Relax, his horse told him. Not every man we meet is a threat to our mate.
“Thank you.” Helena’s sincerity brought a smile to Jeremy’s face.
“It was nothing. And technically, Penny saved me from Sophie, too. I suppose I was returning the favor.” His cheeks flushed pink.
“Still, it was brave to hang around, knowing what you were up against.” Helena nodded at Jeremy. “So, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Jeremy’s smile broadened.
“Okay, I should go find Penny and Milo.” She spun around to face Dario. “I’ll see you later, if not tomorrow.”
“I’ll organize everything,” Dario told his mate.
“Thank you.” She reached out, her fingers curling around his lower arm as she leaned forward and kissed his lips. “I’ve had a wonderful time.”
She looked up at him from under her lashes before she turned and walked away, taking his heart with him.
“You’re a lucky man,” Jeremy told him as he tapped the computer keyboard.
“I know,” Dario replied.
Chapter Nine – Helena
“How did your day go?” Penny asked Helena as she stripped off her outdoor clothes and hung them up.
“Good.” Helena glanced around the hotel room. “This is cozy.”
“While you were out, Logan and Rift set up a small bed for Milo, so you can sleep in his bed. The hotel is pretty full, or else they would have given you your own room.” Penny ran her hand over the freshly made bed. “You didn’t answer my question.”
Penny sat down on the bed and Helena padded across the room to join her. “Ooh, comfy.”
“Are you avoiding the question?” Penny asked in concern.
“No, I’m not avoiding it.” She sighed. “It went well, I like Dario, I like him a lot. Maybe too much since we have only just met.”
“Why is that a bad thing?” Penny asked.
“It just proves that...” She cupped her face in her hands. “I don’t know...” She half-turned to face Penny. “Don’t you ever feel as if your life isn’t your own? That some other force decided who you were meant to be with?”
Penny chuckled. “You are asking me?”
“Yes, you must have felt the same way. Didn’t you?”
“Not really. Remember I have got one failed marriage behind me. I like the idea of knowing that Logan is the man for me. I like that I’ll never have to question if he’s going to look at another woman or betray me.” Her bottom lip trembled but then she blew out a breath. “Sorry, I’m a little emotional.”
“Hey, is everything all right? Milo’s all right?” Helena assumed her nephew was with one of Logan’s brothers.
“Yes, more than all right.” She drew in a shuddering breath. “That’s the problem. It seems too right.” Penny placed her hand over her heart. “Do you know what I mean? It’s like I’m just waiting for the world to smack me down again.”
“You don’t have to worry. I think everything will work out just fine for you if you stay here in Wishing Moon Bay.” Helena’s jaw clenched and she fought back her own emotions which threatened to overwhelm her. Penny deserved happiness, after all she’d endured.
“You’re right.” Penny nodded. “Finding Logan wasn’t just a chance meeting, we are meant to be together.”
“And Milo adores him. It’s good that the little man has other males around who will be wonderful role models for him. Unlike his father.” Helena couldn’t have wished for her sister and nephew to get a happier ending.
But was this their happy ending or merely a happy interlude? Penny was right, it did feel as if this was a brief pause, a glimpse at happiness before...
“Once we’ve dealt with your intruder, we can both come back here to live.” Penny nudged Helena. “You will come and live here, won’t you?”
“Helena, I have a life, a job, out in the real world. What would I do here?” She shook her head. “You know that Dario hasn’t worked for a while, he’s been running around with horses in the wild.” She held up her hand. “And while I am the last person who would ever dictate a person’s life choices, that’s not going to put a roof over our heads.”
“Our heads. At least it sounds as if you are thinking of building a future with him.”
“When we’re together, yes. I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do. But what future do we have together? Do you think he’d be happy living in my apartment when he’s used to being wild and free?” Doubts darkened her horizon. Being with Dario was just a dream, the sooner she faced up to that, the better.
“He’d live wherever you wanted to live,” Penny assured her. “He just wants to be with you.”
“And I want him to be happy. I certainly don’t want to be responsible for him being miserable. But he wants children, and I won’t... I can’t have a child unless I feel secure, financially as well as emotionally.” She wiped her hand across her eyes.
“Helena, don’t make swift judgments without thinking this through and talking it over with Dario. You don’t know what his plans are. He might be able to get work in town. If you sublet your apartment, you might be able to afford a house here.”
“I know what you’re saying.” Her mouth turned down at the corners. “I’m scared. Aren’t you scared?”
“Scared of what?” Penny asked.
“Mom believed in magic, didn’t she? We thought she was a little crazy. Kids at school used to tease me about her, tell me she was away with the fairies. And she was.”
“What does that have to do with Dario and being scared?” Penny asked.
“I don’t want that for my child. If I was blessed to have a child with Dario, I want them to have a normal life.”
“I still don’t understand. They would have a normal life here in Wishing Moon Bay. Not the same normal life as if you lived out of town, sure. But this place has so much to offer a child. So much to offer you. If you’ll let it. I know how you felt about Mom. I know how betrayed you felt when she died.”
