“I’m checking out, Albert, and I’d like to pay my bill, please.” Her voice trembled as she spoke and she cleared her throat to cover it up. Get through the next few hours. You can cry later.
“Yes, of course.” Albert paused as he typed something on the keyboard. “Are you all right, Miss Brewer?”
No, she wasn’t all right. The agonizing pain ripping through her chest made her think she was having a heart attack. Her throat felt like it was in shreds and her eyes were burning. “I’m fine, thank you. Just allergies, I think.”
Albert didn’t look like he believed her, but he printed out the bill and pushed it over the counter. Tara handed him her debit card, but Albert waved it off. “Georges told me he billed things directly to your insurance and told me to do the same thing.”
“Oh, I didn’t know I was covered for this sort of thing.” A small sense of relief trickled over her at how much money that would save her. It bought her and Zack a bit more time. She could look into some occupational therapy for him when they settled.
She loaded everything into the car and then went to return the key to Albert, but he was nowhere to be seen so she dropped it on the desk behind the counter. Zack sat on a stool next to Poppy McGuigan and when he looked up and saw the car, Tara saw his face fall. It broke her heart, but he was too young to understand what had happened.
She took a deep breath and quickly wiped her face to make sure there weren’t any tears still there. “Look, Zack! Our car’s all better now. We can get back on the road.”
“But I don’t want to!” Zack threw down the yarn and big thick needles he’d been holding in his hands in a rare show of temper. “I don’t care about thupid Manitoba. I want to stay with Crith and Larth.”
“Young man, you’ll pick up what you rudely threw on the ground and you’ll apologize to Miss Poppy for your behavior,” Tara snapped at her son. Even if Poppy was as guilty as everyone else in the town, she wouldn’t let Zack get away with being disrespectful.
Unlike Luc and Georges, Poppy didn’t have any qualms about meeting Tara’s gaze. Anger rushed through her and she pressed her lips close together before she said something mean and spiteful.
Zack picked up the things he threw to the ground. “I’m thorry, Mith Poppy.” His breath hitched and Tara knew he was about to have a real meltdown.
“It’s all right, Zack. All is forgiven. Why don’t you take this inside and put it back in the practice bin?”
Zack nodded. His little shoulders shook as he walked into the yarn shop.
“I knew this would go C4.” The old woman shook her head. “You have every right to be angry, Tara.”
“I’m beyond angry, Miss McGuigan. I’m incensed, furious, betrayed.” She could feel all the pain bubbling up again. Her eyes burned as her hands began to shake again. Not yet. Keep calm and once I’m far from here, I’ll let it out.
“The boys never meant to hurt you. Whatever they said to you over the past few days, it was the truth. They spoke from their hearts.”
“I was a means to an end. Cris wanted Zack.” Tara wanted to run away with her son and never let Cris see him again. Maybe he would hurt as much as me then. “Please let Cris know I’ll have Zack call him once we’re settled.”
“What about Lars? Did you tell either of them how much you love them?”
Zack walked out the door at that moment, saving Tara from answering the question. “Bye, Mith Poppy.”
Tara opened the back door for him to get in. “Come on, Zack. Hop in and buckle up.”
“Can’t I say good-bye to anyone elth?”
He sounded as heartbroken as she felt and she almost caved, but she couldn’t handle looking at everyone who had lied to them and tricked them. “You can call them in a day or two. Once we reach Uncle William’s.”
“Good-bye, Mitheth McGuigan.” Lily and Lavender had come outside and the three of them stood side by side and waved in unison with each other. Zack waved wildly from the backseat at the three of them.
“Zack, I know you don’t understand and I’m sorry, but I promise you it’s not forever.” Despite her angry thoughts, Tara knew Zack needed to keep in contact with his father. As long as he didn’t threaten to keep him, she would make sure they had some contact. “I’ll speak to Cris and maybe we can arrange for you to come and visit.”
