Chapter 13 - Gina
"Do you want some eggs?" Lucas asked as he turned to the fridge. I looked up from my phone and found a mug of coffee placed in front of me. The coffee was made exactly how I liked it: with a little creamer, a little sugar, and some whipped cream on top. I softly smiled and looked back towards Lucas. "If you have time, did you look at the church I sent you?"
Lucas turned, holding a carton of eggs. He nodded. "I did." He kicked the fridge door with his foot as he walked towards the stove. He already had a pan out sitting on the stove.
"Thoughts?" I asked, flipping through the picture and taking the space in. "I booked it, but I wanted to make sure you liked it."
He paused and made a face. "If you already booked it, why are you asking for my thoughts on it?"
I frowned at him. "Maybe you're religious, and you might go somewhere else. I don't know if you are or aren't."
"I'm not," he said, simply taking a rag and wiping at the counter.
I smirked. "Then maybe you're not, and you'll burst into flames the second you walk in."
He placed the eggs down and crossed his arms, giving me a cocky expression. "You think that was smart to say to the person cooking you eggs?"
I couldn't suppress the smirk as I took a swig of my coffee. And as always, it was perfect. I didn't think anyone made coffee as good as he did.
"So, you don't have a problem with it?"
He shook his head, poured a little oil into the pan, and flicked the stovetop on. I watched the flame spark as he rotated the pan around. The space between us fell silent and calm. It wasn't as awkward as I had thought it would be.
We slept together over two weeks ago, and I worried it would have made things uncomfortable, but it hadn't. Things remained almost normal. Lucas still went to work, and I continued to try to figure out how to live my life.
Lucas came home, and we had dinner every night, discussing the day’s events or the upcoming wedding. I found myself relaxing in this new life, enjoying the time I had with Lucas. And we found ourselves breaking the unwritten rule of not sleeping together. It had happened a couple of times, and each following morning, we acted as if it hadn’t.
But as comfortable as I was, I was waiting for it to all fall apart. It's how my entire life was, so why would this be any different? The other shoe would drop, and I needed to be prepared for when it did.
"I ordered you flowers for the wedding."
I looked away from my phone and stared at him with wide eyes. "You what?"
He shrugged, cracking an egg onto the pan. The sizzle was the only sound as he tossed the eggshell into the trash. "I know all the girls have them, and you hadn't said you ordered any, so…"
I just sat there dumbfounded. Just days ago, I was telling myself I didn't need them. I figured, what was the point if this was all fake? I should just get the basics of things, and the venue was enough money. And he went and purchased them.
"You didn't have to. This is a fake wedding," I said, unsure if I was telling him or myself.
He shrugged again, cracking another egg. "We want it to look real, and if you didn't have flowers, it wouldn't."
Somehow, I didn't quite believe him. There were plenty of people who didn't have flowers, and their marriages lasted—people who went down to the courthouse and got married without flowers. I then thought about the list I had on the coffee table for the wedding and the small notes I wrote down on it. One of them is that flowers would be nice but unnecessary.
I felt my heart flip. He had to have seen the list. It was the only logical part.
"What did you buy?"
"A boutique for yourself and two larger vases to have behind us. It's simple, but it will look nice."
I tightened my hold on the cup, trying not to act like it mattered, but it did. It was one of the nicest someone had done for me. And for something that wasn't even real.
Lucas glanced at me and stiffened. "Are you crying?"
"No," I said, but my voice cracked, and I rolled my eyes. Of course, my body would give it away. I sniffled, and he frowned.
"I can call them back and cancel it if you're so upset."
"That's…" I shook my head. "I'm just shocked, is all."
He tilted his head. "Why?"
Because no one had ever bought me flowers, no one had ever put my feelings first. Everyone always thought of me last or not at all, and he went and bought me flowers just because.
"Because it's a nice gesture," I said instead.
Because you make it hard to hate you. You make it hard to remember why being around you was a bad idea, and while this entire plan was going to blow up in my face. It had to. At one point, everything was going to come crashing down, and I needed to be prepared for it.
"I'm going to shower quickly," I said, practically running from the room to the bathroom to clear my head and pull myself back together.
After a quick shower and several deep breaths, I found Lucas sitting at the island with a plate of eggs next to my coffee. I slid into my chair, and he glanced at me, taking a sip of his coffee.
"You working tonight?" I asked, hoping we could just ignore my emotions from moments ago.
Lucas stared at me for a moment before he shook his head. "No, I'm home tonight. We can go out for dinner. What are your plans today?"
