Chapter 6 - Miles
"I'll take five tomatoes, a head of lettuce, a bundle of onions, and a cartoon of blueberries," I said, pointing to everything I wanted.
Patty, the woman running the produce stand at the farmers market, smiled as she grabbed everything and started wrapping it up in a reusable bag.
"Word on the street is you guys are doing your fundraiser a little differently this year," she said as she placed the bag in front of me.
"Oh yeah?" I said, pulling out my cash. "What did you hear?"
"You guys are having bouncy castles and game stands. I've been hearing about it all day today. People are excited, I heard you guys will even do demonstrations."
My eyebrows went up. This, I hadn't heard. I knew we were doing a different fundraiser, but I hadn't heard the details. Laura avoided me, and whenever I tried to speak with her, she would be busy on the phone or computer.
"Demonstrations?" I asked, "You sure you didn't hear wrong?"
She shook her head. "Nope, that's what I heard, and I'm going to bet you guys will get a lot of donations this year. Word is traveling fast, and I've heard a ton of people are coming."
I'd have to ask Laura about that. I knew about the bouncy castles and how she was talking about asking a bunch of businesses to join us and set up stands at the firehouse. She set a goal for us to hit twenty thousand dollars, which I thought was optimistic.
"You need anything else?" she asked.
I looked around again and shook my head. "Nope, that will be enough."
I took the bag and turned when my eyes caught on Laura standing at the honey station a few feet away. She was wearing a loose sundress that was orange and yellow. She wore a wide-brimmed hat, hair falling loosely over her shoulder.
I internally moaned as I had a perfect view of her ass. I took a deep breath in, trying not to stare. My wolf, on the other hand, wasn't as calm—a low growl built.
"You're staring," Patty said, and I could hear the smirk in her voice.
"Shut up," I grumbled, glancing at her.
Patty was smiling. "You look a little red. Got a crush on her?"
If only. A crush would be simple. What I had was much worse. She was everywhere, and when I went home, she was in my dreams. I was pretty sure I was going to need to see a doctor with the amount my fucking dick hurt.
I took a deep breath in and headed across the space towards Laura.
"I'll take a jar," she said, pulling a hand up to adjust her hat.
"Fancy seeing you here," I said, which made her turn around quickly. Her eyes widened as she spotted me, and they quickly went down and up, examining me.
She smirked. "What does your shirt say?"
I looked down at my shirt and made a face, forgetting what I was wearing. "It says this is my market shirt."
She snorted. "Where did you buy that?"
I rubbed at my neck. "I bought it last year from Fred…he runs a clothing store and puts up a stand every once in a while."
She smirked, clearly amused. "Nice, really blends you in."
I was a little embarrassed, but I only wore it when I was here, which was every other Saturday.
"You find what you need?" I asked, looking into her basket. She had a cartoon of eggs, some cheese, and honey.
"Yeah, I'm actually really surprised by how big this place is for the size of this town."
"We have people from other towns that travel," I explained. "This is actually pretty small compared to other Saturdays."
She nodded her head, handing the cash over to the man.
"What else are you looking for?" I asked as she turned back to me.
"Not sure. I haven't been here yet, so I thought I would see what everyone had to offer."
"Well, I can certainly show you what's good," I said, smiling. "There is a stand that sells peaches, and they’re pretty good."
She thought about it for a moment before she nodded. "Sure, why not."
We walked around, and I explained who worked what stand and who sold what. Everyone was in a good mood and had good products to sell.
"You seem to know everyone," she said as she swung her basket onto her shoulder.
"Well, I come a lot. I prefer to buy locally rather than at a grocery store where I can."
"I didn't know that about you," she said. "Is this new? You didn't used to do that when we dated."
"It was hard to in college," I said. "We didn't exactly have that option."
She shrugged and looked at the next stand. "I guess that's true, but then again, you kept a lot from me."
I frowned, feeling my stomach tense up. "What is that supposed to mean?"
She made a face and glanced at me. "You didn't tell me you were a shifter."
I frowned. She had me on that. But in my defense, no one knew. There was only one other shifter at the college, and we didn't exactly get along. I wasn't going to tell her until later, but later never came.
"I didn't know how you would react."
She scowled. "That's not fair. We were sleeping together. The least you could have done was tell me. I shared stuff with you."
I smirked. "You being afraid of the dark is not the same as telling someone you have the ability to shift into a wolf. That's the kind of thing that ends a relationship."
