A massive, dark head stuck through the door, eyes wide and locked right on her. It couldn’t fit through, not yet, but the doorframe was already splintering.

  “Oh god oh god oh god!” She felt frozen, only able to stare as the beast let out a deep whine. Of the magic woods would have giant wolves nearby! No wonder no one wanted this forsaken place! Seconds felt like minutes as they stared…

  And the wolf backed off? One step, two, head hung as it slunk away, then bolted away into the trees. It took a few seconds longer for coherent thought to enter Avery’s mind, and later she would wonder what was wrong with her that her first thought was finishing her tea before it got cold. Shock was quite the drug.

  “MOW!”

  “Oh, hi kitty.”

  The cat—a tortoiseshell—sniffed her shoes a few seconds, hopped onto the counter, and meowed their demand.

  “Loud.” Not a bad thing, just a statement. Logically, she should have shooed it out. There was no telling if the cat was healthy, and she definitely couldn’t afford to get a vet to check. However, logic had gone out the window when she decided the first priority after a giant wolf showed up was finishing her tea. Avery held her hand out to sniff and let out a long, shuddering sigh of relief as the cat met her hand halfway. It turned out the kitty’s purring was as loud as their screams, a much needed balm on her nerves.

  Avery looked at the now-splintered doorway, the mystery cat, and a hysterical giggle bubbled out from her. “What am I All this way on what, a whim? I don’t know how to run a store.” She was monologuing at a cat, but what else were pets (was this a pet now?) for? “And partly some magic woods? Not even an hour in and there’s a wolf breaking the door!”

  Plus, looking around, there was so much to do, and she had no idea where to start. The windows? The cracks? The doorframe? Some of the floorboards looked a little rotten, and she’d have to learn to work the blasted coffee machine. Who would come out this far for coffee anyways? Or anything, for that matter? How had this place ever She’d asked, of course, but there was no convenient instruction manual!

  The cat butted up against her hand, letting out a meow loud enough to break her thoughts. Little tears misted the kitty’s fur. “Ah, sorry. I got you wet.”

  Avery jumped a foot in the air with a squeak. Who in the world?!

  Someone with short, dark hair stood in the doorway. Their build was sturdy, broad shouldered and heavyset, and they wore some red flannel over a black shirt and shorts.

  But more importantly…

  “SIR GET INSIDE THERE’S A GRIMHOUND OUT THERE!”

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  Strange danger be forsaken! Avery ran over and tugged at the person with more strength than her slight frame suggested. Panic was quite the boost!

  “Not a sir, but thank you?” the person said as they stumbled in after her.

  Only behind the counter did Avery take a second look and realized this person had breasts. “Um… woman then?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “Name’s Max.”

  Should she give her name, or her legal name? Probably the latter, more professional. “Willow Thorne.” Wait was that too far? Too late now.

  “You okay? You’re shaking like a rabbit.”

  “Did you not hear what I said about the wolf?!”

  “Oh! Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. My, uh, dog got out.”

  “Your DOG?!” Avery stared at the woman incredulously. “That thing was taller than you are!”

  “Not by much! It’s fiiiine. She’s well trained.”

  “She chased a cat in here!”

  “Oh, yeah, she does that,” Max said. She looked over and, “Aaaw, hey kitty!” Max walked over even as the cat shrunk away. To her credit, the cat didn’t actually hiss or bite, just looked a bit spooked and then started meowing loudly as they were scooped up. “Aaaawhahahaaaw, you’re a talkative one, aintcha?” She gently dangled the cat, delighting as they squeaked and complained while doing otherwise nothing about their situation.

  “Is the cat yours too?”

  “Nope. Been trying, but hasn’t actually let me close until now.” She raised an eyebrow Avery’s way. “You got some kind of animal magic? Cat magic?”

  “So far as I can tell, the eyes are a genetic joke.”

  “Oof.” She looked around awkwardly as she set the cat down. “Hey, uh, looks like you’ve been crying. I ain’t always the best with touchy feely stuff, but, uh…”

  Avery wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “It’s fine…” She looked around again and sighed. “Long story short, I got a little over emotional at a funeral for a person I didn’t know, took the deed to this place on a whim, and you’d think somewhere that was apparently lived in until recently would be a little better put together!”

  “Someone lived here? I thought this place closed, like, twenty years ago! I was like eight or something last time I was here. Guess that explains why it’s still standing at all.”

  Oh, so there was almost no built in audience anymore, was there? Avery wanted to scream, but there was still work to be done. Screaming was for when she was too tired to do anything else.

  “But hey! I think this place has a little magic in it or something? And, uh…” She side-eyed the door and scratched the back of her head. “My dog didn’t exactly make it better. I could maybe take you to the hardware store?”

  She wanted to say no just on principle—she didn’t like owing people—but this person’s dog break the doorframe. She supposed in those circumstances, it’d be okay to accept? “Sure. I’ll follow your car in mine.”

  The woman winced and sort of looked to the side, mumbling, “Oh, I didn’t bring a car.”

  “What.”

  “Yeeeah, can we just use yours? I can give directions!”

  Getting in a car with a stranger nearly twice her size, this seemed like a brilliant idea. Then again, it wasn’t like she had much worth stealing; even the car itself was a junker. If this was a robbery, she’d probably get more from it with insurance money than Max would.

  “Okay, sure. C’mon.” She waved for Max to follow, though… “Should we take the cat with us? I’m not sure about leaving them alone here.”

  “What’s it gonna do? Steal the register?”

  “Pee?” Avery looked around at the flooring which, even swept, still desperately needed some animal-droppings safe cleaning solution liberally applied. “Actually, not sure I care. Putting my stuff in the back room though.” And so she did, barely sparing a glance at the bedroom. Just in case the kitty did, in fact, want out, she left a window open, but also took a mug from the cupboards and poured some water in it for them. “There you go, kitty.”

  She let Max lead the way out, stopping by the door to at least try to lock it, albeit to no avail. With a sigh, she patted the doorframe. “We’ll get you fixed up.” With that, she turned to follow Max, still dubious about this whole thing, but at least not alone.

  Real Tea:suggested the cat be Maya. That said, please do not just pick up cats you do not know and trust them not to bite you. Just because I had it work out here as a tribute to sweet baby Maya does not mean I condone it.

  I prefer tea, but buy me a Kofi?