Chapter Four
Lulu
For all that my grandfather had always been an imposing, large man, his wife of forty years was the complete opposite.
Tiny, with tight curls that were a wild mix of silver and blonde, she couldn’t hold still to save her life.
She’d been my ride or die since the moment I showed up here in Salus and that hadn’t changed since I’d come back.
I stirred the soup she’d dropped on the table in front of me the moment I’d sat down. “Gigi, can you please sit down. You’re stressing me out.”
Mattie Yale gave me a withering look. “I’m stressing you out? Ma’am, you don’t look like you've been eating for days.” She pointed at the soup. “You eat, I’ll sit.”
Sighing, I picked up the spoon. “Fine.” The first spoonful was delicious, salty, and hot. I swallowed it, then another as I watched her smugly move across the sunshine yellow kitchen to sit at the table with me.
“Are you happy now?”
She smiled, a silver crown at the back of her mouth winking at me. “Very much.”
I swallowed another two bites, then tapped my spoon against the edge of the glass bowl. “I need to ask you something.”
“I assumed that. You have always been a transparent little thing.”
“Grandpa…. he is acting like something is wrong. But, Gigi, please, don’t lie to me.”
“Your grandfather doesn’t involve me in any of that stuff. He’s got the paper, he just says I should just focus on you.”
“Well, now I am the paper. And, Gigi, something is going on. Kenneth and Joe–”
Gigi swatted the air. “Those two love gossip so much that Lennon actually asked them to host their own column. You can’t let their updates get you down.”
I took another spoonful of soup as soon as she narrowed her eyes. Swallowing I sputtered out a “But, even now, something seems off. He’s always locked in his office, and Bruce has been so sketchy. Something is going on. And you know what it is.”
Gigi snorted, “I do not.”
“Give it up,
“No.”
“Mattie Yale, you need to tell me.”
Gigi sniffed loudly, then stood to move back towards the sink. “If you are so sure of things, ask your grandfather. Don’t come to me.”
I groaned, flopping dramatically across the table. “He’s so grumpy lately.”
“Well, I blame that on that ETA representative, Lulu. He’s shaking everything up for Salus.”
“Traum?”
Gigi returned, a newly refilled bowl in her hands. “The flashy dark haired one?”
I bit into my bottom lip, trying to contain any reaction, but she knew too much about me. “Lulu, I’m not sure what you’re thinking, but he’s married, or very close to it. Lovely girl, lots of blonde hair.”
“Oh, I was thinking of…” I bit off my words, knowing instantly that I might’ve sparked too much interest from Gigi.
“You were thinking of someone else?” Gigi plopped into her chair, scooting it forward. “Tell me everything.”
I sighed, hands pressing over my face. “Grandma,” The barely used nickname slipped from my mouth.
She swatted me, “Tell me.”
“Fine, fine. I don’t even know anything about him. Just that his name is Zaldi.”
“Zaldi? Interesting name.”
“Yeah, no idea where it’s from. I just know that he saved me from Mrs. Klausner the other day and, I swear, there’s just something.”
Gigi’s silvery brow rose. “Something?”
I squirmed under her gaze, “Something. A pull between the two of us. It was magnetic, different, exciting.”
“And, he’s new here? I surely don’t know him.’
“He must be, total newbie. I didn’t even ask him a single question. It was just bam, we were on the ground. Bam, we were smiling and then yah–it was over.”
“Lots of ‘bam’ in that sentence Lucinda,” Gigi said with a narrow eyed stare.
I laughed, unable to resist her attempt at being serious. “I know, but he’s harmless.”
“Give me the rest of the week and I’ll know all about him, local or not..”
I groaned, “Gigi! Focus. Why is Grandpa upset with the ETA people?”
She picked up a cup, running her slender fingers over it, the pale pink of her polish making me smile even now.
My grandmother never looked anything other than perfect, from the perfectly wild curls on her head to the carefully manicured hands.
She had a standing bi-weekly appointment at the salon and stuck to that like a religion.
“It seems to me,” she cleared her throat daintily, “that the ETA people wish to change Salus. They are challenging the norm, moving new people here, changing the atmosphere without even breaking a sweat. It’s hard for him.
” Gigi reached for me, the mug held in her other hand.
“He doesn’t know what’s coming next. And, that’s hard for him. ”
The press of her fingers had, as always, a grounding effect on me. “I know, Gigi.”
My grandmother gave my shoulder one last hard squeeze, then released me with a pat. “Good, Good. I’m glad. He needs you, Lulu. Even if it’s all but impossible for him to say so.”
