“Why did you do that?” My tone was horrified. None of the items matched the pricing labels.
“Just watch.” Robin stepped back as a harried-looking young woman rushed into the aisle. She studied the mess the faery had just made, frowned, stepped back and scanned the aisle again, hurried several steps down, plucked a jar of honey off the shelf and then rushed off.
“It’s how the space-time continuum protects itself. As the mortal population has increased, the mortal attention span for anything outside of its own pedantic existence decreases. Most don’t stop and question why things are done the way they are, even when it inconveniences them. They accept it and move on. Some in pursuit of money or power or fame. Others perhaps seek inspiration or even a sliver of time where they can simply be not in demand any longer.”
“That’s…” I wanted to say not true, but could I? I’d just seen an example of what he’d done. “Just put it back the way it was, please.”
“Lamb, honestly, you can be such a wet blanket.” But he snapped his fingers and the shelf returned to its previously organized state. “You see my point. Look at time like you would an organic creature. It has a built-in sense of self-preservation. It will protect itself at all costs. Only a pivotal shift can unmake it.”
I thought about that while I detoured through a few more aisles than normal, picking up things I thought Dragon might like to have around the house and thinking about what Robin had said. “So, you’re saying travel through time is possible because no matter what, people will rationalize any weirdness they see and write it off as something other than me tampering with time?”
“Exactly. It’s self-protection as well. No one wants to be singled out as weak among the herd. Historically, seeing or hearing things other mortals can’t hasn’t gone well for members of your species.”
“True that.” We were in the frozen food section when I spotted him. Oh no, not twice in one day. I wasn’t that unlucky, was I?
“Turn around,” I hissed at Robin who was busy frowning at a bag of tater tots he had retrieved from one of the glass cases. “And put those back.”
“These appear to have no nutritional value whatsoever. Yet I see people eating them all the time. What’s the point?”
“The point is they’re good. Now shake a leg before he sees—”
“Joey?” Pete called out to me. “Twice in one day, how’s that for luck?”
“—us,” I muttered then turned to face the veterinarian. “Hi, Pete. How have you been?”
“Since two?” Pete laughed. “I honestly can’t complain.”
“Two?” Robin raised an eyebrow at me. “I thought you said you went to the diner with Darcy?”
“I did. Then I took the cat I found to the vet’s office to see if they could help me find her owner.”
Pete’s golden-brown gaze went from me to Robin, who was still clutching the tots and then to the cart full of food. I could see the wheels churning and see him putting one and one together and coming up with sixty-nine.
Robin was scrutinizing Pete as well and I wasn’t a fan of the speculative gleam in his eyes.
All we needed in the frozen food section was Georgia and Bill Tucker and we’d have the entire collection of Joey Whitmore’s tragic dating history aka people I avoided whenever possible.
“I’m sorry again about Ursula, Joey,” Pete said before I could think up a good excuse to use as an escape. “She’s been having a tough time lately but that’s no excuse for her to take out her unhappiness on you.”
“Forget it,” I murmured and waved it off. “I already have.”
Robin chose that particular moment to sling an arm over my shoulders. “We should probably get going. Your mom and cousin will be waiting for us, don’t you think, lamb?”
I cringed.
Pete looked surprised for a minute but recovered so fast I figured I must have imagined it. “Okay, well, I’ll let you know if I hear anything about the cat. See you around, Joey.”
I waited until Pete rounded the corner before shoving Robin’s arm off of me. “What was that?”
“I’m saving you from further embarrassment. Your flirting needs some work, lamb.”
“I wasn’t flirting with Pete,” I huffed.
“No, but he was undressing you with his eyes.”
“He was not! First of all, he’s married, therefore off-limits.”
“Oh really?” Robin asked. “Then why wasn’t he wearing a wedding ring? And did you see the contents of