I do not own the stories of Kim Harrison... and I cry about it every night.

Thanks to those who have looked at this story. I'm new to this and I appreciate any support.

There was a Beemer parked in front of the church. A ghost gray Beemer. I gritted my teeth and felt Ivy stiffen beside me. It was still idling as though the occupant were waiting for us to come up. If he thought I was coming over there to chat he could wait till the worlds collided. Thinking back on how much Trent Kalamack feared demons, she was pretty sure he wouldn't wait that long. It made her smile.

"What's Quen doing here?" Jenks had been so still on my shoulder I had thought he was asleep or at least not paying that much attention. But I should have known better. Jenks didn't miss much. No, that was my department. I hadn't even considered that it wouldn't be Trent. I should have realized when it wasn't the Limo. Trent wasn't allowed to drive. Again, I smiled. It was the petty things that sometimes made life great.

Ivy was looking suspiciously at me when I turned my head. "What are you smiling about?" she asked. Her slightly tilted eyes narrowing on me.

"She's probably thinking nasty thoughts about Trent." Jenks chimed in. I stiffened and the horrified look on my face actually made him laugh a little. "Get your mind out of the gutter, Rache. I was thinking more like a piano had fallen on his head or something." I heard him muttered a particularly harsh explicative about his famous ancestors private areas and turned back in time to see Quen climb from the car carrying a pot.

"What is..." Ivy stared at the plant coming out of the car that wasn't just a plant. It was a Japanese Cherry Tree. Why was he carrying a cherry tree?

We moved closer to the church, watching as Quen wrestled the tree from the car. It had obviously been sitting in the floor board but he seemed to be having trouble getting it out of the car without bending it or dumping dirt on the seats. It would have been funny if I'd known why he was here. I heard a sniff and glanced from the train wreck in front of me to Jenks. He was smiling, almost laughing, but there were fresh tear tracks on his face as he watched Quen finally get the tree out of the car with as little dirt spilled as possible. I looked up as Quen straightened, having seen us on the sidewalk, and stared at his from across the road. We all just stood there looking at each other for a minute. Silent and waiting. I thought about a thousand things to tell him. I recognized that tree. It had been in a small nursery area of Trents gardens. There had been a few. They'd have transplanted them to another part of the garden when they figured out where they wanted them to go. At least I guess that's what they'd do. I'd never tried to move a tree. But if Trent had sent him here to hire me for something on a day like today he could...

"I'm sorry for the loss of you wife, Jenks." Quen's head came up and my jaw dropped. Jenks lifted from my shoulder and moved to Quen and the tree now sitting next to his feet. His dragonfly wings shifting from dark to pale blue as he sifted dust on the air in his wake. They stayed there for a moment. I couldn't hear them but I was betting Ivy could from the expression on her face.

"What are they saying?" I asked and she turned to look at me with astonished eyes.

"The tree is for the garden. He got the tree for Jenks garden. He stole one of Trents trees for Jenks garden."

We both looked up at the harsh sound of someone clearing his throat. Quen stood a foot from us with a sour look on his face. "I didn't steal from my employer. I purchased one of the saplings from the nursery. What I do with it is my business." He walked past our astonished faces with Jenks riding a branch and sniffing one of the delicate petals. As he opened the door to the church I came to my senses.

"Where do you think you're going? You can't just walk in here and..."

I stopped short as he turned his pox scarred face to me and smiled. "The legal owner of this establishment has invited me into his building and his garden. Now if you'll excuse me." He turned on a heel and walked inside, kicking the door shut in our faces with the toe of his boot as we reached the top of the stairs.

"What the...?!" Ivy grabbed pushed the door. Nothing happened. She pushed again. Nothing. After a moment of thought she lifted her foot and I grabbed her arm.

"Maybe we shouldn't do that just yet. I mean, there is a gate to the back and I really don't want to pay for the door to be fixed." I lifted my hand from her arm and she visibly shook herself.

"I can't believe that fucking Elf locked the door on us." She ran a hand through her hair and started for the back gate. I stepped in beside her.

"I'm sure Jenks had something to do with it. It's just like him to push us. Especially when he wants us to leave him alone." I looked across to her in time to see her nod but the scowl on her face hadn't faded.

The gate wasn't far but was set in a high stone wall that enclosed the garden, graveyard and entire grounds of the church. No one could see over it without climbing it and thanks to some nifty magic we had surveillance to watch all the grounds. Ivy put the key from her small key chain in the lock and slowly turned it. I could hear the children playing on the other side of the fence but I couldn't hear what was being said. The lock tumbled and Ivy pulled the door open. We stood for a moment, just taking in the scene.

The cherry tree sat at the head of Matalina's grave. Jenks sat on top of the stump in the center of the garden. And Quen was covered in pixie children... with a smile like the sun on his scarred weather face. Eye's alight as he asked each child their name and they answered in turn. Jenks rocked back and forth a little as he watched and the children piled in Quens lap or on his arms and talked all at one time, asking questions and occasionally buzzing around his head. I'd seen a group of Elves take one look at Jenks during a rehearsal dinner and go into a state of horrified shock followed by crippling denial. No elf would admit that they liked pixies. That they felt a kinship with the small wing people. None but Ceri... and now Quen.

"Is that why Trent won't let pixies in his garden?" I mused and Ivy looked a question at me. I nodded toward Quen and the children. "I thought it was because he didn't trust them to keep his secret but I don't think that's it. He blackmails people every day. What's a few pixies. Besides, they'd keep the secret for his garden alone." I paused and glanced at her before turning back to a smiling Quen. One of the children was hung in his shirtsleeve and they were working to get the distressed little pixie free. "He can't let anyone get that close. He can't let his guard down not even in his own private life. He's afraid of them, because he could be comfortable with them, familiar. And he won't allow it."

Ivy seemed to think about that but never got a chance to answer.

"If you two are done ease dropping, why don't you make yourself useful and get the man a drink? Tinks nickers! You'd think we never had guests before."

For the upteenth time that day my jaw dropped and I watched as Ivy shrugged and headed for the kitchen door. I followed behind more slowly as the turmoil of the trapped child ended and the pixies began to play anew. I shook my head in bewilderment as I reached the now open door. I suppose Ceri had some tea in here somewhere. Elves seemed to be a tea drinking bunch.

"Coffee would be great!" Quen called from behind me as Jenks laughed. I had to smile. It was nice to know there was one normal Elf in the bunch and as long as he could make Jenks laugh, I'd give him all the coffee he wanted.