by Ashlyn Chase
She couldn't speak, so she shook her head vehemently.
"I'm—I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for you to find out like that."
"Find out what? I don't even know what I just saw. Are you some kind of magician?"
"I'm a shapeshifter."
"A shape-who?"
"Shapeshifter. You may have heard of us in Native American legends. But they're not just legends. We exist, and my alternate form is a falcon."
She reached for the railing. "I have to sit down."
"Here, let me help you." He supported her forearm as she lowered herself to sit on the top step, then he sat next to her.
"I wouldn't have believed you if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Do you shift into any other shapes?"
"No. Only a peregrine falcon."
"Why did you wait this long to tell me?"
"I was afraid of losing you."
"But you asked me to marry you. When were you planning to tell me?"
"Merry, I screwed up. I should have told you before I proposed. I thought we had more time than we did. I never should have come with you for Thanksgiving. Stress and the full moon affect shifters."
"How?"
"It's harder to resist the desire to shift under stress. You've heard of the fight or flight response, right?"
"Yes."
"Well, my tendency is for…"
"Flight," she finished for him.
"That's right. Listen, I—I think it's better if I just go home. I can come back and get you when you're—"
"No. I'll ask my dad or Matt to take me home. I need to think."
He offered a sad smile. "I understand, but I'm glad you think of Boston as your home now."
"Yeah," she murmured absently. "I worked too hard to get out of Schooner. I, uh… I'd better get back inside."
He helped her up. "You know I'm head over heels in love with you, don't you? That I'm not dangerous or crazy… that I'll be right there waiting for you when you get back."
She nodded, opened the door, and he handed over her bag.
As she took it, she said, "Thanks. It was sweet of you to think of my inhaler. I'm surprised I didn't need it half an hour ago."
***
Jason called his manager from the road. He was a young, single guy, so maybe he wasn't all tied up with a big family Thanksgiving dinner. Fortunately, he answered his phone.
"Hey, Jason! What's up?"
"Hi Brian, I need to find a batting cage and beat the shit out of some balls."
"Whoa, that doesn't sound good. Did something happen?"
"Yeah, but it's hard to talk about."
"What's her name?"
Stunned, Jason hesitated, then asked, "How'd you know this has to do with a woman?"
"It always does."
He sighed. "Look, I just need to get some aggression out and I'll be fine. I figured you might be able to call around for me and see if there's a place open or willing to open, even though it's Thanksgiving Day."
"Sure, buddy. Let me call some of my contacts and get back to you."
"Thanks, Brian. I owe you."
"Just give us a winning season and call it even."
Yeah, right. If Merry doesn't come around I'm fucked… and not in a good way.
***
Merry had taken the ring and tucked it into the zippered compartment of her purse. She would give it back, of course… or not, depending upon her decision. So many conflicting thoughts and feelings warred inside of her. Her family hadn't seen it. She managed to hide it in her bra before she walked into the house, but she didn't want to take a chance of losing it.
All day her family had asked what was wrong. Thank goodness her father had been in the shower when Jason showed up and didn't know anything about it. She swore Matthew to secrecy with the threat of instant death if he breathed a word of it. So all anyone knew for sure was that she seemed more moody than usual. If anyone pushed it, she could always blame it on PMS again, but thankfully no one did. Now that she was on the seasonal pill, that would be a fib, and she was a lousy liar.
All day she'd been going through the motions woodenly. Even during the meal and the football game, all she could think about was what had happened in Jason's car. Did it really happen?
Before she moved to Boston, she was bored. Now boredom was beginning to look really attractive. However, she was not moving back to Rhode Island. Not, not, not!
At last all the guests had gone and her father cornered her in the kitchen. "You seem so preoccupied, Merry. What's wrong? Did Falco break your heart?"
She exhaled, defeated. "Not really."
He balled his fists. "I knew it! Merry, I want you to come home. You're far too young and impressionable to live alone in a big city."
"I'm not alone," she protested. "I have Roz and I've made several friends in my building, plus Jason didn't break my heart. He just—surprised me." The ring. Maybe if I see the ring again I'll know I didn't dream up the whole thing.
"Surprised you how?"
Merry knew that if she didn't give her father some kind of explanation, he'd harp on her about coming home until he either drove her crazy or talked her into it.
She trudged to where she'd left her purse, saying, "I'll be right back."
In her old bedroom, she opened the zippered compartment and fished around. When she didn't feel cool metal, she panicked. The ring! It's gone!
She turned it upside down and dumped the contents on her bed. No ring fell out. How could this happen? Oh, lord. I'm losing it. I just know I am.
