by E A Price
“Stop it, this instance!” she yelled, disapproval etched into her expression.
She pointed her finger at Luc. “You, calm down.” Then swung it round to Tristan. “You, stop acting like a baby. We will find out who it is you’ve been contacting and as long as they are not connected to Blackthorne, well, I guess you can keep talking to them. I mean, it’s a little weird, but, I guess you can.”
The two males glowered at one another.
“And stop that!”
Finally, Luc nodded in agreement to his mate and gave her cheek a quick stroke to show that he was calming down.
“Come and train with us, Tristan.”
Tristan gave a stiff nod of acquiescence. He did not like it, but Guinevere was finished messaging for the night. He had nothing else to do.
He knew he should listen to his leader. Felt it; it was something deep inside him, a need to obey the most dominant gargoyle. But there was also a need to communicate with Guinevere, and at that moment, he was not sure which was stronger.
*
Gwen smiled as Martha heaved a huge amount of books onto the library counter. She was in the middle of checking back a few books, but Myrna was so engrossed in her bridal magazine that she didn’t even look up.
Gwen sighed and got up to help Martha. She was surprised; Martha wasn’t a big reader usually. She took out an occasional mystery, but usually, the woman seemed to be too busy to get through a book.
“This is very ambitious,” said Gwen.
Myrna tut-tutted from behind her magazine. She didn’t like it when Gwen made any comments about what books customers picked out. According to Myrna, there was librarian-customer confidentiality, which meant they shouldn’t discuss what other people were reading and should also keep their opinions to themselves. Myrna thought very highly of herself and the library. Though, in this instance, Myrna didn’t even bother to look up from behind her magazine.
Martha smiled her perfect smile. “I’ve been meaning to take them out for a few days. They look fascinating.”
As Gwen sifted through the books, she realized she recognized every single title. She knew them because she’d read them, and because barely a week ago she had recommended them all to Tristan.
Myrna finally appeared from behind the magazine - apparently, the cake section wasn’t any good - and started chatting with Martha. She let Martha coo over her engagement ring and then gave the woman an appraising look.
“You’re looking well,” said Myrna just a tad resentfully.
It was a tone Gwen heard most women in town use when talking of Martha. She was lovely and didn’t even flaunt her beauty. Though, she could be kind of a pain in the ass – Gwen clung to that to make herself feel better when she had her bad days.
Martha wasn’t just looking well. She had been looking tired for a couple of months, but now, she was radiant.
“Isn’t Valerie marrying your old boyfriend?” asked Myrna, with just the barest hint of a sly tone.
“Yes, good luck to them,” Martha said amiably, with no suggestion that it bothered her in the least.
“You don’t seem to mind.”
“Honestly, I don’t.”
Gwen didn’t blame her. She’d seen the guy in question – he looked old and lizard-like.
“New man?” teased Myrna.
“Well… maybe.” She giggled, and her cheeks turned pink.
Gwen’s heart – which had started sinking when she noticed the books – now took on a full plummet.
“He must be something special,” said Myrna, angling for more details.
“Oh, he is.”
“Spill, who is it?”
Martha looked down evasively. “He’s not local.”
Gwen’s heart must have reached her feet at that moment. But surely it was just a coincidence? Wouldn’t Tristan have told her if he had a girlfriend? But, he hadn’t really told her anything about himself. Oh lord – he probably was dating Martha. How could she compare to her?!
When Myrna realized Martha wasn’t about to give her any details about her new paramour, she let her be on her way and returned to her stack of bridal magazines.
Gwen was in an annoyed funk for the rest of the day and spent the day stacking shelves, trying to avoid customers. As soon as she got home, she would message him and demand to know whether he was dating Martha. Yes, it sounded desperate and a little pathetic, but she deserved to know… didn’t she? Maybe all this time he just thought they were friends. Was she the only one who had detected a flirty tone between them?
As if she wasn’t annoyed enough, she looked up to find her ex-boyfriend, Tom approaching. He had that supercilious grin on his face that had driven her nuts while they were together. He always looked like he was enjoying a private joke at everyone else’s expense.
She muttered a hello and tried not to snap at him when he immediately stood in front of the shelf she was trying to stack.
“Hey, babe.” He flashed her a toothy smile. One that he seemed to think was sexy. It was less attractive than a piano.
“Can I help you with something?”
“Just wanted to see how you were doing, babe.” He tried for sincere, but nope, arrogance reigned supreme in his expression.
“I’m fine, Tom, just busy with my job.” She put emphasis on the word job. Tom had tried working in his dad’s bakeries, but after complaints from the female employees, it was decided that Tom was unemployable. His dad just gave him money to leave him alone. Tom had two brothers, and since they were both in business school, Tom was off the hook to be successful.
“You look tired, babe. You know, if we hadn’t broken up…”
“Tom, please stop calling me babe, and unless you want help in the library, please move – I need to get back to work.”
Tom’s mouth turned into an ugly scowl. He took a step closer to her and Gwen’s expression hardened.
“Bitch,” he hissed before stomping away.
