by Linda Palmer
I looked for Neecy and found her with Wendy. I started to join them, but Charly, Shelly, and DeeAnn got to me first.
"Tell me everything," said my sister.
"Nothing much to say yet." I explained how we'd met and how he kept popping up. Laughing, I flipped my ponytail with my hand. "Guess I'm irresistible."
Charly snorted. "Clearly he doesn't know you as well as I do."
"And you clearly don't know him very well at all." Shelly seemed concerned.
I didn't disagree. "You got that right. I'm thinking of today as a blind date. If we survive it, maybe we'll hook up again."
"Hook up!"
I'd clearly rattled my sister. Maybe because she vividly remembered our dating mistakes. "Get together, meet, go out, hang."
"Oh." Charly softly laughed. "Sorry."
Impulsively I hugged her. "I'll be fine."
"Of course you will." She had a reason for jumping to conclusions. When my boyfriend from tenth through twelfth grade abruptly broke up with me on graduation night—after celebration sex, the rat—I quickly moved on and on and on. Yeah. Three boyfriends in quick succession with lovelorn me their easy target. "I've upset you. I'm so sorry."
I gave her a quick smile of reassurance. "I'm not upset, okay? As for Cade, I'm taking my time with him, and so far things look promising. So don't worry about me. You've got enough on your mind."
Conversation turned to other things, thank goodness, which is why it took me a while to remember Cade had never told me how his gang was supernatural. While Charly and I talked about nurseries, maternity clothes, and possible daycares, I secretly kept an eye out for him. He finally came back, as did Theo, but through different doors and not at the same time.
By design so I wouldn't wonder about their mysterious connection?
The afternoon and evening flew by. I tried several times to get Cade alone, but couldn't make it happen. My family had instantly adopted him, a show of support that resulted from their experience with Shelly, I thought. Families should love unconditionally, which meant no judging.
That didn't stop them from asking lots of questions once everyone, including Cade, left around ten that night. I'd half expected sleepovers because of the snow. But the guys had done a road check and assured us that they were passable.
A late supper with my parents consisted of whatever we wanted to reheat, plus the remains of various desserts. I had a ham sandwich, potatoes au gratin, and a sliver each of pecan, pumpkin, and chocolate pie. Mom and Dad were obviously tired and ready to crash. I suggested we clean up all the mess tomorrow, a plan they heartily supported. Once I knew they were tucked away in the master suite, I sneaked back down and did the work myself.
There wasn't that much to do—a little trash pick-up, a few stray dishes, dividing and packaging leftovers—so I wasn't surprised to find myself thinking of Cade. Had I really opened myself up to more hurt and with a guy I barely knew? He'd talked about the supernatural. Well, me trusting him was nothing short of that from my point of view.
*****
Although I had fun visiting with my family over the weekend, by Saturday evening I was past ready to head north. I wanted time in my own space to think about what had happened with Cade.
There was little snow left in Little Rock when I waved good-bye and hit the road around six that night. What remained was melting in the drizzle. Since my dad had bought me new tires on Friday and had the oil changed, too, I felt pretty safe. My parents had piled up my back seat with presents, some personal items I hadn't moved the first time, and all the leftovers. So I had plenty of everything, especially the desserts, and an unopened box of chocolates a patient had given Mom. I also had bottled water and grabbed a Coke at Sonic before I left town.
I wasn't ten miles out before Neecy called on my cell and told me they were staying until Sunday. With my CD player serenading me, I got lost in the lyrics of "Thinking Out Loud" and thoughts of how wonderful true love could be if two people committed to forever. Years ago, when Neecy and I were hopelessly romantic pre-teens, we'd come up with the acronym MTB, which stood for meant to be.
Naively, we believed every woman in the world had an MTB man just waiting to be found. Once we did, there'd be white weddings and forever afters. Now, years later, she'd experienced her version of it with Theo. I, on the other hand, had figured out that MTBs were as rare as forever afters…at least for humans. Animals, on the other hand, seemed to have it down, which made me wonder if we were really superior beings.