The hot sting of tears welled up in her eyes and a lump formed in her throat. It wasn't just about how to tell Jason she'd lost it—if indeed she'd ever had it— maybe it was a sign. Maybe she had lost Jason. Her heart ripped in two at the mere thought.
She burst into tears and her father appeared in the doorway seconds later. "There's something bothering you. Something terrible, and I demand you tell me what it is."
"Oh Daddy…" she sobbed. "Jason gave me this beautiful diamond engagement ring, and I've lost it!"
"Engagement…!" His posture stiffened, then relaxed. "I understand now. Where did you last see it?"
She tipped her purse toward him. "It was right in this compartment. Now it's gone." She blubbered until he came over and sat next to her on the bed.
"Maybe it's a sign," he said. "I still think you should come home."
Merry cried, "No! If it's a sign of anything, it's a sign of how much I love Jason, and how much I don't want to lose him!"
"Oh," her father said, sounding disappointed. "Why weren't you wearing the ring?"
"I—I said I had to think about it."
"That was very wise. You've only been together a short time. And maybe if you come home and think about it…"
"Stop it! Stop saying that! I'm not moving home and that's final!" I swear, I've never punched an old man before, but if he keeps this up…
Thank goodness the guests had gone home. If they heard her yelling at Mac like that, they'd all be crowding around her.
Her father bristled. "You do not have to be so rude about it, young lady."
Merry doubled over and sobbed again. Her father patted her gently on the back. "Look, I know you're upset. We'll just forget you said that, all right?"
"Gaaaa! No! We won't! I meant it. Look, I'm sorry if I was rude, but I'm twenty-five frickin' years old. I need to be on my own for a while. That's the only reason I hesitated about marrying Jason."
Was it? Was that the only reason? Good lord, she had accepted a ghost and witches living in the same building with her—not to mention a vampire birth father—and even considered them friends. Her eyes and mind were opening, probably as a result of finally being on her own. Unsheltered. Perhaps whatever had happened with Jason was something she could try to understand and get used to.
She fished frantically all through her purse and felt something in the lining. "Wait. I think I may have found it."
She pulled the lining inside out and noticed a h
ole about the size of a nickel in the bottom. It may have fallen through it! She tore the lining along the seam and dove into the compartment again. "Eureka!" she cried. The ring was only a little worse for wear, a piece of lint lodged in one of the prongs.
She immediately slid it onto the ring finger of her left hand and yanked out the lint.
Her father grabbed her hand and whistled. "My, my. That's a rock you don't want to lose! You'd have had a pretty hard time paying back what that monster cost."
She giggled with relief. "It's not a monster, dad. It's a symbol of love. Big love." She rested her head on his shoulder.
Mac put an arm around her and kissed her temple. "Okay. I guess my little girl is happy, and I'll just have to be happy for her."
She threw her arms around his neck. "Thanks, Dad. That's all I want. I know it's soon… but it's right."
Now if I can only apologize to Jason for freaking out, I hope he'll understand and forgive me. He has some explaining to do, though. Why the heck did he keep this from me for so long? And what exactly is it? There's so much to talk about.
"I've got to go home, Dad. I've finished the dishes. Will you drive me?"
His eyebrows rose. "Isn't your car outside in the driveway?"
"No. Jason dropped me off. He was going to come with me, but…"
Mr. MacKenzie held her gaze, and she fidgeted under his intense scrutiny.
"Well, he changed his mind. He also had an invitation from his aunt and didn't want to hurt her feelings. And you guys didn't even know he was coming, so he didn't have to worry about letting you down." Okay, that was sort of true. He'd told her that Dottie had assumed he'd spend Thanksgiving with them, and by now he probably had.
"He intended to come with you and then changed his mind? You must have been disappointed. So that's why you were pouting all day."
"Well, yeah. Of course. So, will you drive me home?"
"Only if I can speak to him."
"Dad, for God's sake, will you stop protecting me? I'm a grown woman! Now do I have to take a cab to the train station or should I ask Matt?"
He sighed. "One of us will take you back to Boston," he said, albeit reluctantly.
***
Chad followed Dottie to her apartment to see what devilry she was up to now. Plus he felt like taking a ride on their ceiling fan.
"Ralph, what's Jason's deep, dark secret?" Dottie asked sweetly.
Ralph whirled around. His eyes rounded and fixed upon her. "What do you mean?"
"There! That expression tells me everything. You know, don't you?"
Uh-oh, Chad said to himself. The old man's in for an interrogation. He really needs to work on his poker face.
She folded her arms and waited.
