by Jayne Ripley
“Oh posh. Not everybody can tickle the ivories. I remember you used to talk to the piano. Coaxing it and complimenting it as if it somehow would make playing easier. No one else ever talked to the piano.” She grinned. “Except maybe to call it names.”
“Yes! I did used to do that. It’s a habit I still have. I get a lot of looks.”
Mrs. Fulsom laughed and waved a hand. “Haters gonna hate.” She laughed again when Gabriela gawked at her, speechless that this obviously well-to-do lady was dropping slang in her conversation. “So what are you doing back in town, if I might be so bold?”
“I just moved back. Big city girl heading out to the small town. But I loved it here when I was in high school.” She shrugged. “Seemed like a good place to set down roots.”
“It is, it is! Do you have a pack?”
Gabriela took a deep breath, trying to think of the safest thing to say. “No, I’m on my own. Trying new things. Sorting some stuff out…”
“I understand. Forgive a nosy lady who has to get in everyone’s business. I’m with the Cadillac Falls pack.” Again she waved a hand, this time toward the big mansion-style estates that were farther up in the forested hills above town. “If I can put a good word in with Roger, let me know. Roger Ainsworth, I mean. He’s top wolf, you know—very influential. We’re looking to bring in some younger wolves with potential.”
“Thank you,” she said, uncomfortable with the topic. She’d heard of the billionaire Roger Ainsworth before. He was far too wealthy for her blood. She couldn’t imagine fitting in with a pack full of rich, powerful people. She didn’t imagine they’d want her either.
The Great Dane had been sitting next to Mrs. Fulsom the entire time, his head moving to look at whichever of them was talking at the moment, so it seemed as if the big dog was watching a tennis match. He was so huge and yet adorable. Gabriela couldn’t resist. She glanced at Mrs. Fulsom. “May I pet him?”
“Certainly, sweetie. Alfonse is a great big softie. Loves attention even more than dinner.”
Gabriela didn’t have to lean down very far to pet him and scratch behind his ears. “You’re a beautiful doggie, aren’t you?” She cooed. “Big, strong man like you? I bet you have all the lady pooches drooling after you, don’t you, handsome? And so debonair in your collar!”
Alfonse’s tail thumped against the ground with a sound like a broom hitting a carpet. He did his best to try and lick Gabriela’s face off.
“You’re quite good with animals,” Mrs. Fulsom said. “Alfonse is my baby boy, but I can’t always get him enough exercise, and he can get into trouble if he’s restless. It’s hard to find someone trustworthy to walk him. The last person flaked on me twice.”
Gabriela’s eyebrows shot up. She loved animals, especially dogs, and here was an opportunity. “I used to walk a few people’s dogs back in Philly for extra money. I’d be happy to do it again. Maybe we could work something out?”
Mrs. Fulsom’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “That is a splendid idea! Looks like today is my lucky day.”
Not as lucky as mine, Gabriela thought, grinning. Things were turning around for her in all the right ways.
Three hours later and forty dollars richer, Gabriela had taken Alfonse to the dog park and had played fetch and chase with him until he was ready to head home. It had been an easy and enjoyable forty dollars to make. Mrs. Fulsom had even scheduled her to come back on Monday and walk him again.
On the way back to Nicole’s house, she stopped at a small store and bought a few groceries. She waited at the counter with her energy drink as the old man in front of her carefully counted out change for his pack of spearmint gum to an amused clerk. Then her eye fell on the flashing digital Lotto screen overhead. The total had just passed a million dollars.
As she waited for her turn at the register, she began to fantasize about all the things she could do with a million bucks. First she’d take Luke to the Caribbean. San Juan, of course, but also through Martinique and Barbados. They’d live on the beach and fuck all night, drinking margaritas as if they were soda. They’d spend the vacation drunk on sun, sex, and…well, margaritas. She grinned. And then she’d open up her own business here in town. Her mind shuffled through some possibilities. Not anything retail. No clothes shop or any kind of boutique…
Alfonse the Great Dane popped into her mind. She’d always loved caring for animals. The only reason she didn’t have a house full of pets right now was because her crappy apartment in Philly had been a no pets rental and she hadn’t been able to afford a nicer place. Since she loved animals, maybe she could open up some type of pet care facility. Dog washing, daycare, pooch-friendly kennels where she could care for canines while their owners were at work or on vacation.
