Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
Iwoke up the next morning, the damning letter still clutched in my hand. My eyes felt like sandpaper. Most of the night I stared at the ceiling wondering if I should have died on that field in Scotland. Things would be so much easier if I had.
And as soon as that thought crossed my mind, I mentally slapped myself and dragged my maudlin rear end out of bed.
I wasn’t the kind of fatalistic person who believed everything happened for a reason.
I believed every decision you made led you to a certain path, and it’s the choices that came after that drove your life.
Coffee first. Contemplation second.
Joy Springs had chilled considerably, the outside temperatures plunging into the forties overnight. I shrugged on a wool and cashmere blend oversized sweater, wiggled my feet into a pair of wool slippers, and took my coffee on the back porch.
A massive gray wolf peered at me through the forest cover. My heart skipped a beat until my brain unscrambled.
“Come up,” I said quietly. “There are clothes in the top left drawer of my dresser. Want some coffee?”
The wolf trotted up the stairs and gently nudged me, careful not to spill my coffee. I gave him a healthy scratch under the neck and a gentle swat on the rear end. “I can’t believe you’re going to make me get up,” I muttered.
Caelan huffed, stood on his hind legs, and got the front door open with no interference from me.
“Creepy,” I said as I watched the wolf enter my house.
A couple minutes later, Caelan came out of the house wearing joggers and a t-shirt that fit and holding a steaming mug of coffee and a blanket from the back of the couch. He had a funny look on his face.
“Put your coffee down,” he said in a snarly voice as he set his mug down on the other table by the loveseat.
I blinked and looked up at him.
His eyes had gone full gold.
I set my mug down.
Caelan bent and scooped me up in one arm. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he bent to get my coffee. He carried me over to the outdoor loveseat and sat down, settling me into his lap.
“Are you alright?”
“You bought me clothes.” He handed me my mug and picked his up.
I had. It didn’t seem right for him to wear my ex-husband’s clothes, and they didn’t fit him anyway. “Did I do something wrong?”
His hand cupped the back of my head, his fingers tightening in my hair.
My eyes closed. The damn man knew I loved it when he acted possessive like this.
Warm lips pressed against mine, the slide of his tongue against the seam of my lips dragging a moan from me. I opened, and Caelan kissed the breath right out of me.
“Well,” I said when he drew back. “I guess you like them? It was only a few t-shirts and some joggers. Simone told me your size.”
“You thought of me when I wasn’t there.” His eyes still blazed gold.
“I always think of you.” Life would be easier if I didn’t, but he’d wormed his way into my heart and my psyche, and I knew I’d never get him out.
Caelan’s eyes narrowed. “Drink your coffee,” he snarled.
The look in his eyes made my heart twist. The second I finished, he took the mug, slammed it down on the table, and rose, carrying me inside to the bedroom.
I didn’t argue.
Not even a little bit.
I was on time, no thanks to Caelan, who kept trying to drag me back to bed. I’d left him rumpled and gorgeous in my bed with instructions to lock the place up. He gave me a wicked smile and asked me if I was sure I had to go in today.
Evil wolf.
Moira and Ash were already there. The vampire laughed out loud when she saw me.
“Morning loving? Damn, Evie. You’re making us all jealous.”
“Shuddup,” I said, crimson heating my cheeks.
She grinned. “There’s fresh coffee and some notes about the automaton on your worktable.”
“I’ll work on it today.” I made a beeline for the coffee pot and got ready for the day, doing my best not to think about my morning with Caelan and failing miserably.
“Maybe we should add these to the website,” Ash said. He crouched down to peer at the concept I’d spent hours working on. “You have a real gift.”
A smile flashed over his face as he restarted the automaton.
I’d created a forest scene with blooming flowers.
A white swing, ropes entwined with vines and blooms, hung from an ancient oak tree, gently swinging as a fox lay curled up on the seat.
Fog curled along the ground as a bright green snake slithered along the grass.
A second fox darted into the clearing. He ran in circles around the swing as the female cracked open an eye, pretending not to watch, then he skulked along the ground until the swing came back at the perfect angle.
In one lithe move, the fox hopped onto the same swing, quickly curling around the female. Hearts bubbled up over their heads as the female reached up to nuzzle the male’s muzzle.
Tess popped into the room with a slight puff of air and a flash of light. Ash and I startled.
“New trick?” I eyed Ash.
