The Nymph Takes Nashville

by J. L. Farey

  Her eyes widened. “You’re immortal?”

  “No, just old.”

  “You must have amazing genes.”

  “My father gets the credit for those.”

  “Is he a nymph, too?”

  “Oh no. He’s, well, he’s kind of a big deal in certain Greek supernatural circles.”

  “Which circles?”

  “Mythological.”

  “He’s not...”

  “Yes,” Laurel nodded slowly. “That’s him.”

  “Wow. That is big. So, all those stories... They’re real?”

  “More or less. You know how it is. Every time a story gets told, it distorts a little bit. Sometimes, it distorts a lot. Before you know it, the 12-inch bass you caught has turned into a life and death battle with a killer shark.”

  “It’s good to know all those stories of him turning into animals and seducing young women were made up.”

  “Oh no, those are true. Some guys use pickup lines, my father transforms into irresistible wildlife.” She shook her head at the thought. “When my mother met him, he was a 12-point-buck.”

  “Goodness.”

  “But then he took human form, like always, and did some sweet talking. And here I am.”

  “Was your mother...you know...”

  “Human? Yes. But she knew what she was dealing with. Kind of hard not to, considering how they met.”

  Danielle sighed. “I wish I’d known that much about Aiden’s father. Things would have been so different.”

  Laurel hadn’t intended to get into a deep conversation before Aiden joined them, but she couldn’t pass up the opening Danielle had just given her. “He told me a little about what happened between you, but no details. If you’d like to talk about it, I’d be happy to listen.”

  They kept walking, but Danielle’s pace slowed. When she finally spoke up, she kept her eyes forward, almost like she was talking to herself. “I was so happy when Aiden was born. He was a beautiful boy. Always smiling, and always getting into mischief. He was very curious. The first time I saw him shift, he was twelve-years-old. A stray dog had gotten into our yard. It had an injured leg, and I was trying to get close enough to see if it had a collar and a tag, but it kept getting more and more agitated. Aiden yelled at me to leave the dog alone, but I thought I could help it. Then it ran at me with its teeth bared and Aiden got between us.”

  Laurel didn’t need her to finish the story to know what happened. “He shifted because he was protecting you.”

  “I was terrified. All of a sudden, there was a bear standing where my son had been, and he and the dog were growling at each other.” Her voice cracked. “I reacted in the worst way possible. I screamed and ran into the house. I just left Aiden out there to take care of himself.”

  “He’s pretty good at that.”

  “But he shouldn’t have needed to. Especially then. He was so young. And he was confused. He didn’t know any more about what happened than I did. But all I could do was warn him never to do it again. For years I forced him to bury his instincts. It’s no wonder he moved out on his own as soon as he could.”

  Laurel’s heart ached for both Danielle and Aiden. All the years of misunderstanding and hurt feelings could have been avoided if they’d known the truth. And the only reason they hadn’t known is because Rye Randall had his fun, then ran off without a backwards glance. She hadn’t met the man yet, but she was finding him irritatingly similar to her own father.

  “Hey, there’s Aiden now.” Laurel waved at him as he walked in their direction carrying a loaded cardboard drink holder and a paper bag. Apparently, he had enough of an appetite for snacks. A good sign.

  “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” Danielle said.

  “Nonsense. You can’t go on forever with this rift between you. Just relax and be honest. You’ll be fine.”

  When Aiden reached them, he kissed Laurel on the cheek, then took a step back and nodded a greeting to his mother. It kind of made Laurel want to kick him. Instead, she pointed to a nearby picnic table.

  “Since you brought snacks, why don’t we sit down?”

  They agreed and quickly settled on the benches, one on either side of the table. Which left Laurel scrambling to figure out what to do. She could sit beside Aiden, which would support him but would make Danielle feel ganged up on. Or, she could sit with Danielle to shore her up emotionally, but then Aiden might think she’d chosen sides. Why didn’t those stupid tables have seats at the ends, too?