Ralph puttered to the kitchen. "I'm making myself a sandwich. You want one?"
"Don't you dare try to change the subject," she cried, bunching her fists and striding after him. "If something untoward is going on with our nephew, I have a right to know what it is."
"Untoward? What the hell does that mean? And what gives you that right? Don't you think that if he wanted you to know, he'd have told you?"
Untoward. Adjective, meaning unfavorable or unfortunate. Chad enjoyed his expanded vocabulary. He'd worked hard to become a journalist. As a black man in the sixties, it had almost required memorizing the dictionary. And even then, he suspected he might have been hired by the newspaper as the token black man. Untoward circumstances will force Ralph to divulge a secret he's been sworn to keep. Untoward.
"I want you to tell me," Dottie whined. "We promised each other long ago we wouldn't have any secrets from each other."
Oh, Christ on a cracker! The dude's really in for it now. I can't believe he agreed to something like that. Hell, I wouldn't promise to tell any woman everything. A guy who does that is asking for a flowerpot to the head.
"That was thirty years ago when I was stupid in love and would have promised you anything."
Oh no! Talk about brutal honesty. Chad was trying hard not to laugh. I don't want to miss a word of this.
She reeled back. "Don't you love me now?"
"Of course I do! Would I put up with your antics if I didn't?"
"Antics? I have no antics… Hey! You're trying to change the subject on me, aren't you?"
Chad shook his head as he observed from the stationary ceiling fan. Nice try, man. But you know she's never
going to drop it.
She jammed her hands on her hips. "Well, it isn't going to work. I know you're keeping something from me and I won't stand for it!"
"You'll have to, Dottie. I don't know what you heard or where you heard it, but I have no idea what you're talking about. He could have meant anything. Maybe he's a secret cross-dresser. By the way, what did you hear, and where'd you hear it?"
She shrugged. "I overheard Jason talking to himself. He was wondering how to tell Merry about his deep dark secret."
"Well, that's what you get for eavesdropping. You'll have to ask Jason if you really must know, but I think that would be too damn nosy, and you know what a private person he is. Do you want him to evict us?"
"Don't be ridiculous! He won't evict his own relatives."
Famous last words, lady. If I were him, you'd have been tossed out on your ass a long time ago.
***
"Hi Roz, it's me. Do you have time to talk?" Merry twisted the phone cord and bit her lower lip. She hoped her best friend could give her some perspective.
"Sure. Where are you?"
"I'm still in Schooner. Matt's driving me back to Boston in a few minutes. I need to talk to someone I can trust before I leave, though."
"Sounds serious. Do you want me to come over?"
"No, that's okay. By the time you got here, it would probably be time to leave."
"All right. So what's up?"
"Jason asked me to marry him."
The shriek on the other end of the phone almost blew out her eardrum.
"Jesus, Roz. You might want to save your excitement. I found out something about him that's giving me fits. I don't know what to make of it."
"Uh-oh. What is it?"
"I can't tell you… Well, not specifically. Not until I find out more about it. I'm really, really confused right now."
"Crap. How am I supposed to help you if you won't tell me what it is?"
"I don't know," Merry moaned.
"It's awfully soon to talk about marriage, don't you think? I mean, you only met him in October, right?"
"I know. And at first, he said he wouldn't push me to make a decision. And then he did anyway. So I said yes, and then I found out this awful secret."
"He told you about this… something—whatever it is—after you said yes?"
"He didn't exactly tell me. He more like showed me. All I know is that I have to talk to someone."
"Why? Does he have two dicks or something?"
She laughed. "No, believe me, the one he has is quite enough."
"Maybe the person you should be talking to is Jason."
"I know, I know. But he's not the only one with a problem. Part of it is me."
"In what way?"
"I'm not sure. When I'm with him, I just sort of melt. You know? I'm afraid I won't be able to stand up for myself."
"Why? Does he boss you around?"
"No! It's not that. I just want whatever he wants,
because I want him to be happy."
"That's called love. It sounds like you've already made a decision."
"No, I haven't. I don't even know how I feel about this. I do know how I feel about him."
"And…?"
"And yeah, I love him. Still, I'm confused. I really need to figure out what the whole other thing means to me before I just give in to what he wants, which is a short engagement."
"How short?"
"He wants me to go with him to Florida in February for spring training, as his wife."
"Wow. That is short. And you said yes?"
"Yes."<
br />
"But that was before you knew about this… thing."
"Yes."
"What is it? Some kind of visible growth that's genetic?"
She chuckled. "No. Well, not a growth. I don't know about the genetic part. Maybe it's the side effect of some kind of scientific experiment?"