I thought about what was going on in the house. Things were moving along rather well. I wasn't going to be staying at the house for a while, but it was nice to see things happening.
"They stripped the kitchen, so that's nice. They finished all the electrical work now so that we can move on to walls and grouting. I have them stripping the walls in each of the rooms, and I asked them to tear down the wall from the kitchen and the living room to give it an open view."
He nodded his head, taking another sip of his coffee.
"And because of the rewiring, they had to remove some walls, so hopefully, they will fix those up. I hate to have to give up all the rooms or change the house's layout."
"Sounds like it's coming along."
I smiled eagerly. "It is. It's a bit of a mess, but you could always come down and see it."
"Sure. Do you need any help with anything else?"
I froze. As much as I'd trusted him, I didn't want him involved in this. A part of me was afraid of everything falling apart, and if he had helped me with the house, I couldn't say I had done that on my own.
I didn't want to owe Lucas more than I already did. I was living in his house and somehow needed to repay him for that. I couldn't imagine having him help with the house and then having to think of how to even the ground.
"No, but you're more than welcome to come see the changes that have happened."
After breakfast, I headed to the house. I met with Charlie, who was the owner of Charlie's flooring and wall. He was a wonderful contractor that I'd hired to help with everything. He'd done nothing but perfect work and always given me an honest opinion I needed. If I had an idea and he didn't think it would work, he'd let me know.
"Morning, Charlie," I said, stopping in the doorway as he stood looking over the plans he had on a table. Charlie was about fifty years old, with salt and pepper hair that he always had tucked under a hat. He was a bit bigger, but most of it was muscle.
He looked up from his plans and gave me a nod. Charlie wasn't a huge talker, and I think I liked that most about him. "Morning, Gina. We are putting up the walls upstairs we took down, and we took down the wall to the kitchen."
My eyes widened, and I moved, hurrying into the living room. Sure enough, the wall was gone. It was just a wide, open space with windows all around. I smiled, suddenly picturing it when it came together. It was exactly as I envisioned it to look.
"It was a good idea," Charlie said, walking in after me. "Really lets you view the woods on all sides."
"It's amazing," I said.
"It might be a good idea to wear a mask if you're going to be here today, though," Charlie added. "With the plastering, the drilling and sanding…"
I shook my head. "It's no problem. I'm going to be out in the garden anyway." I had been wanting to get to it since I arrived, and finally, I had the time to do it. "I'll be out back if you guys need anything."
I slid outside and found the gardening tools I purchased the other day. I slid my gloves on and headed around the corner with my huge clippers.
I didn't know how to plan a house or which flooring looked best with a certain trim, but I knew plants and how to piece a garden together.
I started at the small trees and then the bushes, trying to clear them up. I ripped out the weed and started opening bags of bulbs that I had purchased.
I dug and planted each bulb accordingly. Then, I started putting in some different perennial plants and flowers. I was sweating when I got to the last part of the garden.
I was just about to shove the shovel back into the ground when a chill ran down my spine.
All the hairs on my body rose, and my wolf growled. I turned around, staring at the woods, finding nothing, not even a shadow. But my wolf continued to growl, and my stomach clenched up. Something was off.
I swallowed, feeling a coldness fall over me like someone was watching me. I didn't like it.
What is it? I asked my wolf.
She didn't know, but she was on edge, and I stood uneasy. I was tempted to call Charlie out, but what would he do? He was one of the few people here that was human. He wasn't a shifter, so if something happened, he was going to be able to stop anything.
I thought about Lucas's words. I know about the dispute between the two packs. I didn't know the details, but for a pack to do border patrols meant it was serious.
I pulled out my phone and called Lucas. I pulled it to my ear and swallowed, keeping my eyes trained on the woods. I still saw nothing; there was no sign that anyone was out there, but I could feel it. I knew deep in my butt someone was watching.
"Yes?" he answered calmly.
"Where are you?" I asked, my eyes tracking but tracking nothing.
"The fire station, why?"
I swallowed, unsure of what to say. It was just a feeling, but I knew myself. I was never wrong.
"Someone is in the woods by my house."
He was quiet for a second before I heard movement on his end. "Do not go anywhere," he said coldly. “I'll be there in five."
I nodded as he ended the call. I swallowed, my eyes finding nothing. Another shiver ran down my spine, and I straightened my back. If someone was watching, I didn't want them to find a weak girl, even if in that moment I felt like one.