by Terry Spear
“You’ve got to tell them who’s boss around here.” He added sugar and milk to his coffee.
“Right. You know what happened the last time I did that? I had three males looking to mate with me. And they were all wolf.”
He choked on his coffee, half laughing, half trying to clear his throat because the coffee had gone down his windpipe.
“Yeah, you laugh.” She waved the spatula at him. “But you would have had to fight them all off if you’d been here. As it was, I couldn’t leave the cabin for two days.”
He started chuckling again.
“Fine. You can chase them off if they decide to venture this way again.”
“They wouldn’t dare.”
She gave him a small smile.
“After breakfast, I’m going to pick up my scuba gear from Allan’s cabin so I can take a dive this afternoon. Did you want to go with me?”
“Nah, I’ll just stay here and clean the gutters on the cabin.”
“Why don’t you let me help you with that?” When she looked like she was going to object, he said, “Your grandma bid on my services to do this work.”
“You can’t be serious. As long as her list is, you’d need your whole two-week vacation. I don’t think she realizes how long it will take to do some of these tasks.”
Paul figured Emma wasn’t as interested in having him fix up the place as she was in Lori and him having some quality time together to see if they might want something more. Her grandma was good at figuring people out. He knew she only had their best interests at heart.
When he didn’t change his mind about wanting to clean the gutters, Lori said, “All right. I’ll just see what else is on Grandma’s list that doesn’t require a highly trained SEAL wolf.” She cast him an annoyed look and then served the pancakes.
He smiled at her.
* * *
After breakfast, Paul told Lori, “I’ll run over to Allan’s cabin and won’t be gone long.”
She waved him off, and he headed back around the lake.
Lori was really hopeful that he would be able to find her necklace. She would have asked him earlier if she’d remembered he was staying at her family’s cabin and scuba diving anyway. She’d snorkeled, but couldn’t catch sight of the necklace.
She’d even thought of asking one of the guys she’d dated who was with the local police diving force, but she was afraid that he’d think she was interested in dating him again, and she wasn’t. That was the hardest part of being a wolf: having no others nearby to date. Other than Paul and Allan, the Cooper brothers and Jerome were the only male wolves in the area that she knew of.
She couldn’t go out with a human more than a couple times before she worried that he might see something more to their relationship. She liked the diver and didn’t want to hurt his feelings if he really was interested in something more.
That was the problem with dating humans. It was one thing if she and a guy just didn’t connect. But if she did really like a human, that was another story. How could she lie and say she didn’t feel the same way as the man did? That she’d have to turn him into a wolf before they could go any further in their relationship? Best to go out only a couple of times and leave well enough alone.
She cleaned the dishes but felt the pressure of an impending storm coming on. With her wolf’s enhanced abilities, she could sense shifts in temperature, storm fronts, and changes in the weather. She’d thought everyone could do it, but seeing how far off weathermen’s predictions could be, she soon realized that her wolf senses helped her to see the changes. Being a weatherman would be a great occupation for a wolf. Everyone would wonder how he predicted the weather so accurately though.
She kept going outside and looking, listening, and smelling the air. Swimmers were hollering and splashing in the water some distance from her place, their laughter carrying across the lake. The sky looked fine. But she knew bad weather was coming, although it could arrive earlier or later, and she wanted to be prepared.
She retrieved a ladder from the storage building, hauled it to the house, and began to clean the gutters.
* * *
When Paul reached the mountainside cabin, Allan waved at him from the deck where he’d been stretched out on a chaise longue reading a fantasy, beer at hand. “Did you finish all your chores over there?” Allan asked.
“Nope. I probably need to stay through tomorrow. Maybe even the next day.” More, if he could manage.
Allan smiled a little at that.
“Emma had quite a list of projects. Did you finish yours?”
“Yeah, took a couple of hours. Martha didn’t have anything much for me to do. Just wanted me to help her move some furniture so she could clean behind it. And take some stuff to the trash and donation site. I’m going to a movie with Rose Tuesday night. She said if I don’t take her, she’s going out with some guy she’s sure I won’t like—just because he’s human, not for any other reason. So I told her I’d take her. Did you and Lori want to go with us? The seven o’clock showing? It’s that new Western that’s out.”
“You mean the one with the aliens and vampires in it?”
“Yeah, you got it. You know how everything has to be paranormal these days. I heard there’s a new werewolf movie coming out next year. What will they come up with next?”
Paul shook his head. “And they never get it right. I’ll ask Lori if she wants to go.”
“Good show. So, if you’re not done with your work, what are you doing back here?”
“I need to grab my scuba gear.” Paul headed to his room to get it.
“Emma’s got you cleaning out the lake around the dock?” Allan asked, sounding really surprised.
With diving gear in hand, Paul returned to the living room and explained about the Cooper brothers, and Allan’s sister and Lori having trouble with them.
“Damn it. I bet Rose didn’t tell Mom about it,” Allan said, red-faced. Then his brow furrowed even more. “Hell, that’s the necklace Lori’s mother gave her before she died.”