Tara drove down the street and didn’t look around. She couldn’t risk seeing either of them. Her heart felt as though it’d been crushed. She adjusted the rearview mirror so Zack couldn’t see her face or the tears. Right now she couldn’t answer any questions he would inevitably ask. David Cook’s “Come Back to Me” played on the radio, making her throat ache and the tears flow faster. She knew she should turn it off but couldn’t bring herself to do it.
“Tara, baby. Please.” Cris’s voice came over the speakers as the song played softly behind him. “Don’t go. I know we fucked up. I’m sorry. I wish I could change things, but we ended up here for a reason. I hate that I missed out on so much in your life.”
Cris’s voice echoed the crushed feeling in her chest. When he turned up the music and Apocalyptica’s “Not Strong Enough” blasted over the speakers, she turned off the car radio.
“But, Mom, I wanted to lithen to Crith.”
“He’s using bad language, Zack. Maybe later.” It was a lame excuse. He was as upset as her and she felt terrible for causing him any pain, but she had to look out for Zack. She would talk to them in a week or so. Then maybe she could carry on a rational conversation. She remembered what Lars had said about Zack needing to be around other shape-shifters. She’d never deny Cris access to his son, but seeing him even on a semiregular basis was going to tear her heart out.
The Apocalyptica song started playing in the backseat. “Zack, what’s that?”
“Miss Lily and Lavender said it was a going-away present.” He held up the small portable radio. “It has a crank on the side so it won’t need batteries.”
The song cut out again and Tara couldn’t handle hearing any more from Cris. “Zack, please turn it off.”
“But, Mom, Crith ith talking to you.”
“Tara, please, I can’t and won’t ever stop begging you to come back. I need you here. Lars needs you here, between us where you’re supposed to be. We want to be positive role models for Zack. We never meant any harm trying to keep you here. I couldn’t stand the thought of you leaving and not having a chance to get to know you both.”
A low rumble caught her attention and she looked in her side-view mirror and saw Lars on his bike behind her. It had rained earlier this morning and the road was covered with wet leaves. Didn’t he say it wasn’t safe to ride that thing anymore? Cris continued to list all the things he would do to make this up to her, but every time she looked in her side-view mirror Lars was staring directly at her. He was going to get in an accident if he didn’t stop. Did he plan to follow her into Manitoba?
The shoulder widened as she turned the corner, making it easy for her to pull over. “Zack, stay in the car. No arguments.” She got out and slammed the door.
“What are you doing?” she snapped as she marched up to Lars. “You’re going to kill yourself on that thing.”
“All right, I’ll leave it here and ride with you.”
“Lars, I’m driving to Manitoba not on a joy ride. I’m leaving and you and Cris are staying here.”
“No, I’m going with you.”
Tara couldn’t sort out the emotions slamming through her. Fear that they weren’t allowing her to leave. Relief because she might not have to do this on her own after all. Anger because he’d lied, they’d all lied. But under it all she loved him and Cris so much she didn’t know what she was doing.
“You can’t come. There’s no water or lakes around my cousin’s place. You said it yourself. Ecstasy Lake is in your heart. It’s home.”
“You are my home, Tara.” Lars unzipped his jacket and pulled open his shirt. “See that?” He pointed at the marking on his chest. “You
are my Mate for life. Where you go, I go. We only have your lifetime left, and I won’t miss out on a moment of it.”
Tara almost gagged as the implications of what he said sank in. “Oh god! Are you saying you’re going to die because of me? Why didn’t you Mate with one of your kind? Then you wouldn’t die.”
Lars moved lightning fast, getting off the large bike and catching up to her. “Tara, I’ve lived for more than a millennium. I watched my family and friends grow old and die. I’d make new friends only to have them leave me, too.”
Agony was etched into every angle of Lars’s face. “I’ve been left behind so often I’ve grown to hate this existence. Knowing I’ll never have to live in this world without you is a precious gift and I refuse to miss out on a single moment.”