Her heart started to beat faster as excitement crackled through her. That was it. That would be perfect. Now all she had to do was win the lottery. Her luck seemed to have changed for once since finding Luke. So maybe she should give it a try…
“Can I help you?” the young clerk asked, smiling at her, which was also something she wasn’t used to from big city Philly. Back there, store clerks mostly seemed annoyed you were bothering them by trying to actually buy something the store happened to be selling.
She handed him her energy drink. Then, surprising herself, she said, “And I’ll take a Lotto ticket.”
“Sure thing.”
She chose her numbers at random and paid for the ticket and drink and groceries. She double-checked the date of the drawing, which was the upcoming Monday night, and pocketed the ticket since she hadn’t brought her purse along on her walk. Maybe buying a lottery ticket had been a foolish waste of money, but she felt better. She felt full of hope, because even if she didn’t win millions or even anything at all, she now knew what she wanted. She wanted to run her own version of doggie daycare. Now she had something to work for. A dream to catch and make real.
She couldn’t wait to tell Luke.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The official summer Rescue Company Pack barbecue was bigger and better than she’d expected.
Gabriela twisted off the cap of her beer and took a long drink. The tantalizing smell of barbequing meat laid siege to her senses and made her stomach growl with anticipation. There were four full-sized grills going at once, manned by several off duty firefighters from the CFFD. There had to be almost a hundred people of all ages here, from babies to senior citizens. One of the Fire Station Six trucks was parked on the grass with its lights flashing. Most of the firefighters had already lined up at the rows of grills filling the air with the delectable scent of steak and chicken, burgers and hotdogs and kebobs.
Music from a guy named DJ Pete blasted away with an eclectic mix of tunes, from The Beach Boys to dubstep. People were playing volleyball, and on the grass field, a bunch of guys were playing football for a crowd of women who cheered and yelled friendly taunts. Until the all the chicas decided “to hell with the sidelines” and joined in, and the football game seemed to lose any sense of rules and sane scoring.
A man in an olive green army surplus coat walked past her carrying a six-pack of beer and a plate heaped with food. His clothes were ragged and faded, and he needed a shave. His shoulders were stooped and his scent was human.
He caught her glance, stopped, and smiled tentatively at her. “Hello. Are you new?”
She smiled in return. “I am. I’m Gabriela. I’m here with Luke.”
“I like firefighters,” he said, shifting restlessly and glancing at something behind her. “I wanted to be one, but I can’t because of my bum knee.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I don’t think I caught your name…”
“Cameron. I’m Cameron McGee. I do odd jobs and stuff. Not a lot of work right now.” He laughed, but it sounded forced. “Well, nice to meet you, Gabriela. Welcome to town.”
“Thank you, Cameron.”
He raised his entire six-pack in a half salute, half wave and shuffled off toward a picnic table under the tre
es. She watched him for a moment, wondering what his connection to the pack might be. One thing was certain, ResCo Pack was full of surprises.
Still it was nice of the pack to invite him—or at least tolerate his crashing the party. They seemed surprisingly welcoming. She was happy to be here, although part of her still remained a bit shy and reserved. This wasn’t her pack, after all. She’d parked herself in a camp chair, ready to people-watch while she waited for Luke to get back with a plate of barbecue. Her mind drifted back over the past couple of days in Cadillac Falls and all the things that had happened.
Thanks to a runaway goat, she still hadn’t gotten laid. She didn’t know whether that was the saddest, strangest thing that had ever happened to her, the most embarrassing, or simply the most hysterical. Maybe all of the above. Good thing Luke had such a sense of humor about it too. It also helped that Nicole had sworn that the whole incident should never be referenced again.
