Chapter 31 Haisley
HAISLEY
Haisley woke in an empty bed.
It took her a moment to identify what woke her as the sound of someone bustling around in the dining room, and a moment longer to remember what she and Tristan had done the night before.
A little flush of remembered pleasure ran through her.
It was Christmas, she recalled then, just as someone in the dining room burst into quiet Christmas song. She recognized the voice as someone that Corkscrew Guy called Darling. She was joined in the chorus by the mountainous chef from the kitchen.
Haisley was not sure she had ever felt so alone.
She got dressed and listened through the wall wistfully as they talked about their Christmas morning plans. Pastries. Presents. A breakfast spread.
Then the outside door slammed shut and someone stomped their feet.
“Oh, Tristan!” Chef called down the hall.
Haisley’s heart raced faster. Tristan couldn’t come by her room without betraying her now, and he’d promised not to do that. Where had he been?
“Ah, Chef! You’re up early!”
“Not as early as you, and I can see that you’ve been busy all night.”
Haisley flushed, then realized that the chef must be talking about all the cookies they had baked; they’d left the gift boxes out on the counter.
“Oh, right. I was going to put them under the tree,” Tristan said. “With the other gifts, you know.”
“When are we going to meet her?” Darling asked in a teasing voice.
“Her?” Tristan’s voice was very close to Haisley’s door, and she could hear how alarmed he was.
“Your mate!” Chef boomed. “You can’t possibly believe that you’ve kept her hidden all this time! Unless you’ve suddenly become a carnivore.”
“It is very hard to bake macaroons this beautiful,” Darling chided. “And you could barely manage the oven controls when we got here.”
“Not that I blame you for keeping her to yourself while you can,” Corkscrew Guy said rakishly. “I mean, we know that she’d be all over me the moment we met. Who could help themselves?”
“Breck,” Darling scolded him. “Be nice to Tristan. You wouldn’t steal his mate. Tristan, no one is going to steal your mate. We just want to meet them.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tristan lied boldly, and Haisley loved him for the effort.
The charade had gone on long enough. Haisley hoped her hair didn’t look too wild, gave it one hopeless pat, and opened her door.
“I asked him to keep me a secret,” she confessed as she walked into the dining room.
Darling was very beautiful, with strawberry blonde hair and a dust of freckles over her perfect face. Breck was as good looking as he obviously thought he was, with dark hair and a sly smile. Chef was even more intimidating from the front.
Haisley put her chin up, but walked boldly into the dining room. “I’m Haisley. I am not supposed to be here and I’m very sorry for hiding, but I didn’t want to get fired. Finding out that you were shifters was much better than thinking you were nudist exotic animal smugglers.”
They stared at her, but only Tristan’s smile mattered. “She’s my mate,” he said proudly, coming to her side and taking her hand.
“You are the genius behind the cooking binders!” Chef said warmly. He came around the table with a friendly hand extended, which Haisley gingerly shook. “It is a delight to properly meet you. I apologize for all of the liberties I have taken with your kitchen.”
Darling gave a regal tip of her head. “It’s an honor to make your acquaintance,” she said graciously. “I would love to ask you about your bread recipes. I am Darla. Breck is my very inappropriate mate and he means nothing with his outrageous behavior.”
“This is a very neat solution to the mystery of the chalet,” Breck said with a cheerful half-bow. “I trust we can thank you for the return of the Internet and the hot water.”
Haisley flushed. “It was a poorly conceived attempt to get you to leave,” she admitted. “I apologize.”
“Completely understandable!” Chef boomed. “We were encroaching on your kitchen! You had to hide in your own house, at Christmas.”
“Well, not my house,” Haisley felt obligated to clarify. “I only work here.”
“Pish,” Chef snorted. “You clearly rule the place, and our arrival disrupted your holiday plans.”
“You do understand our need for secrecy,” Darling—Darla—said seriously. “We didn’t ask you to be dismissed out of malice!”
“Of course,” Haisley said. “You wouldn’t want everyone to know about your black market leopards and panda bears!”
She worried for a moment that it was a joke in bad taste, but Breck and Chef laughed uproariously, and Darla chuckled.
A timer went off in the kitchen.
“I have to start the cinnamon rolls so that they are warm when everyone is up!” Darla said, and she vanished into the kitchen with quiet energy.
“You must join us for Christmas breakfast,” Chef said firmly.
“For all of Christmas! You are Tristan’s mate!
You are family! I won’t even need to adjust the recipes for you!
Your recipes, I might add! Though I would love you to take a look at a modification of the tart recipe.
I think you might appreciate the spicing I chose.
Oh, I must get the goose marinating at once! ”
Haisley found herself tucked comfortably up against Tristan as Chef hurried after Darla into the kitchen.
“Bastian will have to fly back to the airport after all,” Breck said merrily. “There was barely room for us coming up. But we’ve got the charter plane, at least, so no reason to book another ticket for Haisley.”
“A ticket where?” Haisley asked in sudden concern.
“To Shifting Sands Resort, of course.” It was Tristan that answered, and Haisley turned to look at him in alarm.
“You think I’m leaving to go to Shifting Sands with you?”
He blinked at her in dismay. “Aren’t you?”
“I think I hear Darla calling me from the kitchen,” Breck said quickly. “Coming, beloved!”
Haisley wished she had a cookie sheet at hand.