Chapter 31
Gregor
“So, what’s on the agenda today?”
I asked as I sat across the table from August while we finished our breakfast.
He’d opted for the work from home three days a week plan, meaning we only went into our shops on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. It was a good plan actually, and one that had allowed us to spend a great deal of time together over the last few weeks.
“Cotton candy balls,”
August said. “With the rodeo coming, along with the carnival, kids are going to get a taste, then crave it after they leave town. That would be the perfect time to launch a colorful line of flavors they didn’t have the chance to experience. The small spinner I ordered should be in one of the boxes you brought in this morning. If so, I’ll need it taken to the kitchen, please. I’ve given some thought to size and number of balls in each package, now it’s time to lounge on the couch, put the Ultimate Baking Challenge on in the background, and work out the flavor profiles.”
“Sounds good, is there anything you need me to pick up from your shop while I’m out, besides your quality control samples?”
“Yes, please. Gracie will have a box of cotton candy syrups waiting on the counter for you when you get there,”
I said. “Along with any purchase orders and invoices she needs me to look at and sign.”
“Perfect, I’ll check with her to make sure I have everything before I bring it back here. I’ve got a few supplies I need to grab at the hardware store, and some ingredients to pick up, too. Seafood order arrived while you were in the shower, we’ve got seven pounds of crab legs to boil this afternoon, and Uncle Curtis sent fresh butter over, too, along with a batch of clams Aunt May and her boys dug up this morning.”
“Ohh, nice, I love them for that. I love your whole family’s willingness to indulge my seafood obsession.”
“The sea is in our blood,”
I explained. “That you crave it so much tells them that our love of it has been passed down to the whelplets.”
He grinned at that and blew me a kiss from his seat as I collected our dishes.
“I’ve got to use the big saw at the shop for a few pieces I’ve got in the back of the SUV so I might be there awhile. Part of the seafood delivery included your cocktail shrimp and the crab and seafood salads you fell in love with. Aunt May sent a new variety along with your usual. This one has scallops, lobster and tiny pasta shells in it.”
“Ohh that sounds decadent, I swear she outdoes herself every week.”
“She’s been developing her signature dishes out of that stand since before I was born,”
I explained. “Takes home the ingredients fresh off the boat in the morning, brings back the products in the afternoon ready to go home with people. She never sells day-old stuff. What, if anything is left, and it’s never a lot, just goes home with someone in the family for their table that night.”
“That’s how we are at the bakery, too. Nothing day-old gets sold, ever. We take home the leftovers and drop some off on the way home to other family members who couldn’t make it to the shop during the day. It’s never wasted and now Aunty Eunice has started a meal in waiting option, where someone can come in and pay for an extra meal, and post the receipt on the corkboard in the entryway. If someone comes in who needs a meal and can’t afford one, they can just bring the receipt to the counter and give it to whoever is working there, pick their sandwich, baked good, and drink, and enjoy it without any worry.”
Floored, I could only stand there for a moment while I rinsed the dishes.
“That’s an awesome practice,”
I said as I loaded them in the dishwasher. “I’ll be sure to pay for a bonus meal when I drop in. Would you like pastries or bread today?”
“Bread, please, and you know Aunty Eunice isn’t going to let you pay for it.”
“True, but I bet she’ll let me pay for the extra meal.”
“Fair.”
We didn’t have many homeless individuals move through our community, but from time to time they appeared, looking for odd jobs and a place to stay. Someone always found something for them, both in the way of work and accommodation, and several had stayed, becoming a permanent part of the community. But we all knew that the carnivals didn’t always pay their people well, and some of them just might need those meals in waiting while they were in town.
“Okay, if you’re all setup here, I’m going to take off,”
I said, turning the dishwasher on before crossing the room to give him a kiss.
“I think I’m good. I’ve got my notebook and pens set up on the coffee table, I’m just gonna grab my water bottle out of the fridge and I’ll be all set.”
“Awesome. If you think of anything else you need, just text me. I’ll be back in time for lunch.”
“Oh, perfect, I should be ready to get in here and make a few practices batches after we eat.”
“Sounds like you’ve got a sticky sweet day ahead of you.”
“Indeed I do.”
I left him to his work, trying to decide where to head first as I backed out of the driveway. It was going to be another warm one, so food would wait until last, along with his syrups, since I didn’t know how they’d do in the car. So, hardware store first, that was the easiest stop. Stains, polishes, shellacks, I bought them all local, from the place owned by Mrs. and Ms. Steckel. A mother and daughter pair who were keeping the family legacy her great grandfather started alive in the very same building he’d had built to house his store when the town was formed. Over the years, they’d expanded into the shop next door, various family members filling the apartment upstairs. That family of beaver shifters knew wood and all the products that went with it better than I ever would, and I appreciated that, because they’d never steered me wrong when it came to what I needed to finish a project the right way.
