CHAPTER SEVEN - Mariska
I squirmed in my seat, feeling hot where I shouldn’t be. Even the cold winds couldn’t cool me down. I spent the rest of the afternoon daydreaming about Lucian, which evolved into including fantasies with Balthazar and Jasper. Try as I might, I just couldn’t focus on work.
By the time I got to Primrose House, I had to take a cold shower. Artemis fretted over me, and while she usually had a lot of energy, she wasn’t a fidgety dog. She gobbled down her food in the kitchen and looked at me with her big dark eyes.
“Didn’t you run her around today, Mari?” Lyla cut up another quarter of cabbage for the cole slaw she was making. A few slivers of it stuck to her Christmas elf sweater. “Artemis is acting like a kid on Christmas Eve.”
“We walked a lot today. She should be sleeping by the fire after eating.” I pulled at the neck of my sweater as I set the table for Lyla, Miss Eloise, and myself.
Artemis shadowed me with every step. She got so close at a few points, I bumped into her and nearly dropped the glasses from my hands. “Artemis, go lie down.”
She didn’t budge.
“Maybe she just needs another run around the yard.” Miss Eloise wiped her hands on her apron and opened the kitchen door to the backyard. “Here, sweetie girl. Go on.”
Artemis looked up at me, and I sighed. I nodded and motioned to the open door. “Go on. Go out.” When she hesitated, I gave her a pat. “Go, Artemis.”
Making a strange chuffing sound, she trotted out into the yard and started to sniff around in the snow. Miss Eloise closed the door and stared out the window briefly. “I hope she’s feeling okay. You two have a big journey ahead of you. It’s going to be tough enough on her as it is.”
“I hope so too. She’s been clingy all afternoon.
” I stomach tightened thinking about my best canine friend being ill.
Artemis was one of the reasons I believed I could be okay in California without my friends.
She helped me be brave and offered comfort when no one else was around.
“The vet gave me anti-anxiety medication for the flight. She also included a sleeping pill just in case Artemis freaked out about the plane.”
“Good. I’m glad you have it all covered.” Miss Eloise returned to slicing her famous chicken pot pie. The smell made my stomach rumble loudly and had Lyla giggling.
“Seems like you worked up an appetite too.” Lyla put the last bits of veggies into a bowl and mixed it. “So you said Artemis was clingy all afternoon. What did you do this morning? She didn’t eat any dead… things, did she?” She gave a little shudder.
Lyla didn’t even like to hear about death or anything scary.
Her passion was fashion and the holidays.
She’d love for it to be Christmas all year round.
While she respected what I did, she never asked about that aspect of my job, so this was a first. I was tempted to make a joke, but what really happened that morning was that a gorgeous Alpha spent two hours alone with me in the middle of nowhere.
“Did she?” Miss Eloise asked with more concern.
“No, no.” I assured them and placed napkins on the table.
Suddenly I felt like a fidgety pup myself.
My mouth felt dry. “All my studies are done. Artemis didn’t have to search out anything.
We just had to do a few last surveys on some sites, check out the state of irrigation pools and the trees, so I could pass on my files to another tech. ”
I picked up a glass and filled it with water from the pitcher. The ice cubes clinked too loudly. Was my hand shaking? Why was it so hot in here? Hopefully Lyla hadn’t cranked up the thermostat again.
“Oh, a tree survey. Did Antonia…” Miss Eloise paused and cocked her head, before picking up the hot ceramic pot with her holly patterned oven gloves to bring to the table.
“Did another arborist come out? I met June at the market this morning who heard from Helena that Antonia had gotten hit by the latest bug.”
Small towns. Everyone knew everything. It was comforting and irritating at the same time.
“Yeah, Antonia called in sick. Jenny said the bug has been going around the school, and she caught it from her kids.” I sat down, having drained a whole glass of water.
Plucking the front of my sweater, I puffed it in and out, trying to get some cool air against my skin.
“They had a new freelance contractor come out.”
Miss Eloise pulled off her gloves after setting down the pot pie and set them on the kitchen island. Lyla came over with the cole slaw and sat next to me. “So who was the new contractor? Was she nice?”
Artemis barked at something in the yard. Maybe I should go out with her and let the winter wind take care of this feverish feeling. Oh God. Was I getting sick?
I licked my lips and shrugged. “He was nice.” Way more than just nice. Lucian was sin on two legs. Top it off with a big brain and an even bigger heart, it was no wonder I couldn’t get him out of my mind. When we touched… Nope. Not thinking about that. “Very helpful with the infested ash trees.”
