Chapter 14
Delmar
If I had my way, we would’ve spent the night out at sea, snuggling in postcoital bliss. Instead, we had to get up, motor back to the marina and get dressed for dinner with Abby.
All of that for me to experience the most uncomfortable night of my life.
It started the moment we walked into the restaurant. The place was crowded, which I thought was a good thing. Crowds usually meant anonymity.
Not there. Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at us when we walked in.
Falling back on my innate friendliness that had gotten me out of a lot of tense situations, I smiled big and waved cheerfully, as if walking into a party.
“Hello!”
Instead of smiling back, a bunch of people flinched, and others ducked their heads and looked away. If that wasn’t a blow to a guy's ego, I didn’t know what was.
Nina grabbed my hand and ignored everyone as we walked to the only empty table in the place. I was a little shocked that no one got up to leave as we sat down.
The moment we were seated, a server came over with menus. He tossed them on the table before rushing away. Conversation around us had started up again, but it was quiet and everyone kept looking over at us without trying to be obvious.
Nina glanced at the list of food before pushing it aside. I examined the menu, having a hard time deciding between several items.
“I'm going to get the salmon,” she said, then rolled her eyes. “Assuming someone is brave enough to take our order.”
“Maybe we should leave,” I said. I'd had other shifters and magical creatures tread carefully around me, but they usually relaxed after talking to me. I’d never been treated like a monster.
Nina didn't like it any more than I did because the moment those words were out of my mouth, she stood up. “Sure, let's go.”
“Sure,” I said, standing up.
She smiled for real. “Can we make fish stew again?”
“Nina?”
We looked over to find a stranger making his way through the restaurant, pulling Abby behind him by her wrist. Like when we'd been outside the grocery store, she kept her eyes down, but she looked paler than before.
“It's nice to meet you,” the stranger said, his smile a little too excited. The way this guy was treating Abby made me immediately dislike him. I stepped sideways so I was partially in front of Nina. The stranger gave me a quick look of distaste before focusing back on Nina.
“Uh, it’s nice to meet you too?” Nina said, the statement sounded more like a question.
Archer stepped out from behind them. “Nina, Delmar, this is Frank, Abby’s father. You already met Abby.”
“It's my right to accompany my daughter when interacting with outsiders,” Frank said, never once looking at me. His entire focus was on Nina. “But it's my privilege to have dinner with such a beautiful selkie.”
“Hello Frank,” Nina gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. I bet it was the one she used for professional meetings. Her smile turned real as she spoke to Abby. “It’s nice to see you again, Abby. Please join us.”
Our table was only meant for two people. “We're going to need to find a bigger table.”
As I said that, everyone around us jumped into action. The next thing we knew, our table had been swapped for a bigger one with five chairs. All the nearby tables had been pushed around to make room for our larger table.
I tried to figure out who had given up their table, but everyone moved so quickly and fluidly that I couldn't figure out who had gone where.
It reminded me of a school of fish seamlessly bending and moving around an obstacle. I didn’t say that. I was sure the selkies wouldn't appreciate the comparison.
Without speaking, Abby, Frank, and Archer all sat.
Nina and I exchanged a look, then sat back down.
We were on one side and our guests crowded in on the other.
Poor Abby was squished between the two men, although it seemed like she was pushing herself against Archer, so she didn’t have to touch her dad.
I couldn’t blame her. The man was wearing enough cologne to give me a headache.
I knew seals couldn’t smell underwater, but I thought they had a perfectly good sense of smell on land, even in their human form.
What was wrong with this man? He’d covered himself in so much scent I wasn’t sure I’d be able to smell my food.
“Laura!” Frank shouted. “I want to order.”
A woman walked up to us. She looked a little nervous but not scared. “Sure thing, Frank.”
Frank ordered for himself, then for Abby. Archer ordered next, then there was an odd silence as Laura looked at Nina and then back at Archer, as if she wasn’t sure what to do.
“I’d like the salmon, rice, and salad," she said.
Laura looked at Archer. “Sheriff?”
Archer gave her an encouraging smile. “For now, you should treat Nina and Delmar as you would treat a human tourist.”
She looked relieved, and her attitude changed. Her shoulders came up, and she met my gaze without hesitation. “Sir?”
If I wasn’t starving, I’d probably have simply gotten a salad. Instead, I asked for two main dishes and several extra sides. Our earlier exercise made me hungry. Laura didn’t blink an eye at my order and said she’d be right back with our drinks.
“What did you mean by that?” Nina asked the moment Laura left.
Archer looked confused. “By what?”
“When you told Laura to treat us like human tourists,” she explained. “Her whole demeanor changed. Also, why was she hesitating so much and looking conflicted before that?”
“Females aren’t supposed to speak for themselves outside of the family,” Frank said, even though she hadn’t addressed the question to him. “It’s the duty of the men to speak for them.”
“Then she should have looked at Delmar, but she didn’t,” Nina pointed out. I could tell she didn’t like this answer because her tone was aggressive.
“She didn't look at the kraken because he can’t be your male. He’s not a selkie,” Frank said.
“We don’t hold human tourists to the same rules as we do our colony members.
They are a necessary evil because they wouldn’t visit or shop in our town if we refused to speak to their females or let them talk to ours. ”
I felt Nina tense and knew she was about to say something to challenge Frank when Archer spoke up.
“It’s an old rule left over from much earlier times,” he said. “We’ve been slowly changing over the years.”
Frank scoffed. “We were until your father took control of the colony. Our population was diminishing, and we were having all kinds of issues. He brought us back to the old ways that had made us so successful before. The best thing that happened to this colony was your father.”