“Yeah, so you know how much it means to her. About your sister, she may have told your mom but then Catherine didn’t tell you, afraid you’d do something hasty about it. I’m diving for the necklace this afternoon. If I can’t find it, maybe you can come over in the morning and help me locate it.”
“Sure thing.”
“You could have breakfast with us first. We made some huckleberry jam. It’s fresh, sweet, and delicious. I know how much you love it.”
“You’ve been picking berries? What else have you been doing? I thought you said you were working.”
Paul chuckled, hauled his gear outside, and loaded it into the SUV.
“Hell, you sure got a real bargain. I bet you even went with her on a wolf run last night.”
Smiling, Paul closed the hatch.
Allan folded his arms across his chest, looking highly speculative. “You…didn’t want me to come with you this afternoon to look for the necklace? My date isn’t until later tonight.”
Paul shook his head and climbed into his vehicle. As much as he got along with Allan and loved his company, Paul really wanted to spend as much of the time as he could with Lori. Alone.
“Okay. Your loss. Sounds like a deal for tomorrow. Even if you do find the necklace, if you don’t mind, I’ll just pop on over and get some breakfast.”
Paul laughed. “I’ll let Lori know and make sure it’s all right with her. I’m sure it will be.” Paul could just imagine Allan calling his sister next and interrogating her about the situation with the Cooper brothers. “I’ll call you about the movie and let you know one way or another, and update you on the necklace search.”
“Sure thing.”
When Paul arrived back at the Greypaws’ cabin, he found Lori standing on a ladder, showing off her tanned legs and cute little ass as it jiggled
while she cleaned the gutters.
“I was going to help you with that.” He unloaded his scuba gear.
“Storm’s coming in late tomorrow or the next day. Don’t you think?”
He smelled the air and nodded. “I think you’re right.”
“At any rate, I figured we’d get done whatever we could outside today and tomorrow. We can do anything inside later.”
“Sounds good to me. I’ll start trimming back some of the vegetation around the drive to the parking area.”
“Join you in a few minutes.”
He took another gander at her shapely legs. “I could just sit here, watch you, and supervise.”
She laughed. “I don’t think that’s what Grandma had in mind when she bid for you.”
Paul was fairly certain she did. Maybe not the ogling while supervising part, but having Lori work with him, yes.
He headed for the storage shed and got out a chain saw, then began to trim back branches that were getting ready to scrape the car when they drove in. Otherwise, the Greypaws kept the place in a naturalized setting. No grass yards to maintain. No trying to turn the cabin property into a manicured lot like some did, as if they were still living in town.
He saw movement in his peripheral vision and turned to see Lori wearing garden gloves, a pair of loppers in one hand. She gave him a little nod, then began to clip small branches farther away. He got busy with his work, and with the noise of the chain saw, he didn’t realize she’d gone inside after a time until she waved to him from the front deck.
He turned off the chain saw. “We’re having lunch and then going to the furniture place, right?” He could smell the food cooking and headed in her direction.
“Yeah, I was just waiting for you to finish up and return home.”
The comment about “home” made him pause. He could almost envision this being home. He liked the idea—wolf runs in the forest, sitting on the deck watching the sunset with Lori, even swimming with her when he wasn’t just diving for her necklace. Diving for her lost treasure made him think of something a whole hell of a lot more intimate.
“I invited Allan over to help me look for the necklace in the morning if I can’t find it this afternoon. I said he could have breakfast with us, if that’s all right with you.”
“Uh, yeah, sure. When we go into town to pick out the furniture, we could get a few more groceries.”
They both went inside.
Paul washed his hands, then began serving the beef ribs, parmesan noodles, and turnip greens. “This sure smells good.”
“Thanks. Hope you like it.”
“Everything you cook is great.”
“You still can’t make coffee?”
“Sure, I can make it. It’s god-awful, but I can make it.”
She laughed. “I’ll have to teach you sometime.” They sat down to eat at the rustic pine table. “Did you finish trimming all that you wanted to?”
“There’s more to be done.”
“I guess we can finish trimming back the tree branches and shrubs lining the drive and the deck tomorrow. Unless you want to cut them back while I go into town to look for the new couch and chairs.”
“Nothing doing. Your grandma questioned my decorating sense. I aim to prove I’ve got what it takes to decorate the place. Besides, it’s on the list.”
She laughed. “All right. I was just trying to be nice and let you off the hook. Even if it is on the list.” She took a sip of her tea. “You seem to be taking this list business seriously.”
“I am. I’m going to lose sleep over not cleaning the gutters.”
She smiled and he loved that he could amuse her. “Do you make lots of lists?”
He shook his head. “Never. That’s why this one is so important.”
She laughed again. “I didn’t remember you having this much of a sense of humor.”
Paul wanted to say she was never around to see it, but he bit his tongue because they were having a good time and he didn’t want to ask why she always took off when he came home. Though he had his suspicions.
