Chapter 845 (1/2)

“Pass the salt,” Edmund Dugg said. He also pointed, as though no one would understand what he was referring to otherwise.

Mrs. Hamilton’s lips twitched. But she said nothing as Sam passed Edmund both the salt and the pepper.

Edmund looked at the pepper in shock. “This isn’t salt. I didn’t want this.”

“I know, Ed,” Sam grunted. “But my father taught me you passed salt and pepper together. They are a couple.”

“I don’t want the pepper,” Edmund said with a shrug. His impressive black mustache twitched as though the mere thought of pepper made him want to sneeze.

“Then don’t use it,” Sam said harshly, glaring at the other man.

Mrs. Hamilton serenely surveyed the rest of the table. Regina Northwind had the blank-faced look of a woman making a mental checklist while something beneath her notice was occurring. Donny sat with his head down, continuing to eat the greek salad in front of them. Bekany, Edmund’s wife and the one who brought that salad, blinked and smiled.

You do that a lot, dear, Mrs. Hamilton thought fondly. But for all that Bekany was clearly a ditz, she displayed an attribute that Mrs. Hamilton found endlessly enchanting: Patience. And you need it every day, to deal with that man…

“I’ll take the pepper,” Bekany said brightly.

Edmund pushed the pepper grinder across the table with the back of his hand, as though using his palm would somehow infect him with its distasteful attributes. Bekany took the pepper and tilted it incrementally over her salad. No hint of pepper fell out. With that same bland smile on her face, Bekany righted the shaker and set the pepper down.

“I don’t know how you manage the stuff!” Edmund said with a shake of his head. Finding something amiss, Edmund suddenly froze. Then he reached up, removed a rather large piece of ear wax from his left ear, and flicked it onto the floor.

Regina’s face twitched back to wakefulness as she witnessed the callous disrespect conveyed in the gesture, but she just frowned. Mrs. Hamilton covered a smile with her hand. Obviously, it wasn’t worth getting the man started on the dangers of over waxed ears.

In a respectable effort to move the talk forward, Sam said, “Food’s good.”

“Let me tell you something,” Edmund said as he leaned over the table. He propped his elbow up and jabbed his finger at Sam. “There was this place. A hot dog shop, spelled with two p’s and an e. Now, I know what you’re thinking: I would never dine there. I agree, I had the same thoughts. But the hotdogs they served-”

“This food is a damn sight better than hot dogs, Ed” Sam rumbled as he glared at Edmund. The man shrugged, unwilling to back down on his point. Bekany just sat at his side and giggled, then continued to eat her own pepper-less salad.

So the dinner went.

At the end of it, Donny wasn’t so anxious any longer, but he was clearly frustrated. So Mrs. Hamilton shared a knowing look with Sam and excused herself from the rather idyllic rant Edmund was giving about ovens with the System. A short gesture was all she needed to get Donny to follow her.

To his credit, he walked calmly after her, his hands at his sides. But his annoyance was clear in the tightness of the lines beside his eyes. Donny, you truly are so young.

“So, why was I brought here?” Donny asked. Mrs. Hamilton sighed and brought him into the private library of Sam and Regina. As they sat in the overstuffed leather chairs, Donny continued to speak. “I thought it was to talk business. Because all I know is that Donnyton’s growth is leveling off. We have the Undying Hero acting in the Southeast; not even Neveah can pin him down. The two new arrivals to the new Earth smile politely but are trying to cut into Donnyton business. And the Ogre’s-”