I even allowed a few pleasantries, something Mom and Nana had been encouraging me to do so the kids wouldn’t grow up to be growly recluses in a family of outgoing hedgehogs. Okay, so they did have a point there, and the few parenting books August and I had listened to all explained that children learned from the adults in their lives, particularly those they spent the most time with. It was up to us to set a good example, so I’d gotten descent about saying hello or at least nodding when I made eye contact with someone I knew.
Okay, time to head to the shop to see what Olly was up to this morning. According to Uncle Atlas he’d come down pretty hard and in a very un-Olly-like way on our cousin Marius after he’d accidentally knocked over one of the lamps and broken the bulb in it. He’d taken pictures and sent them to me along with a flurry of rage filled texts and emojis that had left me double checking who the sender was ‘cause yeah, very un-Olly-like indeed.
Not that I could blame him for not being himself after all the bullshit he’d had to deal with since Everett left and his mother’s gambling debts had been exposed, revealing the real reason she’d wanted Olly to keep on living there. He’d been paying all the god damned bills; a fact he’d kept from me and everyone else in the family. Mom and Pops had been pissed when they’d found out. I could only imagine the words Pops had with Dana when he stormed over there.
The skid marks he’d left in front of the house still lingered, weeks later, an impressive testament to his rage that day.
I’d been there, when Olly had attempted to apologize to her for accusing her of being part of Antgate, and she’d turned her back on him and walked out of the grocery store, leaving him standing there holding the cart, his face redder than I’d ever seen it as everyone stared.
The whole thing still pissed me off when I thought about it. I was just glad I hadn’t been face-to-face with this cousin Iris yet or I’d have been tempted to snarl and cut her a scathing look that might have been misinterpreted as predatory.
Eating family members, or any other shifter for that matter, was a huge no-no, but there was nothing in the rulebook about putting the fear of the goddess in someone, especially when their bullshit had hurt innocent people.
Okay, no more thinking about that.
Better get the wood inside and cut, then touch base with Olly in case the conversation went long. I needed those slices if I was going to get any work done this evening. Dropping into my shop was different when I didn’t intend to be here for a while. Only one window needed to be opened, and the quick cuts I needed only took twenty minutes, once I found my rhythm.
Big ones, small ones, warped and round, an assortment of driftwood slices filled the box that had previously held the twisted branches I’d harvested. I couldn’t wait to begin sketching the cartoons onto the wood disks. Some looked just the right size to be holiday ornaments. Halloween would be here before we knew it. It would be fun to create some creepy cute characters and home decor for my favorite holiday.
Come next year, we’d need costumes for the whelplets. Man, I hoped someone in one of our families had a plan for trick or treating with that many toddlers ‘cause holy shit, we might need one of those big wagons or something. Wait, that’s exactly what we’d need, and I was perfectly capable of making one.
Whipping my notebook from my pocket, I jotted a quick note and put a star next to it, so I’d remember to copy it into my planner. How cool would that be, to pull them around town in their very own driftwood wagon, handmade by Papa and big enough that they’d all fit until they were old enough to run up and down blocks ringing doorbells without tiring easily.
I took the box back to the SUV before I headed to the showroom, worried I’d forget it if I had to hurry out after we talked. Olly was behind the counter, arranging invoices and receipts in their proper files, thunderstorm noises coming from the smart speaker cluing me in to the mood he was in.
“Chew on anyone’s gizzard today?”
I asked in lieu of a proper greeting.
“He’s lucky I didn’t bite his head off.”
“There doesn’t look to be any harm done,”
I said as I examined the lamp whose bulb he’d replaced. “Not a scratch or a nick on it.”
“He got lucky.”
“He made a mistake. We all make them.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not feeling very forgiving right now.”
“Why, is it because you can’t get the two people you need it most from to forgive you?”
I asked, point blank, direct and to the point, always the best way between wolverines.
When he sighed and his shoulders slumped, I knew I’d hit the nail on the head.
“Give it time, Olly, and work on easing up on yourself a little. You might have been wrong in accusing your mom of being involved in Antgate, but you weren’t wrong about the things you said about how she treated you. After what Dash revealed, about her gambling debts and her trying to mortgage the trailer using you as the cosigner, she’s the one who still owes you an apology.”
“Which I doubt I’ll ever get,”
Olly snapped. “Not when she thinks it’s my duty to take care of her the way an alpha son would have done if she’d had one of them instead of an omega.”
