Something told him that there was a future with Lillian. Maybe it was the dream he’d been having recently. All he could see was the silhouette of a woman and she made him feel happy and love. He knew it wasn’t his late wife. This woman looked nothing like her. But she did share an uncanny resemblance to Lillian.
Stanley always believed in his dreams coming true. What was to say this one wouldn’t?
With an extra pep in his step, he headed towards the little cabin he was renting. He needed to plan. Come up with an idea on how to woo Lillian. They’d already been on several dates; she just didn’t realize it. Every time she would sit and talk to him at the diner, was a date. The next would just have to be one she actually knew was a date. And he had the perfect idea for one.
Chapter 5
“Whew, you have your hands full lady! Let me help you!” Tim gushed at Lillian. The tall lanky boy was incredibly sweet and owned the local coffee shop. Jessica used to work there before she started working full time on her restaurant.
“Thank you, Tim! If you could take this here, yes, thank you!” she agreed.
“I take it we both had the same idea to bring our favorite pregnant lady some goodies?” Tim asked with an overexaggerated eyebrow wiggle.
Lillian giggled at the silliness of the younger man. He was always an entertainment.
“I suppose so. But I hear you may have ulterior motives? Something about a boy? Hmm?” she inquired slyly as they walked up the front steps.
“Well, I can’t deny that there is some AMAZING eye-candy in this house, I plead the fifth on other matters.”
“So, you are not currently interested in this man opening the door for us? Hello Danny!”
“Hi Ms. Lillian. Hi Tim,” a low timbered voice called out. The man at the door was at least a foot taller than her 5’6” and as wide as the doorway. Lillian couldn’t help but wonder if this man was a bear instead of a wolf.
“Danny! I was just thinking about you! You haven’t come down from your little hide-a-way for ages! I was starting to wonder if you no longer liked me!” she exaggeratedly pouted.
Danny pulled his eyes from Tim and smiled down at her. He really was a teddy bear of a man. He very rarely came into town, preferring to live off the land a little bit out of town. She never saw him at pack meetings but knew he was a shifter. Maybe he just had no interest in pack politics? But one look at the way Tim and Danny stared at one another, and she thought her bear philosophy was much more likely. Tim had no idea what truly lay inside this house. And he obviously didn’t know about Danny.
“I’ve had a lot going on lately and haven’t had a chance to make my way over to see you. My deepest apologies,” he offered with an extravagant bow.
Lillian just giggled and lightly pushed the boulder of a man out of the way so she could enter the house. Tim followed slightly behind her.
“We all know what has ‘been going on’ and that is why you have decided to grace us all with your presence baby. And it’s not me,” she patted him gently on the shoulder and grabbed the bag Tim brought in for her. “You two are cute together. Go for it! Now, is my girl in the living room?”
“Um, yeah she is,” Danny stumbled over his words as he glanced between her and Tim.
Kids these days. She may not have had time for love in her youth, but she knew what it looked like. And if she was right about Danny, then Tim didn’t stand a chance. Lillian knew the look on Danny’s face. She’s seen it on several pack members over the years. And more recently, on Gabriel and Logan’s. Someone had found his fated mate.
With Danny’s direction, Lillian marched down the hall toward the living room. Before she passed the kitchen, she ran in to quickly place her bags down. She pulled out a plate and dished up a few bites of the different items she brought Nina. Placing the leftovers in the refrigerator, she walked into the living room.
Nina sat propped up on the sofa with Jessica to keep her company. The boys must have been working as they were nowhere near their mates.
“Hello sweethearts!” Lillian proclaimed.
The two women turned their heads to look at her. It was quite creepy the way they seemed to have moved as one.
“Lillian!” Jessica exclaimed in greeting before hopping up to give her a hug.
“Lillian! Please tell me that plate of delicious smelling food from the diner, is for me?” Nina pleaded.
A smile spread across Lillian’s face, “Of course, dear! I brought all your favorites. Tim is here too with tea. But Danny opened the door.”
The younger women seemed to know exactly what she was getting at.
“Do you suppose Tim knows?” Nina asked as she dived into the plate Lillian brought her.
“I doubt it. He doesn’t know about the boys,” Jessica pointed out.
“Well, he’ll be in for a rude awakening,” Lillian added.
At the perplexed looks on the women, she continued on.
“I’ve watched it happen several times in my life. And I would think you two would know the signs. Danny has found his fated in Tim,” she explained.
Both women’s jaws dropped open.
“I guess it makes sense. He’s been happy for months. Even more than normal. He does have that look though,” Jessica agreed.
“I hope he’s prepared for that bear,” Nina commented.
“Bear?” inquired Jessica.
“Danny is a bear shifter. I asked Gabriel about it a few weeks ago. If they’ve been seeing one another for months, then bears must not feel the intense urges we did,” Nina elaborated.
Lillian felt a smugness at being able to decern Danny’s animal. But a thought crossed her mind when Nina mentioned the mating urges.
“He is a bear. They normally hibernate in winter so his drive could not be high enough,” she wondered aloud.
The women nodded in agreement as they thought about it. Nina opened her mouth to comment further when she was interrupted.