Archer’s expression remained neutral, but I could see the way his eyes hardened. It seemed that he was more progressive than his father. I got the feeling he didn’t approve of the way Norris ran things.
Why didn’t he leave?
Then Archer looked down at Abby. His eyes softened and a genuine smile spread across his face. “You can have some of my fries if you want.”
“No,” Frank said. “No fries, she’ll get fat.”
“You get to decide what Abby eats?” Nina asked. I expected anger, but all I saw on her face was concern.
“Of course,” Frank said. “I’m her father so I need to guide her in all things.
When you join us, you’ll be under the guardianship of Mayor Norris.
That’s why I insisted on coming to this dinner with Abby when Archer came to collect her.
My son isn’t married yet. You’re a little heavy, but I’m sure we can fix that once you’re living among us. ”
Nina’s smile reminded me a lot of a shark. “Isn’t that nice of you? I’m surprised you have that beer gut if the colony is so quick to help everyone lose weight.”
Frank’s jaw dropped in shock. It was clear he wasn’t used to women speaking their minds. I saw Archer cover a laugh with a cough, and Abby hid a smile with her napkin.
Before Frank could recover, Nina stood up.
“I need to use the facilities,” she said, and looked at Abby. “Will you show me where the bathroom is?”
Abby was quick to stand and lead her away. Frank tried to stand up to follow them, but one of my appendages snuck out and tripped him. It was so tight in the restaurant that he took out a server carrying several heaping dishes.
The women around us were quick to get up and help clean Frank up and soothe his bruised ego saying things like “the floor wasn’t even in that spot.”
I caught Archer’s attention. “Is he a common type of selkie in this colony?”
Archer hesitated, as if debating about being honest. He must've made up his mind and let me see his deep frustration.
“The ones like Frank and my father are a minority in the colony, but they’re in power right now. They silenced half the colony when they took the right of the women to speak up in public. That made it much easier for Norris and his closest friend to control everything.”
“Nina will never agree with this,” I warned him.
“I didn’t think she would,” he admitted. “But please encourage her to play along for the three-day bargain you guys made with Dad. I’m working on him too. Hopefully we can convince him to tell us what he knows.”
“Hopefully,” I agreed, feeling a little better knowing that Archer was on our side.
Nina
“I swam as a seal today,” I said as we walked into the two-stall bathroom. “It was only my second time. It was fun, although I ate a fish before I realized what my seal was going to do. I don’t think I like mackerel.”
Despite the air of fatigue and dark circles under her eyes, Abby’s face lit up with a smile. “Wait until you try seabass or halibut. You’ll love them.”
“Are those your favorite?” I asked, leaning against a sink.
“Very much so. When I was a pup, Mom would take me out and catch them for me.” Her smile disappeared. “Now we aren’t allowed to swim past the harbor. It’s for our safety.”
“But you have a plan, right?” I asked.
She shook her head and put her finger to her lips. Then she pointed to an air vent in the wall. Good God, were these women not allowed any privacy?
“A plan on how to catch fish in the harbor,” I added quickly. “Like having the guys chase them into the harbor so you get to catch them in your seal form?”
“That's a good idea,” she murmured, looking close to laughing. It was good to see her smile.
“Do you have a Band-Aid?” I asked, looking for excuses to give us more time away from the table. I felt bad for abandoning Delmar, but he was a big boy, he could handle an annoying selkie.
She looked confused. “Band-Aid?”
I pointed at my shoes. “They're new and one of them is rubbing my heel.”
“I might, let me look,” she said, opening her enormous purse. That's when I realized she'd never taken it off when she sat down. I looked inside and saw so many things, including a large hardback book and what looked like a set of clothes rolled up at the bottom.
This woman was ready to run at a moment's notice. She'd probably been planning for months, maybe even years.
“What's the book?” I asked as she dug.
To my surprise, she gave me a scared look. “Nothing,” she mumbled. “Just a mystery novel.”
She glanced around, then pulled the book out. I thought she'd hand it to me so I could read the blurb, but she opened it. The thing was hollow and full of cash and IDs.
“Oh, that is a good book,” I said. “I read it last year, but I won't spoil it for you.”
She nodded, shoved the book back inside, then gave me a secret little smile. “Thanks, I'm enjoying it.”
The one thing her purse was missing was a phone. It wasn't a surprise. Phones would allow her too much freedom.
I pulled a pen out of my much smaller purse. “Could I see that book again? Now I'm not sure if I read that one.”
She dug it out and handed it to me with a confused expression. I opened it and wrote my number on the inside.
“I was wrong, I haven't read this one,” I showed her the number before handing it back. “You'll have to tell me if it's good when you finish.”
It was weird to speak in code, but she seemed to understand.
“I will,” she promised. “The moment I finish, I'll make sure you know.”
Feeling a lot better about being here, I nodded. I was about to say something when there was a knock on the door.
“Are you ladies finished yet?” Archer asked. “Frank is getting anxious, and Delmar looks like he's tempted to eat him.”
I snorted, and Abby covered her mouth to keep from laughing. She closed her purse, then hitched it up on her shoulder before we filed out.
Archer was standing there with a small smile. “I know it's tough right now,” he murmured to Abby. “But I promise I'm working on it.”
To my shock, she shot him an angry look before turning and walking away without speaking to him.
I was so curious. I looked at Archer with a raised eyebrow, but he was too busy watching Abby walk away.
The look of longing on his face broke my heart.