TIA'S MATE (Shifters of the Bulgarian Bloodline Book 1)

by Dalia Wright

  Sarah jumped to her feet, snapping Emily back to reality. She sighed. It had been two dates and this would be the third; she had to admit she was surprised they were still courting. Sarah flung her arms around Brian, but it wasn’t the two lovebirds that caught Emily’s attention. She was staring at the man behind Brian.

  His brown hair was cut short and he was dressed simply. Not like Brian was - he had obviously gone out of his way to dress up, and was wearing too much perfume. Just don’t call it perfume out loud again. She reminded herself, a smirk rising to her lips.

  “Hi, Emily.” Brian finally turned his attention to her as he and Sarah pulled away from each other. The couple slid into seats and the guy circled around to the chair that was across from her. “I hope you don’t mind, but I brought a friend.”

  “Not at all.”

  Because really, would it be worse than being a third wheel? She would have been stuck there listening to them, and although she wouldn’t be included in the conversation, she wouldn’t want to be rude and read a book - after all her mother had taught her better. That was why she was the one with Sarah; she was there to make sure they were good. Although, Emily did hide a few facts from the rest of the community. She loved her best friend and didn’t want her to get in any trouble. Though she had no clue if Sarah would be shunned, she didn’t want to bring shame to the family.

  “It’s nice to meet you.” He held his hand out to Emily, his blue eyes sparkling. “I’m Sam.”

  “Emily. It’s nice to meet you, too.” Even though she wasn’t quite sure if it was the truth or not, she said it because that’s what you were supposed to say when you met someone. Right?

  “Well, Brian told me you were stuck here listening to them as they babble on and on about how in love they are, so I figured you might need something to keep you from puking.”

  That brought a smirk to Emily’s face before she even thought about it. “That’s kind of you.” She reached for a fry that had been sitting in front of her. They had been sitting there for a while and were cold by now, but they were still good, she had to admit that. Despite fast food being far from healthy - or considered food, really - it was good to eat every now and then.

  The dates had been going on for a week and a half already and they’d seen each other several times. Things were moving fast. Emily wasn’t sure how anyone was feeling about this. Her parents still hadn’t even said much about the situation, just asked questions mostly, wanting to know how things were going, how things were progressing, how fast things were moving. They wanted to know if there were kisses, or if anything was going on that they needed to know about.

  Not that Emily actually told them the truth. Of course Sarah had kissed Brian. Emily was also sure more had happened when they slipped away for a couple of seconds to ‘speak alone’, but Emily didn’t ask. And what she didn’t know she, couldn’t tell her parents. It wasn’t quite lying, right?

  Would God be angry with her? Maybe, but she was sure God would understand her need to protect a friend.

  “So, Emily tell me about yourself.” His voice broke her out of her reverie.

  She stared at him like a deer caught in the headlights. What did he say his name was?

  “There isn’t much to tell.” Did he really expect her to give him the full rundown of her Amish life? Why - so he could just make fun of it? Most people did anyways, right? English people thought it was silly; that the Amish were idiots for their choices. Then again, they never really understood that choice. Her mother had told her all about the cruel things people would say.

  Emily cleared her throat.

  “There isn’t much to say. I’m just here to make sure they don’t do anything too crazy. Other than that… I’m just your normal Amish girl, I guess.”

  “I’ve never met an Amish girl. What are they like?” A grin spread over his lips. He was obviously joking. Lucky for him, Emily had a good sense of humor.

  She laughed softly and popped another fry into her mouth without saying a word. The other two were deep into a conversation that she wasn’t paying any attention to.

  “Maybe if you tell me what a normal English boy is like first.”

  He barked out a laugh.

  “Most are pretty boring, and some are jerks. Others work hard, sometimes. It’s fun to work hard and play hard.”

  “As long as you play harder than you work.”

  He looked utterly stunned by what she said, as if an Amish girl couldn’t say something like that. Most people thought like that.

  “Sounds like we will be getting along very well. But you still haven’t told me anything interesting about yourself.”

  Emily shrugged. “What is there to say?” Emily was very far from interesting. Very, very far from it. “I…” She struggled trying to find something to say. Anything. But nothing came to mind. “I like to read.”

  “You like to read?”

  “I know, not interesting.”

  But he smirked. “No, but reading is fun. What do you like to read?”

  “I like to read about things. About places I’ve never been; places I’d like to go.”

  “You’d like to travel?”

  “Yes.” A soft smile touched her lips.

  “Oh admit it, you want him to be here again.”

  “Don’t be dumb.” Of course she didn’t. At least that was what she was going to keep telling herself. The truth was she had thought about it several times. She had hoped that he would be here, and when she found herself dressing today she couldn’t help paying attention to the way she looked.

  It’s foolish, she thought. She knew it was true but she couldn’t help it.

  “Hello, ladies,” Brian called.

  Emily looked over quickly. She stared past Brian, a wide grin spreading over her lips. Sam gave her a nod.

  “Here to keep me company again?”

  “I thought you might miss me if I didn’t come.” His eyes twinkled as he dropped down into the seat in front of her, reaching for a fry. He popped it into his mouth. Emily opened her mouth to say something but didn’t; she decided she would let him have a couple of fries.

