“Good.”
“I hope Perry’s happy. We foisted this on him.”
Mark set a hand on his chest. “I like to think we put him on the path he always wanted to be on.”
“He wanted to work in the art world.”
“He technically worked in the art world for many years.”
“I don’t think stealing works of art counts,” Joan said.
“He always knew which ones were worth taking.”
She dug the toe of her shoe into the ground. “I just hope he’s not struggling too much with the adjustment.”
Mark snorted and said, “If he was upset, he’d let us know. Irritation with us is the one thing he’s never had a problem expressing.”
“True.”
A whiff of mucky river water floated past on the breeze. Sadie liked to say it smelled like fish poo. After working at a fish-and-chips cabana on the upscale riverwalk to the north, she’d stopped eating anything that came out of water.
“Sadie needs to meet with him to talk about her café,” Joan said. “She’s dragging her feet. It’ll be good for both of them to have something to focus on.”
“Why do you think she’s stalling?”
“I think she thinks we can’t run Hot and Cold without her. And I’m kind of worried she’s putting aside what she wants for what I want. She has a history of going along with whatever her partner wants.”
“Ah. I can see that.” Mark cringed and added, “But we do need her.”
“We don’t need her to work for us with no ownership interest. Which yes, she doesn’t want because of the stolen money we used to fund the truck. She deserves more. She can have more.”
“But like, who’s gonna tally up our expenses at the farmers market to keep us on budget?”
“I can operate the calculator on my phone,” Joan drawled.
“And she’s so great with the customers.”
“We’ll hire someone who’s great with customers.”
“But what about her?—”
“I don’t want her to give up on her dream,” she stated. “Not when she refused to give up on me, even though Ireallydidn’t deserve it.”
“Okay. I get it.” Mark twirled his hand, spraying ice shavings into the air.
She really didn’t deserve Sadie. But every day, she worked hard to be worthy. Maybe that was why the fear of getting locked up for past crimes was so sharp. Her amends might not be enough.
“Ugh, that’s enough feelings.” Joan stood and cracked her knuckles. “I’ve got a little more in me.”
“Sweet.” Mark hopped up. “We haven’t lit it up in forever.”
“Okay.”
They held their palms out and blasted equal streams of fire and ice. Steam rose at the point of contact. One of their favorite tricks to create cover as Ice and Spark.
The connection went on until Joan’s flames began to sputter. “Are you good?” Mark yelled over the hiss and pop.
“I’m good,” Joan yelled back.
