“Dad wasn’t here. I was. End of discussion.”
“It is not the end of the discussion. It is never the end of the discussion until I say so. That’s how parenting works.”
“Even when your kid is 32?”
“Especially then.” Tamara flashed a brief smile, though there wasn’t much genuine feeling behind it. “I’m very glad that you inherited my stubbornness, but I wish that you would put it to more gentle pursuits. You’re going to get hurt someday being like this. Playing all these rough sports, pushing yourself like this…”
“I’m perfectly fine, Mom.” He didn’t add that she made it sound like he was still a kid, what with all that “playing” business. He was a teacher, for god’s sake.
“Before the next school year begins, you should see if you can’t find yourself a mate. Before you get busy again.”
“Mom, please. Not this talk again. I’ll find a mate when I’m ready.”
“If you found an alpha, you would feel much better. I can’t even describe how good it felt when I met your father. Everything just seemed to fall into place.”
I know how quickly you two fell in love. You only met Dad a month before you married him. But times have changed.
Simon pulled into the parking lot at the side of the coffee shop and sought out a spot. Finding one, he parked and turned off the engine. “Times have changed.”
“I know that. And if you would be quiet for just a moment and let me finish speaking, we would be done with this conversation.”
Simon rolled his eyes, but obediently kept quiet.
His mother turned to face him, her expression very serious and yet open. “I know times have changed. It’s both easier and harder to find a mate. Some people your age have turned to alternatives. Those dating apps and all.”
“I’m not signing up for a dating app, Mom. I’m not even sure my phone could handle the strain of that.”
“Hush.” Tamara swatted him over the head with a brochure she plucked out of the door compartment. “I’m not done. There’s an alternative. A more personal method. Have you heard of the rumors of a wishing well down in Abingdon?”
“Yeah. Isn’t that just like a tourist spot now for some reason? Why do you want me to go there?”
“Something like that, though it is a lot more serious. Only a few people are supposed to know about the well, though it seems like everyone’s talking about it. And they are all saying the same things. This wishing well, it can show shifters their true mates.”
“Oh, god.” Simon rolled his eyes again. “Mom, you can’t honestly believe in that stuff. What’s next? The Great Pyramids are super weapons? Atlantis is real? Bigfoot is running for mayor?”
“You can joke, but you can’t deny that it seems like quite a lot of wolves lately are finding their mates.”
“That’s just something that always happens. You’re just more aware of it now because of these stupid rumors.”
He had noticed the same sort of thing but had brushed it aside as nothing. Now his own damn mother was repeating those stupid rumors. She was normally so sensible. This sudden change meant she was finally succumbing to the power of suggestion.
Or, less likely, it meant the talk of a magic well was more sensible than he thought.
“I’ll think about it, but I really can’t promise you anything.”
“Think about it a lot,” Tamara said firmly. She reached over and grabbed onto the door handle, pushing it open. “In the meantime, you can buy me some coffee. And a cookie. I feel I have very much earned a cookie.”
Simon stepped out of the van and dutifully bought his mother coffee and a cookie. They sat by the window and spoke of lighter things until the final shadows of what had happened at the craft store had entirely faded away. Things almost returned to normal. Almost.
They hit several more stores before grabbing a late lunch. Simon tried to relax, to immerse himself in his mother’s ramblings of what she was going to do with all the things she was buying, but he couldn’t. Not really. Relaxing would make it easier for them to be caught off-guard again, and he wasn’t going to let that happen.
Bad things always come all at the same time. It’s like some door gets opened and it all just comes rushing out.
They entered a hardware store after lunch, searching for some sort of wire for whatever reason. As they waited to be assisted by one of the bored-looking workers, Simon’s phone rang. He’d brought it with him this time, just in case he needed it, though he’d forgotten he had it. The jangling ringtone made him jump, and he grabbed at his pocket.
The store employee gave him an odd look, while his mother seemed to be vaguely amused. “Maybe you should go answer that.”
“Sorry,” Simon said.
He removed the phone from his pocket and hurried off towards the front of the store. Anxiety prickled at him, his stomach twisting slightly tighter with each step he took that put distance between himself and Tamara. This was such a public place and there were listless employees everywhere. Surely no harm would come to her if he just stepped out to take this phone call.
All the same, he worried. His mother was such a strong person. He never even imagined that she would just turn complacent when threatened. That couldn’t be right.
By the time he stepped outside, his phone had rang four times and was midway through the fifth. Standing out here in the open, with the road so nearby, would actually make it harder to hear.
Oh, well. I don’t want it to ring much longer. It’s probably going to be nothing.
Flipping open the phone, Simon glanced at the name of the caller just before he pushed the green button to accept the call. He moved so quickly, so habitually, that it took him just until he was speaking into the device to realize what exactly that name meant.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Simon? Ah, Mr. Diamond? This is Nathanial Pepper. We spoke a few weeks ago about your desire to take a position here at Churchland Elementary.”
Desire seemed like a bit of an odd word to use in this situation. Just hearing it made Simon’s heart flutter in his chest. He didn’t know whether this was a good thing or a bad one, though he could certainly hazard a guess.