  Aiden took the drinks out of the holders and put one in front of his mother. He’d gotten her an iced tea. That was all Laurel needed to melt her heart and plop down beside him. Almost at the same time, he put her favorite fancied up coffee drink in front of her.

  “You’re so sweet.” She squeezed his arm and pressed her cheek against his shoulder.

  “Not so loud,” he rumbled under his breath. “You’ll blow my cover.”

  When Laurel looked at Danielle, she was smiling at them. It was the smile of a mother who was pleased about her son’s happiness. It was a good place to start.

  ~ ~ ~

  Aiden was angry. Angry that his mother had been afraid of him. Angry that she hadn’t told him about his father. Angry that he kept having that damn dream. Angry that he was in love with an amazing woman and he couldn’t give their relationship his full attention.

  Most of all, he was angry about being angry. It was a heavy, exhausting weight and he wanted to be done with it.

  But first, he needed strength. He tore one side of the white paper bag down the middle and spread it open to share the assortment of cookies. He picked up a white chocolate chip and macadamia and took a bite.

  “Why don’t we start with Rye Randall?” he said after swallowing. “I dug up some information about his situation. It doesn’t look good.”

  Danielle was ignoring the cookies, keeping her hands wrapped around her plastic cup. “I know. But he didn’t do anything wrong.”

  That’s a matter of opinion, Aiden thought with a grunt. “Let’s go back a little farther. You said the two of you have been in contact for a year now.”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  That seemed to knock his mother off balance. “Well, I’ve followed his career for a while. He was playing in stadiums and I never considered trying to contact him. But then he started doing shows in small clubs.”

  “The Acoustical Tour,” Laurel piped up. “He wanted to have a more personal experience, get closer to his fans.”

  “Yes,” Danielle said. “When I found out he was playing in a club not far from me, I decided to go. See if we could talk. He spotted me right away in the audience.” Her voice became wistful. “We talked for hours.”

  “Guess he got the personal experience with his fans he was hoping for.”

  Laurel poked her elbow into his ribs.

  Danielle frowned. “It wasn’t like that. We talked about what happened, about why he left. I wanted to ask him about your...unique abilities, but that’s not an easy subject to bring up. ‘By the way, you have an adult son who can turn into a bear. Can you do that, too?’”

  “Then, he still doesn’t know about me?”

  Her silky, silver hair swayed from side to side as she shook her head.

  “I’m confused,” Laurel said. “You haven’t even told Rye he has a son. What do you expect Aiden to do?”

  “I want him to find a way to prove that Rye is innocent.” Danielle looked at Aiden, her eyes pleading. “You’re a detective. And you understand things about him no one else will.”

  “Like the fact that his alibi is useless because he was shifted at the time,” Aiden said.

  “Yes. Please, if he goes to jail... I can’t lose him again.”

  Laurel’s sharp intake of breath underscored what he’d just realized. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

  Danielle looked away and nodded.

  Aiden scrubbed his face with one hand. “Let me get this straight.
After all those years of treating me like a freak because of my ability, you now want me to help defend a shifter who, incidentally, is really my father, although he has no clue. And oh, by the way, you’ve fallen in love with him. Does that about cover it?”

  His mother didn’t answer. Laurel put her hand on his knee. If he didn’t move, he was going to explode.

  “Excuse me.” He leapt up and moved away from the table, his steps firm and deliberate.

  So many emotions warred inside him. He knew who his father was and where to find him. Finally, he was able to sit with his mother, have a conversation with her, without seeing fear in her eyes. Those were good things, but it galled him that the only reason she was there now was to help someone else. Someone whose true nature was the thing that she’s hated in her son.

  Aiden stopped and leaned against a tree. Not far from him, a boy stood by the edge of the pond, throwing bread to the ducks. The boy was dressed up like the traditional idea of a vampire. Aiden wondered, was the boy the son of actual vampires, or was he human? He didn’t know, but whichever was true, Aiden was sure the boy’s parents encouraged his individuality.

