by Sara Summers
“You’re the most incredible person I’ve ever met, Hallie. I’m so glad the Creator put us together.” He murmured, brushing a strand of hair out of my eyes that I’m sure smelled and felt like dirt.
“Why won’t you let me feel your emotions?” I narrowed my eyes at him and he grimaced.
“I don’t want to corrupt you.”
“What are you talking about?” I frowned and leaned away from him just enough to fold my arms.
The expression on his face could only be described as sheepish.
“I know I shouldn’t be right now but I’m pretty horny. You’re calm and a little sad, I don’t want to barge in and turn up the steam.”
I lifted my eyebrows when he admitted that.
“You think I can’t appreciate that you’re sexually attracted to me? You must be crazy.” I lifted his hand to my neck and smiled when those emotions flooded through me. “Wow, you think I’m sexy.” I murmured, lifting my hand back to his neck.
“There’s no doubt about that.” Tanner grinned when he felt what I’d started feeling after he touched my neck.
“Come on.” I pulled him into the shower with me, my hand pressed firmly to the cotie on his neck. Logan and Emma had been right; feeling each other’s emotions was intense.
That only made it better.
Twenty-Eight
I felt plenty of sadness during the next week. Sometimes I felt like the sadness was going to overwhelm me completely, and those were the times that Tanner pulled me into his arms and held on tight.
When the box of my dad’s things finally arrived on our doorstep, I was hesitant to even open it. It was smaller than I expected, only a little bigger than a shoebox.
“Can you do it?” I looked to Tanner for help.
He nodded, pulling a pocket knife out of his pants and cutting through the tape. When he pulled the flaps open, I leaned over to look.
The only things in the box were an envelope and an old photo album. I didn’t have to open the photo album to know that it was full of pictures of me while I was growing up.
I picked up the envelope and opened it carefully, pulling out a single sheet of printer paper. The writing on the page looked like my dad’s handwriting from before the tumors, but it was messier.
My heart sank when I realized that was because he’d been getting weaker as his body shut down.
I sat down on one of the chairs in our kitchen, knowing I wouldn’t be able to read whatever he’d written while standing.
The letter read:
Hallie,
I know you don’t want this to be goodbye, and I don’t want that either. I wish there was another way, but you’ve been taking care of me for far too long. I know that if you were here with me you wouldn’t be open-minded enough after I’m gone to build a life with Tanner.
As I’m sure you know by now, I lied about the tumors. You deserve a full life, Hal. I think the reason my memories came back was so that you would leave me for long enough to let yourself have a normal life.
When I hit my head earlier that day it caused my brain to swell, and for some reason that gave me a clear mind. The doctor told me that there was nothing they could do, and this time I know that they’re right.
I don’t want to waste my last words talking about my health, though. I want you to know that you mean everything to me. You were my perfect baby, and then you were the sweetest kid that there ever was. By the time you were a teenager, you were my closest friend. I never realized that my daughter could be my friend, but you were.
I hope you’re proud of yourself, Hallie, because I am. I’m proud of the woman you’ve become and I’m proud that you’re one of the few humans on the planet that nature chose to become a shifter. The ones I knew when I was your age were good, down-to-earth people, and Tanner seems like one of those too.
You can’t possibly understand how much I love you. You have a soulmate who is your other half, and I know that he’ll love you more than anything, but I’m the one who got to see you become that person. I’m the one who hugged you when you fell off of that pink Barbie bike, I’m the one who held you close when you came home from school crying because the other girls were mean to you. I’m the one who stood in the doorway to your room and cried while you were sleeping because you were growing up too fast.
I want you to remember that, whenever life gets hard or you feel like you’re alone. Remember that there’s someone out in the universe somewhere who loves you more than you’ll ever know.
Thank you for blessing me with the privilege of being your father, Hallie. I wish I could be there to give you advice and take my grandkids out for ice cream, but I just have to trust that one way or another I’ll get to keep watching you grow.
I love you, Hal. Now go on and become the woman I know you can be.
Love Dad
By the time I finished reading it, I was sobbing the way I had the night I’d gotten that phone call. I missed my dad—I missed him so much I wasn’t sure if I would survive it.
Tanner put his arms around me and I held onto him tightly.
“I don’t want him to be gone.” I cried, rocking back and forth in my soulmate’s arms.
“I know.” He rested his chin against the top of my head, holding me just as tight as I held him. As the tears slowed down, I thought back to the last time Tanner had seen his own parents. We had been walking away from them with the rest of their kids following us, leaving them behind.
While I knew Artie had gone back home shortly after the pack split, I couldn’t imagine how his parents felt not seeing their kids because of some shifter drama.
“We need to make things right with your parents.” I pulled my head off of Logan’s shoulder and looked up at him with my red, puffy eyes. “You never know what’s going to happen.”
Tanner nodded.
“I’ll invite them over for dinner sometime soon.”
“Tonight.” I closed my eyes for a second as more tears fell. “It can’t wait.”
“Alright, tonight.” He nodded, and I buried my face into his neck again as another wave of tears surfaced.
