by Liv Rider
He steeled himself for Natalie or Caroline opening the door, but it was Kelly, Emily’s college friend. She must’ve heard plenty about him from the other bridesmaids, but at least she was polite to him. “Emily!” she shouted at the rest of the room. “Your brother is here for the cats!”
“Great!” Emily called back. “Come in, Shaun!”
“How are things going in here?” He looked around, relieved to see Kelly was the only bridesmaid here.
“Well, Natalie didn’t want breakfast an hour ago, then thirty minutes ago she got hungry so she’s having breakfast now, and Caroline is getting Emily another coffee before the make-up artist has to get started.” Kelly’s phone, which she had been holding in her hand, buzzed. “Hang on, that’s the photographer asking for directions. Again.” She gave Shaun a quick, slightly panicked smile. “So, everything’s great!”
Shaun left her to deal with the photographer and walked over to the en-suite bathroom. “Emily?”
His sister came out wearing a white bathrobe with the Lakeview Inn logo stitched on the breast pocket. “Yes?”
“Nice wedding dress.”
She punched his arm. “Don’t even start, Shaun.” She sighed. “There’s still plenty of time,” she said, more to herself than to him. She walked over to the king-size bed. He could hear meowing already.
The pet carrier was on the other side of the bed, along with a linen bag. Shaun picked up the bag, sifting through it. There was a box with treats and a small bag with kibble in there, along with toys and two harnesses.
“They’re still wearing the ribbons with the rings,” Emily told him. “It went well yesterday, and you’ll be with them until the wedding anyway to watch them.”
Shaun grimaced while Emily went down on her knees to coo over her cats. He hadn’t told her about Rumple’s escape attempt and now wasn’t the time.
“I’ve put everything they need in that bag, including their harnesses. You should leave them out of the pet carrier for most of the day. They can’t stay in there all morning and they’re used to the harnesses.”
“Even though they’re wearing the rings?” he asked, wanting to be sure.
Emily got up. “Of course. That’s the whole point of you watching them! I don’t want them stuck in the carrier all day, poor things.”
Shaun was more worried about what would happen if they got to leave it. “Are you sure you want me to take them out and walk them?”
“Okay, rule number one with cats. You don’t walk the cats, they walk you. And yes, I’m sure.” Emily looked over at Kelly, who was still talking on the phone. “I didn’t mention this yesterday,” she said, lowering her voice, “but both Rumple and Stiltskin adore Dale because of, y’know. If there’s a problem, he can get them to come to him.”
Shaun glanced over his shoulder at Kelly. “Because of what you told me last night?” he whispered.
Emily got up, putting the pet carrier on the bed. “Yes.” She eyed him. “Are you okay? About what Dale told you? I should have asked you, but….” She trailed off as she smiled, playing with her engagement ring.
“He whisked you away. No, it’s fine. I’m fine.” He let out a sigh. “Still wrapping my brain around it, to be honest.”
“It took me a while too. But you and Mitchell made it back all right?”
Shaun wondered if he was misreading things, or if she really was looking at him meaningfully. “Yes? It wasn’t that far. He told me more about y’know, what he and Dale showed us.” Just because Kelly wasn’t listening didn’t mean they wouldn’t have to be careful.
“Oh.” She sounded disappointed. “Well, I’m sure you two had lots to talk about, and obviously you still have today to talk to him.”
“I’m here with Chris,” he hissed.
“But not really.” She shrugged. “The least you can do is talk to him.”
He’d done that last night and look how that had ended. “I’d better focus on my very important task today.” He patted the carrier, and one of the cats meowed.
“Yes! Hey, maybe the cats will like Mitchell as well. They haven’t met him, but if they love Dale, they’ll probably like Mitchell.” Emily smiled at him. “That’s worth a shot if the cats give you trouble.”
That explained why Rumple had been so happy to get picked up by Mitchell yesterday. “I’ll keep that in mind. Anything else I need to know?” He wanted to get out of here before she brought up talking to Mitchell again.