“No son, no child of any sort should be made to feel like they have to take care of a parent, especially one who never tried to take care of them unless it was of benefit to them.”
Groaning, Olly ran a hand through his hair until it was sticking up everywhere. “I know, okay! I know.”
“Then act like it and stop worrying about her feelings and approval, you are not responsible for how she chooses to behave around you. That’s all on her, so stop dwelling on it and stop going after people who aren’t responsible for the issues you’re facing. It’s not a good look. We want our Olly back. This family needs at least one member the community can look at as approachable while the rest of us walk around with our resting bitch faces on.”
“Yours hasn’t been as bitchy lately.”
“Good to know, I’ve been working on smiling a little more, since my kid brother hasn’t been able to manage it.”
“I know,”
Olly groaned, sighing again. “I just haven’t been able to force myself to do it.”
“It…”
“Do not say it’ll get easier!”
“You know me better than that,”
I growled, cutting him a look so he’d remember who he was talking to. “What I was going to say was that it’s a little overrated. Takes too much thought and too many damned muscles to make my lips curve up that way.”
“Bullshit! It’s a scientific fact that it takes more muscles to frown than smile.”
“Tell that to my face.”
“You don’t seem to be suffering any.”
“Ech.”
I was laughing, though, and that got a smile out of him as he leaned against the counter.
“I just miss Ever so damned much and he’s still not accepting texts or phone calls from me,”
he explained. “I don’t know what to do to bridge the gap and yes, I know, August keeps telling me to give Everett his space and let him finish getting settled into a routine back home, but it’s been a month, Gregor, a fuckin’ month of no contact. I just, I don’t know what to do with all the silence from him. He might as well have just said he didn’t care that I was his mate and leave it at that. At least then I’d know that my future was going to be empty. Maybe then I could start figuring out other ways to fill it when I’m not at work.”
“Olly, I’m not gonna blow smoke up your ass, it may take a month and a half more, or even longer before he’s ready to have a conversation,”
I pointed out. “It’s time you start growing up a little and see that this isn’t like when you were in high school or at the community college. You can’t pass messages through friends and get them to fix whatever little misunderstanding proved to be a bump in the road in a temporary relationship. This is big boy shit you guys have landed yourselves in. There are still the issues with the lawsuit, since Mrs. Zabrowski insists on holding the shop responsible since Iris was working there. It’s a lot to deal with, in addition to a new mate. You two barely had any time together and that sucks, but you’re mates. That much is fact. It just might take longer than you like to be able to build on it.”
“It’s already taking longer than I’d like.”
“Then consider this a lesson in patience,”
I told him before checking the time. “Need anything signed that can’t wait until tonight?”
“Nope. Utilities are paid, chamber dues are paid. Mr. Scopoline came in first thing this morning to make his final layaway payment and pick up his wife’s gift. He told me to thank you, again, by the way, and to remind you that Scopoline’s has some wonderful seafood dishes on the menu.”
“Oh shit, it’s been so long since I’ve been in, I’ve forgotten what’s even on it,”
I said, not wanting to offend one of my father’s oldest friends. “I’ll call when I get home and make a reservation, maybe even tonight if Olly is up for going out.”
“For seafood, he’d waddle over you to get to the door.”
Chuckling, I couldn’t deny that he was right. “No doubt.”
The Scopoline boys and I had played hockey together from the time we could properly handle a stick. Like Brendon and Dash, we’d come up through the leagues together and spent plenty of time getting into shit at our families’ backyard barbeques. I hadn’t seen the trio since they’d left town a few years back to help their grandfather in Nova Scota, who was a fisherman there.
I made a note in my notebook about that, too, before crossing the room to catch my little brother in a headlock and mess up his hair.
“Hey, hey, quit it! Damn!”
The moment I let go he tried to tame the strands, before finally giving up and sticking his tongue out at me.
“Gee thanks, I look like I stuck my fingers in a light socket,”
he grumbled, pouting at me.
“Awe, it’s adorable,”
I said, laughing when he shot me the bird. “I’ve gotta get rolling. I’ll see you at the house tonight, unless you have someplace to be.”
“I’ve got a thing,”
Olly said, leaving it at that.
“Uh huh.”
Whatever the thing was it probably involved more paint. The number of colors marring his clothes had grown, but I was certain he’d share whatever it was when he was ready. Time to hit the last of my errands and get on home to see what my mate had come up with during his morning planning session. If I was lucky, my afternoon would involve getting to taste test some truly decedent cotton candy, and the sticky sweet residue on my mate’s lips every time he kissed me.