She chuckled. "Fine. I'll give you that." We walked over to the picnic tables a little way from the market. "I still wish you would have told me."
There were a lot of things I wished I had told her. I wished I had told her that she was my mate, that I made a mistake, and that I shouldn’t have ended things.
"Since we are trying to be civil…what did you do after college?"
I thought about it. My return home, and then my hatred for the degree I got. I worked my ass off so I could work alongside my father, who was a business development representative. I quickly learned I hated it. I hated everything about it.
I hated my life, and I hated who I'd become. I was cruel and angry all the time.
"Not great," I said. "I actually hated my degree and ended up doing a couple of courses on fire science at the local college. I took a couple while I was up in Nevada, so it helped, and with my business degree, Ayden pretty much said I was a great addition when tax season came around."
She laughed. "Interesting how that all worked out."
I couldn't help but think about Nevada. She always asked why I was trying to get a business degree when I clearly had no interest in it. I always shut the conversation down.
"How about you?" I asked. I had wondered what she had done when I left. I always pictured her finding a man and getting married. She spoke about wanting a big family; I envisioned that for her.
She blew out some air and thought to herself for a moment. "I ended up getting an internship at an accountant's place for bookkeeping, and met Michael’s father, but it went under. I never really found anything else that allowed me to use my degree, and I had good hours, so I wasn't home too late."
"And your son? If you don’t mind me asking."
"He's good. He's smart and caring. I got lucky." She smiled, and I could tell she was proud.
"He’s a lot like his dad. He loves sports and space. He's in baseball and football, and he was in the space club, but I'm not sure if they have that here or not. I'm sure he will find something else if they don't."
It twisted me up inside and I was jealous of the man. "Has he been adjusting well?"
She nodded. "Yeah. He's made some friends at school, and he's enjoying everything."
"If you don't mind me asking, why did you guys move?"
She frowned, and I could see a spark of sadness cross her eyes. "We didn't exactly have a picture-perfect life. Besides being in so many extracurricular activities, he was having a hard time fitting in at school, and I was unhappy with work. I figured a fresh start would do us both good."
I wanted to hear more, to know more about her life and all that happened. But she looked at her phone and scowled. "I should probably get going. I asked the neighbor if she could watch him for an hour or so, and I've been here a while."
"I can give you a ride," I offered, knowing I parked my car just down the street on the corner. "It will be quicker than walking."
She thought about it for a moment, and I smiled at her. "I promise it's just a ride. I'm your boss, remember."
She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Fine."
We headed down the street towards my car. Her eyebrows went up. "You know, I figured you would have a truck," she said.
I shrugged. "I like my car; it gets good mileage. I also have my motorcycle at home, which is pretty good on gas."
As we got into the car, she made a face. "You ride a motorcycle?"
"Why does that surprise you? I was on BMX when we were in college."
I started the car, and she shrugged. "I don't know. I just pictured you growing out of that."
I laughed, shaking my head. "No. And for future reference, you don't even grow out of that rush you get."
She laughed. "Is that why you went into firefighting?"
A little. I enjoyed feeling like I was doing good rather than telling people they didn't know how to handle their money.
"Maybe, if Michael likes things like that, he would join their group. They have all ages."
She shook her head. "No, he will not be doing that."
I raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"
"He could get hurt," she said, looking at me. "I remember when you slammed into a building, and you got a concussion."
I looked back at the road. "Yeah, but football is just as dangerous, if not more."
"How?"
"You only get hurt at the beginning on dirt bikes. You're pretty much safe once you know what you're doing."
"I don't think so."
"Why don't you ask him."
"Because he doesn't need any more sports. He needs something that works his mind."
"It does," I add with a smirk. "You have to be a quick decision-maker."
She laughed as I pulled up in front of her house. I felt a strong pull to go inside, but I couldn't put my finger on why.
She looked outside her window and smiled. "Thank you for the ride home."
"No problem." I looked at the house, suddenly wishing I could go inside. As much as we talked, Laura hadn't told me enough.
"If you don't mind me asking, why isn't the dad around?"
Laura opened her door and grabbed her basket. She shrugged. "He isn't the person I thought he was. I didn't know him at all."
The answer only gave me twenty more questions. Where was he? What did he do? How long had he been out of the picture?
"Thanks for the ride," she said again before hopping out and heading to the door. I watched her walk away. I felt a tug in my chest, missing what we used to be. Laura used to tell me everything before I could even ask, and now, I don't know who she was anymore.