Tara wrapped her arms around him and cried against his chest as he stroked her back. She wanted to stay, but she was so afraid of being trapped in a judgmental town. “Cris needs you, too, min blomst. We both do. You would’ve been able to run now, but as soon as you stopped, he would’ve joined us.”
“Why didn’t he come with you?”
“You heard him on the radio? He wanted to convince you to return before you left the province.”
“I don’t know all the rules, Lars. What if I make a mistake?”
“Will you run to the media and put everyone in danger by telling our secrets?”
“God, no!” Tara thought of Lars and Cris being hounded by the media or treated like science experiments by the government if the world found out the truth. What a horrible existence they’d be forced to live. Lars shrugged as if she had nothing to worry about and pulled her close to his chest again. She traced the symbol on his chest and listened to the rapid beat of his heart. She needed to learn so much. What if I insult someone by accident? Will they make me leave? “What if I don’t fit in?”
“Don’t try.” Lars rubbed her back with long strokes. “Just be the woman we love, min blomst.”
He made it sound so easy. “What does it mean?”
“Min blomst?”
She nodded her head.
“It means ‘my flower.’”
“Flower?” She looked up at him. While it was sweet, it wasn’t the sexiest of endearments.
“The first moment I saw you the sun made the tips of your hair glow around your face, and with your big brown eyes, you reminded me of a sunflower.”
“Really? A sunflower?”
Lars shrugged. “I’ve always liked them.”
Tara laughed and pressed a kiss against the mark on his chest. “I love you, Lars, more than anything.”
“Jeg elsker dig. I love you both, Tara. You and Zack are my family and if I have to, I’ll leave Ecstasy Lake behind and follow you wherever you go.”
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re not asking, I’m telling you. You keep my heart beating. You’re Cris’s one and only Mate. We can’t live without you.”
“I refuse to live anywhere we’re judged.”
“This is Ecstasy Lake. No one judges anyone, even when they mess up.” He pulled her close and claimed her mouth in a kiss that lit up an electrified path from her lips to her core. The soft stubble on his chin added to the texture and excitement. His hair drifted over her face, the tips tickling her throat. Much like the other afternoon, she felt as though it was only the two of them in the world.
“Are we thtaying?” Zack’s voice interrupted them, and Lars pressed a quick kiss to her lips before moving back.
“Yes, little man, we’re going to be a family!”
“Yeah!” Tara could hear Zack’s cheers from the inside of the car.
Tara laughed and Lars’s smile was of the most beautiful sights she’d ever seen in her life.
“Turn the car around and let’s go home.”
The song “I Will Find You” from the movie version of The Last of the Mohicans greeted her when she got back in the driver’s seat. She loved that song so much and happily turned on the car radio so she could hear it more. Adjusting the mirror, she looked back at Zack.
“You look happier now, Mom.” He gifted her with his toothless smile and she grinned back. She felt drained from her emotions but needed to feel Cris’s embrace more than she could imagine. Who am I kidding? I never would’ve made it to Manitoba without turning around.
Cris interrupted the song again. “Who cares what happened in the world today. Look out the window if you want to know the weather. Baby, I’ll meet you at home. Hurry.”
Tara laughed at Cris’s rushed words and the smile she could hear behind them. Lars must’ve texted him. The funky start of Sugarland’s “Stuck Like Glue” replaced the heartbreaking list of songs he’d been playing up till now. Zack let out a cheer from the backseat. Of all the songs for him to pick, this was one of her favorites and she sang it to Zack all the time.
She pulled out and did a U-turn onto the road. Lars started his bike and followed her. His smile was something worth staring at, but since she didn’t want to get in an accident she tried to focus on the road. She and Zack sang another verse and then he stopped.
“Mom, ith Crith or Larth going to be my dad?”
Tara took a shaky breath. She’d tried to never lie to Zack about important matters in their lives and she didn’t want to start now. Although she would’ve preferred to have this talk with Cris and Lars present, too. “What if I told you both of them would be?”
Zack fell silent for a moment and then broke out in another huge grin. “That would be awethome! Did you know Lulu hath two momth and I get two dadth! We’re really gonna be beth friendth now.”
