’s eyes widened. “Six shots?”
Laurie’s mouth dropped open, but she recovered. “That’s what I heard, too.”
“Okay.” The purple-haired girl shook her head as she rang up the order.
They got their drinks and went to the atrium by the food court. Keelie sat down near a small, flowering pear tree and felt a smidge better. She took the lid off the espresso con panna (a shot of strong espresso poured over a mound of whipped cream) and put the little cup on the floor under the table. Knot squeezed himself out of the bag and dropped to the floor.
Risa and Laurie scooted their chairs close so that their legs hid the slurping feline.
Keelie stuck her head under the table. “Behave yourself.”
He blinked, his eyes round and sweetly innocent, like an animated cartoon. Keelie didn’t believe him for a second. “I’ll be watching.”
Knot went back to lapping his supercharged whipped cream with a loud licky-lick sound.
Keelie drank her rocket-fuel latte, hoping the caffeine would infuse her with more energy. Instead, she was beginning to feel more drained. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. She had to keep her act together. Sean opened the lid of his coffee and sniffed the steam that floated out.
“This is the energy nectar you are always praising. Starbucks. It has an elvish name.” He held his cup up and then took a sip.
“You can’t tell me you haven’t had coffee before,” Keelie said, disbelieving.
“I didn’t say that. It’s just that I prefer tea. However, this was a trip for me to find out more about you. I was curious. And I wanted to drink coffee like you,” he said.
Keelie smiled into her coffee. “You are so sweet.”
Women of all ages shot admiring glances Sean’s way. Sean noticed, then looked at Keelie and rolled his eyes. She laughed. She did wonder if people thought that Sean and Risa were a couple, because they looked more like a matched pair than she and Sean did. Jealousy stung her heart with short little jabs. It was still like having a nest of bees inside her whenever she thought about them together. Of course, Sean was eighty years old, a fact she tried hard to forget. He’d probably had lots of relationships, but she wasn’t ready to know the truth. One day they would have that conversation, but until then, until she was ready, she could pretend he was her age.
Laurie stared at the purple-haired barista. “That girl needs an attitude adjustment. She needs to read the manual on customer service.”
A branch from the pear tree beside Keelie tapped her on the shoulder.
Hey, you. What are you?
Keelie closed her eyes. She just wished she could get a break from trees.
I’m a tree shepherdess.
I’ve never heard of one of those. Are you from the nursery?
No. I’m from the Dread Forest.
But you’re human. You grew up in a forest? I’ve never met a human who grew up in a forest. I would love to see a forest. I hate being stuck in this pot all the time. The people that take care of us aren’t very nice. They forget about me. Sometimes I get so thirsty that my leaves fall off.
I didn’t grow up in a forest. I grew up in Los Angeles, but I live in the Dread Forest.
The tree bent down closer to Keelie and sniffed.
Laurie’s eyes widened in surprise. She obviously could see the tree bending and moving around. Sean arched an eyebrow.
Risa’s eyes were riveted on Knot. “Is that eye shadow on your toes?”
Will you stop it? People are going to notice. Keelie looked around, but only a couple of children were pointing at the swaying tree.
The tree sniffed again. I smell magic on you. Can you make my pot bigger?