Chapter 83
The next couple of days are a whirlwind of activity.
Sarah shuttling between our house and Sam’s.
We want to spend as much time with her as possible, but it’s going to take some work to set up a suitable room for her bunny too.
Spence did finish getting the nest cleaned and then got the sheets back on, but he’s letting her do whatever else she wants for blankets and pillows.
I’m not surprised that he’s turned the whole room over to her so readily—he’s walking around with a perpetual smile at this point.
I’m worried that when she goes home in a few days, he’s going to spiral like I did after Elaine.
The main difference is that I knew Elaine didn’t want me, and Sarah seems open, if not enthusiastic, about us.
It might just be all the other things she mentioned, like getting permission to come back, or dealing with her family…
or her scent match. I know from experience how hard that is.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to her coming back, hopefully for good.
Long-distance relationships can be hard, not that I have experience with that, but I can imagine.
It’s nice that Greg seems happy with us courting her.
He seems to be under the impression that the whole thing was his idea, and maybe it was from their end, but I know Spence has been enamored of her since before they actually met.
He only mentioned her twenty or more times when he heard her voice on the phone last year.
Al isn’t as reticent about the situation as I was worried he would be, not that he seems super enthusiastic like Spence or my own cautious optimism.
It’s more like he’s waiting to wake up. He expects that something will change her mind, either returning home to her scent match or possibly just realizing we don’t have much to offer her.
From what I’ve seen of the girl, though, that’s not something she’s ever even considered.
She just wants someone who will accept and love her the way she is.
I don’t think I know her well enough to love her yet, but I can see how easy it would be to do so.
However, she leaves on Sunday, and none of us, including her, have any idea how long it’ll take her to be able to return.
It’s disconcerting knowing that she’ll be gone for an indeterminate amount of time, with only Greg to make sure she’s taken care of.
Based on what I’ve seen, she worries about a lot of things and doesn’t always eat properly.
Not to mention her fierce little attitude might get her in trouble with some alphas who visit the campus.
My chest rumbles with a deep growl at the idea of any harm coming to her.
I understand that she’s been doing things on her own for years, but it doesn’t change the fact that she’s ours now and we want to make sure she’s safe and happy…
for as long as she’ll let us. I could try to blame it all on alpha instinct, but it feels more than that.
Each of my pack took the week off for heat leave, so none of us are expected back at our respective jobs until Monday.
It’s Saturday and Spencer is busy rearranging the bedroom attached to the nest…
again, in hopes of giving her bunny more room to run.
I’ve told him repeatedly that they’re leaving tomorrow, and it would be better to put his focus on converting one of the extra rooms into a space for the rabbit to have entirely.
Still, he wants to surprise Sarah when she returns from Sam’s house with the last of her things.
She and Greg will be staying here tonight with the bun, before we follow them to the airport tomorrow.
Spence is spinning out on nervous energy, and other than just letting it run its course, I don’t see many options.
Al is in his room working. He says he has papers to grade, but I can barely concentrate at the moment with my mind so muddled.
I don’t know how he’s able to get any real progress made.
That’s why I’ve relegated myself to cleaning in the kitchen and preparing dinner.
I’ve already sorted out the pantry and found places for all the snacks that Spence bought for her heat.
Adding in the things that Al ordered afterwards, we shouldn’t need to grocery shop for at least another month.
Though I’m sure we’ll all be tired of protein bars and Swedish Fish by that point.
I’m currently chopping potatoes to go with a roast I put in the oven as soon as I woke up.
It should be melt-in-your-mouth tender by the time they get here for dinner.
I still feel like an ass for the pepper kerfuffle last week, but she did ask for the recipe for her aunt—her Tia, she said, and that’s going to take some getting used to—so despite its lack of cheese, I’m glad she enjoyed it.
Shit, this doesn’t have cheese either. I’ve already started the rolls, so I can’t incorporate it that way either.
Maybe for dessert…does cheesecake count?
“Spence! I need you to run to the store for me!” The sound of approaching elephants heralds my biggest packmate’s arrival at the bottom of the stairs. He’s covered in sweat and red-faced. “Did I interrupt something there, man?”
He looks puzzled, so I continue. “Anyway, can you go over to the store and pick up a cheesecake from the freezer section? I don’t think I have time to make one from scratch, but I’ll look up a recipe and send you an ingredient list for that as well.
Take Al with you if you need a ride.” Our pack leader needs to get out for a while anyway; he’s been hiding away in his room whenever Sarah isn’t here, and it worries me that he might spiral.
Spence looks like he’s ready to pout, so I pull out my ace. “Sam also sent me a list of what her bunny likes to eat, so I need you to pick me up a cluster of mint while you’re there. If they don’t have that, cilantro’s fine. I doubt they’ll have any carrots with the green still on.”
That gets Spence on board, and he grabs a couple of paper towels, wetting them from the faucet before wiping his sweaty brow and cheeks.
“I was moving her bed.” That stops me in my tracks.
Yeah, he could have just scooted it a couple of inches one way or the other, but I know the guy.
Before I can demand clarification, he adds, “I wasn’t moving it far…
but I realized I hadn’t cleaned under it, and what if there was something gross in the carpet?
I didn’t want Shaggy getting hurt. So I had to take the whole thing apart and lean it against a wall so I could vacuum properly.
” I close my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose as I can only guess at where this story is going.
“But then, once I got it cleaned I figure it would be a good chance to rearrange anything I needed to, which meant I had to move her dresser over to the nest…then I cleaned where it was…so it just made sense to move all the extra furniture in there so I could do it right.” Dear lord help me.
“But I got the floor cleaned, so I was moving stuff back…but then I thought, what if her bed would look better facing the window, so I had to move it around again. I think it’s done, though. ”
“Spence…that’s a memory foam mattress…do you have any idea how much that thing weighs? It took all five delivery guys to get it in there.” He blinks at me like I’m the slow one here.
“Yeah…that’s why I was sweaty. But it looks really nice now, and she can wake up to a view of that big tree in the backyard.
I know it’s not much right now, but I think once summer hits, it’ll be really pretty.
I was just about to throw her sheets in the washer when you called.
” I wave my hand at him, trying to get him to do it now.
They don’t need washing; they were washed when we first moved in and set the room up a couple of months ago, and no one else has been in there, but if it gives him a purpose, then fine.
My breath comes out in a deep sigh. “I’m sure it’ll look great.
Just hurry up, please. I don’t know how long it takes to make or thaw a cheesecake.
And I don’t want to have to have dessert at midnight.
” He nods frantically before he walks away, and I hear him hollering for Alistair from the bottom of the stairs.
That big lug is lucky he hasn’t given himself a hernia yet… or ruptured something.