Chapter 28
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
Phin paced her room. Then she paced the living room. Then she paced the kitchen. Her father, thankfully, was at work.
Unfortunately, her mother wasn’t. “Phin, what are you doing?” she asked, exasperated. “What is the matter with you? Did you and Rhaz have a fight?”
“Mom, it wouldn’t matter if we did,” Phin said. “We’re just friends.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that, dear. You looked mighty friendly driving off the other day.”
“Oh, good grief.” Phin headed for the staircase.
“Don’t you walk away from me!” Mom called after her. “Come back here. I want to talk to you, young lady.”
Phin cringed. That tone of voice was never good. She turned around with a sigh and faced her mother. “What?”
“You have all the earmarks of a woman falling in love.”
Phin made a gagging sound. “Oh, please, Mom. Let’s not go there.”
“Hear me out, dear. You’ve been pacing around here since yesterday, ever since Jessica visited.
You didn’t even want to make cookies with me this morning.
And now you’re, well, look at you. You’re a nervous wreck.
You haven’t even put any makeup on. And are those your pajama bottoms you’re still wearing? ”
Phin looked down at her Hello Kitty pajama shorts. “Oh yeah. I guess they are.”
“Well, that says a lot,” her mother drawled. “Why don’t you go upstairs, get dressed, and we’ll go to the grocery store? Maybe you just need to get out of the house for a while.”
Phin was going to retreat to the stairs and stopped. Her mother wasn’t going to continue badgering her? That was unusual.
She gave her a wary look, then headed for the stairs again.
“That’s right,” she called up the stairwell. “Hurry it up. I’ll make my list while you’re changing upstairs.”
Phin tossed on a pair of jeans and a top, threw on her tennis shoes, and was back in the kitchen in a flash. Her mother was just folding the grocery list and stuffing it into her purse when Phin approached. “Okay, Mom. Let’s go. Do we want to take my car?”
“Sure. Why not? I don’t mind being driven around. Speaking of driving, what kind of car does Rhaz drive?”
“Um, I have no idea.”
“You don’t?”
Phin shook her head. “What does it matter? He doesn’t have it here, not if he’s visiting the States.”
“Oh, of course you’re right.” Her mother’s eyes widened. “What a beautiful ring! Wherever did you get it?”
Phin froze. She hadn’t taken it off after Jessica left last night...
Oh no. “Um...” she hedged. “It was a gift.”
“A gift from who? Oh my gosh, that’s such a beautiful setting. Turquoise, jade and silver. Oh my goodness, is that a little diamond? Was it a late birthday present? Did Aunt Margaret send that?”
“Aunt Margaret would never send me something like this,” Phin huffed. “Are you kidding?”
“Oh, you’re right. She’s far too cheap. What about Aunt Roo?”
“Mom, no, Aunt Roo didn’t get it for me either.”
“Well, then where did you get it?”
Phin sighed. “Rhaz.”
“Rhaz gave you that ring?” Phin thought her mother was going to hyperventilate. “That’s gorgeous! Oh my gosh, he’s serious about you. That thing must have cost a fortune!”
“Yeah, it was kind of spendy,” she said casually. She didn’t want her mother to get so excited she had to stop the car and tell her to get a grip.
“Well, any man who forks out the dough for something like that is going to have to speak to your father soon.”
Phin rolled her eyes. “Oh my gosh, Mom. Really?”
“Oh, come now. We’re concerned about you, and we want to see you happy. And if this man does that, then we’re fine with it. Why are you so against getting a gift? It’s your family you’re nervous about.”
“Mom... are you kidding me?” Phin tried to keep her eyes on the road. Thank goodness they were almost to Sam and Ella’s Fine Foods. This was exactly the thing she was trying to avoid when it came to her parents.
Phin parked the car. They got out and went inside. She was busy eyeing the broccoli in the produce section when she heard an all-too-familiar voice.
“Well, if it isn’t the Ironwood women.”
Anon.
Her mother turned to him. “Dr. Blackstone! What a pleasant surprise! Oh, Phin, show him your ring.”
“Mom,” she said, scandalized.
“Oh, go on, dear. After all, Rhaz is staying with Dr. Blackstone. He should know.”
“I should know what?” Anon asked innocently. He looked at her finger.
“Oh, yes. The ring. Rhaz was quite proud of that purchase.”
“But what kind of a purchase was it?” her mother teased.
“Mom,” Phin said in warning.
Her mother shrugged. “What? I think it’s lovely that he bought you a ring, but it’s so fast. There is that. I suppose your father will have questions.”
“Mom!” Phin snapped.
“Oh, no doubt Bill will,” Anon said. “But rest assured, Rhaz’s intentions are honorable.” He winked at Phin.