Ever.
Gabriela had even picked up more work of sorts. Walking Alfonse the Great Dane had been her first. She’d also scored two more pooch-sitting jobs where she walked a yellow lab and a miniature schnauzer down to the dog park for some good exercise. She’d be able to pay Nicole for food and give her some rent money—not a lot, but something at least. And she could pay Luke for his time working on her car.
Luke… The sun was bright and blazing overhead. The warmth felt divine on her skin. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, enjoying the heat, thinking of Luke.
He’d been happy for her and supportive when she’d told him about her new side job walking dogs. Although there had been something wary in his tone after she’d mentioned Mrs. Fulsom by name. Probably werewolf politics. ResCo wolves versus Cadillac Falls pack. She shook her head. Maybe she wouldn’t join a pack again, ever. Yes, she might love her fellow werewolves and admire how close they were in the pack and how everybody took care of one another. But she couldn’t stand the “us versus them,” outsiders-and-foreign-wolves-be-damned mentality.
“Hey beautiful, you hungry?” The wonderfully rich baritone derailed her train of thought.
She opened her eyes to see Luke walking up to her. He was smiling and carrying two heaping plates of barbecue ribs. Her stomach growled. Her inner wolf was practically drooling. “Hell, yes! Bring me some meat!”
He laughed. “You know, that could be taken any variety of ways.”
“You think I don’t know that, corazon?” She took the plate he handed her and dug in eagerly. She paused long enough to wipe her chin and say, “I met a guy named Cameron.”
“He wasn’t bothering you was he?”
“Not at all. He was very polite. Said he wanted to be a firefighter but couldn’t because of his knee.”
Luke nodded. “Well, his knee and his drinking problem. He’s a good guy, a little odd. Has a few demons. The pack helps him out from time to time.”
She raised her eyebrows. “That’s a generous thing for the pack to do.”
He shrugged. “It’s no big deal. He’s had a rough go of it.”
They ate and traded jokes and stories. Nicole was off playing in what appeared to be a highly competitive life-or-death volleyball match. Surprisingly, Gabriela recognized a few of the men and women from high school. Or not so surprisingly, when she came to think of it. They were all part of the ResCo pack, so it only made sense they’d keep together here in town instead of moving away.
Her family hadn’t been part of any werewolf pack. Her father had been a loner, a sometimes sour and distrustful man. He wasn’t an alpha, didn’t want to be, but he also refused to submit to one. She still wasn’t sure about the circumstances that had driven her family out of Cadillac Falls and back to Philly. Her father had passed away before he’d ever agreed to talk about it. The few times she’d asked, he’d flatly refused to speak on it. But from some of the things she’d picked up, she thought it had something to do with the Cadillac Falls wolf pack.
She only realized she’d drifted off into her own thoughts again when Luke touched her arm, watching her curiously. “What are you thinking about, Gabriela?”
She shook her head impatiently, not wanting to talk about the past. Instead, she dug into her pocket and pulled out her lottery ticket. She held it up proudly. “Look what I bought.”
“Lottery ticket, eh? Really, I don’t charge that much for my automotive services. Honest.”
She grinned and playfully elbowed him in the ribs. “No, silly. This will be seed money for my new business. I’m going to open a dog daycare and grooming center.”
His brow furrowed as he gnawed on a rib. Her heart rate sped up and her stomach filled with butterflies at the expression on his face. She didn’t know why his good opinion mattered so much to her on this. She’d do what she thought best, like she always did. But still, his support would mean a lot to her.
After a long moment Luke nodded. “That’s a great idea. I like it. I don’t think you need to be a millionaire to pull it off though.”
“It will certainly help,” she replied with a smirk. “The big drawing is tomorrow.”
“Better not lose that ticket then.”
“You’re right.” She shoved it back into her jeans pocket. She had to remember not to wash these jeans with the ticket in them, because that would be bad.
