Staying Grounded [BXB]

Awkward Encounter

CRAIG:

"Oh, Craig, am I glad to see you!"

Judy looks uncharacteristically harried when she opens the Farmhouse's front door to me, a potato in one hand and a peeler in the other. She's dressed in her scrubs, ready for work, but her braids are yet to be tamed, and her face is without its usual bright flourish of makeup. Still, she flashes a smile no less inviting than I've come to expect from her as she steps aside and motions me in.

"Are you okay?" I ask, passing by her.

"Just one of those days, honey. Everything all at once, you know?" She shuts the door at my back. "But it's all the better now for your exceptional timing!"

"Uh..." Okay, that's not perplexing. "Is Bas home?"

"Come on through and wait, why don't you? He shouldn't be much longer."

It would seem that I don't have a choice. Or I'm not spared the time to make one, at any rate. No sooner has Judy taken my jacket and hung it on the rack than she's bustling away from me into the depths of the warren. I dart a deliberating glance at the door before I sigh and trail after her, my instincts on high alert.

The twists and turns and clutter don't daunt me anymore. In fact, I might even admit to becoming somewhat fond of the Rabbit Hole's quirks. There are still numerous doors and passageways that remain an utter mystery. But I'm able to navigate my way to the most frequented rooms well enough.

And this is fortunate, really, because Judy's already back in the kitchen and busily peeling spuds over the sink by the time I catch her up. "Just give me a minute," she calls over her shoulder.

Dobby springs from his basket to greet me, tail wagging as he sniffs around my legs. I bend to give his ears a scratch, only for him to repel my hand with an admonishing grunt. "Whoops," I chuckle. "My bad, mutt. I should know better by—"

"I think he likes you." The intrusion of an entirely unfamiliar female voice knocks me sideways. "Craig, right?"

Sliding my gaze to the redhead sitting at the kitchen table, Dobby is abruptly forgotten. My stomach flips over itself as instant recognition hits.

Sebastian's mum grins at me. "Well, hello there, Handsome."

I'm gawking like a moron, I know I am, and my face is feeling unreasonably hot.

True to her word, Judy drops a final handful of potato chunks into the slow-cooker and turns her back to the counter with a sigh. "Craig, honey," she trips me to my senses. Wiping off her hands on a tea towel, she moves to pull out a chair across the table from the woman whose name I realise I've never been told. "Come. Sit down."

At the flash of her smile and a distinct lack of anything else I can fathom to do with myself, I heed the instruction. And Dobby follows on my heel to settle on the floor beside me.

"Hey," I recover my voice at last. "Hi."

Mrs Davis leans forward. "You have the bluest eyes I'm sure I've ever seen."

"Uh, thanks." I lean back, and I don't fail to notice that Judy isn't joining us. Instead, she's now quick-stepping away.

"My apologies," she says, pausing at the door. "But I really do need to get myself sorted. I'm running dangerously close to being late." Her soft gaze is almost pleading, fixed on me. "You're alright to keep Theresa company until Sebastian gets home, aren't you?"

And, yep, there it is. That right there is what my gut has been warning me about. Sneak that she is, I've been played all-too-readily into a trap.