“Who was it, dear?” Miss Eloise sat down at the head of the table. Usually Emberlee sat across from me, and my heart squeezed at feeling her absence.
Picking up my glass again, I drank what little water had melted from the ice and then refilled it.
“Um, well, funny thing, it was one of the people who work at Silver Tree Farm. Lucian Snow.” I gave a pathetic little laugh as if it were nothing before tugging at my collar again and hiding my flushed face behind my glass. “Turns out he’s an arborist.”
Lyla’s mouth fell open before she snapped it shut. “Wasn’t he one of the Alphas we met by the barn?”
Miss Eloise’s usual soft brown eyes were focused on me. I couldn’t read her expression, and what was worse was that she was silent. I couldn’t stand the thought of her thinking less of me. She was my family, the mother of the Primrose Pack.
The doorbell rang and played out the first notes of Jingle Bells. Lyla startled and I cringed.
Miss Eloise calmly stood. “I’ll answer the door, but when I get back, we’re going to have a talk, Mariska.”
She exited the room and Lyla grabbed my hand in a near crushing hold.
“Oh my God! Did you see that?” She whispered in a tight tone.
“I’ve never seen Miss Eloise mad! I can’t believe you were alone with an Alpha!
” She shook her head and then suddenly smirked.
“But a hot hunk of an Alpha. What was he like? Did he chase you through the fields and attempt to devour you?” She waggled her brows.
“No!” But now I was thinking about it! “Nothing happened. We talked about wind turbines and trees and did our work. That’s it.”
“Mm-hmm.” Lyla snickered and leaned in. “You don’t want a pretty tree this Christmas. You want a sexy arborist.”
My face was getting redder. I could feel it. “No! It’s not like that.”
Miss Eloise returned and the two of us immediately quieted, freezing in our seats. Our pack mother motioned to me. “Get your coat and boots on, Mariska. You have guests on the front porch.”
I frowned, too shocked to get up. Who would come visit me? My family would see me on Christmas day. They didn’t want to spend any more time with me than that.
Lyla’s mind went in the same direction. “If it’s her family, why didn’t you invite them in? There’s plenty of food to share with them.”
“They’re not allowed in. Front porch, Mariska.” Miss Eloise turned and left the room. From the hall, I could hear the closet open and her putting on her own coat.
Lyla and I shared a look and rose simultaneously. Both of us went to fetch our coats, curiosity driving every step. Could it be someone from work? Or a friend from school come to say goodbye before I left for California? Yet they’d be invited in.
Miss Eloise zipped up her jacket. “Lyla, please wait in the kitchen.”
“But—”
“Kitchen.” Miss Eloise gave her a stern look before turning and slipping on her boots.
Lyla mouthed an ‘O. M. G.’ to me and went back to the kitchen.
I pulled on my coat and stuffed my feet into my boots.
For a brief second, I thought about asking Miss Eloise who was there, but my mind suddenly went into a nightmare direction.
What if it was a police officer with news that my family had been murdered?
Or maybe there had been a terrible fire and they were hanging on to life by a thread in the hospital?
The holiday season was already depressing enough, but if something horrible happened, I could never look at another twinkling light or jolly old Saint Nick again.
Stuffing my hands into the opposite sleeves like a muff, I hugged myself as I walked to the front door and pushed it open with my elbow.
I didn’t see a police car in the drive. Just Miss Eloise’s van and my Jeep.
A black truck sat parked in front of the house.
An officer didn’t necessarily have to come in his squad car to bring bad news.
Unable to breathe, I turned to where there was a Santa and Mrs. Claus propped up in the rocking chairs on the porch.
Three officers.
I blinked. No. Three Alphas.
Holy shit.
Balthazar, Lucian, and Jasper.
Black pickup. Thinking about bad stuff, my mind hadn’t even gone in that direction.
No wonder Miss Eloise hadn’t invited them in. There were certain places that Alphas were not allowed in, and Omega boarding houses were one of them. Primrose House had always been testosterone free. Not even my ex ever came to the house.
Now there was a pack of Alphas calling on me.
I wanted to flee into the house and hide in my room. They couldn’t be here. Not for me.
Dammit! When Lucian and I accidentally brushed our fingers, something happened.
I tried to explain it away as static electricity, but it was so much more.
In my sleeve, I fisted the hand that had touched him.
The skin was still tingly and made more so by him smiling at me as if I were the most exciting thing he’s ever seen.