It was all about compromise, at least for humans. Repairing instead of discarding. I wondered how Cade felt about marriage. His childhood had been rocky. Maybe he didn't hold much stock in it.
Marriage?
Really?
I laughed out loud, spewing Coke on the steering wheel. Somehow my mind had leapt from tentatively dating him, which was scary enough, to tying the knot.
Was I still a hopeful romantic or what?
I made a pit stop every hour just to stretch my legs. The farther north I went, the more I drove in rain mixed with sleet with an occasional snowflake. With care, I maneuvered the lonely highway that wound its way up. I didn't have any problems beyond a split second loss of traction every now and then.
It was almost nine when I passed the spot where I'd first met Cade. Had fate intervened that Sunday? Had it made me pull over when I normally wouldn't have? My gaze strayed as I pictured the scene. When I refocused, I saw that something now blocked my lane. I didn't slam on the brakes; I didn't dare. I did take my foot off the accelerator. The incline slowed the car. When the animal didn't budge, I veered sharply right and slid, coming to a rolling stop with my front two wheels on the road and my motor running. The beam of my headlights illuminated what was surely a wolf. I put the car in park. The animal still didn't move.
Elise's? I couldn't see his markings well enough to tell.
Sleet began pinging the car. Determined to take a picture, I ignored it and dug my phone from my bag. When I looked up, one wolf had become two. I watched in joyful disbelief as one more slipped out of the woods and joined them in the road. Three wolves. Three gorgeous wolves. A real pack. What a unique privilege to see them in the Missouri hills. And a big so-there to Ted and all the others who'd doubted me. My photos would be darker than I wanted even with the flash, but they'd be enough proof. Click-flash. Click-flash. Oddly, the burst of light didn't seem to bother them.
In fact, the group continued to grow. At four, I got goose bumps, but at five I experienced unease. Something wasn't right. Shouldn't they be running away instead of creeping closer? The pack surrounded my car. A too-close snarl made me release my seatbelt. I jerked away from the driver's side window just as fangs gnashed the glass and claws scraped the door. I screamed. The SUV rocked in the onslaught.
Would the glass hold?
Desperately, I honked the horn several times. The wolves startled, only to regroup at the front of the vehicle. I put my lights on bright and shifted into drive, fully intending to blast through them. My tires spun on the wet asphalt. My headlights swept to the left and tail lights to the right. At that moment another wolf arrived, only he challenged the pack instead of joining them. I struggled to see through the swishing wipers and headlight glare. Was that…? Couldn't be.
But it was. The moon-shaped patch of fur near his eye proved it.
Had Elise's gray wolf come to save me?
As one, the pack surrounded the loner, all of them hunkered down and menacing. He didn't have a chance. Impulsively, I grabbed a couple of the bottled waters and got out of the vehicle. Safe behind the open door, I threw one. It hit its mark, resulting in a yelp of pain. My second did the same. The other four bottles followed, thrown with the accuracy of a girl who'd played softball all her life.
Three of the wolves actually loped away. I tried the horn again, a tactic that sent a fourth scurrying after it. Finally there were just two wolves locked in combat—the gray and a bigger one that looked almost black. I snatched my new umbr
ella from the back seat and rushed forward, stabbing the black with the point of it and then smacking him. Snarling, he twisted to face me and abruptly attacked. I shrieked and fell, landing on my back. With both arms up to protect my face, I instinctively rolled onto my side and hunched up in a ball. He dragged me for a couple of yards, then began nipping at my clothes. Not once did he go for my throat.
Just as abruptly, he lost interest and took on my hero wolf.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Still Lily
They clashed again—a tangle of fur, fangs, and claws. Drops of something wet were slung my way. Saliva? Blood? A pained yip ended the fray. Both wolves collapsed. In a couple of seconds, the black staggered up and limped across the road to vanish into the woods. The gray didn't move beyond panting heavily.
I got to my feet and ran to check on him. I rubbed his head, which felt wet. Rain or blood? Sheer terror knotted my stomach. Running to the car, I opened the hatch and spread the old blanket I kept back there for cold nights at football games. It took forever, but I coaxed the gray to stand and limp to the cargo area. With my boost, he made it inside and collapsed again. I pulled the blanket edges over him. "Hang in there, okay? I'll get help."
