by Zoe Chant
Lillian slammed on the brakes, screeching to a halt inches before she hit him.
She narrowed her eyes at him, studying his face. He definitely wasn’t the man she’d seen shift out of his mountain lion form yesterday. He was bald, for one, and his beard was very neatly trimmed. He was cleaner and better dressed.
But Cal had said there was a whole mountain lion pack living here. Could this be one of the others?
He was waving at her, holding his phone. He came to the window. “Excuse me, ma’am?” His voice was faint through the glass. He made a rolling-down motion with his hand.
Lillian shook her head. “Do you need help?” she called.
“My car ran off the road just ahead, and my phone’s dead. Could you give me a ride back to town?”
Lillian hesitated. He looked sincere.
But for this to be happening right now, with everything else that was going on...
No. It was too suspicious. “I can call 911 for you,” she called through the window. Although if she took out her phone, focusing on it instead of what he might be doing...”I’ll drive up ahead and do it,” she amended. That should be safe enough. “But I won’t let you into my car. I’m sorry.”
His face twisted, and there was a flash of movement. Instinctively, Lillian stomped on the gas, and as she screeched off, her brain processed what the man had been doing—pulling back his fist.
To try and punch through her window?
Lillian’s heart was beating a mile a minute. She must have broken some speed records getting to Teri’s house.
She’d been wrong. They would ambush her in a moving vehicle. And it was clear that they weren’t going to just give up.
As she pulled into Teri’s driveway, her phone rang. Unknown number. She stared at it, and answered.
“Don’t think that just because you’re hiding with the snow leopards, we can’t make you pay,” a voice snarled. “They’re not a power like we are. They can’t protect you.”
The phone went dead. Lillian took it away from her ear and stared at it.
They must have gotten her number from Lew. They must have gotten all of the information about her from Lew—where she worked, who her sister was, all of it. Damn him.
Pardon my language, she thought, and choked out a laugh that almost turned into a sob.
She blinked her burning eyes furiously. One tear escaped and rolled down her cheek, but she swiped it away and took some careful breaths.
It was fine. She was fine. She’d talk to Teri, and they’d decide what to do together.
As if summoned by her thoughts, Teri’s car pulled into the driveway behind her, and Teri jumped out.
“Lillian!” she called. “Sorry I didn’t get here before you, I thought for sure I would—are you okay?”
She was staring at Lillian through the window. Lillian wondered what on Earth she looked like to be putting that expression on her sister’s face.
Slowly, she opened the door and got out of the car, retrieved her bag and purse, and said, “How about let’s go inside.”
Teri nodded immediately and led the way. They made it inside without any further attack or harassment, fortunately for Lillian’s composure.
Teri pulled her into the living room and sat her down on the couch. “What’s wrong? Apart from the obvious, I mean.”
Lillian took a deep breath. “I only—I was at Cal’s, and I had to come back because—” She stopped.
Teri frowned. “Did something happen at Cal’s? Is Cal okay?”
“He’s fine!” Lillian rubbed her forehead. “It’s nothing.”
Teri put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey. It’s not nothing. You’re really upset about something, what is it?”
“I just—I think I made a stupid mistake,” Lillian whispered.
Teri rubbed her shoulder, still frowning. “You? You never make stupid mistakes.”
“Are you joking?” Lillian snapped. “I married a stupid mistake!”
Teri jumped. “Wow, okay,” she said slowly. “I never really thought about it like that, I guess? Marriages don’t work out sometimes. I just figured you and Lew grew apart or something.”
Lillian shook her head, blinking hard. “No, he was—it was dumb to marry him. If I hadn’t, none of this would be happening.”
“None of this,” Teri repeated. “You mean the mountain lions? What does Lew have to do with that?”
Slowly, haltingly, Lillian explained. Her cheeks burned as she talked. She’d never told Teri about Lew’s faults, about the debt, and the real reason she’d moved back in with their parents. Neither her mother or her father ever spoke directly about Lillian’s financial troubles, and Lillian knew it was because they, like her, were ashamed that she’d been so stupid as to land herself in this situation. So Teri had never learned what really happened.
As she spoke, Teri’s eyes went wide with shock, and then her expression turned to outrage. “That jerk! I can’t believe he’d do that! How could he possibly—what an asshole.” The last word was savage. “I ought to go find him and teach him a lesson. Where does he live?”
Lillian was surprised into a choked laugh at Teri’s sudden protectiveness. “You can’t go teach him a lesson!”
“Why not?” Teri asked. “He deserves it.” She was wearing a furiously determined expression that Lillian recognized from past confrontations with their mother.
“Because—” Lillian suddenly wasn’t sure what reason would convince Teri that this was a silly idea. “Because you have to stay here with me right now,” she finally said.
“When Zach gets home, I am out that door, then,” Teri amended.
“No, Teri—it was my own stupid fault for not realizing what was going on,” Lillian said. “I’m an adult, I chose to marry him, and these were the consequences. I’ve accepted that.”
Teri seemed to be barely listening. “Wait, so that’s why you moved in with Mom and Dad? It is, isn’t it? You don’t even want to be there. You’re just putting up with all of her bullshit because you have to, because of the money.” She frowned. “No way. You should come live with us. We have a spare room now that Joel and Nina are up in the cabin full-time.”