She shook her head. “That should be it. Look, just go somewhere where there are bushes or something for them to dig around. They’ll do their business if they need to. There should be some plastic bags in there too, in case they leave a mess.”
He groaned. “I thought that was dogs!”
“Just in case!”
He decided not to argue and slung the linen bag over his shoulder before picking up the pet carrier. It was unusual for a hotel to be fine with pets in the room, and it made him wonder. “This place being so animal-friendly, has that got anything to do with, y’know?”
“It was one reason we chose this location, yes.” Emily glanced over Kelly, who was still on the phone. “Most of the staff are shifters, so it’s shifter-friendly. They’re used to animals in the rooms and on the grounds.”
“They should be used to shit, then.”
Emily did not look impressed. “They also expect their guests to clean up after themselves.”
Shaun kept his mouth shut as he picked up the carrier and headed over to the door, with Emily right behind him.
Kelly joined them at the door, looking relieved. “The photographer should be here in half an hour.”
“See you later, sweeties,” Emily cooed through the slats of the carrier. “Shaun, try to stay near the Inn. We’ll message you when we need you for the photo shoot.”
Oh right, the pictures. He’d have to see if he could figure out a way to leave Chris out of the family portraits. He was sure Chris didn’t want to be part of those pictures either.
“I’ll try to take them for a walk around the lake.” It couldn’t go worse than last night’s walk.
“Remember to put the harnesses on securely. Especially Rumple. Keep a close eye on them.”
“Don’t worry. ” Shaun hoped he sounded more confident than he felt. “Today will be perfect.”
“I’ll settle for most of it going to plan.” Emily gave him a hug, and he awkwardly hugged her back as he held the pet carrier in his other hand. “Okay, you’re all set,” she said, looking him over. “Rumple and Stiltskin, check.”
“Just everything else to go.” He headed into the hallway.
Caroline rushed around the corner, carrying a steaming cup of coffee, and she narrowly avoided bumping into him. “Careful!” she told him, then walked into the room.
Kelly rolled her eyes as she closed the door, and Shaun was glad to be out of there.
He headed over to the staircase. There was a tentative meow from the carrier. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to stay in there much longer.” He hoped they wouldn’t want to explore too far away from the Inn. Cats were notoriously lazy, right? Maybe Rumple and Stiltskin would want to take a nice, long nap in the sunshine.
Considering their escape artist tendencies, the safest option would be to put the harnesses on while still inside. He opened the door to the staircase, figuring he could rope Chris into helping. One adult per cat, what could go wrong?
He saw Natalie walk up. She was already wearing her purple bridesmaid dress, and he stepped back to hold the door open for her.
She glared at him as she walked past. “Try not to lose the cats and the rings.”
“Wasn’t planning on it.” He gave her an overly cheerful smile.
“And don’t even think about coming near the parking lot.”
“I’ve been informed these cats are gonna walk me.” He nodded at the carrier. “If they want to explore the parking lot, I’m in no position to stop them. You have fun getting ready!” He walked down the sta
ircase, letting the door fall shut behind them without giving her the time to reply. That would annoy her.
Chris had agreed to watch over the cats with Shaun, especially when he realized he’d get to sit on a picnic bench while Stiltskin lay stretched out on the grass in front of him. Her tail flicked lazily. “I’m starting to like cats,” he said, watching as Shaun tried to untangle Rumple’s leash. She’d been wandering underneath the bench and gotten her leash wound around a leg.
“I’m not.” Shaun held Rumple in one hand and tried to unwind the leash with his other, all the while trying not to get grass stains on his rented suit.
Just when he got the leash free and clipped back onto her harness, she started squirming and wriggling like mad to get out of his grip. Startled, he let her go, but held onto the leash as she darted off.
Or tried to dart off, since Shaun stayed where he was once he looked at where Rumple wanted to go.
Mitchell stood outside, along with the other groomsmen and Dale. Just the sight of him in that well-tailored suit made Shaun’s mouth go dry. It really wasn’t fair. At least Mitchell hadn’t spotted them yet. Shaun tugged on the leash. “Come on, Rumple, let’s go somewhere else.”