Chapter Thirteen
Cris paced across the back porch of Lars’s house. He’d shifted into a wolf at the station and run through the trees as fast as he could, making it there in enough time to raid the stash of clothes he stored there. His heart had skipped a beat when Lars had texted him to say that Tara was turning around. Damn Viking didn’t say if she forgave them or not, but Cris prayed to every god he’d ever read about that she planned to stay for good.
With his beast’s heightened hearing ability, he’d heard Lars’s bike for the last five minutes as he headed home. Could he drive any slower? Anxiety had his beast agitated and he felt as though the hair on the back of his neck was bristling. After what felt like an eternity they pulled in the driveway. The car had barely come to a halt when Zack burst from the backseat as if the car was about to explode.
He ran to Cris and jumped into his arms, wrapping his arms tightly around his neck. “Ith it true?”
“What’s that, buddy?”
“You and Larth are gonna be my dadth?”
“Zack, I need to talk to Cris first.” Tara jogged up looking concerned. Cris held out his arm and she hugged him. He wrapped his arm around her and held on to Zack and her tight enough to make Zack wiggle.
“Yes, absolutely, we want to be your dads.” The moment he said yes Zack threw his arms around his neck and held on tight. Lars approached and Zack lifted his head up and held out his arms to Lars.
“I can call you both Dad, right?”
“I would love it, little man.” Cris pressed a kiss to his forehead. His heart felt like it might never beat calmly again. His wolf recognized Zack’s scent as his pup and pounced against his awareness in excitement.
Lars looked like he’d been sucker punched. He accepted Zack from Cris’s arms and the boy wrapped his arms around Lars’s neck as he had done with him. “I’m honoured to be your father, Zack.”
“Thank you for giving us another chance.” Cris laced his fingers with Tara’s and lifted her hand so he could press a kiss to the back of it.
Tara looked up at him, her eyes shining with tears. “I don’t know if I’m more scared or excited about this.”
Lars came up beside her wrapped his arm around her waist. Zack reached out for Cris’s hand and the four of them made a small circle. “We’re a family now, Tara. There isn’t anything you will have to face alone. Yo
u’ll never be judged here or expected to act a specific way.”
“Everyone is very nosey and you might get tired of everyone getting in your business, but they will grow to love you as much as we do.” Cris pressed a kiss against her temple. “The entire town was hoping you would stay and I know they never meant to hurt your feelings. They didn’t understand what your past was like and it’s up to you what you want to share with them.”
Cris would allow her to tell their story however she wanted. While a few people knew the truth, everyone would accept her story in order to make life easier for Zack. One day they’d have to tell him the truth, but they’d make that decision together as a family.
“Does thith mean I can thwim with Blavet whenever I want?”
Lars laughed. “We’ll have to be careful, only the four of us know the truth.”
“I have a thecret! I can keep a thecret.” Zack was so excited he practically jumped out of Lars’s arms.
Tara reached out and ticked Zack’s ribs, making him giggle. “This is a big secret, Zack. You can’t ever let it slip.”
“I won’t.” He held up three fingers. “I thwear!”
“Three-finger swear. I think we’re safe.” Cris took a deep breath and fought back the urge to throw Tara over his shoulder and run straight to the nearest bed. His life had made a ninety-degree turn and he was going to have to adapt to being a dad.
Lars’s cell phone chimed the arrival of a text. The big guy smirked when he read the text. “It’s Gordon. He wants to know if we would like to come over for dinner and a crash course on being a father.”
“Who’s Gordon?” Tara rested her head on Cris’s chest as she spoke. The casual touch warmed him
“Lulu’s father,” Lars replied, “and a good friend of ours.”
“Can we go? Please, please.” Zack looked to each of them in turn, giving them his best pleading look.
Lars looked down at Tara, as did Cris. She looked back and forth between them. “You want me to decide.”
Seducing Their Wayfaring Souls [3xtasy Lake 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 15