Witchy Sour(18)

My palms began to sweat, and I wondered if maybe I should encourage Zin to pursue a career with a lower mortality rate. “I didn’t realize you felt so strongly.”

“I know the truth because I worked there,” Hettie said. “And if my granddaughter is going to take that job, you’d better believe I’ll be proud of her. I’ll wave her flag from every rooftop these old knees can climb, but what I will not do is send her in unprepared. If she’s going to succeed at the Ranger lifestyle, she needs to learn.”

I swallowed, feeling a bit out of my league with some of this island business. A couple of weeks was not long enough to understand its nuances and culture. Plus, Hettie had a point. I’d rather Zin be rejected from the Ranger program until she was ready to face what was waiting for her on the other side.

Zin peered through one eyelid again. “I’m really starting to need to use the restroom. Any chance I can take a break?”

“No,” Hettie said shortly. “Keep going.”

I made a disgruntled noise in my throat, but my grandmother silenced me with one look. We stood in silence for another minute, watching Zin sit there in pseudo-meditation.

“Why are you here anyway?” Zin asked with another peek at me. “Who knows how long I’ll be here. This training business isn’t for wimps.”

“No, it’s not,” I said, hiding a small smile. “However, I was wondering if you and Poppy were available for dinner tonight?”

“You’re not inviting your old Gran?” The gray-haired, sparkle-covered head whipped toward me. “Bummer, dude.”

I cleared my throat and revised. “You too, Hettie. You can come if you’d like.”

Hettie waved a hand and laughed. “I’m just messin’ with y’all. You both need to stop taking everything I say so seriously. I have plans, anyway. Spend some time with your cousins.”

“Are we going to be done training by then?” Zin asked. “How much longer will this take?”

“How much longer do you want it to take?” Hettie looked nonchalantly down at her nails. “I never told you how long to sit there.”

“What?” Zin’s screech could likely be heard back at the bar. “You were making me sit here for no good reason?”

“Oh, there was a good reason,” Hettie said. “I always have my reasons.”

“Are you going to share what that reason was?” Zin let her hands fall to her sides and opened her eyes. A cloudy expression covered her face as she pieced the puzzle together. “Were you just messing with me?”

“Sorta.” Hettie grinned. “I’m teaching you to make your own rules. I was just telling Lily that well-behaved women rarely make history.”

“That’s not what you were telling me,” I mumbled. “You were saying—”

Hettie waved a hand to shut me up. “Same thing. I am teaching you to think critically. I told you to sit there, and you did it for an hour. You didn’t even ask why!”

Zin flew to her feet. “That’s it. I knew you were going crazy, old lady!”

“Calm down! It’s a proper lesson,” Hettie said, shaking her finger at Zin. “When you become a Ranger, you will be given assignments. Sometimes those assignments will be hard, and sometimes they won’t make sense. Are you going to be one of those Rangers who just blindly follows orders like a big, clumsy giant? Or are you going to think for yourself?”

Zin fell silent. “You said when. You really think...When I become a Ranger?”

Zin was hung up on the first part of that question, while the last part had resonated with me. Maybe Hettie’s musings were directed at more than one person. Based upon the glittering look in her eye as she swiveled her gaze toward me, I was all but convinced she knew what I was thinking.

“Of course when,” Hettie said. “All of my granddaughters can become whatever they’d like in their lifetimes. It’s a matter of deciding what you want, how badly you want it, and what you’re willing to do to get there.”

“How is she supposed to know when to break the rules and when to follow them?” I blurted out. “You know, when she’s a Ranger.”

Hettie sized me up with her calculating eyes. “That’s the second step. The harder step. Unfortunately, that is something I can’t teach, and neither can anyone else. Not even the best of Rangers.”

“That’s reassuring,” Zin grumbled. “Doesn’t leave me a lot of hope.”

“On the contrary.” Hettie peered at both of us closely before responding. “That should give you the greatest hope of all.”