Eggs and Kisses by Jessica Payseur

Author:Jessica Payseur [Payseur, Jessica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Published: 2017-02-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

The kids were, as Kiko had predicted, messy, and Dom did his best to manage the situation to Kiko’s standards. Katie ended up with the easy job of simply selling canvases to parents, although since they also bought eggnog and truffles in large amounts she was constantly running to the case. The hum of mingling adults and the noise of artistic children made the Yolks on You atmosphere loud and warm and like a huge family get-together.

Kiko went around with a marker and painters tape, putting the kids’ names on the back of their paintings so parents could drop by the Yolks on You booth at the Heartstival tomorrow and pick up the finished art. Dom mopped up spills with a cloth and refilled the paper plates, hoping Kiko was noticing how well he was doing. He didn’t know how to make up for not coming in immediately in the morning but he hoped he could; he and Kiko seemed to work well together.

The tables were nearly full, the event well underway, when Buddy entered with a cage covered by a blanket. Dom saw the look of concern Kiko shot the brewmeister and decided a good way to show his competency was to handle the situation. He set his cloth down and met Kiko’s eye to let him know he was on it before peeling away and approaching Buddy.

“Big night,” said Buddy, nodding to the tables where the children were making a mess with paints.

“Eggs and Kisses event,” said Dom. He reached for the blanket and realized he had splashes of paint over himself just as Buddy pulled the cage away. Something moved in it.

“Forgot about that,” said Buddy. “Not my sort of event.”

“What’s in the cage?” asked Dom, getting right to the point. Buddy didn’t seem to want to talk to him. He kept looking toward Kiko, who was doing a great job of not glancing even remotely toward where they stood. Eventually Buddy seemed to give in and crossed to the Mother the Goose display.

“Nice scarf,” he said, nodding to the only piece of clothing the taxidermied goose was wearing. He set the cage down on the chair Kiko used for storytelling. “Now, I know this isn’t a bird, but it’s related, right?”

“Do I get to see it?” asked Dom, and Buddy pulled off the blanket to reveal a lizard.

“Bearded dragon,” said Buddy proudly. “Perfect, right? It stays in its cage, like the goose, except when Kiko wants to show the kids. It’s gentle, and it’s a dragon. Goes great with eggs and stories.”

Dom stared at it, then glanced up at where Kiko’s back was pointed toward them. He doubted Kiko was interested in a lizard. Besides, he had two pilgrim goose eggs incubating back at home, and he suspected Kiko would not be keen on going from no pets to three.

“It’s an idea, I’ll give you that,” he said, “but Kiko’s not interested right now.” Dom wished Kiko was here right now to see how well he was professionally handling this.

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