Only when I'd closed the hatch and slipped behind the wheel again did I acknowledge what had just happened. Wolves that weren't supposed to live in Missouri had just attacked my car. Even crazier, another wolf had saved me from them. Craziest, I'd put injured him in the back of my SUV.
Did I feel silly for telling my hero wolf I'd get help for him? My answer was an incredulous "no." Somehow, I'd known he'd understand, and he actually had. Nauseated and trembling, I tried to think what to do next.
For a split second, I considered calling Cade, but he was surely long gone by then, and what could he do, anyway? Taking the wolf to Neecy's was out of the question, too, and I really didn't know anyone else. Was there a vet in town? Should I take him to a people hospital? Would a motel be the answer? An image of Elise popped into my head for no reason at all except she'd been feeding this wolf. That told me she cared about him. How would she feel if I asked for shelter tonight?
I decided to chance it. It took the better part of an hour to get there, thanks to the worsening weather. The so-called road to her house, always rough, was almost impassible. But we bumped and dipped until we reached the clearing that was her yard. I hopped out, leaving the door open and the motor running while I sloshed through the slush to the house. Although it was pretty late for an old lady to be up, the porch light came on before I got there. I saw her peeking out a side window.
She quickly opened the door and grabbed my arm, pulling me into the warm foyer. "Lily! Glory be, just look at you! What on earth has happened?" Her gaze swept me from head to toe.
I couldn't begin to imagine what she saw. "I'm okay, Miss Elise, but your wolf isn't. I have him in back. He was in a fight and needs somewhere to stay."
"Bring him inside."
"No, not the house. How about your garage?" I'd barely done more than give it a passing glance, but it had looked nice enough for our needs.
"Of course."
Only then did I fully register that Elise was wide eyed and completely dressed. "I was afraid I'd wake you."
"I'm a night owl. Now what do you need?"
"Water, I guess. Rags. A good light."
She nodded. "I'll just be a minute."
I ran back to my SUV and drove it right to the garage, where I got out and raised the manual door. There was no car inside, but it had that familiar musty odor garages often had. Oil. Gasoline. Damp everything. My headlights revealed that shelves lined the walls. I saw they held tools, storage tubs, a plastic gas container, moving blankets, and paint cans. There were two doors. One in back that probably opened into the encroaching woods. Another on a side wall that undoubtedly led to a workshop or maybe a storage area. I pulled in as far as I could and darted to the cargo hold to check on my wolf. I felt for his heart. I registered its steady beat. Closing my eyes, I exhaled a whew of relief.
"How's he doing?"
Screeching, I spun around. My hand kept my pounding heart inside my chest. "Sorry." My laugh sounded as shaky as I felt. "What a night, huh?"
With a sympathetic smile, she handed me a stack of frayed towels and a first aid kit before pointing the beam of her flashlight into the cargo hold. "Oh my. Is he…?"
"Alive? Yes."
"I'm so glad. There's plenty of warm water in the apartment. You can—"
"Apartment?"
She slipped past me, opened the mystery door, and flipped on a light. "My nephew lived in here while he attended Tech." She wrinkled her nose. "Goodness. I hope the room doesn't smell as bad as this old garage."
Relief washed over me. I had a viable option. "It's fine. Thank you so, so much. Now you should get out of this awful weather."
"Not before I help you move him. You can't do it by yourself."
She had that right. I tried to think what to do. "Maybe if we used one of those." I pointed to the moving blankets. "All we'd have to do is lift him out of here. I'll drag him into the apartment on the blanket."
"All right." At no point did she question the insanity of rescuing a wild animal. Instead, she gamely watched while I spread a dusty blanket on the ground. A couple of sneezes later, I moved to the gray's center to be sure I'd be getting most of the weight. She took the tail end. Wrapping my arms around him, stadium blanket and all, I nodded to Elise, who gripped her corners.
