in the room, but furniture, then he gave a sniff. “Really, if you were going to stay home and rearrange the library, why not do it tomorrow? These tickets were exclusive, and Beth misses you.”
The look on Iris’s face made me want to giggle; her pursed lips, and that one perfect eyebrow lifted halfway to her hairline. I had no doubt that Beth did not miss her, nor she Beth. Whoever Beth was. “I didn’t realize you were losing your vision, Roger. You should see someone about that.” She turned to me, bestowing her usual sweet smile. “Sage dear, this is my older child, Roger. Your uncle. Roger, this is your nephew, Sage.”
The man finally looked at me, but it wasn’t pleased, or even an attempt at pleasant. He looked like he’d found a cockroach in his dinner, and he was inclined to step on me.
Fluke must have seen the same since he stepped between us, whole body vibrating with a low growl.
“Oh dear me, yes, and his familiar, Fluke.” She leaned over to pet him consolingly. “I’m sorry I forgot to mention you, dear.”
Somehow, Fluke managed to both lean into the touch, and not take his stink-eye off Roger.
Roger eyed me for a moment, gaze catching on the stack of books in my arms. “I say, mother, are you loaning out expensive books to poor relations? I’d hate for anything to mysteriously disappear.”
Gideon, hat on his head and hand on his gun, stepped between the three of us and Roger. Not that Roger could see that, but all three of us relaxed the tiniest bit anyway. Maybe Gideon couldn’t protect us, but we weren’t in physical danger from a plain old raging douchebag anyway. The biggest danger was that someone would lash out.
Roger, meanwhile, looked at the three of us like we were nuts. “What?”
Iris made a shooing motion toward the door. “As I told you before, Roger, I’m busy tonight. I’m spending the evening with Sage. You and Beth better be off to the theater, so you don’t miss anything.” Roger glanced over at me again—at the books, really, and she bristled. “Perhaps you’re looking forward to that day, but you won’t inherit a single thing until I die. Until then, those books are mine and I can lend them to whom I like. Or give them as gifts, even.”
“What an awful thing to say, Mother—”
I tried not to wonder if he was referring to the ghoulish notion of him anticipating her death, or the idea of her giving books away. I wasn’t much for physical altercations, but I kind of wanted to punch him in his smug face. Iris had been nothing but kind to me, and maybe she wasn’t always on her best behavior, but I was coming to the conclusion that she was a genuinely good person.
So, I wanted to punch her son for being an asshole to her, basically.
It wasn’t like I’d expected him to like me. Hell, his attitude was what I’d been expecting when I met her, so frankly, I’d beat the spread as far as I was concerned.
She merely shooed him again, turning toward the back of the library. “I think there’s one more back here. Maybe you should sell them in your shop when you’re finished with them.”
The last was clearly just for Roger and hit the mark. He gasped, putting a hand to his chest in what looked like shock and horror as I followed her back among the shelves.
A few seconds later the door slammed, and the retreating footsteps were even louder than they’d been on the approach.
The housekeeper, Beryl, poked her head around the shelves a minute after that. “I’m sorry, Mrs., he stormed in and wouldn’t be stopped.”
“Dear, you know by now that Roger’s behavior isn’t your fault. He’s a spoiled brat, and he’ll do what he’ll do.” She walked over to me, lifting most of the books out of my arms, and handed them to the woman. “If you’d take these to Wayne and let him know they’re going home with the boys, I would appreciate it.”
Without another word, the woman gave a curtsey—a freaking curtsey, with her arms full of books—and left. She didn’t even blink at Iris saying, “with the boys.”
Iris turned back to me and patted the books she had left in my arms. “Now then. Those three are the place to get started, so let me tell you about them.”
When we left two hours later, books in a box that was