Chapter 19 Baz
BAZ
“Have either of you seen Arden?”
Baz had tracked down Fern and Maida to the saloon, where Fern seemed to be earnestly trying to convince Maida that the saloon was great, she could turn it into anything, it didn’t have to be a saloon, it could be a beauty parlor or a spa or ...
“A spa that serves whiskey?” Maida asked skeptically, holding up a dust-covered bottle. “Oh, hi, Baz.”
“I thought Arden was with you,” Fern told Baz, and turned back to Maida. “You don’t have to keep the bottles. I bet Baz would take them. Do you want some antique whiskey bottles for your store, Baz? Look, it’s heavy old glass, very cool.”
Maida shoved a bottle into Baz’s hands. “Yeah, your store needs a liquor aisle.”
“It’s not an actual store,” Baz said impatiently, putting the bottle on the windowsill. “Look, I can’t find Arden. I checked her cabin, but she’s not there.”
“Man, you two are joined at the hip, aren’t you?” Maida asked, plunking her dust-covered hands on her own hips. “How long has it been since you last saw her, half an hour?”
“It’s not that. I’m just a little worried. She looked upset about that letter Aunt Tara gave her. And how did anyone know she was here to send it to her, anyway?”
“Maybe she wanted to be alone to read it in privacy,” Fern suggested.
“Yeah, Baz, in which case she’s not going to appreciate you barging in on her.”
Baz threw his hands in the air. “Fine, ladies. Enjoy your saloon.”
“Salon!” Maida said indignantly to his back as he left.
In the aftermath of the storm, the road through the middle of town was a field of mud, tracked heavily from the vehicles earlier.
Baz wandered up to the higher end of the street, pondering construction projects to divert water in case of another flood.
Surely it couldn’t pour like that more often than once or twice a summer, if that—but once they had basements and fully functional utilities, a major storm could set them back weeks or months.
He supposed it shouldn’t come as a shock that so much work and planning went into running a town. City planner was an entire occupation, after all.
While he was musing on that, he realized suddenly that he knew where he could look for Arden.
Maybe it was shifter instinct, or merely a human one, but he turned out to be right.
When he headed back to the wishing well, he found her there, leaning on the edge and gazing into its capped-off depths.
She was holding a slightly rumpled manila envelope that he had never seen before.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
Arden jumped and shoved the envelope under her jacket before Baz could get a good look at it.
“I wish,” she sighed, leaning her hip against the newly cleared-off casing of the well. “Which I guess is funny under the circumstances. If only everything could be made fresh and new with a simple wish.”
She had seemed much happier earlier. Baz leaned on the well beside her. “Whatever is wrong, if you want to talk about it, I’ll listen.”
Arden’s lips parted. She seemed on the verge of saying something, started and stopped a couple of times. Finally she said, “Baz, I know what most of you shift into, or at least I have a guess. But what about Declan?”
Baz turned to look down at her. She was frowning, looking at the woods rather than him. Her hands were clenched together. This seemed to be oddly important to her.
“That’s not a question you ever want to ask a shifter,” he said. “Especially coming from a human—I’m sorry, Arden, but it’s true.”
“I’m not asking just any shifter,” she said. Her blue eyes turned up to him, deep pools of worry. “I’m asking you, Baz. You all know what it is, at least I assume you do. Why am I the only one who doesn’t know?”
“You’re going to have to talk to Declan about it.”
“Declan hates me.”
“He doesn’t,” Baz said. “He’s wary, that’s all.”
“You keep saying that, but wary of what? I know you’re all shifters. What else is there to be worried about?”
“Arden, I can’t tell you someone else’s secrets without having them involved in the conversation. If you want us to go find Declan, we can.” It wasn’t helping that Baz’s bear was reacting to her distress, wanting to do something about it. “Did Declan do something? Has he threatened you?”
“No—I—” Arden shook her head. “He didn’t. That’s not the—”
“There you two are!” Fern burst out of the woods with twigs in her hair. “You need to come right now.”
“What’s going on?” Baz asked. Instinctively he moved to put Arden behind him.