  It didn’t take long for Sarah and Brian to quickly get into their own conversation and tune out the world. She turned her attention back to the man in front of her.

  “I brought you a book.”

  “Excuse me?”

  He placed a small book on the table. She looked down at it quizzically. The cover was colorful. Her head tilted to the left as she looked it up and down. It was quite beautiful, actually.

  “It’s about a vampire rabbit. It’s, er, written for kids but it’s really good. I loved it growing up. I thought… you could borrow it.”

  She was dumbfounded. He wanted to see her again? She couldn’t suppress the smile that broke out across her face.

  “For sure. I’d love to.”

  “Good! But I need it back before the end of the week. I had to borrow it from my brother; he’ll be mad as hell if I don’t give it back soon.”

  By the end of the week? Did that mean he would want to see her again? “Sure, I can give it back to you in a couple days.”

  “How’s three?”

  “Sounds perfect. So, you still haven’t told me something interesting about you.”

  “What is that?” Her mother stared down at the cover of the book from the doorway.

  “I… A friend leant me the book.”

  “A friend? From today?”

  “Jah, he’s been coming with Brian. It’s nice having someone to keep me company.”

  Emily’s mother raised an eyebrow. She stared, her eyes narrowing but she didn’t say anything. Emily could tell she didn’t like it, but she didn’t say a word. She gave her mother a wide smile. Sure it wasn’t the kind of thing that most people read in the community, but it was good. It was fun and exciting. Emily couldn’t say she had ever read anything like this. She loved it.

  “Are they going out again? Sarah and Brian.”

  �
�I believe so,” Emily shrugged. She didn’t really care about their plan. She only had a day left to finish this book before she would be meeting Sam to give it back. She wanted to have it finished before then.

  She was just going to have to find a way to get the rest of the books. They were addictive!

  “Are you going to help your grandmother tomorrow?”

  “Jah.”

  Not that it was a question. Emily didn’t have a choice and she knew it.

  Chapter Two

  “Hi.”

  “Hi,” Emily beamed, coming to a stop in front of him. “I finished it.”

  “Good! Did you like it?”

  “I loved it!” Her grin widened as she held her hand out to him, along with the book.

  They were only a mile away from the community, but enough that Sam had brought his car. Assuming it was his car. It was cute. Kinda sporty, but cute. Emily took a second to look it over.

  “So, I brought the second book, in case you wanted it.”

  “J-yah. That would be awesome.”

  He let out a soft smile. “You know, you’re not going to confuse me if you mix up a couple words.”

  “I… honestly, I never thought about it,” Emily muddled. She had always been so focused on getting the English words right and not screwing up that she had never stopped to think if other people cared or not. It was silly, in retrospect.

  “I, um… brought you a snack.” He reached into his pocket, cheeks flushing as he pulled out a small bag of candy.

  Emily gasped. “You brought me something?” She reached out for the small bag.

  As she took it from him, her fingers touched his. Warmth spread through her and the burning in her cheeks told her she must be blushing. She quickly pulled her hand away, stuffed the candy into her pocket, and looked away.

  “Thank you. I mean, danka.” She gave him a shy smile.

  “You’re very welcome.” He returned the smile, then padded towards the grass and sat down. Emily looked at him for a couple seconds and then followed. She dropped onto the grass beside him.

  “Did you plan on staying long?”

  “Are you asking me to stay with you?”

  “Why-” Emily’s mouth fell open. She had not been asking that! Not at all. She thought about defending herself but thought better of it - after all, if she played his game then he would just be winning, right? She didn’t want that happening so she just smiled.

  “Why did you agree to come out here? I mean, couldn’t there be more important things for you to do?”

  “I wanted to see you,” he shrugged.

  That was it. He didn’t say anything else, just looked into her eyes. Emily felt her cheeks redden as she looked away and lay down. Closing her eyes, her smile widened.

  They stayed like this for a little while, neither of them saying a word, but it felt right. It felt good. Emily glanced up, opening her eyes. She looked at the sky as the clouds passed by. The white clouds, fluffy and vibrant. They looked so close, so lively that Emily felt like she could just reach up in the sky and grab them.

  Her heart skipped a beat.

  She stared at the heart as it floated over them. At least that’s what it looked like – a heart shaped cloud. She stared at it, her eyes wide.

  She had never been the type to believe that she was special, or that Gott had a plan for her. She knew Gott was looking after her, but she never thought he would have a plan for her.

  But, wasn’t this a sign? Could it be? Or maybe…

  She blinked hard, forcing her eyes shut and opening them again. Then it was gone. The cloud was gone. Was the sign gone along with it?

  Warmth touched her fingers.

  Her head snapped towards what had caused it. Sam’s fingers touched her hand softly. She stared down at his rough hands against hers. They weren’t quite as rough as the boys at the community, but those boys worked hard every day. Most of them did at least.

  “What do you do for a living?” she asked softly.

  “What?”

  “I mean a job. Do you have a job?”

  “I’m a roofer.”

