Page 40

Chapter Thirty

" S o, theoretically, if one was to want to get from, say, this house to, I don't know, Beanevolence, how would one go about doing that?" I ask as we’re finishing up lunch.

Dav cuts me a funny look. "I do have a car."

"Oh? You didn't strip naked and fly to the café every morning? Clothes clutched in a talon, dressing furtively in an alleyway?"

"Of course not!" Dav gasps.

Sarah, who joined us for the meal to review upcoming picker hires with Dav, laughs up a storm.

"Rats." I snap my fingers. "There goes that fantasy."

"I can have the car brought up," Sarah says.

"The way you say … oh my god, do you not know how to drive?" I twist in my chair to face Dav.

"It's… unseemly," Dav says, with that same wince he gets when he talks about draconic taboos.

"And not necessary," Sarah breezes out, focused on her tablet. "We have a driver."

"What if you want privacy?" I ask. Dav squirms instead of answering. I can tell by the way his eyelashes move that he's flicking looks at Sarah and doesn't want her to see.

"Wait, every morning, someone drove you to the café? Someone always drives you? They picked you up from my house? You did the backseat ride of shame? Was the rideshare from the hospital actually your car?"

Dav squirms more, and cuts me a pleading look that begs for me to stop. It hits me, all of a sudden, that Dav, the Master of the Estate, has to ask someone to take him places.

Like a child.

Just another way Lt. Gov. Dickface can control him.

"What happens if you say no?" I ask, facing Sarah.

"Why would I?" She finally looks up at me. "I don't control where Master Tudor goes."

"Unless I'm meant to be elsewhere," Dav adds softly, with that unhappy throat-click.

Sarah chuckles. "Yes, of course, sir. You did put me in charge of your calendar."

"So you can tell him he's not allowed to go," I clarify.

Sarah finally seems to hook onto my mood. "If he's meant to be somewhere—"

"—even if it's somewhere he doesn't want to be?"

"—I'm going to…" Sarah trails off, eyes bouncing between us, growing wider behind today's bright purple frames. "Sir?"

"Never mind Master Levesque," Dav says, standing. "Yes, we'll have the car please."

"No, not 'never mind' me. We'll have the car, but not the driver."

"Colin—!"

"I’m 'Master Levesque', but I don't get to issue orders?"

"The car will be around the front, sirs." Sarah says, disgruntled, and types into her tablet. Probably texting the driver. "Keys will be in the ignition tray."

"Thank you. And the next time Master Tudor asks to go somewhere and your schedule says he's not allowed, consult me before you say no. Come on," I say, head high and determination set, tugging Dav to the door. "I'm teaching you how to drive."

Dav twists around to say something to Sarah—probably an apology, I don't catch it—but lets me pull him out the door.

"Colin, that wasn't—"

"What kind of car do you have?" I ask, as we jam on our shoes. "Vintage Bentley? A Tin Lizzy?"

Dav huffs and the dimple makes a brief appearance. "Why not the new solar one?"

"The Helios? I didn't figure you for a gadget guy."

"Why would I not have an interest in environmental sustainability? I have generations to live on this planet yet."

A pang of sadness echoes behind my heart. That's a long time to be alone. After me, I mean.

I hope he finds someone. Maybe it should make me jealous, the idea that after I'm buried, Dav will kiss someone else, tell someone else that he loves them. Instead, I’m just wistful . I hope he does. And I hope he's bigger in his own skin by then.

And one way that's going to happen is by teaching him how to drive his own damn self.

Trying to hide the sudden gravity of my train of thought, I tease: "Oh, I see. Then pursuing me was calculated—you caught yourself a pet expert."

Dav rolls his eyes. "You're not my pet."

And then he Vanna Whites, and I follow his gesture to the sleek, discreet silver car crouched on the gravel drive.

"Holy shit, it is the Helios." I skip down the steps to run my palms across the solar-panel roof.

"Are you sure you don't want the driver?"

"I want you to learn."

"I understand," Dav says. "But this is her job."

"She can do something else."

"She wants to do this . This is what she requested when she came of age."

"The dragons bully you. I'm not letting you get ‘managed’ by your staff either."

"They're not staff, they're…"

"Hoard?"

"Yes. More like… family."

"Family that you own and order around."

