Chapter 16
The morning went smoothly and without incident. I felt content hopping out of the passenger door. I yawned, showing my teeth while waiting for Rob to unlock the office. I'd slept all night and here I was ready to nap all day. There was a blessing to having wolf paws.
I should have known something would happen to ruin my plan of a quiet day curled up where the sun streams through the window. Even I wouldn't have guessed that my grandmother would be tracking me down on a Tuesday.
My grandmother came striding into Rob's office at precisely 9:00 A.M, which is technically our opening time.
Before she even saw me, Grandma was admonishing me. “Jen, when a family member calls, the polite thing is to call back. I've been looking for you all over town.” Grandma paused when she actually looked around the office and didn't see me.
When I heard her voice, I'm afraid my instincts might have had me diving behind the huge sofa Rob put in his office to make it look more homey and elegant. Yes, I was well-hidden before Grandma saw me. The couch itself isn't terribly comfortable. The back and cushions were too stiff.
With a laugh Rob whispered, “What happened? Did you miss dinner?”
Out loud he called to the other room. The darker part of me wanted to glimpse his backside as he went to greet Grandma but I'm afraid from where I hid, I could only see his dress shoes.
He greeted her warmly and invited her in to have coffee with him. If she accepted, he would lead her right to the couch where I was hidden and being the werewolf she is, she'd smell me. Would she recognize my scent as a wolf? I'm not sure how, but my Grandma knows things.
And then I'd have to come out of hiding. I could just see him merrily introducing Grandma and cringed. In a way it would be cruelty beyond measure, because I was now exactly what she wanted me to be, a wolf.
I should have given Rob more credit.
Rob swooped in and charmed my Grandma. I listened discreetly, from my hiding place. When she agreed to coffee, he grabbed his coat off the rack. “I know a great little place down the street. Jen loves the coffee cake.”
“Speaking of Jen. She hasn't been answering my calls. And don't tell me she's vacationing in Hawaii. That friend of hers needs to practice lying a little more. She gets too enthusiastic for the story.”
That was Ali in a nutshell. If we ever got caught at anything, it was because Ali was the one spinning the tale to get us out. Her explanations were fun to listen to, though, so I've never had reason to complain.
“Jen's okay. She asked for a week off to sort some things out. I just spoke with her this morning.”
“Well, the whole family is on alert, so the next time you see her, you tell her to call me.”
What? For me? Family on alert is not necessarily a bad thing I suppose. It's to keep anyone from falling through the cracks when they're having a rough time. But I've never had anyone worrying about me before. I'm the steady one, the one who attends all family gatherings without question, even if they do make me miserable....mostly because the alternative would be more miserable.
The last time we were on family alert was when Aunt May broke her leg. We took turns taking her shopping and helping her quilt, reading stories. I grew quite fond of Aunt May and even now spend a few hours dropping by every now and then to help her quilt.
“I'll tell her. She's not supposed to check in for a while, so don't worry if you don't hear from her in the next few days.”
The door shut on whatever my Grandma murmured. It was probably a threat to hunt me down if I didn't make the requisite phone call.
Wiggling out from my hiding spot, I returned to my warm place in the window where the sun was streaming in. As a wolf, I had enough fur to keep me warm. It wasn't long before the sun felt too hot. So I traipsed back to the shade.
Rob spent a long time out with my Grandma. Bored, I pushed Rob's nerf football off the top of the desk and started tossing it around the room with my teeth. It might sound a bit childish, but imagine being stuck in a pair of rooms with absolutely nothing to do. It was the nerf ball or my sanity.
I may have gotten a little carried away.
The nerf ball sustained damage. Major damage. The kind of damage a nerf ball gets when chewed and drooled on and thrown and pounced on. And when a little piece came off, it seemed just the thing to hold the battered toy between my two paws and gnaw on the end. Something about chewing really feels good to the canine teeth.
I'm lucky Rob returned to the office alone, because I didn't hear him come in. Here I was thumping my tail happily destroying his favorite office toy when I hear, “My football. My favorite office stress reliever.”
To be fair, his distress looked genuine. I had no idea a silly little ball would mean so much to a grown man. It's not like it really did anything but sit on his desk or maybe get tossed in the air a time or two when he was on the phone with a client.
I grinned, showing the clean white teeth recently refreshed by chewing on his favorite toy.
“Jen, you can't play with a man's ball like that.”
Giggling, I ruffed, “I'll buy you another one.” Somehow my attempts at reconciliation were lost in translation.
Rob trudged to his leather chair and sort of fell into it. I think he was at wit's end, honestly.
“Your grandmother didn't believe a word I told her. She thinks you're hiding.”
I just tilted my head with the nerf ball between my paws and let my tail strike the floor a few times, just to let him know I was listening. It's not like I could do anything about my grandma anyway. And she was the least of my worries. Having paws and the ability to chew nerf balls into tiny pieces of fluff didn't appeal to my expectations of an idealized future, and yet I felt content and satisfied.
“She asked me several personal questions, ranging from my salary to if I wanted children. I think she knows I'm interested in you.” That got my attention. My head jerked up and Rob and I maintained eye contact for a good fifteen seconds.
Andrea.
Of course she would tell everyone about my crush after a family alert regarding my status as a missing person. Maybe they thought he dumped me and I ran. I'm just lucky they trusted Ali and Rob when they said I was okay. Otherwise, I might have ended up on flyers all over the neighborhood and a police report with my description, which would have included my weremouse description, a humiliation I'd never live down.
Of course Grandma would come and scope Rob out herself.
I shrugged and gave Rob what I hoped to be an innocent look.
He just shook his head and mourned his nerf ball, “That football makes up for your desk. You know I had that for three years.”
Wow, a whole three years. I bet it's a collector's item by now. I picked up the ball, hoping there wasn't too much drool and dropped it at Rob's feet. I understood dogs a lot better now. I was giving him a message. Something that said, “Here's your toy back. Thanks for letting me play with it. I'll probably take it again even if you don't want me to.”
He picked it up without wincing. There are some benefits to working with a werewolf. Rolling it around in his hands, he seemed to be inspecting each gouge mark carefully. Nerf balls aren't exactly made of sturdy material.
Rob's hands were much too large for the toy. With a grin he tossed it rather sharply right next to my face. I snapped sideways and caught it in the air, chewing it a few times to hold on properly.
“Your grandma told me you're a mouse-were. It's no reason to avoid going out on a date with me...if that's what it is. If you really don't want to go out, I won't say another word.” The innocent hope on Rob's face eased the tension in my soul when he said mouse.
I nearly choked on the ball. Ratted out by my own grandmother. I felt humiliated and shy, relieved and nervous all in the same breath. He knows. He still wants to go out. Maybe he was just trying to make me feel better. But he looks like he still wants me. At least now the truth was out.
Moon Struck: When Were & Howl Book 1 Page 16