"One, two, three." We hefted him enough to clear the vehicle. I went down to the ground with him on top of me to break his fall.
Elise peered anxiously at me. "Are you all right?"
"Fine." Huff. Puff. Somehow I slipped out from under the animal's dead weight. I got up and gave her a hug. "Thank you. I hope this isn't too big an imposition."
"Don't be silly. I haven't had an adventure like this in years."
I actually laughed, which felt very, very good. "Do you need me to walk you back?"
She waved me off. "No, no. I can manage. Take care of your wolf."
My wolf? I'd thought he was hers. I watched the dancing beam of the flashlight until she waved it to signal she was safely home. Grabbing double handfuls of the bottom blanket, I somehow hauled the gray into the apartment.
I immediately scanned the room and saw an area so compactly efficient that it reminded me of my parents' motor home. One side appeared to be a kitchen with a sink, mini-fridge, stove, bar, and two stools. The other had a love seat, coffee and side tables, a lamp, and an empty entertainment center. A staircase led to an upstairs. Under it was a door that opened into a bathroom with a tiny shower and sink, plus a regular toilet.
I checked for windows and saw two, both covered in mini-blinds. I didn't find a back door, but I did find a space heater that I plugged up and scooted near the wolf. Only then did I go back to the SUV for the food and my bag, all of which I deposited on the bar. After securing the apartment, I slipped out of my shredded jacket and dug around for pots and pans. I filled the biggest one with hot water before setting it on the floor near the wolf's head. With a knot of dread in my stomach, I knelt and pulled back the blankets so I could assess damage.
There was blood on the gray's soaked fur, but a wet towel seemed to wash most of it away. A check revealed that he might not be as badly injured as I'd feared—a big relief. But he still had serious scrapes and cuts, as well as a knot on the side of his head I didn't think belonged there. With my heart full of gratitude for his courage in facing down the wild pack, I wiped clean every wound I found.
When I was satisfied that I'd done all I could, I made use of the bathroom. My damp jeans had begun to chafe, and I felt sure my shirt had tears. I eyed the shower longingly. A wash-up was definitely in order, and I had clean clothes. But what about the wolf? Undecided, I checked him out again. His eyes fluttered slightly, but he didn't open them. I concluded that rest was what he needed most.
For a nanosecond, I considered restraining h
im while he was out. But the whats and wheres of the details were problematic, and in the end, I didn't have the heart for it. I quickly stripped naked right there at the bar. In moments, I stood under a showerhead, enjoying the hot spray that rid my hair and body of blood and muck.
When I shoved the shower curtain to the side, I saw myself in the mirror mounted above the sink. I looked a little wild, I thought, with my cheeks unusually pink and my wet curls in a tangle. Although I had a couple of facial scratches, they weren't deep, and neither were the defensive wounds on my hands and forearms. My back was probably another story, but I was definitely going to live.
I believed Elise's wolf would, too.
There was a bath towel on the rack. Shivering, I dried and then wrapped myself in it and left the bathroom to find clean clothes, which consisted of bikinis, flannel pajama pants, a sports bra, and a thermal shirt.
A check of the wolf revealed that he hadn't budged. Did he need water? I knelt by the pan and soaked a corner of a clean towel. My hand shook a little as I pushed his cheek fur back to squeeze some water onto his teeth.
Was I crazy to risk being bitten?
Absolutely.
Did I think for one second I would be?
Absolutely not.
Why, I just didn't know.
While I liked believing an amazing wolf had deliberately rescued me, that scenario only made sense in Cade's supernatural world. How else could the gray possibly have known I'd be in that exact spot at that exact time? For that matter, how could the pack know? The answer in a normal world, my world—they couldn't. Well, not without a boat load of serendipity, anyway.
At that moment, the gray's eyes fluttered open. Although my first instinct was to back away, I stood my ground and boldly stroked the top of his head, his ears, his neck and back. He stared at me without moving. Oddly, my fingers began to tingle, an electrical shock sensation that quickly became so intense that I jerked my hands away, stood, and put more inches between us. A subtle shift in ambiance made me look around. But the room was the same.