  Looking back, Aiden saw that Laurel had moved to the other side of the table. She sat beside Danielle, one arm around her shoulders. There they were, the two women he loved most in the world. Despite everything that had gone on between him and his mother, the truth was, it wouldn’t hurt so much if he didn’t love her.

  Hands in his pockets, he went back to the table.

  “Sorry about that,” he said when he stood in front of them, “I needed to clear my head. I’ve decided to do what I can to help Rye.”

  “Oh son! That’s wonderful.” Danielle jumped up and threw her arms around his neck. “Thank you so much.”

  He gave her a quick hug, then extricated himself from her hold. “Don’t thank me yet. I may not be able to help much. Although, I’ve got an idea brewing.” He turned to Laurel. “Can you sing? Beyond singing around the house, I mean.”

  “Sure. I’m a decent singer. But if you’re looking for a great singer, Aurora is the one you want. She can sing the birds out of the trees.” Laurel looked around. “I wonder where she is now.”

  Aiden grinned. “Still with Wade. Before I left the station, he called to say he was taking her to dinner and he’d make sure she gets home.”

  “Great. They’re one step closer to world domination.”

  Danielle gave a little wave to get their attention. “Sorry for butting in, but what is this plan of yours, Aiden?”

  “I’ll tell you about it on the way.” He looked at Laurel. “It’s going to be pretty cramped in the pickup. Too bad you don’t still have the Bus.”

  “Oh, I forgot to tell you.” She grabbed a cookie as she hopped up from the bench. “I bought a vehicle today. An SUV.”

  He looked in the direction she was waving her cookie. “Perfect for our road trip. Let’s all try to get some sleep tonight. We’ve got a lot ahead of us.”

  “Really?” Danielle’s eyes were bright with expectation.

  “Really. Tomorrow, we’re heading for Nashville.”

  5

  The process of deciding who would go to Nashville and who would stay behind made Aiden grateful he’d never had to endure long family drives when he was growing up. It seemed there was at least one advantage to coming from a broken home.

  Danielle, Aiden, and Laurel had to go. Aurora, whose date with Wade had ended so late that everybody was already awake and packing the SUV when they drove in, had no interest in the trip at first. When she said as much, Bailey went to her side, a clear indication he wanted to stay at home. But then Aurora’s natural curiosity got the best of her and she started asking questions. The more she found out, the more interested she was. When someone finally said the word Nashville, she insisted on coming along. At that point, Bailey moved over to Laurel, no doubt hoping to win points for switching allegiances. Laurel saw right through him and informed Bailey that he was coming on the trip whether or not Aurora did. Finally, Wade said that Aiden and three women was a recipe for disaster and he needed to come along to help balance things out. Finally, after agreeing that everyone was coming, waiting for Aurora to pack, Wade to go grab his things, and dropping by the hotel to pick up Danielle, they were on their way.

  And only two hours behind schedule.

  They’d barely left Nocturne Falls when the questions started.

  “How long is the drive?” Aurora asked from the middle of the backseat.

  Aiden glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “Between four and five hours.”

  His mother sat next to him in the front. “Do you want to tell me about your plan now?”

  “Wait,” Wade said from the other side of Aurora. “Before you get to the plan, can you fill in some details? Like what we need a plan for?”

  Aiden shook his head. “Weren’t you listening to anything back at the cabin?”

  “Not really. I was too busy consuming as much coffee as possible.” Wade grunted. “Out of curiosity, are we going to pass someplace with a bathroom anytime soon?”

  Laurel leaned forward, looking at Wade across Aurora. “Why didn’t you go before we left the house?”

  “I have no idea.” He let his head fall back against the seat. A moment later, he was snoring.

  “I’ll bet his eyes are totally bloodshot behind those shades,” Aiden said. “I wonder what color bloodshot blue eyes are.”

  Aurora smiled. “They’re like a stormy sky streaked with purple lightning.”

  “You got him to take off his sunglasses?” Laurel sounded shocked.

  “Sugar, that’s not all I got him to take off.”

