Chapter 9 Arden
ARDEN
Baz and his cousin-sister-whatever had fallen behind, and Arden could hear them arguing in hushed tones, although she couldn’t make out the words.
She had a strong urge to take advantage of the opportunity and sprint on ahead. She could probably pack up her few possessions quickly, and then—
And then what? Walk down to the highway and hitchhike?
Whatever else Baz and his group of shifters were, they didn’t seem threatening, at least not in the way those two shifters in the meadow had been. If they threw her out of town, she would be in the same position as if she left voluntarily, but she might at least get a decent meal out of it first.
So she waited for them on the other side of the creek, fidgeting nervously while she dried her wet feet on the grass and put her socks and shoes back on.
Lexie and Baz came out of the woods looking like they had been quarreling, looking in opposite directions and not acknowledging each other.
Lexie gauged the distance and then jumped across the creek, while Baz carried his boots and waded, as if he had to be contrary.
Arden put a mental check mark in the “siblings” column.
“I really appreciate the offer of lunch,” Arden told them, determined to be as friendly as she could. “I’ve just been eating camp food.”
“Yeah, about that. What are you actually doing here?” Lexie asked. “Baz didn’t seem to know.” She sounded like she thought Arden was hiding something. Which, okay, she was, but nothing that posed a danger to them. (She hoped.)
“I was camping out in one of the cabins,” Arden said. “The place looked abandoned. I didn’t think anyone would mind.” And it was all true, just maybe not the whole truth.
Baz turned a look on Lexie as if to say, See? “She’s fine, Lex. It’s not like we’ve posted no trespassing signs all over the place.”
“You must have noticed we were here,” Lexie said. “You didn’t even think to come over and say hi?”
“I didn’t know how you’d react.” Once again Arden was conscious of walking a fine line, trying not to lie without giving a completely inaccurate impression.
“And you’re not doing much to change her mind,” Baz said. He moved a little closer to Arden, and Lexie frowned. As much as Arden didn’t want to drive a wedge between these people, she felt an unfamiliar lift of her heart.
No one had ever stood up for her before.
“Yeah, well, excuse me for asking questions. I’m gonna go round up everybody for lunch.” Lexie turned to Arden and asked, “Do you have any food allergies, anything like that? Vegetarian?”
“No, I’ll eat just about anything.”
“You’ll fit right in with the rest of us, then,” Baz told her with a grin.
Lexie looked like she wanted to say something else, then turned on her heel and strode away.
“She’s usually a lot friendlier than that,” Baz said. “I think we’re all a little bit on edge.”
“Because of those people in the woods?”
“That’s part of it.”
“Are they going to come back?”
Baz’s face darkened. “I don’t know, but if they do, I’ll take care of it. They have no right to mess with you like that. This place doesn’t belong to them.”
“You don’t need to protect me,” Arden protested.
“I want to.”
She didn’t know how to react to that, so she started walking. Baz fell into step with her, adjusting his longer stride to hers.
“I’m just gonna drop off my stuff in the cabin. I can pack up to go, if you want.”
“There’s no need,” Baz said. “You can stay there as long as you like. I don’t think anyone else will have a problem with it.”
Lexie definitely had a problem with it, from what Arden could tell. But she decided not to argue. It wasn’t as if she had anywhere to go.
“That is, if you’re happy there,” Baz went on. “We have more than enough space, as you can see. The rest of us are only taking up a fraction of it. You could pick out anywhere you’d like to stay.”
Arden felt like arguing, but as they approached the little cabin, she could see why he thought she might want to move.
When she first arrived, it had felt cozy and safe.
Now, from the outside, she saw how small it was compared to the bigger, better houses.
Baz was so tall that she wondered if he could even straighten up inside.
“It’s fine,” she said. Maybe Baz’s friends would be less likely to resent her if she was taking a house they didn’t want. “It’s big enough for me.”
She started to pull on the latch string, but the door swung open. Arden took a step back.
“It’s okay,” Baz said quickly. “It was me. I, uh, I unlocked it.”
Arden turned on him, alarmed. “Did you look at my things?” She didn’t mean it to come out as snappy and defensive as it did.
“No!” Baz exclaimed. “I’m sorry for coming in when you weren’t here. I’m in charge around here, or at least I’m trying to be. So it’s my business to know what goes on in the town. I did look around a little, but I didn’t look in your pack or anything. I swear.”