“Yes. It’s fun.” His tone was clipped, and he gave Tess a dark look. “She’s figuring things out as she goes along.”
Uh oh. Trouble in paradise?
“So cute.” Tess floated over to stand by Ash. “Those foxes are adorable.”
“Thanks. I thought about putting a woman in the swing, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it.” I shrugged. “It’s easier for me to use botanicals and forest scenes.”
Tess’s brow furrowed. “I could help you. Every time I send a soul on, I retain a tiny piece of their essence. You’ll need it to animate something like this.”
I’d been fussing with one of the blooms on the automaton when she spoke. My hands froze. “Why do I learn something new and unnerving about you every time you say something?”
Tess lifted a pale shoulder. “Maybe you don’t ask me enough questions.”
And with that the banshee floated away, leaving me completely perplexed. I sank into my chair and stared at Ash.
Neither of us said anything for a while. I finally laughed. “Is she like that at home?”
Ash rubbed the space between his brows. “Have you ever met someone you liked so much but just didn’t get?”
“Pretty much every day.”
A faint smile crossed his face. “She has such an effervescent, open joy sometimes, and it makes me feel…” He inhaled. “Glorious.”
I sensed there was a big but coming and waited.
“But she’s a banshee. Death is her purpose. It’s anathema to someone like me.” He rubbed a hand through his hair and slumped onto a chair next to me.
I slung an arm over his shoulder and drew him into a one-armed hug. “I’m not sure what to say. Love is complicated. Simple words, but they encompass the tangled morass of the heart, I think. If I can give you one piece of advice…”
He exhaled and gave me a short nod.
My heart broke for him. “If you can’t see yourself with her for the long haul, you need to cut the cord sooner rather than later.”
“And the shop?”
I’d been thinking about that the moment those two started making googly eyes at each other.
“We’re all friends. We’ve been together a long time.
I think of this in two opposite ways. First, we’re all adults and we love each other.
If you’re both mature about it, I don’t see a reason why we can’t all continue working together.
Second, everything changes. Even when we don’t want it to.
As much as I’d hate for us to split up, I never expected us to be together forever. Even if I really want it that way.”
He leaned his head on my shoulder. “I love her, you know.”
“I know you do.”
We sat that way for a while until Ash slid his chair away and stood. “Mind if we have the rest of the day off?”
I flicked my fingers at him. “As long as you bring us Brewtide Beans tomorrow.”
“Done. I’ll even throw in some muffins.”
“Even better. Now go home.” My face softened. “And Ash, be careful with Tess. As strong as she is, she’s also fragile. You are her first…everything.”
He swallowed. “Of course.” Ash paused at the door. “But just so you know, it never went all the way. Maybe that will make this easier.”
I highly doubted it. “I hope so,” was all I said.
Moira left me to close the shop, and I was busy sweeping plant remnants from the floor when a soft knock on the window startled me.
Rowan stood there, holding a box and a tray of coffee. My spirits lifted as I hurried to open the door.
The Shifter Lord breezed in. I took the tray from him and watched as he went to the worktable and set the box down.
“I hope you brought me goodies,” I said.
Rowan was insanely good looking. His hair was a little shaggier than the last time I’d seen him, and his hazel eyes were bright as he turned to smile at me.
“I’d never show up to a beautiful woman’s abode without goodies,” he said solemnly.
“Flirt,” I accused with a laugh.
He took the coffee I offered him and gestured for me to stand beside him.
I peered into the box and gasped. “Is that a fuchsia?”
Bright purple and white blooms hung heavy from glossy green leaves. “What kind is it?”
Rowan lifted the plant from the box. “A kind no one else has.”
I touched the soil, feeling Rowan’s magical signature beating. He was like me, but also something completely different. “You created this?”
“An accidental experiment in the greenhouse.”
I gasped. “It’s triple bloomed!”
Rowan grinned. “That’s the accident part.”
“You could make a fortune off this!”
The Lord waved a hand. “I’ve got enough money. Trust me.”
But I shook my head. “At minimum, you need to get this registered as a new variety. That way some asshat doesn’t steal a cutting and take it for themselves.”
“You think someone would steal from a Lord?”
The look on his face, so bewildered, made me laugh.
“There’s always an idiot out there looking to make a buck. Trust me. You want to register this with the Ag department. I can show you how to do it.”
Rowan grimaced. “I don’t want anyone sniffing around my Keep. Especially not the human government.”