“Betrayed.” Helena sobbed. “I just missed her. But when I look back, I don’t think she was ever really there. It was like she was half in our world and half in another world.”
“Do you think she was something else?” Penny asked quietly.
“Something else?” Helena’s forehead furrowed. “What do you mean? She can’t be a shifter, she would have passed the gene onto us. She can’t be a witch, or we would have inherited her power. Wouldn’t we?”
“I don’t know, there’s so much we don’t know.” Penny looked down at her hands then raised her head to lock eyes with her sister. “I still have the box of her things.”
“Here?” Helena’s eyes rested on Penny’s luggage which was piled neatly under the window.
“Yes.” Penny nodded. “I wondered if there might be some clue that we missed. Well, not missed, but now we know more about...all of this.”
“I think we should take a look.” Helena got up from the bed and wiped the tears from her cheeks.
“It’s in here.” Penny went to her belongings and grabbed a large suitcase. She paused before she unzipped it and flipped open the lid.
“It’s a good thing you kept the box with her stuff in it, I would have thrown it out by now,” Helena said bitterly.
“No, you wouldn’t.” Penny slipped her arm around her sister’s shoulders. “I know you try to convince yourself and others that you didn’t have time for her strange ways, but you loved her. You would have kept her things.”
“Don’t be too sure.”
“You are still wearing her favorite earrings.” Penny arched an eyebrow at her sister as Helena put her hands to her ears and covered her lobes.
“I like them. They’re pretty.”
“Of course that’s the only reason you have worn them every day since she died.” Penny stared down at her sister. “There’s nothing wrong with that. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to remember her every time you look in the mirror.”
“I was
so cruel to her. Some of the things I said when I was a teenager. I didn’t make life easy for either of us. I just wanted to be normal. To fit in.”
“She hurt you. I know she did. Mom should have been the person you could depend on most in this world and she let you down, she let us both down when we were young. But I truly believe she did her best.” Penny inhaled, her breath shuddering through her chest. “Now that it’s just me and Milo, I think I can understand her better. She had two daughters to raise. She had to provide for us. There was no child support check each month. No backup. We had no other relatives. She was alone.”
“I tried to trace our family tree once. You know, on one of those ancestry sites.” Helena sat down on the bed. “There’s nothing. It’s as if Mom just appeared. She didn’t have parents, she didn’t have a family. There was no birth certificate in her belongings. I searched and searched after she passed.”
“You never told me.” Penny sat down with the box of their mom’s belongings on her lap.
“I didn’t think it was worth troubling you over. There could be so many reasons that she didn’t keep any record of her past. Our father might have been abusive. She might have been on the run. She might not have wanted to leave behind any clue in case we tried to find him.”
“I never thought about it like that.” Penny placed her hands on top of the box. “But you might be right. If Milo’s father had been abusive, I would do whatever I could to protect him.”
“So maybe this is all coincidence.” Helena held her hands up. “Barry might simply be a jerk. Mom might have decided to believe in magic and talismans because they made her feel better.”
“And the monster in the closet might have been our father.” Penny leaned her head on Helena’s shoulder. “Maybe we should leave the lid on this box. Maybe we shouldn’t pursue any of it. If Mom wanted the past sealed from us, then we should respect her wishes.”
“Could you live not knowing?” Helena asked.
“We’ve lived this long without questioning any of it. Why not just carry on?” Penny had a point. A really good point but not one Helena could embrace.
“I need to know. More now than ever. It’s like you coming to Wishing Moon Bay has pulled the stopper out of a bottle and the genie is on the loose. Dario thinks everything that’s happened is connected and I’m beginning to agree with him.” She reached over and opened the flap of the box. “Why not let me take a look? You can keep out of it, stay here with Milo, and let me deal with the fallout of what I might find.”
“You really think I’m going to let you do this alone?” Penny asked as she flipped the flap of the box open.
“Yes.” Helena looked her sister right in the eye.
“What do you mean?” Penny’s expression darkened.
“Whatever we do or don’t find in the box won’t change the fact that I want you to stay here in Wishing Moon Bay with Logan and his brothers while Dario and I go track down Barry, or at least figure out what he wanted.”
“You want me to stay here while you put yourself in danger?” Penny shook her head, her expression firm. “No way.”
“Yes, way.” Helena covered Penny’s hand with her own. “Dario will go with me and he’ll keep me safe, you know he will.”
“Just like Logan would keep me safe if we came with you.” Penny’s jaw tightened.
“And what about Milo? He only has one decent caring parent. If anything did happen to you, he’d have to go and live with his father. Is it really worth the risk?” Helena’s tone pierced her sister’s resolve. “You are safe here and you are happy. I can’t remember the last time I saw Milo so carefree, he’s not worried about your future, he doesn’t even miss his father.” She held up her hand. “And I am not saying that is a good thing, I’m just stating it as fact. Logan is a better man than Kelvin could ever be, we both know that.”
“I hate it when you make so much sense,” Penny grumbled.
“I know. And I know how much you want to get to the bottom of this. And I promise I will do whatever it takes to find out what, if anything, is going on. But it’ll be easier if I’m not constantly worried that something might happen to you.”