  Aiden lifted one hand from the steering wheel and held it up. “Stop! That’s more information than I want to know. And since I don’t want to keep repeating myself, let’s save the plan sharing and detail filling in for when we’re all awake.”

  “Which will probably be when we get to Nashville,” Laurel said.

  “Probably. For now, how about some peace and quiet?”

  “Or how about some country music to get us in the mood?” Aurora waved her finger at the radio console.

  “Fine.” Aiden turned it on and fiddled with buttons until he found what he was looking for.

  In the back, Aurora turned to Laurel. “Oo, if this plan involves you or me singing, we should practice. Do you know this one?”

  Without waiting for an answer Aurora sang along with the song. Aiden had to admit, she really did have a beautiful voice. Then Laurel joined in, singing harmony. From his place in the way back, Bailey sat up and rested his chin on the seat back, right between the two sisters. Danielle glanced back at them and laughed.

  “That dog looks like he’s in heaven.”

  He smiled to himself. At that moment, with the car full of music, his mother smiling and relaxed, and his partner asleep and quiet, Aiden knew exactly how Bailey felt.

  ~ ~ ~

  “Welcome to Music City.”

  Laurel opened her eyes and tried to blink away the fog. She must have fallen asleep after their last stop for gas, snacks, Big Gulps, and bathrooms. Holding back a yawn, she looked out the window. Nashville had changed quite a bit since the last time Laurel had been there. Back then, there had still been Model-Ts on the streets.

  “Mom, you know this territory better than I do. Which hotel should we stay at?”

  “None of them,” Danielle answered. “We’re staying with Rye.”

  Laurel leaned forward. “Seriously?” At the same time, she heard Aiden rumble something under his breath. She couldn’t make out what it was, but that was probably a good thing.

  Danielle twisted in her seat and looked back at Laurel. “Yes. Trust me, he’s got more than enough room for all of us.”

  “Yay! We get to stay with a bone fide country music star.” Aurora clapped her hands and bounced in her seat. She was so excited, her head might have hit the roof if not for her seat belt.

  Aiden let out
a grunt. “Does dear old dad know that we’re coming?”

  “He knows that I’m bringing several friends to help him.” Danielle’s cheeks flushed. “He still doesn’t know about you.”

  “Wow, those’ll be some fun introductions. ‘Rye, these are my friends, two nymphs and two shifters. By the way, one of the shifters is your son.’ You should make him guess which one.”

  Danielle must have been getting used to her son’s sarcasm, because she looked back at Laurel and asked, “Wade’s a bear too?”

  Laurel shook her head. “No. He’s a snow leopard. He’s very pretty.”

  “Pretty?” Wade sounded insulted.

  “I’m sorry, Wade, but there’s no other way to put it. “

  Aurora patted his leg. “She’s right. You are pretty.” She snuggled up to his side. “Pretty sexy.”

  Aiden’s hand went up. “And we’re changing the subject. Mom, I need directions.”

  The backseat passengers did their best to stay quiet as Danielle pointed out streets and told Aiden which way to turn. Finally, she directed him to turn onto a private road. It was flanked by ornate wrought iron gates, which stood wide open. They kept driving until the house came into view.

  Aiden parked and they got out of the SUV and gathered on one side, looking at the house.

  “Wow,” Laurel said. “You weren’t kidding about the house.”

  They could probably stay there for a month and not even see Rye. Still, for what was essentially a mansion, it managed to exude a homey, welcoming feeling. Maybe it was the casual landscaping, or the playful use of brick and wood that almost made it seem like a child had been playing with Lincoln Logs and didn’t know when to stop.

  Aiden crossed his arms and jerked his chin at the porch. Wood columns, polished to a gleam and carved into giant bears standing on their hindquarters, guarded each side of the steps.

  “Subtle,” he said.

  “I like them,” Laurel said.

  Aiden lifted a brow in surprise. “Really? Even though two trees gave their lives to make those?”

  “Yes. I love my trees, but being used for construction and art is part of their purpose. I’d much rather see a tree transformed into something beautiful than something ridiculous. Like toothpicks.”