Bad things came all at once, after all.
“Yes! Mr. Nate. I mean, Popper. Uh, Pepper. Mr. Pepper. Principal Pepper.”
Holy shit, what just happened to me?
It had to have been that oddly-specific word, the mention of desire, and the subsequent fluttering of his heart. He was behaving like an elementary school student himself, one with an enormous crush.
Nathan paused on the other end of the line in that way he had when he was choosing his thoughts carefully. Simon had picked up on that during their interview, along with many other interesting things. When the other wolf finally spoke again, his voice was filled with warmth and amusement. “Is this a good time? Should I call back?”
“No, no. This is a perfect time. What can I help you with?”
“Well, it’s more a case of me helping you. If you’re still interested, the job is yours. Are you?”
“Oh! Yes! Of course I’m still interested!” Simon’s heart started fluttering again, this time with excitement. “Thank you very much! I’m so eager to get started.”
Nathan laughed. It was more of a response than what was warranted by what Simon said. He probably hadn’t been capable of holding back his laughter from before any longer. “Good! Unfortunately, my schedule is just packed for the next couple of days. How do you feel about coming back here on Thursday and we’ll discuss everything? Start showing you around and all that?”
Thursday was four days away, practically an eternity when you had something to look forward to. Someone to look forward to.
“Of course! Any specific time?”
“Well, I have an opening before and after lunch. You decide. Although, if you come before lunch, I can send out for delivery and we would have more time to talk. Is 11:15 fine with you?”
“More than fine,”
Simon said, as quickly as the words would come out.
“Good! I’ll see you then! Bye for now! I look forward to our meeting.”
“Me too,” he said, but the line had already gone dead.
Shutting the phone and putting it in his pocket, Simon tilted his head back to look up at the Virginia sky. The wide expanse above the city was so blue, so beautiful. The clouds were filmy, dainty little things, the kind you might find depicted on a postcard.
Maybe, just maybe, this was the one time when bad luck wouldn’t haunt him.
God, he hoped so. He wanted to start this new job the right way.
3
“How the hell did I get talked into this?” Simon muttered. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, counting down the miles until his exit ramp came up. Only a few miles after that, he would arrive at the peaceful little town of Abingdon where the supposed wishing well was. He could hardly believe he was doing this, that he was wasting so much of his time on this useless venture.
Six hours’ worth of driving had brought him here, all the way across the state of Virginia. He was the kind of person who got very bored on long car rides, so it had been torture to get this far. Miles and miles of empty highway, with nothing to look at or break up the monotony. He would have to do the same damn thing on the way back, too.
The exit ramp came up, and Simon flipped on his turn signal to pull off. The speed limit dropped down, and he stepped gently on the brake to obey the limit. The road rose slowly upwards, following the graceful curve of a low hill.
He reached the top of the hill and started to descend the other side, where he caught his first glimpse of the little town. A church steeple rose high above the rest of the buildings, which were all as uniform and cute as the houses in a child’s playset. Each house was surrounded by a perfect lawn, which were covered in perfect ornaments.
There were a few cars driving through the town, but it seemed as if most of Abingdon’s occupants preferred to walk everywhere. It made sense, he supposed. It was like in the city, where a person would rather walk to a nearby location than deal with traffic. The distant figures swarmed across the network of sidewalks and streets like busy little ants, going about their busy little lives.
The speed limit dropped down even further until he probably could have run faster than he was driving. He didn’t much mind that now that there were things for him to observe.
The closer he got to the town, the more perfect it seemed. The figures became clearer, revealing themselves to be mostly children frolicking in the company of parents. Something about that made Simon smile. It was so different from the city, now that he thought about it. He couldn’t believe he’d drawn that comparison earlier, as if they had any similarities at all. These people walking around were doing so because they could enjoy it, not because it was annoying to drive.
Once he was deep in the town proper, he started to look around for the hotel where he was going to spend the night. This place was so small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things that it had only shown up on his GPS after several minutes of searching and loading. The orchard didn’t exist at all when he searched for that, which struck him as odd. An orchard was inevitably a business that would want to advertise itself.
None of his business, he supposed. It just prepared him for the disappointment when the hotel also didn’t show up on GPS. Luckily, the woman who made his reservation for him was able to tell him approximately where it was so he could find it.
It was easy to find, being just off the main street that went through town. He didn’t see any others, so this must be the only one in town.
Walking inside, Simon was greeted by a cheerful young woman who waved him over to the counter as if she had been just waiting for him to come. She probably had, come to think about it. Summer and fall were probably prime tourist seasons for this place, when the orchard was at its most beautiful. That being said, such a small town in such an out-of-the-way location could hardly be expected to have all that much of a tourist season. It was more likely the hotel had permanent residents, with only a few rooms up for rent at any given time.
The girl looked up his reservation with a smile on her face. “You know,” she said, typing on the computer in front of her, “I was actually the one who spoke to you yesterday. When you called to make your reservation.”