Arden was suddenly, profoundly grateful that she had hidden the phone and papers anyway.
“Sorry,” she said, rubbing her eyes. She dropped her day pack on the table. “It’s been a stressful day. I think I’ll feel better with some food in me.”
Baz grinned that quick, ready smile that had made her like him so much when she had been spying from the shadows. Even now, it loosened a tightness in her chest. “No problem. Do you want a little time alone to freshen up before lunch?”
Arden wondered what he thought constituted “freshening up” in a primitive cabin with no running water. Then she considered the intimidating option of meeting Baz’s friends without Baz by her side to serve as a buffer. “No, thank you. I’ll stay with you, if you don’t mind.”
The grin widened; he was now practically beaming. “I don’t mind at all.”
Arden’s newfound determination nearly deserted her when they arrived at the main street and she found the whole group gathered around a cooler in a patch of shade under some trees.
Then she reminded herself of some of the situations she’d walked into in the past (political meetings!
parties! social events at which she was the hostess!) and realized she had let her confidence lapse very badly over the last couple of years.
It was easy to blame Grant for it, but at some point she needed to let go of her nervousness and start believing in herself again.
So she straightened her back and walked up to the small group under the shade trees, side by side with Baz.
Lexie still looked less than friendly, and Declan was openly scowling. Only Fern looked happy to see her, and she bounced to her feet and came toward Arden, barefoot with her long dress swishing around her ankles, holding out her hands.
“Are you Arden? Lexie was just telling us about you.” She clasped Arden’s hands, and Arden tried to stifle the urge to pull away, while Baz looked delighted. “Hi, I’m Fern. You’ve met Lexie, of course, and that’s Declan. Come here, sit down. Tell us about yourself.”
That was the last thing she wanted to do. Arden gave Baz a panicked look, and Baz said, “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. If you just want to sit under a tree and have a sandwich, you’re welcome to.”
“I think if Baz is letting someone stay here without consulting the rest of us, we at least deserve to know a little about who you are.” Declan’s voice was low and fierce.
Baz whirled on him with a flare of temper that startled Arden. “Knock it off right now,” Baz snarled. His eyes glinted. “You can say what you like to me, but not to her.”
Declan stared at Baz as if he’d never seen him before. There was a brief standoff, the two of them glaring into each other’s eyes, and then Declan looked away.
The display seemed to galvanize Lexie into a little extra friendliness. “Here,” she said, rising from the camp chair where she had been sitting. “You can take this. I’ll sit on the cooler.”
“No, I can’t chase you out of your chair,” Arden protested, but before she knew it, Lexie had hustled her into the camp chair.
Unfortunately this meant she was sitting next to Declan, who looked like he would very happily have yeeted her and her camp chair all the way down the street and out of town.
“Hi,” she said to him, deciding to try for friendliness. “You’re right that I should have introduced myself earlier, but better late than never, right? It’s nice to meet you. I’m Arden, though I guess you know that already.”
Declan gave her a terse nod, but his eyes were on Baz, not her, and Baz was watching him as if he planned to bite him if Declan stepped out of line. Which, for all Arden knew, maybe he did.
“What do you do, Arden?” Fern asked.
“I’m an artist,” Arden said.
Lexie and Fern were both immediately interested, so with apologies for being out of practice, Arden hesitantly showed them the pencil sketches and half-finished watercolors in her sketchbook.
“Oh, but these are really good,” Lexie said, flipping through them. “Do you sell your work?”
Arden shook her head, watching Lexie look at her art with a nervousness that was half oh no, what if she hates them and half please don’t smudge that!
“Have you thought about it? I bet people would buy them.”
“They’re not that good,” Arden said. “No one’s going to pay money for this ...” Childish sentimental garbage, she almost said, but she stopped herself because of the shock of hearing Grant’s words spilling from her own mouth. “Never mind,” she mumbled. “I—I guess I’ve thought about it, a little.”
“Here, I’m sure you’re hungry,” Fern said smoothly, offering a selection of plastic-wrapped sandwiches from the cooler. “We’re down to chicken salad or salami, it looks like. Uh, I hope you like meat. We have brownies for dessert.”
“I love meat,” Arden said gratefully, taking the chicken salad. “And brownies. Are you all, um—” She tried to think how to ask it. “Brothers and sisters?”