I smiled, forcing the expression onto my face as I briefly looked down at my crossed legs.
Grandpa didn’t need anyone. But, there was something here, something tickling that back of my investigative mind.
A tension between my grandfather and Traum that didn’t belong with something so simple as a new town organization.
And my gut said it started with the ETA.
Pushing back from my chair, I had already made my decision.
I was going to find out everything I could about the ETA. And, when push comes to shove, as it always does, I would have everything Grandpa needed.
He didn’t need me.
But, I sure as hell would make him recognize just how useful I could be.
I slunk into my childhood bedroom, finding my laptop charged and ready to go as I made a comfy little nest of blankets.
When I’d first looked into the ETA prior to our interview, the website had been minimal, only showing a few tabs and pages.
As soon as I clicked back in today, it displayed a far more elaborate set up.
And after a few clicks, I found myself looking at a professional shot of Trauma and Bailey, both dressed in professional wear and smiling broadly.
But below…
Holy fuck, right below it actually was a picture of Traum among several others. And the man right next to him, smiling broadly up at the camera from the riverside shore, was someone very familiar.
Zaldi.
Smiling and handsome, his eyes were crinkled in mirth that I hadn’t gotten to see before. My fingertips twitched on the keyboards. I released the breath I’d been holding as I forced my hands to move–to scroll to the caption below.
‘Traum and brother, Zaldi, are big fans of kayaking and spend plenty of time in the national parks….”
I stopped reading then, or at the very least, I stopped remembering what I was reading. I could only focus on those little words.
Brother.
Zaldi was Traum’s brother. And, at the exact time that my gut jerked with uncovered knowledge, there was a resounding clench of my heart.
I knew exactly how to get more information for Grandpa.
****
Zaldi
Out of all the living things that I’d begun to enjoy, there was something about their morning coffee routines that truly gave me pleasure.
I had walked into the brightly lit cafe the day after I fell into Salus Glen and just barely managed to hurl the story about my dream girl, literally, to Traum the night before.
I’d been hollowed out. Confused.
And then, there was a big burly looking man asking me what I needed. I’d told him.
“A little hope would be nice.”
Instead of throwing me out of his shop for acting like a lunatic, the male had gotten me a steamy cup of something that smelled like cinnamon and then, carefully dropped me into a corner of the cafe to enjoy both the sunlight and the drink.
When I panicked about not paying, he clapped a hand on my back and told me he always bought folks new to Salus their first coffee.
“Coffee,” I’d echoed, staring down at the drink in my hands.
He laughed, walking back to serve the line of humans now clustering by the display case, “You can call if hope if it makes you feel better.”
I blinked and then took a long sip. Hot. Creamy. Just the right amount of bitter sweetness dancing across my tongue. I’d actually moaned, then of course, looked around, terrified someone might have heard me.
Either way, I’d savored the peace of the moment, and when I left an hour later, I did feel better. I’d found my way into my mate’s town. And not just that –I’d seen her again.
Things were going to be alright.
Especially since once I’d started keeping an eye on my mate, I had been thrilled to find her enjoying coffee many times. She hadn’t made it into my favorite cafe until later on, but when she did, I had seen the joy in her eyes too.
Hope.
We shared it now.
As she walked into Cup o’ Joe this morning, I stared after her, deciding in an instant that it had been too long since the day I’d pulled her to safety. I wanted to see her again. And this time, I wasn’t going to hold back. Traum could get over himself. He already had his mate.
The bell above the door chimed when I stepped into Cup ‘o Joe and immediately moved to stand in line directly behind Lulu.
Her hair was tied up into one of those sharp looking claw clips and a few small strands were freed and brushing her neck.
I wished I could tangle my hands in those dark strands.
I could smell the soft scent of her and I wanted to press my face against her throat as I did.
To see if she tasted as sweet as she smelled.
Lulu looked to the side as I stopped behind her, displaying her profile for only a moment before she saw me. Her expression flew from the relaxed countenance I’d first witnessed and straight to genuine surprise and pleasure.
My heart pounded in my chest.
“Hello there,” my voice was a rasp.
Long lashes blinked before her shoulders moved, her whole person moving to face me. “It’s you,” she said softly, “I knew I’d find you again.”
Why was my throat so tight? I could nearly feel the joy pouring through my person at her proximity. I tried to swallow it back, to keep myself under control. “You were right.”
“It’s Zaldi right?”
“Yes. You got it.”