“It’s complicated!” Fern threw her hands up in the air. “Just come.”
Arden looked at Baz. He slipped his hand into hers, and they followed Fern back to Main Street.
At the store that had become their informal meeting place, Declan, Lexie, and Maida were gathered out front. They were talking, but as Baz approached, hand in hand with Arden, the chatter hushed.
“You wanted me, you got me,” Baz said, looking from one to another of the faces of his cousins, friends, family—clan. Lexie looked guilty, Declan angry, Maida merely confused. “What’s going on?”
“What’s going on?” Declan repeated. He jabbed a finger at Arden. “She’s been lying to us, that’s what’s going on.”
Baz’s hand tightened on Arden’s. He felt her fingers go stiff in his. “Hold on just a minute. What are you talking about?”
Declan looked at Lexie. For the first time Baz could remember, his daredevil, happy-go-lucky cousin seemed unsure of herself. With everyone staring at her, Lexie spoke up. “Arden, I’m sorry.” She held out her hand. “Is this yours?”
She was holding a small, dark object. Arden stared at it. Baz didn’t realize until Arden took it that it was a folded-up flip phone. It was damp and there was a leaf stuck to it.
Arden hesitated, then wiped it on her jacket and put it in her pocket, her mouth a flat line. “Which one of you followed me?” Her gaze went back and forth between Lexie and Declan.
“Me,” Lexie said. She dropped her gaze as if ashamed, then met Arden’s thundercloud eyes. “I just wanted to know where you were going. I know you met someone down at the road. Tell us what’s going on, please; I’m sure no one will be mad about it.”
“That’s not all, is it?” Declan demanded. “Go on, tell them the rest of what you saw and heard. Tell them what we’ve learned.”
“You do it, if you’re so sure of yourself,” Lexie snapped.
“Fine then, I will.” Declan stepped forward to face Baz head on. “After Lexie saw your girlfriend talking with some guy on the road, some guy who had pictures of us, we decided to test out our shiny new internet connection by seeing what we could find out about her online.”
Arden was still as if she had turned into a statue. Baz didn’t dare look at her. He was furious. “You snooped on her behind her back?”
“Why not? She hasn’t exactly been telling us the truth about herself.
She hasn’t told us anything.” Declan’s normally restrained body language was sharp and angry, gesturing as he talked.
“We found her. Her name’s Arden Hamilton.
She’s married, Baz. She’s the wife of that Senator Grant Hamilton who keeps trying to pass anti-shifter bills.
She’s been involved with anti-shifter groups in the past.”
Arden didn’t say anything, staring at Declan, white to the lips.
“You had no right,” Baz snarled.
“She had no right! If she’s got nothing to hide, why hasn’t she told us anything about herself? What about this Senator Hamilton, Baz? Are you dating a married woman?”
“I’m not!” Arden snapped. It came out high-pitched and cracked in the middle. She swallowed. “I’m—divorced. At least I thought I was. He’s my ex.”
“What do you mean, you thought you were?” Lexie asked quietly.
“The paperwork wasn’t filed correctly.” Arden didn’t look at any of them, including Baz, whose stomach felt like a stone—anger and, now, baffled hurt churning inside him.
“I’m going to fix it. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.
I didn’t mean it to come out like this. But it’s not like you all have told me the entire truth, either! ”
“What does that mean?” Fern asked, her soft voice full of emotion. Fern had always hated it when people fought around her.
Arden gave Declan a direct glare. “Do you want to know what that meeting was about? Grant is trying to blackmail me with pictures of you, Declan. Of you, shifted. I don’t know what other secrets the group of you are keeping from me, but—”
Declan let out a snarl, somehow inhuman-sounding, and Arden shrank back. Baz’s personally conflicted feelings were washed away in a tide of defensive fury. He stepped between Arden and his cousin.
“Don’t you dare threaten her, Declan. Don’t you dare.”
“Really? You’re defending her in spite of all of this?” Declan’s normally dark eyes were hot gold, nearly glowing. “I’m done, Baz. I challenge you for alpha of the clan.”