Page 40 of Found in Obscurity

Lorin spluttered at the guy’s insanity as Kit poked his head around the cabinet to see what was happening. “Excuse me! Who said you can stay? Put those back on.”

“It would be inhospitable to throw us out into the elements. We got halfway before it started coming down on us,” Glenn said breezily, finishing toeing his shoes off. Us? Lorin thought before he caught Glenn sniffing. “Is that lunch I smell?”

“For one!”

Kit butted his shin.

“One and a half,” Lorin corrected himself.

“Wonderful!” Glenn said, rubbing his hands together. He picked up the baskets again and walked farther inside. “I brought jam.”

Lorin was red in the face as he watched Glenn slide past him into the small kitchen without another word. Kit skittered out of the way of his feet, sticking close to Lorin and looking up at him in question.

Lorin didn’t have an explanation. They had been thoroughly invaded by someone who was practically a stranger, first meeting or not. Lorin needed to reevaluate his strategy. He didn’t want to be beset by ghosts and nosy, know-it-all witches all in one day.

Glenn set the basket on the counter and flipped the terrycloth back, revealing a hamper of all sorts of things, including the aforementioned jam. The other basket, he carefully set near one of the small heaters littered through the cabin, gently pulling back the fur throw. A tiny hummingbird head poked out of a nest of blankets.

“They’re migratory creatures,” Glenn said, petting the bird on the head with a single finger. “When the snow sets in he gets into a funk, bless him. Spends most of his time in the greenhouse sulking. It was lucky I bundled him up before we left!”

The fight in Lorin melted at the sight of the sad bird. To kick Glenn out into the cold was one thing, but he couldn’t do it to that little face. It was manipulation at its finest, but Lorin wasn’t immune to it even though he was aware it was happening.

Lorin sighed. “You can stay until the snow lets up.”

“I’ll be the little spoon.”

“What?! You are not sleeping over!”

“But what if the snow doesn't let up?” Glenn blinked innocently. “Last year we had five straight days of it.”

“Then that gives you plenty of time to build an igloo!”

Glenn patted his familiar. “But what about Forrest?”

“He can stay. You can go.”

“Guess they don’t teach house manners out in the city,” Glenn said, turning to peruse the meager offerings Lorin had for lunch.

“I like my privacy. Not everyone wants people to come barging into their house every hour of the day.”

“Then why was the door unlocked?”

Lorin paused with his mouth hanging open, ready to deny it. Whyhadhe left it unlocked after taking out the trash? Was it a force of habit from being back here, where everyone was welcome wherever at any time? Or had he been secretly hoping someone would drop by?

“I forgot,” he said. It sounded like a lie.

Glenn hummed like he’d heard it too. He began to pull things out of his basket, opening them up before looking through Lorin’s drawers.

“What are you doing now?” Lorin demanded.

“Saving both of us from food poisoning.”

“It’s from a can!”

Glenn looked over his shoulder. “That isn’t any better.”

Kit hopped up onto the counter and skulked along. He paused at Forrest in his nest, the bird going still at Kit’s approach. Lorin tensed too, not knowing what could happen. He forgot sometimes that Kit was still an animal that had instincts, familiar or not.

Kit simply tilted his ears and head to the side like a puppy before continuing on to rummage through the other basket of things like that was more interesting by far. Lorin let out a breath, slightly confused but more than happy Kit hadn’t pounced on an easy meal.