"When have you seen me ordering any of them around?" Dav asks, taken aback. "You're the one who was issuing orders just now. You were rude!"

We glower at each other over the roof of the car, at an impasse.

"Fine," I relent. "I'll apologize when we get back, but you still need driving lessons. You can let the chauffeur drive you, if you want, but I'd feel better…" About you getting cornered or trapped , I think but don't say. "If you could drive in emergencies."

"Very well. If it will make you happy, Mine Own."

"It will."

I slide into the driver's seat, and run my hands over the dash. So many shiny buttons! The key fob, like Sarah said they would be, is in the ignition tray. I put it in my pocket right away, knowing I’ll lock us out when I park if I don't. A passenger side door opens, but it's in the back.

"Absolutely not! Front seat, mister!"

Dav hesitates, closes the door, opens the front one, and folds himself inside next to me.

"Ignition, gas, speed gauge, rear view mirror, side mirrors, steering wheel," I point out as we buckle up.

Dav offers up an exasperated eye roll. "I’m not that helpless."

"Well, I don't know how long they've kept you in the back seat."

I turn on the car, reveling in the barely-audible purr. Gorgeous. I take us down the drive, nice and slow, talking Dav through it. He’s surprised you have to micro-adjust the wheel as you go, that you can't lock your arms in place.

"Quite different from a horse," Dav says, as we wait for the gates to open. "They steer themselves, more or less. It was convenient after a long night. I had a lovely mare, oh, around the turn of the last century. I could tell the horse to go home, and nap in the saddle."

"And that worked?"

"Every time. She was spoiled by the groom and knew on which side her bread was buttered."

"So you were allowed to ride a horse around alone, but you can't drive yourself places."

Dav leans back, away from where he was watching my feet. He stares out the window for a few minutes, and then, softy, says: "You recall, what I said, about doing it again?"

Finally.

An electric thrill runs up my spine and I concentrate on the highway on-ramp, so we don't swerve into one of the deep grassy ditches. I want to take his hand. But I'm also supposed to be demonstrating good driving behavior, which means hands at Ten and Two. "Yes."

"In the aftermath of… that mistake… concessions had to be made. Rules had to be…"

"Obeyed?"

" Established ."

"Rules that include you being babysat literally every hour of every day?"

He shrugs. "Save for when I am in public."

"Like when it was just you and me at Beanevolence."

"Yes."

"Is it to keep you from something? Or to keep something from you?"

"The latter. Though…" he brushes my cheek with the back of his fingers slowly, so as not to startle me as I'm driving. "… it seems to have found me anyway."

Jesus wept.

"That’s a lot to unpack, so either I'm pulling over, or we're scheduling this for later."

"Later," Dav says. "You have my word."

Dav’s never broken a promise to me of his own volition, so I relax into the drive, relieved and satisfied that I’ll have my answers soon.

The first thing Hadi does is hug me. Then she punches my shoulder. Hard. And then she hugs me again. Min-soo and Rajish linger behind the counter, and Dav makes small talk with them to give Hadi and I as much privacy as the front of the café affords.

"I'm an asshole," I say softly.

Hadi shakes her head. "We don't need to rehash it. I'm just glad you're okay."

Every tense muscle I have unwinds with relief.

I didn't realize how much I relied on her to talk me out of my brain-weasel and steel-wool days, until I didn't have her to call up and ask if she had the bandwidth to listen.

As much as I love hanging out with Dikimbe and Mauli, Hadi is, in all ways, my best friend.

"You looking for your job back?" Hadi asks, waving at Min-Soo, who starts making what I assume is a round of coffees for us. Hadi nudges me toward the black leather chairs.

"Do you need me?"

Beanevolence is a third full, about a dozen people reading textbooks or tapping away at laptops. It's not bad for a weekday morning during the school year, but nowhere near as jammed as it was when Dav was in the back. I glance over my shoulder—no, even Dav's regular table is empty, too.

Hadi shrugs. "It's nice to have experience on the floor, but if your sugar daddy—"

"He's not—!"

Hadi interrupts me with a cackle.

I huff and drop down into the chair. "Internet fame fleeting?"

"Isn't it always?" Hadi asks. "At least it was enough of a boost to the business that I got the last of the loans paid off. This is about our usual crowd, now."

