by Zoe Chant
When Travis, the resort handyman, returned with the van, she enfolded him in a warm, brief hug, and then helped load the luggage in the back.
“We’ve got stories,” the lynx shifter told her, a merry twinkle in his eyes. “So many stories!”
“I can’t wait to hear them,” Lydia said eagerly. He looked different, somehow, though he’d been so overworked and stressed out when she left that perhaps it was only that he’d finally gotten a decent night of sleep.
The road back to the resort was noticeably worse than it had been when she left, thanks to the storm that had just swept through, and the jaw-chattering trip was too rough for conversation, or much of anything except clinging to the side rails in the van trying not to end up on anyone else’s lap.
Graham, the lion shifter in charge of landscaping, met them at the resort entrance to help unload the luggage and Lydia caught him for a quick hug as well. He gave her a dutiful kiss on the cheek and said gruffly, “Welcome back.” Then he picked up more of the giant suitcases than looked possible and vanished down into the greenery.
The resort owner, Scarlet, was checking guests in and paused in her task to flash Lydia a quick welcome smile. “Meeting at three!” she called, and Lydia waved and carried her own small bag to the top of the path down into the resort.
She paused for only a moment, to soak in the familiar view. Her mate was down there, somewhere tantalizingly close, and she longed to drop her bag and fly to find him.
But she’d waited this long to meet him, she could wait a little longer. She knew that her spa would soon be busy with all the new arrivals and duty called first...
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