Going by her loud wailing as she strained against the harness, Rumple disagreed.
Shaun stood frozen, surprised so much noise could come out such a tiny body.
Stiltskin had jumped up, fully alert after her sister raised the alarm.
Everyone on the lawn was looking at them, and Shaun gulped. He was lucky Emily wasn’t here, but that was the only upside. He could see Natalie’s husband lean over to one of the groomsmen to say something, and they both laughed.
He had to do something, and Chris was no help, sitting there and laughing behind him. Shaun walked over to Rumple to pick her up, but she just ran towards Dale and the groomsmen as far as the leash allowed.
Mitchell walked over to them, then suddenly froze and turned his back on them. Shaun tried not to feel disappointed. Mitchell was ignoring him, which was exactly what Shaun wanted. Even if Mitchell knew the truth, he wouldn’t want to be with Shaun.
Dale, however, did walk over to them. He smiled at Shaun, then kneeled down when Rumple butted her head against his ankles. “Did you miss me?” he asked, stroking her back.
Rumple flopped onto his left shoe, purring as he continued to pet her.
“Wow, she really likes you,” Shaun said, as Chris joined him so Stiltskin could be petted too. Emily hadn’t been kidding about how much the cats loved Dale.
“Well, I’m the one who feeds them in the morning.” Dale was looking at the cats, who seemed to compete at who could purr the loudest.
“That’s so cute!”
Shaun looked up from the cats to see a woman in a dark blue cocktail dress snap pictures. Going by the camera bag slung over one shoulder, the photographer had arrived.
She smiled at Dale. “They’re gonna be in the shoot with you and the groomsmen.”
Dale scratched Stiltskin behind the ears. “Oh, I wasn’t planning on—”
“They’re gonna be in the shoot,” the woman told him, then looked at Shaun. “I have to take some pictures of the bride getting ready, but you and those cats better not go anywhere.”
“I’ll try?” Shaun replied, but she’d already turned to walk back inside.
Dale got up, still looking surprised at getting ordered around like that. “I guess you better not go anywhere, then.”
“We’ll do our best,” Chris said. “They were fine before you got here. They go crazy over you. What’s your secret?”
“Like I said, I feed ‘em in the morning.” Dale checked his watch. “I’ll get Jake to round up the groomsmen. Knowing Bryan, he’s still fixing his hair.”
When he walked away, Rumple and Stiltskin both started yowling again. Shaun felt his face redden as people kept looking his way. He saw Natalie’s husband elbow Caroline’s husband, the two of them whispering amongst themselves and nodding at him. Great. With his luck, they would message their wives that he was now guilty of animal cruelty.
“Let’s get them something to eat.” Chris picked up Stiltskin to bring her back to the picnic bench where they’d left the bag with supplies.
The treats seemed to make both cats forget about Dale, and they went back to lying in the grass and soaking up the sun.
Shaun looked over at where Dale was talking to Jake, gesturing at the Inn. Mitchell had vanished too, not that Shaun wanted to see him.
It wasn’t long before Jake went inside to collect Mitchell and Bryan, and by then the photographer had joined them. She was gesturing at the little playground further up the grass.
“What’s she planning?” Chris got up to have a better look.
Shaun wondered the same thing. The rest of the guests stayed out of the way as she started taking pictures of Dale with the lake as the backdrop. She gestured for the groomsmen to join the groom, and after a few more pictures, she pointed at the playground again.
“We should check it out.” Chris picked up Stiltskin again. “C’mon. She wanted the cats in the pictures too, right?”
Shaun reluctantly followed his friend, picking up Rumple and telling her to keep quiet. “We’re going over to Dale,” he told her when she meowed. “You can rub yourself all over his shoes again as much as you like.”
By the time they joined the photographer, Dale was climbing the stairs of the slide. A few feet away, Jake and Bryan sniggered amongst themselves while Mitchell looked slightly horrified.