Their conversation turned to other things. After awhile she couldn’t help but notice something a little bit odd going on nearby. One of the women was particularly attended to by the rest of the pack. She was a young woman with a hesitant smile, dressed in simple jeans and a blue blouse, her hair done in an elaborate braid. Gabriela noticed how much the pack doted on her, circling around her protectively, and she finally asked Luke about it.
“That’s Cindy,” he replied and his expression turned grim. “She lost her house and everything in a fire.”
“The fire that just happened recently?” She remembered him mentioning it on the day of their run. AKA, the day of the great goat escape.
He nodded and took a swig of his beer. “Yeah. Look, I don’t want you to be scared, but I believe people have a right to know the truth. It was all speculation until yesterday, but now the fire scene investigator is reporting it as an arson. The police are involved.”
“Arson? Who would do something so horrible?”
“That’s a good question.” Luke gestured with his plate of food, indicating a large, burly man across the park from them. “That’s Detective Carpenter. He’s on the case.”
She watched as the police detective seated at a picnic table chowed down on a rib he held in one hand while writing fast in a notebook with his other. He was talking with an older woman who was wearing a yellow raincoat with a red umbrella perched on her lap, even though the day was quite pleasant. There was something about the detective…she scented the air but there were far too many distracting smells in the park. She couldn’t get a fix on him at this distance.
Luke noticed her attention and seemed to read her mind. “Bear shifter.”
“Ah. So who is he talking to?”
“That’s Mrs. Sanderson. She lives on Blue Spruce Street. She’s pack. Like old school pack. Like founding-of-the-town pack.”
“Why is she wearing a rain slicker? Does she know something we don’t?”
He bit into another barbequed rib with a grunt, smearing dark sauce all over his face. She waited for him to finish chewing, which didn’t take long because, as much as she liked Luke and as much as she looked forward to his hands on her body and his cock shoved deep inside her, the man had appalling table manners.
“No,” he finally replied, wiping his face clean with the back of his hand. “She’s a bit touched when it comes to the rain. I mean, it is Washington, so there’s plenty of rain, but she believes in being prepared for a torrential downpour at any time.” He snatched up another rib and dug in with gusto.
“Where did you learn to eat anyway?” she teased, both horror-struck and amused. “Barbarian school?”
He grin
ned. “The only thing that counts is getting hot food down quick.” He made a show of holding his barbecue rib by the edges with his pinkies raised. “You like this any better?”
Gabriela couldn’t help but laugh. “No. It’s really, really not better.”
She looked back to the detective. She hoped he found and arrested whoever was responsible for starting that fire. Her inner wolf cringed at the thought of large amounts of fire. How on earth did Luke deal with his own wolf and the instinctual fear of flames? The fact that his job was running into burning buildings only made her respect him more. She wished she had that kind of bravery. Her bravery had more in common with desperation. Such as abandoning her life and everything in Philly and fleeing across country to the place she’d last been happy years ago. Praying she’d land on her feet when she arrived.
Thank God for Luke and Nicole. And for her car breaking down in front of the fire station of all places. She didn’t know what she’d be doing now if she hadn’t met them and they hadn’t been so kind.
She reached out and touched his arm, filled with gratitude, her eyes tearing a little. “Thank you.”
He looked at her as if she’d gone bonkers. “If good table manners really mean that much to you, I can try my best to improve mine. But no promises.”
“No, you doofus. I mean thank you for helping me. It was a good thing you and Nicole did.” She shook her head and corrected. “That you’re doing.”
Luke shrugged. She sensed she’d made him uncomfortable with her praise. She hadn’t meant to, but she also understood. If he didn’t believe he’d done anything special or out of the ordinary, her gratitude might make him feel self-conscious. But to her, that simply reinforced that he was a good person. If he hadn’t been such good person, he’d be revealing in her gratefulness and using it to get what he wanted from her.
A good-looking man wearing a cowboy hat strolled over to them while holding a plate piled high with food. Werewolves and their fast metabolisms. She couldn’t help but chuckle. His eyes were friendly and he was smiling. He wore one of the more common outfits she’d seen around town—flannel shirt and blue jeans.