I was sad, but I wasn’t just sad. While I missed my dad and longed to do something as silly as making him another sandwich, I also felt what he’d said in the letter. I knew that my dad loved me, and I knew that I had been the best daughter I possibly could’ve been.
And what he said about being privileged to be my dad? I felt even luckier to have been his daughter.
Epilogue
“They’re finally starting to come around.” Ty said. We were having a family dinner at Emma and Logan’s house, and it seemed like a weight had been lifted off of Tanner’s dad’s shoulders since the last time I saw him.
“No way.” Emma protested with a huge smile. “I saw the gun on Old Man Booker’s belt when I drove Artie home the other day. If Logan had been in the car with us he totally would’ve shot us.”
“The only reason he didn’t is because he’s holding on to hope that you’ll have babies with someone who was born a shifter.” Artie grinned.
Everyone except Ty laughed, and even he had a reluctant smile on his face.
“You can’t base an entire pack’s progress on one racist old man.” He complained, shaking his head. “The way the kids talk about running with your pack, I’d think you were building a cult or something. Hallie’s all they’ll talk about.”
When Ty smiled at me, I knew that he was verbally handing me an olive branch. He felt bad about what had happened before the pack split, and he was asking for a second chance to be my father-in-law.
“Only because I bring them the leftovers from the bakery.” I smiled back, taking that olive branch.
“Yeah, the rest of us hate it when the little kids come to run with the pack because it means we don’t the leftovers.” Logan said, taking another serving of the vegetables on the table. Everyone else was pretty much done eating the Chinese food that Emma had ordered so no one had to cook.
“I don
’t know what you’re talking about. I still get croissants when the kids come.” Cody shrugged.
Tanner grinned at me, reaching under the table to put his hand on my leg. He always got leftovers, Cody just happened to be at our house every time I came home with food.
“Me too.” Tanner added.
“So we’re the only ones who don’t get anything on those days?” Emma raised her eyebrows.
“You’re the only ones who could buy a bakery if you wanted to.” Leah pointed out.
Everyone laughed, I noticed, everyone except Cody. His eyebrows were knitted together, and he looked almost concerned.
“Are you okay, Cody?” I checked.
The whole family turned to look at him.
He stood up quickly.
“I know where my soulmate is. I have to go.”
He pulled his keys out of his pocket as he hurried out to his truck, and we all watched him drive away in silence.
“Is now when we start making bets about what she’s like?” Logan checked.
I smiled when the rest of the family grinned.
“I’m sure she’s a sweetie. How could Cody end up with someone who isn’t?” Leah said.
Tanner and Emma exchanged glances that said something along the lines of,
“He’s always been the favorite child,”
And Artie shook his head.
“I bet his soulmate makes him work for it.” He smirked.
“Artie!” Emma and Leah exclaimed at the same time, chastising the kid. At fifteen he was more of a young man than a kid, but he would always be the baby of the family.
“What? Cody can take it.”
“I hope you’re wrong.” Leah told her son.
I hoped so too.
The next evening we still hadn’t heard from Cody, so Tanner sent him a quick text. We didn’t want to interrupt if he and his soulmate were getting to know each other.
Tanner: Did you find her?
Cody responded ten minutes later, and wow, Tanner was a mess during those ten minutes. I’m pretty sure he was more nervous than Cody was.
Cody: Just got here
Tanner: What’s she like?
Cody: Don’t know yet
Tanner: What does she look like?
Cody: I’m pretty sure she’s the hot blonde dancing on the bar half-naked
Tanner and I looked at each other with wide eyes, and I had to hold back a laugh.
Tanner: At least she’s hot?
Cody: The wolf in me thinks it would be better if she wasn’t. The man in me says half-naked and hot are a good combo. I’m getting her out of here, wish me luck.
When Tanner looked at me again, we both burst out laughing.
It looked like Artie was right after all.
Cody and Quinn’s Story
SOULHATED
Coming February 1st 2019
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Acknowledgments
The credit for this book has to go to my dad.
Thank you for always being there for me when I was growing up. Thank you for forcing me to go hiking and kayaking and backpacking when I would’ve rather been reading a book. Thank you for coming to my room and hugging me when I was upset, and thank you for giving me the space I needed to follow my dreams. Thank you for being excited and saying, “is that my grandson?!” every time we see you, and thank you for refusing to call babysitting anything other than “playing with my grandson”
Most of all, thank you for giving me the privilege of being your daughter. I couldn’t imagine a more perfect father than you.
About the Author
I'm married to the greatest guy any girl could ask for, and we have an adorable baby boy with a set of lungs that work a little too well.
When I'm not taking care of my baby I'm usually either writing, cleaning, eating shaved ice, or playing Elder Scrolls Online.
I despise jeans and only cook meals that I can stick in my Instant Pot, and despite the fact that I went to hair school, my own hair is typically a mess.
I grew up writing books and dreaming about publishing them, and now I'm lucky enough to live that dream!
Keep up with me and my characters at my website, iamsarasummers.blogspot.com
Thanks for reading!
-Sara
