Mrs. Frost broke out into a chortle. “Perfect vision at my age. Wait till I tell the girls. Well, I really picked the right day to visit you, Tess. Thank you so much …”
“Alaric,” I supplied. “Former high priest of Atlantis.”
“Ohhh.” She nodded in understanding. “My late father’s best friend was a priest up in Georgia. He was a fine man, too. Raised champion milk cows in his spare time. When he wasn’t preaching and taking confessions and what not. Do you raise cows? Any other animals?”
“I … no.”
Behind me, Quinn was fighting an attack of the giggles. The idea of this dangerous and magically powerful man raising cows was causing me to have to bite my lip against laughing, too.
Mrs. Frost patted his arm again. “Well, that’s okay. If you ever want to get into it, you just call me. I know a woman who can get you into hogs. Champions, too, mind you. I figure I owe you at least that.”
I’d never seen a man so obviously and completely at a loss for words, and I decided it was time to step in.
“Mrs. Frost, I’m thrilled that you can see again! And you won’t need surgery at all. It’s a modern miracle! Your doctor will be so surprised. Now, how did you get here today? Is your nephew waiting outside?”
Her nephew often drove the Frosts to do shopping and to their appointments, but he rarely came in, preferring to wait in the car and get work done on his laptop.
“Oh, yes! He brought me to the door, but I wanted to come in by myself, so he wouldn’t argue with me about selling the bow. Wait till he hears about this!”
Jack held out his hand. “Mrs. Frost, I would be honored to walk you out to your car.”
“Thank you, young man. And don’t you feel bad. You’re quite pretty, yourself. I just always preferred the tall, dark, and handsome fellows.”
Jack grinned at her. “I’m proud just to be called pretty by such a lovely woman.”
“Oh, you charmer!”
We all walked back out into the shop, and she stopped to give me a hug. “Tess, I don’t know how to thank you.”
“No thanks needed. This was all Alaric. I’m just so glad your eyes are back to normal.”
“Normal? This is better than normal! I won’t even have to wear my reading glasses anymore!”
Jack walked her outside, and I smiled and waved when she turned back to smile at us. The minute the door closed behind them, I clapped my hand over my mouth, horribly afraid I was going to burst out laughing and offend Alaric, which would probably cause damage to international relations between the U.S. and Atlantis, knowing my luck.
“Hogs,” Quinn gasped. “She wanted to set you up with … prize … hogs!”
When she doubled over, howling with laughter, I was done for. All the stress and anxiety of the past couple of days probably figured in, too, but I completely lost it. I laughed so hard that tears streamed down my face.
When Jack came back inside, he was confronted with the sight of two women bent over with laughter and a very puzzled Alaric. “What’s so funny?”
“I have no idea.” The former high priest raised an eyebrow. “Why would that woman think I’d want to raise hogs? Is this animal idea a tradition peculiar to Florida? Or to Dead End?”
Jack shrugged. “Yes, actually. All native Floridians are issued a pair of piglets when they turn five.”
Alaric looked suspicious. “When the Floridians turn five or when the pigs turn five?”
That was it. I was done. I plopped down on the floor, clutching my stomach, and Quinn collapsed right next to me. It took almost five minutes before we could stop laughing.
When we finally sputtered to a stop, gasping, Jack and Alaric were both staring at us.
“I’m so sorry, Alaric,” I managed, breathing hard. “We weren’t laughingatyou—”
“I kinda was,” Quinn said.
He folded his arms and stared down at us. “After all this time, I still don’t understand humans. All I want to know is this: where can we find food?”
The man had cured my friend and saved her from tremendous stress, worry, and fear. The least I could do was feed him. Quinn stood and held a hand out to me, but I gently shook my head and got up on my own. A strange expression crossed her face, and she apologized. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think.”