Gwen shook her head and continued with her task. She was slightly shaken, but nothing she couldn’t get over – and it was nothing compared to what he said when she did break up with him.
At least things couldn’t get worse… or so she thought. When she arrived home that evening, she found her father waiting outside their house. When he saw her, he leaped out of his car and strode towards her.
“Of course,” she muttered under her breath. The Universe hated her.
“Gwen,” he started.
“Not interested,” she mumbled, holding up a hand.
“You need to talk to your mother about selling the house.”
“There’s no way I’m doing that – we live there.”
Her dad scowled, and she was reminded of Tom. Jeez, they looked and acted so alike. Had she really not noticed until now? Ugh- she’d been dating a substitute for her dad.
“The house is in my name; I have a right to it!”
Gwen gave him a cold look. “I think you gave away your rights to anything when you packed up and left us when we needed you most.”
“I’m not leaving without my money. If you don’t want to sell the house, then simply give me the cash value. Either way suits me.”
“There’s no way we can afford that.”
Her dad waved his hand dismissively. “I’m sure you’ll work something out.”
Gwen watched with an open jaw as he walked away, got in his car and left. Yeah, sure! She’d just break open her piggy bank, and there it would be!
How the hell could he just turn up and demand anything? No, how are you? No, I’ve missed you. No apology for abandoning them. Bupkis!
She recalled when she was thirteen, and she came home from school to find her dad really had smashed her piggy bank for the few coins it contained. He had claimed it was to buy a birthday present for her mom, though the only thing he gave her that year was a card. Yeah, leaving them actually improved his parenting record.
She stomped into the house.
“Hello, honey.”
“Mom?” She found her mother pottering around the kitchen.
Her mother’s face creased with concern. “What’s wrong? You look upset.”
“I ah, I’m fine. What about you?” She had an urge to rush to her mother, to get her to sit down, to stop her from doing whatever she was doing – to coddle her completely.
“I’m feeling a lot better so I thought I’d cook for you.”
“You don’t need to, Mom, I’m perfectly…”
“I know, but I want to help out, and I’m not entirely useless.”
“I didn’t say you were, but…”
“I did some washing and ironing earlier as well.” She beamed proudly.
“Thanks, but… Did you bake cupcakes?”
There was a box of brightly decorated confections on the counter. Mmmm, red velvet – gah! Gwen put a hand over her mouth to stop herself from drooling all over them.
“No, they’re from Martha. She stopped by earlier.”
“Humph.” Gwen wasn’t exactly feeling very cordial towards Devil Hang’s resident bossy goddess. “What did she want?”
Her mom raised an eyebrow in surprise at her tone. “Nothing, really. She comes by every week – you know that.”
“Woman’s a busybody,” said Gwen sulkily.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
Gwen hesitated, considering whether she should tell her. “It’s just been a long day. Let me help you.”
“Nonsense, go and relax and if I need you, I’ll call you.”
Gwen supposed she did want to check for messages. She’d been looking forward to it since last night, though that had dimmed after Martha visited the library.
She told herself it didn’t matter even if Tristan was dating Devil’s Hang very own goddess, Gwen would still enjoy messaging him… probably. She would be disappointed, she wouldn’t deny that, but she’d get over it, right?
Gwen took a deep breath and switched on her computer, quickly checking for messages. Nada. Zilch. No messages.
She slumped back on her bed and tried not to imagine all the things Tristan might be doing at that moment.
*
Tom squinted at the old guy. For a moment, Tom worried he was Gwen’s new boyfriend, but given the expression on her face – less friendly even than when she talked to him – he guessed not. Guy did look familiar, though. The man started walking back to his car, and Gwen stomped into her house. He wasn’t local but… holy shit! It was her dad.
Huh. Been a while since he was around. Back before he left, Gwen had only been a teenager, and Tom hadn’t paid her any mind – she’d been too young for him. Even he wasn’t interested before they turned legal.
But she was his now. He’d been patient, waiting for her to come crawling back and admit she made a mistake, but there had been nothing from her. No groveling apologies, no begging, and he was tired of waiting.
Tom had dated half the women in this town, and the town over, and not to mention a couple of dozen one-night stands in Portland, and he was ready to settle down. Gwen was ideal. He didn’t want a woman who had been with many other men – sluts. Gwen had only her high school pussy of a boyfriend before him.
She was one of the prettiest girls in town and hadn’t gone to college – so she wasn’t all high and mighty and didn’t think she was better than him. Plus, she was poor – she depended on him and his money.
She really was perfect. She just had to be made to see how much she needed him.
*
Tristan glared at the broken computer. Luc hadn’t actually intended to break it, but he was angry, and his tail had whipped it and… it was unusable until further notice. In fact, Kylie had used the words ‘broken beyond fricking belief’ while groaning in exasperation. She said she would purchase a new one for the house, but it would not arrive soon enough. He needed to contact Guinevere that night before she thought he had forgotten her, or was not interested anymore, or found another male to message. Grrr!
“Hey, Tristan,” said Martha brightly, sashaying into the room.
Tristan barely glanced at her.
“I brought you the books; I’ll just leave them here.”