“Sorry ladies! You know how I get distracted at the man-candy in this house! And no, I don’t want to talk about it. I can see the questions in your face Jessica,” Tim declared as he erupted into the room like only he could.
“First, we know which man-candy distracted you and you are delusional if you think we won’t talk about it. Second, because you asked so nicely, we won’t talk now,” Jessica smartly told him with a touch of sass.
“Let me just say, Danny is a great man. You couldn’t have done better,” Nina praised.
Lillian watched a warmth spread across the young man’s face. He clearly cared about the bear shifter. She just hoped he would be able to handle all that came with the shifter world.
“Thank you,” Tim replied graciously, “But can we talk about something else now? Like Lillian and Stanley?”
At the mention of the man who was occupying her thoughts on a regular basis, Lillian blushed.
“Oh! What is this? I thought you were just friends?” Jessica asked.
“We are. He’s just a good friend that I like to spend time with,” she declared.
Nina stared at her for a few minutes. Lillian could see the wheels turning in the younger woman’s head. She knew that Nina never saw her father date after the death of her mother. And even though she and Stanley Carmichael were just friends, Lillian couldn’t help but wonder about the future.
“If you weren’t friends, I’d be OK with that. I mean, as more than friends. I just want him to be happy. He’s never dated after mom as far as I can tell.”
Lillian felt warmth in her chest at the other woman’s words. Nina just gave Lillian and her dad, her blessing. And although there was nothing going on between them, it was an important declaration.
“Thank you, sweetheart, but we are just friends. And on that note! I think I better be going! Take care babies and if you need anything else from me Nina, don’t be afraid to ask!”
Lillian quickly bid her goodbyes before hurrying out of the room. She threw on her coat and scarf and rushed out the back door. Shoot! S
he should have gone out the front! The kids just watched her complete mad-dash out of the house! Well, at least this way she could wander through the garden on the side of the house Gabriel’s grandfather had built for his wife.
Why did she feel the need to rush out of the room at the mention of Stanley and her dating? It wasn’t like she was opposed to the man. Or to the thought of dating him. She genuinely liked the man. In fact, it would make her whole year to go out with him. So why was she so embarrassed to talk about it?
She stopped suddenly as it hit her. She’d never really had time to date. The diner had been her whole life. It still was. And because of that, she never dated. Dinner here or there was nothing compared to what Stanley would offer her. He could offer the one thing no other man had even came close to. A future. Love.
Picking up her feet, Lillian continued on to the garden. This was one of her favorite places on the pack property. It was beautiful in full bloom during spring, but there was something quite magical about it in winter. All covered in snow, it reminded her of a winter wonderland.
As she rounded the corner of the house, she could see several figures bent over in the garden. Upon closer inspection she realized all but one, were children. All dressed for fun in the snow, it appeared they were looking for something. And there was only one adult in the entire town that would lead a group of children through a snow-covered garden looking for something. Stanley Carmichael.
It was then his head popped up and his brown eyes beamed into hers. He rightened himself before making his way towards her. The poofiness of his snow suit rubbed together and crinkled as he stomped over. He wasn’t quite adjusting to living in a northern climate very well. His voice rang out to the kids,
“Keep on looking children! Those fairies are there somewhere! We must find them before New Year’s, or the moon cycles won’t be in our favor next year!”
“Fairies?” Lillian asked with a perplexed smile.
“Yes! You have to find them and offer them a feast. We decided to invite them to the New Year’s Eve party so they can eat all they desire!”
“OK, then.”
“I know it sounds weird to some but imagine all the little things in your life. Finding something that had rolled under the sofa or finding a penny face up on your path. They’re responsible for all the good little things in life. And they bring positive vibes from the moon. With good lunar cycles, Venus can send great gifts to us. Plus, a pack of wolves needs good lunar cycles. Shifting and all that,” Stanley elaborated for her.
“You do understand that the pack doesn’t need the moon to shift right?” she puzzled.
“Hogwash! Really?” he asked the last in a smaller voice.
“Really. The only ones a full moon affects, are wolves shifting for the first time. Normally a group of fourteen-year-olds gather for each monthly full moon and some of the pack elders will help them through that first shift. Although they know it’s coming, I’m told it can still be scary,” she filled him in.
“Hm. Why has no one told me this before?! And how do you know?”
“I’ve been around them a lot longer than you have Stanley. There isn’t much about shifters I don’t know. And no one has probably told you if they haven’t found you looking for fairies.”
“Hmpf. Well, we won’t tell the children that just yet. There are only so many years of childhood.”
Between his last comment and the sparkle in his eye, Lillian began to wonder if Stanley Carmichael wasn’t as weird as he came across. It seemed that this man, didn’t completely believe what he told the children. But he was right. For now, it wasn’t harming anything. There were only a few years of childhood where the imagination could run wild.
“You aren’t the nut everyone thinks you are, are you?” she finally asked.
“Not quite. There are some things. And what I told you at the diner was true. You work on the sort of things I did, and you become open to all sorts of beliefs. But there is something freeing about being the town kook.”
“You certainly are entertaining in that role. But I thought you had always been like this?”