“Damn it, Helena. You certainly know how to make people do exactly what you want.” Penny’s words stung.
Despite Helena taking her sister’s words to heart, she smiled and closed her hand over Penny’s, pulling the flap of the box open. “This is important to me. You and Milo are important to me. You know that you two are the only people in the world that I love.”
“I don’t think that’s true anymore,” Penny reminded her. “You have Dario, he is your mate, and you’ll love him. You might not realize it yet, but you will.”
“Just like you love Logan.” Helena sighed as they opened the box and stared into the familiar contents. They had been through this box of sentimental items many times over the first few years after their mom’s death. Even though it had been a long time since Helena had looked inside, she didn’t expect anything to jump out at her as a clue for what Barry might have wanted.
The more she thought about it, the more she wasn’t sure that the whole thing with Barry might have been a coincidence and that Dario was wrong. Everything wasn’t connected. Life was made up of isolated fragments that were a jumbled-up mess.
The horse shifter wanted to see order in events because it would tie everything up with a neat bow. But life didn’t work that way.
“Does anything look out of place to you?” Penny asked as she took the objects out of the box and set them down on the bed.
“No, they all look the same as before. Mom’s ivy brooch, her silver comb, and hairbrush.” Helena stroked the soft bristles. “Do you remember when we used to sit at the mirror and Mom used to brush our hair, over and over again? It used to put me to sleep.”
“Me, too.” Penny ran her palm over the soft bristles. “I miss her. I miss the smell of her and the sound of her voice.”
“Me, too.” Helena slid her arm around Penny’s shoulders. “She did her best for us, didn’t she?”
“She did. No matter what she felt, no matter how painful her past might have been, I do believe she did her best.” Penny placed the hairbrush down on the bed and picked out a silver frame containing a photograph of the three of them. “We were happy. Most of the time we were happy, weren’t we?”
“We were,” Helena agreed. “It’s strange, looking through these things, it makes me feel closer to her, it makes me forget the bad times and focus on the good.”
Penny leaned into her sister as she held the frame in both hands. “That’s why I kept them. So we could feel closer to Mom and remember the good times. There’s no point dwelling on the bad. My failed marriage has taught me that.”
“I love you, Penny, I probably don’t say it enough, but I love you and that crazy, funny son of yours.”
“I love you, too, Helena.” Penny placed the photo down on the bed and turned to hug Helena, the rest of the contents forgotten as they took a moment to celebrate their sisterly love.
Chapter Ten – Dario
“Here he is.” Ivan waved his spatula in the air as Dario entered the kitchen.
“How are you, Ivan?”
“Since this morning?” Rift asked as he gathered up a couple of plates of food and headed for the restaurant.
“You have Rift working here now?” Dario asked.
“He’s covering for Penny, who is covering for Melanie. I think we’ll be looking for a new server if you’re looking for a job.” Logan looked hot and bothered as he headed back into the kitchen.
“I don’t exactly see myself waiting tables for the rest of my life. Not now that I have responsibilities.” His expression clouded and he went to the open kitchen door and stared out at the stars.
“Responsibilities, that sounds ominous,” Ivan exchanged a glance with Logan.
“What?” Dario swung around to face them. “If you have something to say, say it.”
“You and Helena have ju
st met, you need to give yourself some time to get to know each other before you get into the heavy stuff,” Ivan replied.
“The heavy stuff?” Dario ground out. “Like the fact that she might have a stalker?”
“Logan mentioned this Barry person. But don’t jump to conclusions, don’t go looking for trouble that isn’t there.”
“But what if there is trouble there?” Dario’s troubled mind wouldn’t let go of his fear for Helena. “Logan, back me up on this. Do you want to risk there being some unknown threat out there? Do you want us to bury our heads in the sand and just believe everything will work out?”
“I think you should take a breath and then we should go find Barry and have a calm, rational talk with him.” Logan waited for Ivan to pour a sauce over chicken fillets.
“I am going to have a calm talk with him, but you are going to stay here with Penny and Milo. That’s what Helena wants.”
Logan’s brows furrowed. “Penny asked me to go with her when you leave.”
“It makes sense for you to stay here with Penny and Milo,” Ivan agreed. “If this does end up being something, then we are here to protect you.”
“I can protect Penny,” Logan insisted.
“How do you know that?” Ivan asked. “Only last night we had to defend against a witch. There’s no way you would have defeated her on your own.” He tapped his temples. “Be smart.”
“Thank you,” Dario said.
“And you need to think smart, too. Don’t go making up trouble where there is none to prove yourself to Helena.” Ivan’s eyes flashed as his temper rose.
“Why would I do that?” Dario asked churlishly.
“Because you have grown up in the shadow of five predators and you always think you have something to prove.” Ivan waved his spatula at Dario. “I stand by my first statement. Give yourself a chance to breathe and get accustomed to having a mate in your life. Let yourself adjust to that before you go running off to defend her honor, which might not need defending.”
“What if by delaying leaving Wishing Moon Bay and finding this guy, it gives him a chance to act, a chance to hurt Helena?” Dario’s gut instinct told him they needed to act fast or things might get out of control.
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