Josiah jerked his attention to Lucas and frowned. But he said, “I told her he was meant to be.”
“He is,” Lucas agreed, as careful as he might have been with his siblings, “but not for you.” He flicked a look to Robin. “Another bite, please, weaver. For me.”
Robin managed a tiny glower but had another spoonful.
Josiah returned to staring up at Robin, something shifting in his expression. “It’s true?” he asked Robin, but then dropped his head to kiss the top of the dog’s head. “I can do it. I can take the dog… I can take him to her. It’s my place to do it.”
It was. Lisbeth hadn’t completely failed him.
But the loneliness would remain.
Robin did not Look but there were threads that lingered.
“Come spring, the town will be full of kittens.” He met Josiah’s eyes and hoped Josiah would be ready.
Lucas lightly tapped the bowl of ice cream. “Please, Blessing.”
Robin wasn’t going to faint from not eating the last spoonful, but if anyone had a right to think he would, it was the person he had recently fainted on.
“Any cat isn’t going to be Goodwin Sibley, either,” Lucas warned Josiah, but much kinder than before. “Keep it inside.”Then he plucked the bowl from Robin’s hands and went over to one of the trash bins to toss it.
“Nobody likes the messenger,” Robin said to Josiah, breaking the melancholy silence. “Try to be prepared, but if doesn’t happen, it doesn’t mean anything. Lots of the Greysmiths don’t have familiars, and I’m sure they would be happy to talk to you about it. Rixon doesn’t even have pets the way Connor does.”
Robin was volunteering both boys, but based on the past week alone, he was probably right to.
The dog tilted its head back to study him.
“Good luck,” Robin told it, then Josiah, before walking over to meet Lucas halfway.
Lucas slid an arm under Robin’s as if aware that Robin needed it, and neither of them spoke as they returned to the truck.
Robin climbed in and sat without speaking while Lucas added the ice cream to the groceries and then got into the driver’s seat.
Lucas started the truck and put his hands on the steering wheel but made no other move to get them out of there. “I’m sorry.”
Robin gave him a curious side-eye, then a more direct look. “Sorry? Because you wanted to save the dog and you forgot—or didn’t—how intimidating you can be? Or because I….” Robin looked out the passenger side window. “You didn’t make me do it.” Lucas had hinted around back at the house, but he’d never said Robinshoulduse his gift, or even ask why Robin didn’t like to.
“Lisbeth might be upset and raise a fuss.” Of all the reasons Lucas could have given, that one was the most surprising. But he was, of course, correct. “You are an easier target than I am, as far as they’re concerned.”
Robin had known the cost of associating with Lucas in public and taken him to get ice cream anyway. He faced Lucas again, then waved a hand.
“All you did was say the truth. Maybe you could have phrased it better, but some things can’t be sugarcoated.”
“People don’t listen if I give hints.” It was nearly a complaint, as if Lucas had really tried. “I try not to say anything now, unless they ask. But sometimes…”
“Sometimes, the truth will out.” Robin sighed. “You got that right.”
Lisbeth would be upset, especially if her boy didn’t stumble across the perfect kitten in the spring. But Josiah’s possible disappointment was more her fault than Robin’s, not that she would see it that way.
“People don’t particularly like to admit when they’re wrong. I mean, you should see some of the angry comments people have had about Blessing-Redferne over the years. Like, they order wool and then get upset to find out they are allergic, and instead of asking for a refund or giving the product away to someone else, they yell at us online. People make choices.” So many of them. So many threads. “She could thank us for helping that Zuberi child find their familiar, or for guiding her son toward his. But she won’t.” Robin crossed his arms. “I wonder sometimes if it’s worth it. All my family did to be a part of this town and that coven, and now, I’ll likely get an angry phone call. I don’t think I’ll pick up,” he decided. “What have they done for me? Or my family? They’re hardly keeping me out of the stocks these days. And I don’t think I’d trust most of them to act if a witch trial did happen.”
He was joking, but the subject was a little too heavy for him to keep his tone light.
“Not even for the ones who save them.” Lucas offered quietly.
Robin glared out the window at Thomasina Gregson who absolutely did not deserve the glare but was too distracted to notice anyway. “They froze out the Holly King just for…” He still didn’t know the official reason, only his suspicions.
“Being like us,” Lucas broke in, like he knew exactly what Robin thought because he thought it too.