“My belief in Venus is one thing. Fairies on the other hand? Yeah, I know those aren’t real. But it allows the children to exercise their imaginations. Nina used to help me when she was little. That’s how she got her nickname.”
“I thought she got it from a dream with pink elephants?”
Stanley let out a hearty laugh, “No, that’s just what I told her when she was older and asked. We were looking for fairies one day, and she kept saying one was on her pinky finger. Kept insisting on it. Ran into the house to show her mother and just kept shouting, ‘pinky, pinky.’ I don’t think she was two yet, so that was about the extent of her vocabulary on the subject. Whenever I would call her Pinky afterwards, she would get so excited, so I kept calling her that. Just stuck after a while.”
Tears glistened behind Lillian’s eyes, “That was perhaps the best story I have had the privilege of hearing you tell.”
“I’ve thought about telling her over the years, but I think she secretly likes the story I gave her.”
“I think you’re right! She’s always given the biggest smile when she tells it,” Lillian conceded with a chuckle.
The two stood in companionable silence as they watched the children run around the garden. Some had stopped looking for fairies and just played tag instead. A few others were making snow angels. It brought a smile to her face, watching the innocence of childhood.
“I was hoping to catch you today when I heard you’d be stopping by. There was something I wanted to ask you.”
“Oh?”
Lillian’s heart skipped a beat as she waited. Stanley seemed a bit nervous, fidgeting slightly. His eyes held a smidge of anxiety mixed with hope. Whatever was on his mind, weighed on him.
“The New Year’s Eve celebration is in a few days and I was wondering if you would like to go with me. That is, if you want to be seen out with the town crazy man.”
“I would love too.”
“Really?!”
“Really.”
Lillian could see the relief on his face. Why would this silly man think she would tell him no? She liked him. There was the potential for something more. Something she had always wanted but thought too busy for.
“You’re a wonderful man Stanley. You make me laugh and we never have trouble finding something to talk about. We fit.”
She watched his smile grow as she talked. His head nodded in agreement with her, even after she finished.
“We do fit. Can I pick you up at say, six?”
“That would be great, but I have to have the catering delivered and set up by half past five. How about I meet you there, about seven? I’ll need time to get ready.”
“Do you need help setting up?”
“Oh, no. I’ve got plenty of volunteers lined up already. But thank you.”
“So, I’ll meet you at the town hall at seven?”
“Seven,” she agreed.
“Mr. Stanley,” came a small voice tugging on his pant leg.
“Yes, my dear?” he answered gently.
“What are fated mates? My mommy and daddy were talking about it but said I wasn’t big enough to know.”
“Fated mates? Do y’all not know about fated mates?!” he questioned aghastly.
Lillian giggled softly under her breath as she watched several pairs of wide eyes shake their heads.
“Oh well we must fix this! Gather round, gather round!”
He moved away from Lillian with a quick smile before herding the children to a bench. Stanley sat on it, giving Lillian a perfect view of his face for the story that was sure to come. Several little butts sat down in the snow and peered up, waiting to be transfixed by the upcoming tale.
“So, fated mates. Every shifter has this one person out there for them. Someone Venus created just for them. They are the other’s soul mates. The other half to their souls.
“Now, fated mates are ver
y hard to find. Some shifters find them very easily, others do not. But when you do, it is a burst of color! All sorts of emotions fill you. Love! Happiness! And grown-up things like peace and safety.
“Once you find your fated mate, within a few days, you’ll stand in front of your pack, your friends and family, in front of Venus, and promise to love each other forever and ever. It is the greatest form of love two people can express.”
During the story, Stanley met her eyes and held them. They never waivered once. When he got to the part about the mating ceremony, she saw something glisten in his eyes. It filled her with warmth and love. Without a doubt, she knew this man thought about completing that ceremony with her. And she certainly wasn’t opposed to the idea.
Little voices drew his gaze down, as he began answering questions. Lillian took the chance to escape. As she wandered back to her car, she couldn’t help but wonder about their upcoming date. Never in all her years did the knowledge of a date make her feel like this. She was nervous. A little anxious. But most of all, excited. She really liked Stanley. He was a good man who made her feel cherished. Nothing was forced between them. Every aspect about their relationship came easy. She only just hoped the new relationship they would soon embark on, would go just as smoothly.
Chapter 6
Lillian stood in front of her closet wringing her hands. What does one wear to a date at a New Year’s Eve party? What does one even wear on a date?! See, this is why she didn’t go out. She had nothing to wear and let’s not even think about what you actually do on a date. She was absolutely clueless.
The tinkling of the doorbell drew her attention. Who would be stopping by her house?
She made her way towards the door. Not even sparing the moment to check who was on the other side, she swung the door open, prepared to tell whoever it was to go away. Instead, her jaw fell open. There standing on her front porch, were Nina Stone and Jessica St. Amoux.
“Thank god you opened the door! Excuse me but the little one is pressing on my bladder!” Nina exclaimed as she pushed her way into Lillian’s home and ran off to find a bathroom.
“She’s had to go since we turned toward town. We figured you could use some help tonight,” Jessica provided.
The Raconteur And The Waitress (The Wolves 0f Everett Hollow Book 2.5) Page 3