"Hey, congrats," I say. "That's great."

"Thanks. So. Job—yes? No?"

"Job?" Dav asks as he slides into the chair beside me, gracefully placing three mugs on the table. A tobio, a regular for Hadi, and a thickly frothed, caramel-drizzled monstrosity for me. Nice.

"What, Colin didn't tell you about his dramatic, apron-throwing tantrum?" Hadi teases. If her opinion of Dav has changed since he was taken away, she’s not letting on.

"I didn’t throw it!" I protest as I settle back with the mug cupped between my hands. "I placed it in your hands."

"Forcefully."

"Either way, you still quit," Hadi points out.

"But you're so good at this job," Dav says.

"Keep your kinks in the bedroom, darling," I laugh, patting his thigh. Dav huffs, a sort of hissy not-human thing that’s partially a laugh. He lays his arm along the back of my chair and I lean back until my neck is resting on the inside of his elbow.

Hadi rolls her eyes, and I waggle my eyebrows, like, Jealous that my man is awesomest? You should be.

"Not gonna lie, it may be nice to have some, er, reason to leave the house, you know?"

"Hey, if you don't actually need it, Rajish wants the hours," Hadi points out.

"Oh, yeah," I say, suddenly glum. "That would be sucky of me."

"And your expertise is appreciated on the farm," Dav says. He and Hadi share a look over my head that reminds me of when my parents would talk me into accepting a decision they had already made.

Hadi may be the mom-friend but, heck no, this is not happening. I get bossed around enough by the twins. I'm not letting my best friends haggle for my time without any input from yours truly. "Hold up. I don't like where this is headed."

"So you do want to come back?" Hadi asks.

Dav frowns. "Surely you're not looking for the media circus to restart?"

"No, but—"

"And appearing in public with my token, there will be speculation."

"I won't wear it on shift."

"Colin," Dav chides gently. "You know that will cause more problems than it will solve."

"To be honest," Hadi cuts in, "I don't know if I could sustain another employee—"

"Okay! I get it! I'm not wanted!"

Hadi gives me the stink-eye. "Who said anything about 'not wanted'?"

"Aren't I?"

"You're not needed , Colin," she says patiently. "There's a difference."

"I'm not really needed back at the farm, either, am I?"

"Not precisely," Dav says. "Though Luiz would appreciate a paper copy of your thesis—"

A pit of horror yawns wide inside me. "Oh my god, I've turned into you."

Dav does that affronted-pigeon thing. "What do you mean?"

"I'm going to come here, and sit in that corner, and do nothing because I'm not allowed to."

"You're twisting my words," Dav says sharply, frown growing. "Don't exaggerate."

"But I'm not wrong. You're a… a gentleman of leisure who only came in to fill your days, and now that I'm… I'm yours , I'm the same?"

"Sarah fills her days just fine. Janet did as well, until you declared her superfluous."

"Who?"

"My driver."

Now I feel like an asshole.

Hadi pats my knee softly. "Hey. Listen, you've spent a whole year bitching that you don't know what to do with your life."

"Not a whole year," I mutter. Hadi and Dav share another conspiratorial look that makes it clear that they both take umbrage to that claim.

"And now you got what you wanted. Time, and space to explore your potential. And money—forgive me for saying so Dav—to take care of the rest while you do."

"No, by all means, you're correct," Dav allows. "The state of my coffers is such that Colin need not take employment for the rest of his life, should he so choose."

"But I don't want to be useless ."

I don't want to be a pet, to be coddled, and fed, and played with. But that's what a Favorite is, isn't it? They're just a living, breathing ornament.

"If you want employment, a job title, a schedule, we’ll arrange it," Dav says. "If you want none of those things, my income will provide for you. You don't have to decide immediately."

"Enjoy the honeymoon period," Hadi says, and I look up sharply, because, okay, how much does she know?

Is she aware Dav and I are kind of dragon-married now?

Or is she just talking about the nice part of the relationship where everything is a golden bubble and you can't keep your hands off each other?

I mean. Dav and I can't keep our hands off each other.

"Why don’t you just come in every morning, and we'll see how it goes from there." Hadi says.

"Colin?" Dav asks me.

"If you think the paps'll leave off, then yeah, okay. Yeah."

"They'll leave off," Dav says, with a dangerous finality.