Page 18

Jasmine

There was a sense of relief when Purple Oak Oasis came into view. I'd missed it, more than I expected, and not just because of the call of my duties. The guards at the gate were familiar, the smell was familiar, the people I loved were here. This was home, being away from it had underlined that.

And there was a large part of me that was relieved that I wasn't going to have to choose between my life here and the prospect of a new relationship. Ryburn was going to be here most of the time once everything had been set up properly, and I wasn't going to have to choose.

I just had to hope he loved it here as much as I did.

I paused in front of the town hall and let my bag fall from my shoulders. "Never again."

Taz chuckled as she put her stuff down. "Not even to see your dryad?"

"He's not my dryad," I denied.

She raised an eyebrow.

"Yet," I conceded.

"Mmhmm." She waggled her eyebrows. "I'm happy for you. You deserve some fun or someone to love, whichever it is. You work too hard. This will be good for you."

I looked up at the town hall. "I wish you hadn't said that because I was kind of thinking of catching up on paperwork."

"Absolutely not, Jas. That's insane. You should go to the tavern, have a drink, and relax. This alliance is a big deal, and you did it."

" We did it," I emphasised. "It wouldn't have been possible without you coming along and agreeing to build that mill. That's going to be years of hard work."

She shrugged. "I was in need of a new challenge. It sounds fun."

"And you call me a workaholic."

"Takes one to know one," she said with a grin, waving for someone to take our bags and take them inside. "Besides, Grower's Cove was beautiful."

"Are we going to lose you to them?" I half-teased, but I was also a little worried about that.

Taz shrugged. "Never say never. But I doubt it. My family is here, and the mill. I want a new challenge, not a new life. But that's enough about work. You and I are going for a drink to celebrate."

I thought about protesting but it was hard to say to Taz Miller. And she was right, I did deserve a night off. There was nothing that couldn't wait until morning and I would do a better job with a clear head anyway. Which meant not drinking too much.

The walk to the tavern was only short and I could hear the excited chatter from outside. The smell of hops and beer greeted us, strangely comforting despite the fact I didn't spend that much time here. People were already chattering at us and offering to pay for our drinks even if they didn't need to, and it was only a couple of minutes before two women instantly swept Taz away. She shot me an apologetic look as she was pulled to the bar, but I just shrugged and waved away her concern.

I didn't mind and went over to the table in the corner that was kept reserved for us. Brew and Katie were sitting at it, being the most conspicuous couple in the world. It was a small miracle that people hadn't caught on yet.

They smiled when they saw me and shuffled to make space.

"Welcome home," Brew said, giving me a one-armed hug. "How was the trip?"

"It was..." My thoughts conjured the tent, the sights of Grower's Cove, the meetings. So much had happened in the past week and a bit, I didn't know how to sum it up. "Eventful."

He grinned. "I'm going to guess from your demeanour that the trade alliance went through?"

"It did. Taz will be building them a mill, they'll be helping us cultivate a tea garden. We're going to grow our own tea right here in the heart of Purple Oak, Brew. Can you believe that?"

"It sounds surreal, and I'm so excited for it." He gave me a proud smile, looking more like our late father than ever. "Well done, Jasmine. The village is lucky to have you."

Katie nodded in agreement. "I've seen the strain there is on the infirmary and what happens when the workers can't get healed in a timely manner. This is huge."

Their praise was making my heart swell and the enormity of this whole thing sank in properly. We established a treaty with Grower's Cove that was going to directly benefit us in many ways. And even though I'd been distracted, I still made it happen.

"So, did you drink the tea?" Brew asked with a grin.

"That's none of your business." I leaned on my arm. "But I might have to swing by the medical bay for some contraceptive tea going forward," I mumbled. There was no point in not telling him. He'd know the minute I turned up to the infirmary anyway.

The two broke into laughter.

"It's a good thing there's no shortage of that," Katie said, looking adoringly at my brother.

"That's too much information," I said, although I wasn't naive. I knew what they got up to when they were alone.

Someone called Katie over and she gave us an apology as she got up to deal with someone who was likely one of her workers. As much as Taz told us to relax, the work never really ended.

The owner of the tavern brought a tankard of beer over and I took a sip, sighing at the lovely bitter taste.

"So, how were things around here?" I asked.

Brew chuckled. "You mean, did things fall apart while you were gone? The simple answer is no."

"And the complicated answer?"

"There were some hiccups here and there, but nothing that wouldn't have happened if you were here."

That was as much a relief as confronting. I worked hard to make sure everything ran smoothly, it was a little disheartening to know that perhaps I wasn't as indispensable as I wanted to be.

A gust of cold air came in and I turned to see who had entered the tavern, smiling when I spotted Cami. She looked surprised to see me and came over, sliding onto the bench.

"Didn't realise you were back already," Cami said, taking my mug so she could take a big sip of my beer. "Oh, I needed that."

"Get your own," I chided, managing to sound like I was five.

She chuckled. "Why would I do that when I can just annoy you instead?"

It was remarkable how it only took Cami ten seconds to wind me up. It was a skill only little sisters had, that was for sure.

I took a deep breath, centering myself before I said more. "How did you like working with the guards?"

Cami shrugged. "It's fine. Not particularly exciting, but yeah. Fine."

"It's not meant to be exciting, it's an essential job we need to do, and we can't afford any mess-ups." I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, already worrying about what mess I would find when I visited the barracks. This was why I couldn't leave Purple Oak for long stretches at a time.

Brew held out his hands. "No need to get wound up. I'm sure Cami did everything all right."

Our sister nodded. "I'm not our mother's right hand, but even I know how important security is to our town. I'm not going to mess up something so important."

"Sorry. I'm just a little stressed. Don't get me wrong, I'm really pleased that the trade negotiations went well, but now we'll have a lot more to organise. I don't really know how I'm going to do it all."

"By delegating," Brew said sensibly. "For instance, why not let Cami handle the guard reports from now on. That's something off your plate."

I hesitated, wishing I had a reason to say no, but it was a good suggestion. And if I didn't let go of a few things, I was going to drop it all.

"If you wouldn't mind?" I asked Cami.

"No, I can do it. You'll see." She took another sip from my beer. "Now, I heard you had to take the special tea with you on your trip. Did you use it?"

I scoffed and hit Brew's arm. "Why did you tell her?"

"I didn't! She noticed the tin was missing," he denied. "And it's not like anyone else besides you would've taken it. Mum doesn't need that tea anymore."

"Why were you even looking at it?" I asked Cami. "You’ve always said you’re only interested in women. Unless that’s changed?”

"Definitely not. Men are not my thing. No offence, Brew."

"None taken, I don't think," he mumbled.

"So why were you looking for the tea?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I'm just observant. That's the kind of keen observations I'm going to be bringing to my duties with the guards."

"Earl could have taken it for someone," I muttered, even though we all knew it wasn't Earl. He was more interested in tea plants than people.

Cami's eyes twinkled as she leaned forward. "Well, tell us all about it. Not the yucky details, but who is he? I assume it's a he if you needed the tea."

"Fine, but only because you're going to find out soon enough." Like when Ryburn returned to Purple Oak and we were able to start seeing one another properly.

The bartender came over with a beer for Cami just in time for Katie to return and for all three of them to listen to me talk about Ryburn, keeping the so called yucky details well and truly to myself. There were some things that could stay private, even from inquisitive siblings.

I couldn't help but smile. Yes, this was home, and I wouldn't change it for anything.