The day had gone so well, too. Saturday morning they had looked at the house, turned and bought it with hardly an attempt at negotiating. The afternoon had been spent moving Sianna?s possessions from the Red Dragon, and Johnny?s few personal things, his trunk and clothes. The furniture in the studio was left there ? still his primary workspace, he was sure there would be times he would spend the night, and Juli could use it as well, whenever she needed a sanctuary.
His finished statues and cases of completed jewelry would be brought later. It was lucky that the house came partially furnished ? a bed left in one of the bedrooms was the primary concern. They would have to get more, later, but for today, they were thrilled just to have their things moved in.
The trip to the Inn, to settle Sianna?s tab and return her room key, took a turn for the worse. They had hardly entered when Baker and Darren (especially Darren) had started causing trouble. Sianna?s Scottish temper had flared, and she had doused the pair with the unholy concoction Baker had whipped up.
Unfortunately, as Johnny followed her back to the booth, a woman who had been splashed by Sianna?s enthusiastic throw pegged a mostly full plastic bottle of soda water in Sianna?s direction. Since Johnny was behind Sianna, it had caught him squarely in the back of the head. He yelled, of course, and turned to find the culprit, only to be confronted by a girl more than a foot shorter who had ended up taking a solid swing at his jaw.
He couldn?t hit back ? wouldn?t hit a woman unless it was to save his own life, but fortunately things seemed to calm down then. Aided by Sianna?s liberal application of gold to soothe the woman?s temper and compensate her for any damages. By they time they were settled into their booth, his head was throbbing.
It wasn?t the excitement that set his head to throbbing. By the end of the night, they were both running sky-high fevers. They made it home on Ruadh, and Johnny sent Sianna inside while he made a rough attempt at securing and grooming the horse ? empty workshop used as a temporary stable, never mind the mess that would follow. The thought drifted through his fever-wracked mind that part of the shop would have to be sectioned off for stabling.
When he made it inside, and crawled into bed next to Sianna, his last thought before he passed out was the hope that they hadn?t passed this illness to anyone else.
His finished statues and cases of completed jewelry would be brought later. It was lucky that the house came partially furnished ? a bed left in one of the bedrooms was the primary concern. They would have to get more, later, but for today, they were thrilled just to have their things moved in.
The trip to the Inn, to settle Sianna?s tab and return her room key, took a turn for the worse. They had hardly entered when Baker and Darren (especially Darren) had started causing trouble. Sianna?s Scottish temper had flared, and she had doused the pair with the unholy concoction Baker had whipped up.
Unfortunately, as Johnny followed her back to the booth, a woman who had been splashed by Sianna?s enthusiastic throw pegged a mostly full plastic bottle of soda water in Sianna?s direction. Since Johnny was behind Sianna, it had caught him squarely in the back of the head. He yelled, of course, and turned to find the culprit, only to be confronted by a girl more than a foot shorter who had ended up taking a solid swing at his jaw.
He couldn?t hit back ? wouldn?t hit a woman unless it was to save his own life, but fortunately things seemed to calm down then. Aided by Sianna?s liberal application of gold to soothe the woman?s temper and compensate her for any damages. By they time they were settled into their booth, his head was throbbing.
It wasn?t the excitement that set his head to throbbing. By the end of the night, they were both running sky-high fevers. They made it home on Ruadh, and Johnny sent Sianna inside while he made a rough attempt at securing and grooming the horse ? empty workshop used as a temporary stable, never mind the mess that would follow. The thought drifted through his fever-wracked mind that part of the shop would have to be sectioned off for stabling.
When he made it inside, and crawled into bed next to Sianna, his last thought before he passed out was the hope that they hadn?t passed this illness to anyone else.