He looked up briefly and forced out a, “Thank you.”
“What is this?” growled Drago, making a thunderous entrance as usual. His huge wings smashed into a bookcase sending many books flying. Oh well, they were only rare first editions – nothing to worry about.
Tristan inhaled, eyeing the enormous male warily. Drago was a slave to his temper, and they all were cautious about approaching him. Tristan may be angry and annoyed, but he hadn’t quite reached suicidal yet. Irritate Drago at your peril.
But, as Martha looked up at him, her face lit up. “Drago,” she said in a breathy voice as if she hadn’t seen him in weeks, rather than merely hours.
Drago tried to maintain his glower at Tristan, but as Martha flew into his arms, he was otherwise distracted.
“Let’s go somewhere quiet and talk,” entreated Martha, smiling shyly.
He nodded at Martha and allowed her to lead him away, his suspicious ire forgotten.
Tristan sighed and gathered up the books from the floor. He actually tried to read one, tried to forget about Guinevere, but he couldn’t. She would think he had abandoned her, would think he did not wish to converse with her anymore. It was the furthest thing from the truth. Talking to her was the only thing he really cared about. She made him happier than he had been for centuries, or perhaps ever, and he wasn’t about to lose her.
He would find a way.
*
There was no message from Tristan all night, and she checked virtually every five minutes. She kept saying she had to go to the bathroom, and it got to the point where her mom thought she had a serious ‘bathroom’ problem and was trying to make an appointment for her to see their local doctor, Dr. White.
Gwen checked her e-mail while working at the library as well, but there was still no response from him. She had put a few messages out there, asking if everything was okay, but still nothing.
She allowed herself a few minutes to stop worrying and despairing over Tristan, and actually started worrying about her other – and some might say more pressing – problem. Namely, her dad.
What was she supposed to do? He said he would take money, but they didn’t have any savings. Everything they had went to her mother’s medical bills and there was no way in hell they were not getting paid – they were priority one.
She didn’t want to bring up the situation with her mom considering how perky she was – this might upset her and affect her recovery. But Gwen didn’t know what else to do.
Perhaps they could keep the house, but he could easily sue for half the proceeds, and while he may not ultimately get it, they would waste a heck of a lot of money in lawyer fees making sure he didn’t.
The only thing they really had going for them was the darn house – if they had to move and pay rent she wasn’t sure how long they could manage.
And as if her day couldn’t be more miserable, Tom had just walked into the library. The man probably hadn’t read a thing since three years before he graduated high school, but here he was, strolling to the desk with that stupid high-and-mighty grin on his face.
Hopefully, he was just there to rub it in her face about what an idiot she was for dumping him, or maybe he had a new girlfriend he wanted to gloat about. She’d take either of those over an attempt to get her back.
If only Myrna hadn’t gone out to lunch with her fiancé, Gwen would have foisted him off on her.
Nope. Time to suck it up. It was her fault for dating him in the first place – now she had to be nice to him.
Gwen plastered a smile on her face. “Hello, Tom.”
The grin widened, and she wondered how she had never noticed how big his head was. He had played football in high school, but that was a long time ago. He still worked out sporadically, but his muscles were flabby, and he sported a red-cheeked complexion of someone who drank far to
o much.
“Hey, babe.”
Ugh. Babe. When Joely at the diner called her babe, she was fine with it. Joely was being affectionate, and Joely often gave them leftovers from the diner. But when Tom said babe, it made her want to take a three-day shower. There was just a sleazy quality in the way he said it, and no matter how many times she asked he would not stop calling her babe.
“How can I help you?” Perhaps by showing him the exit?
He placed his hands on the desk, leaning towards her so far that she nearly gagged on his aftershave. Someone should tell him that less really is more. Had it been this bad when they dated? Her mind wandered as she wondered what aftershave Tristan wore. She bet he smelled divine.
“I saw your dad in town,” he said with a certain amount of relish.
“Oh.” She drummed her fingers on the desk. So what if he had. She had no idea the two even knew each other. “And?”
“He told me about the house, and how it’s in his name.”
“Maybe so, but no judge is going to kick us out.”
“Legally, he owns it.”
Gwen’s cheek twitched, irritated that he was bringing it up – it was none of his damn business. “Well, legally, we’re still his wife and kid – so we deserve to be there.”
“He’s going to sue you for the money, you know.”
“Did you want help finding a book or…”
“You’re going to drown in lawyers’ fees and not be able to pay your mom’s medical bills.” He looked thrilled about that.
“I don’t really want to talk about this.”
“And I don’t want to see my girl homeless.” His voice almost turned into a purr.
“I’m not your…”
“I’ll pay your dad, give him the money to go away and make sure he never bothers you again.”
Gwen stared at him, waiting for it. She wasn’t foolish enough to get excited over his offer. It would come with a price and one that she definitely was not willing to pay.
“I’ll always take care of my girl.”
“You want to get back together?” she said dryly. Really? After he badmouthed her all over town, he really wanted her back?
He leaned an inch closer, and she forced herself not to flinch. “We should never have broken up – it was a misunderstanding.”
