Chapter 13
Sunday afternoon, Darcy was in heaven, and it wasn’t because Ford was using his talented tongue and fingers to drive her wild. It was because she was in the farmhouse kitchen with the other women in the herd, peeling apples from the trees in the yard.
After breakfast, they’d invited her to pick apples, then prep and bake several desserts, plus make homemade applesauce and apple butter.
Her mom hadn’t really been someone who enjoyed being in the kitchen, preferring convenience food and takeout to spending hours in the kitchen.
When Darcy started living on her own, she’d watched online videos to learn how to cook.
But baking had never been in her wheelhouse.
She was enchanted by all the women in the herd could do in the kitchen. It was like magic.
“So, what do you think of everything so far?” Nancy asked, her paring knife smoothly cutting off the peel.
“I love it here. I really do feel at home, and a lot of that is Ford, but it’s also how welcoming and warm everyone has been.”
“Crew told me when they settled here, that he hoped the house would someday be filled with mates and kids, and it took a few years, but we’re finally here. All the herd males are mated, and we’ve already got a baby on the way,” Zara said, casting a smile at Fallon.
The women all shared the stories of how they’d come to be with their stallions.
Nancy was the first—meeting Dexter at a movie theater where she worked when Dani was young and he was a single father to Khyle.
Then Tris shared how she came to work as a caretaker for the farm and met Khyle.
As the others shared their stories, Darcy could tell how close everyone was and how much they enjoyed each other’s company.
The stallions were a family, the guys like brothers and the girls like sisters, with Nancy and Dexter as the parent figures.
Darcy was overwhelmed with how much she liked everyone, and how sweet they all were to her. They all worked together to provide a wonderful home for everyone, from laundry to meals to cleaning, not to mention the fun they all seemed to have with each other.
It had just been Darcy and Cruz, plus her besties Rhomi and Reagan, for such a long time, it was refreshing and sweet to have so many new friends who treated her like family already.
She was feeling really blessed.
After various apple desserts were prepped, some baked for dinner that night, and some frozen for the future, with several batches of applesauce and apple butter finished, Darcy headed upstairs to their bedroom to video chat with Rhomi.
After Rhomi assured Darcy she was in the park in the house she and Mercer shared, which was not the apartment that she’d first been shown, so they could speak freely, Darcy said, “I can’t believe Mercer is a lion.”
“Right? Freaking cool, I tell ya. But the craziest part is that when Mercer and I fell asleep that first night? He shifted while we were asleep and I woke up to a dang lion spooning me!”
“Are you kidding?” Darcy asked, laughing.
“Not even a little bit. I was so scared I ran screaming from the apartment where he told me he lived before I learned the truth about shifters. He broke down a door trying to get to me! I almost passed out. Stop laughing.”
“I can’t help it! He was really spooning you?”
“Yeah.” Rhomi made a face, then laughed. “But, I’m really glad that you and Ford are together now, so you and I can actually talk about our lives fully.”
“Do you find it hard to keep the secret?”
“Not really. I know how important it is that humans don’t find out about shifters, and especially having a half-shifter, half-human baby on the way.
But while I don’t like keeping secrets from my parents, or you and Reagan, I’d never endanger the pride or my mate or his family, you know?
It makes it easy to keep the secret when the stakes are so high. ”
“Good point.” Her mind strayed to Reagan.
Indio must be a shifter since he worked at the park.
Which meant her other bestie was possibly the mate of a shifter too.
How wild! She didn’t say anything to Rhomi, because she knew Reagan hadn’t told her about her sexy encounter, and Darcy wasn’t going to share secrets that weren’t hers to share.
She and Rhomi talked about the baby and then about Darcy moving to the farm.
“I just don’t know what I’d do here, you know? Like if I stopped working at the hardware store, I don’t know how I’d be useful to the herd.”
“Did Ford ask you to stop working?”
“No, but I kind of want to be with the herd. With him.” She bit her lip, thinking about the farm and what life could be like. Not living in a cramped apartment and going to a job that she really had no enjoyment of. She’d seen Ford work on the tractor and how he really loved turning a wrench.
“Maybe they’ll figure something out for you,” Rhomi said. “I’m still selling seasonal tickets in the booth, which Mercer loves because he can swing by for kisses when he’s on patrol.”
Darcy snorted. “Just kisses. Sure.”
“Hey! There are windows in the ticket booth.”
“I want to come visit you. I feel like I don’t know your life anymore because of what’s been going on with you since you and Mercer got together.”
“I’d love that. Maybe next weekend? We could go on the safari tour and Mercer and Ford can talk about manly things.”
“Sounds good to me. Hey, are you guys mated?”
“Yep, of course. Why?”
“You got married, though. I was just wondering if that was because you’re human?”
“Not just because I’m human. Mercer asked me to marry him because he wants me to have his last name. I think a lot of shifter couples get married. The ones in the pride for sure—Caesar, Jupiter, Jenni, and Lucius. Do you want to marry Ford?”
“I can definitely see myself as Mrs. Anderson.”
“I love it. Please tell me I can be there for the wedding.”
“Of course. But first I need to move in with him.”
“Why aren’t you yet? Don’t you want to be with him? When I got over my initial panic at Mercer being a shifter, I didn’t want to be away from him. It was a no-brainer for me to move into the park.”
Darcy searched her feelings, and she knew Rhomi was right.
She loved Ford. So what was she waiting for? It would never get any easier for Cruz, whether she waited a day or a week or a month. He was clearly struggling with being left behind, but she’d make sure he was still a big part of her life. As much as he could be and still kept in the dark, anyway.
“I’m going to go find my mate and smooch on him a little,” Darcy said, climbing from the bed and stretching.
“Oh, I like that idea. I’m going to go find mine. Love ya!”
“Love you too.”
Darcy ended the call with a smile on her face and went to find Ford.
* * *
When Darcy woke to the dark room and the cold bed, she immediately missed Ford. She knew he was working, taking the night patrol along with Dani’s mate, Neo, who was a gorilla shifter of all things! She’d met him before she headed to bed. Alone. Missing Ford very much.
Picking up her phone, she saw that it was a bit after two a.m., and she wondered where he was on the farm. And maybe if she could see him and get a hug without distracting him too much.
She hemmed and hawed a bit, not wanting to bother him, but decided to go down to the kitchen and see if he passed by the windows. Dressing in leggings and a thick sweater, she made her way down to the dark kitchen, marveling at how quiet the house was after it had been so busy earlier.
Heading toward the back door so she could peek out onto the porch, she had the strangest feeling come over her. Like a tidal wave of fire ants prickling at her skin.
Danger.
Something was definitely wrong. She held her breath, listening intently for sounds of someone in the house, but heard nothing.
Then suddenly alarms went off outside, echoing in the night as security lights flashed in warning.
She opened her mouth to call for Ford—
Glass shattered on the far side of the kitchen.
Too late.
Danger was already inside the farmhouse.