  So he worked hard. He wasn’t the kind of man who sat at a desk. She had to admit she liked that. Her eyes traced over him carefully. She could see a few small cuts. Probably from work. Her eyes met his as he stared down at her, his eyes taking everything in.

  She swallowed dryly as his fingers slipped between hers and squeezed gently. A smile spread over his lips. “You know, if you read that book you’re going to have to give it back.”

  Emily’s brow furrowed. Why wouldn’t she? What made him think that she wouldn’t?

  “Which means I will need to see you again.”

  Emily’s heart fluttered. She stared at him with wide eyes. He wants to see me again? She couldn’t believe it. She never thought someone would want to see her again, let alone someone like him.

  “I… of course. I mean, I can’t expect you to just give it to me. It is your brother’s, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you close with him?”

  “Very. It’s just him and my grandma.”

  “Your parents aren’t in the picture?”

  “No, they haven’t been for a long time.” Emily’s brow furrowed. She wanted to know more but she didn’t dare ask him. “Are you close with your family?”

  “Jah, we’re very close.”

  “That’s awesome.”

  Her cheeks flushed. She liked that he thought it was cool.

  His fingers tightened around hers gently, and she turned away from him so he couldn’t see her blush deepen.

  Close to dinnertime, Emily finally forced herself to leave, as much as she didn’t want to.

  Her and Sam went their own ways. He headed for his truck, after offering several times to give her a lift and her tuning him down each time. She wanted to say yes, but was sure her mom wouldn’t be pleased to see her pulling up in a big black truck, no less with a boy in it. And, she hadn’t told anyone that she was going to meet an English boy, which meant they would all think she was lying about her intentions with him.

  I was just picking up that book. She told herself. Yes. That was all.

  Sure, she liked Sam, and it wasn’t like his company was bad company, but she hadn’t been trying to court him or anything. Right?

  But that heart…

  She couldn’t help thinking about it. The heart in the sky, the one that had passed them. Had it been a sign? She honestly had no clue what Gott had been trying to tell her.

  Or if He had even been trying to tell her something at all.

  She slipped into the house; three heads turned to stare at her.

  “Where have you been?” her mother asked before Emily was even able to close the door.

  “I went out. To pick up a book.”

  Her mother looked at her carefully, then down at the book. “Is that from your friend?”

  “Jah.”

  Her mother’s brow furrowed. Emily could tell she didn’t like it, but with her grandma and her mother’s sister here, Emily was sure her mother wouldn’t make too big of a deal - after all, her mother’s sister had married an English man.

  “I see.” She didn’t sound pleased, but that was all she said.

  Emily gave her family a quick smile before ducking off to her bedroom without a word to any of them. She lay the book on her bed and turned to face herself in the mirror. What was going on?

  Her heart raced as she thought about the heart in the clouds. She bit her lip, wondering who she could talk to about it. While she trusted Sarah, she wasn’t so sure Sarah would actually be any help. She didn’t want to go to the church, even though she was sure they wouldn’t say anything to her parents.

  Shaking her head, she left the bedroom. Her grandmother stood as Emily made her way back to where they had all been sitting.

  “Emily, won’t you walk me home?”

  “Of course.” She knew it wasn’t actually a question so she knew she just neede
d to say yes; after all that was what she was supposed to do.

  Emily followed her grandmother to the door and they slipped out. They fell into step with each other, neither of them speaking as they made their way along the small path that led to the front gate.

  Emily reached for the gate, opening it for her grandmother.

  “Your meamm says you’ve been seeing a boy.”

  “Nee!” Emily protested. “I’ve been going out with Sarah, she’s the one seeing a boy. Sometimes his friend tags along. That’s all.” Emily shrugged. It wasn’t a big deal.

  “And Sarah went out today?”

  “Well, nee…” Emily could see where this was going.

  “But you saw him anyways?” Her grandmother raised an eyebrow.

  Emily didn’t look at her, and didn’t answer.

  The old lady let out a soft sigh as they stepped off Emily’s parent’s property. “Emily, you know you can be honest with me, right?”

  “Jah, of course.” But she wasn’t so sure she meant it. She wasn’t sure if she trusted her grandmother or not, honestly.

  “Gut, tell me about this boy.”

  “W-what?”

  “I want to know about him. You like him, jah? I want to hear all about him.”

  Emily tripped over her own two feet, caught herself ,and managed not to fall. She stared at her grandmother. “I… there isn’t much to say,” she shrugged. It was time for a change of topic. “Do you believe in Gott’s plan?”

  “What? Jah, of course. Don’t you, Emily?”

  “I’m not sure what to believe,” Emily admitted. How could Gott have a plan for her that made no sense? Why would Sam be part of her plan? It just seemed too strange. It wasn’t right, she knew that.

  It must have been pure chance.

  “And… what if Gott tries to show you his plan?”

  “You listen. You listen well and you do what needs to be done.”

  They turned down the street leading to her grandma’s house. Emily had always loved that her grandma didn’t live far away. As a little girl, she would always go see her grandma as soon as she could. She had always loved spending time with her.

  “You know, when Katie told me she had fallen in love with an English man, I think she thought I would disown her. She was so scared that I wouldn’t take it well.”