“Oh, yeah?” Simon replied, smiling a little. She was bouncing on her feet a little, acting like he was some sort of celebrity.
“Yes! I’m so glad that you managed to make it here! I know we aren’t exactly in a busy area. It’s so easy to miss us. But you made it!”
“I did!” Simon agreed. The girl slid a paper towards him and he signed it, then accepted the key she handed him. It was an honest-to-goodness key, oversized and made of pure metal. A tag attached to the bow displayed his room number. “I’m here to see the orchard.”
“Oh, the Lakeman family orchard? It seems like we’ve had quite a few people like yourself coming through in the past couple of years. Oh! Um! Not that I mean anything by it, of course.” Her cheeks glowed pink with a blush as she realized what she’d said. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being someone like you, that is. Oh, dear. Look at me. Being so talkative and saying all the wrong things. Pretend I didn’t say anything. Have a good stay. I hope you enjoy the orchard!”
She couldn’t have ended the conversation more thoroughly than if she’d pushed him.
He lingered however, knowing there was no one behind him who needed their turn at the counter. “Hold on. You haven’t said anything wrong. Why don’t you tell me what you meant?”
“Oh, Mr. Diamond, I don’t know if I should. My manager wouldn’t like it.”
I feel bad that you’re uncomfortable, but I’m too curious to let it go.
“How about this? I’ll make a deal with you. If your manager comes, we’ll just pretend that I’m asking you about fun things to do around here. And when I leave tomorrow, I’ll call and tell him how helpful you’ve been. You won’t get in trouble. In fact, you’d be doing the opposite.”
“Well…” She hesitated, then looked around. Simon could have told her even without looking that there was no one in the immediate area. He sensed human presence elsewhere in the building, perhaps regulars in their rooms or the manager in his office, but none of them were close enough to be bothersome. “Do you promise that I won’t get in trouble?”
“Cross my heart,” Simon said.
The receptionist smiled briefly. “Okay, but if you see anyone coming…”
“I have very good hearing. There’s nothing to worry about. Now, what did you mean when you said people like me were coming here?”
“Well, single men who come alone and then leave immediately. They come to the orchard and they leave again. It’s funny, but they always leave looking like they’ve seen a ghost or something like that. Except for that one time when it was a couple of men, but they left pretty quickly too. And they saw the orchard.” She bit her lip, apparently considering her next words carefully. “It’s like they see something. Everyone knows the Lakeman family is a little bit odd, so it doesn’t surprise me if there’s something weird going on out there.”
“They’re a little odd, huh?”
Probably because they were wolf shifters.
“Oh, but they’re all such sweethearts. And…” She hesitated again. Simon motioned encouragingly for her to continue. “Well, I shouldn’t say anything else. It wouldn’t be right. I think we should finish with our conversation now, Mr. Diamond.”
Simon took a step away from the counter to keep her from feeling as uncomfortable as she looked. “That’s all right,” he said, smiling at her. She didn’t return the smile, though she certainly did try. “I was just curious anyway. It doesn’t mean anything, right?”
“Of course not. Please enjoy your stay with us, Mr. Diamond. If there’s anything else you need, please don’t hesitate to ask.” Her tone said he should ask someone else if it was going to lead i
nto another weird conversation like this one had been.
“I’m sure I will,” Simon said. He waved good-bye to her and received a slight flutter of her fingers in response. Turning away, he went down the hall just past the front desk and went in search of his room. It was easy to find, since there were only so many. The scent of other humans was stronger here, soaked into the walls, the carpet. Humans were part of its identity now, part of its purpose and existence.
Finding his room, Simon stepped inside. It was about what he’d expected. It looked exactly like any other hotel room in existence, only smaller and a little bit more homely. There was a gigantic TV on top of the dresser that at one time would have made him whistle, but which was now almost a relic. He had a bed, a desk, and a tiny bathroom with pipes that thankfully didn’t leak. Inoffensive paintings covered the walls. He thought some of them might be originals, since they seemed to depict scenery from the surrounding area, but he couldn’t be certain.
In short, he would have no problem spending the night here.
He would bring his bag in later after he came back from the orchard. For now, he just wanted to go to and see if this whole well business was actually real or not. The receptionist’s story seemed to strengthen the idea that it was, though he didn’t think he could entirely trust that. After all, there were people everywhere. Lots of men traveled by themselves. It didn’t mean they were all visiting magical wells.
Then again, this is a small town. Easier to keep track of who comes in and why. Everyone knows everyone else.
Simon rubbed his eyes while sitting on the bed, then gave a similar treatment to his neck and back. He would have given anything to be able to take a nap after such a long and boring drive, but he needed to get to the orchard while it was still potentially allowing visitors. Their website was completely minimalistic and had that chunky, blocky look about it that suggested the owners had made it themselves. It hadn’t listed visiting hours or anything, just that visitors were welcome.
They also accepted donations. Simon had made a pledge to himself that if this well thing turned out to be real, he’d make a donation. If single wolves really were showing up here and constantly bothering the owners—the Lakemans, he recalled now—then they deserved an extra buck or two.
Alpha Principal Page 4