She wondered what he meant by that. What did Rhaz tell the doctor?!
Before she had a chance to ask, he pushed his cart past theirs and headed down the aisle. “I’m sure we’ll see you soon, Phin. Ta-ta.”
“There, you see?” her mother said. “He’s serious. Oh my goodness, you lucky girl! And Rhaz is so handsome too!”
Phin tried not to roll her eyes and ran a hand through her hair instead. That did it. She was going to have to talk to Rhaz. He told her one thing, and from the sounds of it, he may have told Anon something different. But why? If it was just a sign of friendship...
She needed to clarify that. Otherwise she was going to go crazy. And that was the most worrisome thing of all. She wanted Rhaz to like her as more than a friend, and the realization hit her hard.
And that, made him more than dangerous when it came to her heart.
There was no guarantee he was going to stick around. He didn’t live in the States. He lived halfway across the world.
As nice as it would be to have him as her fire chief, there were complications. A lot of them.
What was she going to do other than talk to him? But she already had, more or less, so where did that leave her?
“Phin, are you all right?” her mother asked. “You look pale.”
“Let’s just get what we need and go, okay?” she said.
Her mother gave her an understanding smile, and they finished their shopping.
When they got home, they put the groceries away, and Phin retreated to her room. Maybe she should go for a hike. Or maybe she should see if Jessica wanted to drive out to Betty’s and swim.
It wasn’t unusual for them to do so, even when Betty’s grandmother was alive. So long as Betty’s grandma knew they were coming, everything was fine. She didn’t think much had changed since Betty took over the cottage.
She picked up her cell phone and dialed Jessica’s number, but she didn’t answer. “Well, great.”
Phin grabbed her car keys and headed out the door instead. “Mom, I’m going for a walk on the beach.”
“All right, dear. But when you get home, we’re going to have a talk with your father.”
Phin cringed. Her mother would be planning her wedding if she didn’t put a stop to this and fast.
Phin hopped in her car, started it, and headed out.
When she reached the parking lot at the beach, she sat for a moment or two, thinking. She’d like to have Rhaz with her right now and give him a piece of her mind. But what good would that do?
“Why am I making such a big deal out of this?” she asked herself.
Phin rested her head on the steering wheel for a moment, her eyes misting. “Oh, good grief,” she muttered as she realized what the problem was.
She was lonely.
She’d been so busy with school and volunteering that she hadn’t had time to be lonely.
But that wasn’t the case now. Done with college, she had more time on her hands than she wanted.
Maybe she’d better put in an application at the fabric shop.
After all, she hadn’t heard back from Joe’s Hardware yet.
Phin got out of the car, locked it, and headed for the beach. She needed to stop feeling sorry for herself and do something. The question was, what?
Start putting in applications in Coos Bay?
She supposed she could. It wasn’t that far away, and there were probably a lot more job opportunities there.
So what if she had to commute? It would also get her out of Moon Creek Falls on an almost daily basis.
And wasn’t that a good thing? So long as a certain handsome redheaded foreigner was in town. Yeah, it was.
Biting her lower lip, she crested the sand dune and trotted down it, almost falling. Phin didn’t care. This hurt. More than she expected. The loneliness. The not knowing. And most of all, the feeling like she had no future.
Why did this have to hit all at once? It was like a domino effect, an avalanche of emotions she didn’t want to deal with right now.
But what choice did she have?
Rhaz walked along the beach, his hands in his pockets, staring at the waves as they covered his feet and ankles.
He had been walking for close to an hour, up and down the beach, trying to get his mind off things. It wasn’t working.
Anon laughed at him as he left the house after telling him what he planned to do. It was almost as if the vampire was a mind reader. Yet, what was it about Anon that made him so attuned to one’s emotions? Rhaz didn’t think it was a vampire trait, but maybe where this vampire came from, it was.
Rhaz’s head came up. Ezrel snapped to attention as well. He caught her scent, and a tingle went up his spine.
Phin was near. Rhaz picked up the pace before he realized it, his eyes scanning the beach for her.
Find her, Ezrel said. She is ours.
“No, she’s not,” Rhaz snapped.
Ezrel didn’t like that. He pouted for a minute, then grew restless. Ours, he insisted. Mate.
Rhaz stopped dead in his tracks. “No. No, you don’t. She is not.”
She is.
“Ezrel, stop.” Rhaz had to fight the urge to shift. If Ezrel had his way, he’d find Phin, take her in his forepaws, and fly off with her. Yes, like that’s going to help anything. “You behave or you are going to get us in trouble.”
Mate, Ezrel repeated. You know she is.
She is not a fated mate, buddy, he told Ezrel, then switched to his native tongue. And you need to remember that.
You want her, Ezrel said.