Lori had just wound a bunch of noodles around her fork when her cell phone jingled. She pulled it out of her pocket. “It’s Rose.”
Normally, he wouldn’t take calls during a meal, unless it was one of their wolves, and then he always did to make sure everything was all right. He understood that Lori would feel the same way.
“Yeah, Rose? What’s up?” Lori asked, still twisting the noodles on her fork.
Paul was taking another bite of his rib when Lori’s mouth gaped a bit.
Instantly, he assumed Allan had called Rose and given her hell about the Cooper brothers, particularly when Lori’s gaze swung around to Paul and she narrowed her eyes. He was in hot water again.
“Sorry, Rose,” Lori said over the phone, still giving Paul the evil eye, her voice sympathetic. “I didn’t mean to tell Paul, but you know what he and Allan are like. I asked him to find my necklace since he has his scuba gear with him, and he grilled me for an hour to tell him how my necklace found its way to the bottom of the lake. We’re having lunch right now.” Lori raised her brows at Paul. “Paul said we’d go to a movie with the two of you Tuesday evening?”
“I forgot to ask if you wanted to go. It wasn’t on the list. It’s fine with me either way.”
“Okay, sure, we’ll go. We’ll make the guys pay for haranguing us over the Cooper brothers. We’ll meet you at the theater fifteen minutes before the show starts tomorrow night. All right. Bye.” Lori set her phone on the table. “You told Allan about us having the brothers up here?”
“What else could I do? Allan wanted to know why I was grabbing my scuba gear. I couldn’t tell him it was a secret. Or lie and say I was cleaning the lake because Emma asked me to.”
“Humph. You could have said you were going to search for my necklace, and that’s it.”
“You think I can get anything by Allan?” Paul shook his head. “He knows me too well. And he knows you too well. Besides, he asked. And Rose is his sister.”
Lori opened her mouth to speak, but then she didn’t say anything.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
It was killing him to know what she was thinking. He was going to ask again, but he figured she’d tell him when she felt more comfortable about doing so.
After they ate, they cleaned up and headed for the furniture shop. It was a combination indoor-outdoor furniture place that carried everything from expensive to nice and affordable. Since the furniture was for the cabin, which wasn’t often used, Lori said they’d go for something a bit cheaper.
Paul was all for that, but only if the furniture was comfortable enough. He planned to pay the additional expense if Lori thought something a little nicer cost too much. He couldn’t remember a time when he actually went shopping for furniture. He didn’t have any reason to have a place of his own. He just stayed with Hunter’s pack members while he helped plan missions with the rest of his SEAL team, or stayed at hotels or camped in the wilderness while on missions. And Catherine’s cabin on the mountain was his and Allan’s home when they came back for visits.
Now, looking at couches and chairs with Lori as if they were a newly married couple trying to decide on furniture for their first home together, felt really odd.
“Sally Thurston,” Lori said as a woman approached. She looked to be a little older than Paul in human years, brunette, built, and with a lovely smile. “We’re just looking for now.”
He knew Lori wanted to buy the furniture and get out of there, so they weren’t just looking. He suspected she didn’t want Sally’s help.
“Oh, sure thing.” Sally smiled broadly at Paul while Lori turned and checked out more couches, running her hands over the fabric, lifting price tags, and moving on.
“So,” Sally said to Paul, stepping into his
path when he was about to follow Lori, “what exactly do you do while you’re on SEAL business?”
Paul caught Lori rolling her eyes a little farther away.
“The missions are classified.” Not that they were with the Navy any longer, and a lot of the jobs weren’t confidential, but he didn’t want to get in a discussion with the lady about any of them.
“Oh, sure. Did you know I bid for you? But then Lori’s grandma raised the stakes way too high.”
“She needed a lot of work done.”
“I needed a lot of work done.” Sally smiled. Then her smile faded. “But now you’re furniture shopping with Lori?”
“Part of the job and the fun. Got to check out the couches. Thanks for your help.” He stalked off to join Lori. “So what color are you looking for?” Paul didn’t care about color schemes as much as how comfortable the seating would be.
“Something to coordinate with the green wall and complement the wood paneling, not get dirty and—”
“Is soft.” Paul sat down on one of the softest-looking sofas and found it as hard as a cement bench.
She grinned at him. “Burnt orange?”
“I never noticed. I was going for soft.”
“Is it?”
“No. Looks can be deceiving.”
She chuckled.
They ended up trying all of the couches they thought might work color-wise and selected a dark blue that looked good with the emerald green. She found accent pillows that matched the wall and two chairs with blue-and-green stripes that would work together nicely.
Lori took a picture of the couch and chairs and sent it to her grandma, but she didn’t respond. “She must be busy working with her friends on their new quilting project.”
“She’ll love it,” Paul said. “The brown wood paneling and the flooring are like the trees and the earth, the blue for the sky, and green for the grass and the forest.”
“She would feel just that way too. We did a great job.” Lori paid for it.
The owner said his son and a helper would deliver everything at four and take the old furniture off their hands.
