Page 29

"All right, we'll see you two tomorrow to set up for island movie night."

She looks right at Randy when she speaks.

"Oh. Yep. Absolutely. Tomorrow," he says awkwardly, clearly trying to sound reassuring.

She squints at him but drops it, allowing Conall to help her into the front of the cart.

Randy is still watching them as they leave, looking a little pink-cheeked, so I lean up and kiss his freckled cheek.

He startles but then relaxes and leans into my warmth.

"Dinner?" I ask.

He nods, and we head into my house. Morty trots after us.

Randy asks to assist, so we work together. He slices the vegetables while I prepare the sauce. As we work, I talk about the island's leaves changing early for mid-September. Patches of yellow, orange, and red are already mixed in with the green. We discuss how the wind has started to smell of smoke and damp earth.

He talks about the council's plans for the fall festival at the beginning of October. They're planning additional booths this year.

"Just think," I say as I spoon the ratatouille onto our plates. "Maybe next year you'll need to add activities for little ones, now that monsters on the island are having children again."

He pauses halfway through setting the glasses on the table.

His gaze drifts to Morty. The cat lounges in a patch of sunlight spilling through the window on my kitchen floor.

"When I was younger, I thought about maybe having children..." He trails off, still staring at the cat as though lost in thought.

I reach out and take his empty hand in mine, lacing our fingers together. He absently brings my hand to his mouth and kisses the back of it.

It's not even close to the most intimate gesture we've performed today, yet heat skitters through my arm just the same.

"But I thought I had time." He sighs and sits, never letting go of my hand. "Then the old wards were put up twenty years ago, and finding mates and having children became impossible."

"I'll admit, I thought about the possibility when we first realized we were mates, and again lying in bed last night. If we had realized when we started living next to each other fifteen years ago—"

I let the thought trail off.

Randy looks back at the cat. "I got Morty when I realized it just wasn't going to happen."

The cat meows from his spot, batting at an errant particle of dust.

I see the cat in a whole new light. No wonder he's so attached to the creature. I have to admit, the cat is growing on me too.

"Focusing on possibilities only makes people more miserable," Randy says unexpectedly. He wears a soft, reflective smile. "My father used to say that."

"Then let's not. Besides, you're talking as though we're dead. We're older, yes. But lots of young monsters on the mainland need homes. Now that the borders are open, maybe that's something..."

Uncertainty creeps in.

I only found out Randy was my mate yesterday morning. God, it feels like lifetimes have passed since then.

It's way too early for the kids conversation, right?

We're both over fifty. We should be having the grandkids conversation.

Randy smiles, but shrugs, as though he knows exactly what I'm thinking.

The rest of the meal passes in amicable silence.