“She’s making them go down the slide.” Chris’ voice was gleeful. “This is great.”
Shaun laughed as well when Dale tried to look happy about going down the slide in his no-doubt expensive wedding suit.
The photographer had wandered over to get some better shots, and ordered Dale to do it again, but to look a little happier this time.
Shaun and Chris watched as she put Dale and the groomsmen through various poses on the slide, telling them all to slide down at least once. Jake was the only one who seemed to enjoy himself. The photographer then dragged them over to the swing set. “You think she’s forgotten about the cats?” Chris asked.
After some pictures of Jake pushing Dale on the swing while Mitchell and Bryan tried to look casual standing next to them, the photographer beckoned Shaun and Chris over.
“You stay seated,” she told Dale. “While holding a cat in your lap.” She eyed Shaun critically. “Without the harness.”
“I don’t think we should do that.” Shaun didn’t look forward to putting Rumple or Stiltskin back into the harness, especially not with everyone else to watch him struggle.
“It’ll look better without the harness.”
“Let’s do Stiltskin.” Dale held out his hand for Chris to hand him the cat and quickly had her out of the harness.
Rumple started wriggling in Shaun’s hands and meowing loudly.
The photographer laughed. “You want to join?” she cooed. “How about it?”
Unfortunately, she asked Dale, who smiled and nodded. “Sure, my lap’s big enough.”
Shaun’s palms were sweating when he watched Dale with both cats in his lap. Chris held both harnesses, looking relaxed. Shaun tried not to look at Mitchell, but his skin prickled at the sensation of just being near him. His suit felt too tight and constrictive.
Mitchell, it seemed, was very interested in the cats too, looking either at them in Dale’s lap, or at the ground. The photographer took several pictures of Dale on his own, still sitting on the swing, as he petted the cats.
Shaun thought it was the most genuinely happy Dale had looked during any of the pictures. He wondered if the photographer had been hoping for the same effect, and that was why she’d been so eager to involve Rumple and Stiltskin.
“Okay, you guys are done,” the photographer declared eventually. “I’ll see if the bride is ready, and then we’ll do more pictures of her and her entourage.” She turned to the groomsmen. “I hope one of you has brou
ght a clothes brush.”
“That’s my cue to get out of here.” Dale handed Rumple back to Shaun, under loud protest from the cat. “You need to put their harnesses back on. Hang on.” He turned to Mitchell. “Can you help Shaun with that? The cats’ll stay still for you.”
Mitchell looked like he’d rather do another photo shoot with the photographer than help Shaun. He swallowed. “Sure.”
“Thanks,” Shaun managed, still trying to keep Rumple from squirming out of his hold.
“You know, I’m gonna head inside and get a drink,” Chris said, just when Dale was about to give Stiltskin back to him. “I’ll get the both of you one too. Putting cats back in harnesses is thirsty work!” He dropped the harnesses in the linen bag he was carrying, then hung it from Shaun’s shoulder as Shaun glared at him. “I’ll be right back!”
Dale looked taken aback at Chris’ departure, but gave Stiltskin to Mitchell. “You two have this, right?”
Shaun exchanged a look with Mitchell.
He did not at all have this.
10
Mitchell
That morning, Mitchell resolved to stick with his plan to avoid Shaun.
We should not ignore our mate! his dragon insisted.
His dragon had also insisted all morning that they find Shaun to explain and grovel and apologize. No amount of Sun Salutations would bring the calm Mitchell desperately needed. How was he supposed to move with his breath if he couldn’t focus on his breath, never mind his movements? If it wasn’t his dragon grumbling that they should talk to Shaun, his mind kept drifting to what Shaun was up to right now. Was he dozing in bed? Was he already in the shower, getting ready for the wedding?
Mitchell rolled up his yoga mat with a frustrated huff, then kicked it under the bed before trying to regain his self-control.
He’d have to spend most of the day around Shaun, and he would need all his self-control if he wanted to avoid a repeat of last night.