“Teri, I cannot move in with you and your fiancé!” Lillian insisted. “Zach doesn’t even know me. That’s ridiculous.”
“I didn’t know Joel,” Teri pointed out. “We made it work. Sort of.”
“Sort of isn’t good enough,” Lillian said dryly.
Teri frowned. “Okay, well, we’ll talk about this when Zach gets home, then. I’m so sorry I never knew.”
“I didn’t want you to know,” Lillian said heavily. “I was too ashamed.”
“Screw that,” Teri said emphatically, and Lillian had to laugh again. “That’s a dumb reason. You didn’t do anything wrong, and there’s no shame in asking for help. You had to help me do literally everything after my accident, remember? I should pay it back somehow.”
“I’m the older sister,” Lillian said. “That’s how it’s supposed to work.”
Teri shook her head firmly. “Nope. I’m vetoing that. I want to help you. Come on, what other deep, dark secrets do you have? Let’s get them all out in the open. It’s time to share.”
Lillian was planning to shake her head and demur. But somehow...what fell out of her mouth instead was, “I slept with Cal.”
Teri’s eyebrows hit her hairline. “You what?”
Oh God, she shouldn’t have said that. Why had she said that? The blush came back full-force, and Lillian turned away. “Never mind. Please forget that.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, no. No. I am not forgetting that. You and Cal? Cal never dates! I’ve never seen him with a woman outside of doing his job. No one has. Not once, not ever.” Teri tugged at her shoulder until Lillian turned back around. “And you never date! What happened?”
“I don’t know!” Lillian realized her voice had gone high, almost a wail, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. “I only met him yesterday! I don’t und
erstand why I—I never do anything like this. And you’re right, he didn’t seem like the kind of man who does, either! I just don’t understand.”
Teri’s shock was turning into a frighteningly thoughtful expression. Lillian wasn’t sure what was going through her head.
“You felt a connection with him right away, didn’t you,” she said slowly.
“Well—I suppose so.” Lillian thought back to the meeting in Cal’s office. “I mean, I suppose I could see that he was a kind man. A smart and sensible man.”
“An attractive man,” Teri said pointedly.
“Well, yes. Of course, yes! Considering what happened. Please don’t rub it in, Teri,” Lillian could hear her own voice; it sounded almost despairing.
Teri’s eyes widened. “No! I mean—I just mean—look, shifters sometimes move quickly,” she said carefully. “Remember, Zach and I got engaged super-fast?”
“I do remember that.” Their mother’s high-volume ire echoed through Lillian’s head.
“So sometimes stuff goes very quickly. But usually that means it’s really...really serious. That there’s a kind of—connection. That shifters get.”
“I’m not a shifter,” Lillian pointed out.
“I wasn’t either,” Teri said. “Not at the time. I think this might mean that Cal is...very interested in you. In a serious way.”
Surely that couldn’t be it.
Lillian was a thirty-three-year-old woman living with her parents. A staid, buttoned-up librarian, who lived an incredibly boring life. Who was in debt up to her eyeballs and had a pain of an ex-husband who kept dangerous company.
In short, she was not anyone’s idea of a catch. Not a good long-term partner to be sure.
Besides, who on Earth picked a long-term partner after one day of knowing each other?
Of course, Cal would be a fantastic partner. Strong, caring, thoughtful, intelligent, a wonderful cook...a good man with a good job that he loved. No impossible ambitions, no unrealistic ideas. Just a man who wanted a happy, comfortable life in the Park that he clearly adored.
A fantastic partner. For...somebody. Somebody else.
“I think you should talk to him about it some more,” Teri insisted.
Lillian suddenly didn’t want to talk to anyone about this anymore. She cast around for a distraction—and then she remembered the other reason she’d been upset when she arrived.
Talking about Cal had driven the man in the road right out of her head, somehow.
“I can’t focus on that right now,” she told Teri. “Something else happened on the way here.”
Teri immediately leaned forward, concern filling her face. “What?”
Lillian told her about the man with the supposedly broken-down car, how she’d been sure he was about to try and come through her window at her. Then she recounted the phone call she’d gotten in the driveway.
Teri’s expression turned even more serious. “We have to talk to Cal about this, Lillian. I know it’s probably awkward right now, but he needs to know.”
Lillian remembered Cal talking about how everyone brought their problems to him. How she’d been sure he was a good leader, as much as he’d seemed afraid of the possibilities of abusing power.
It was so clear, though, that he would never do anything like that. Teri’s absolute trust in him was just another sign. Her sister had always been a good judge of character.
“All right,” Lillian said. And then, ashamed of her cowardice, “Can you call him?”
“Of course,” Teri said immediately, and pulled out her phone.
She had a quick conversation that Lillian tried not to listen in on; she couldn’t hear anything that Cal was saying, anyway, just the deep bass rumble of his voice, powerful even over the tinny cell phone speakers.
Teri hung up after only a couple of minutes. “He’s coming over,” she said. “He asked me to apologize to you, but tell you that your safety is the most important thing. Why’s he apologizing?”
“I told him I needed some time alone to think about what happened,” Lillian sighed. “Which I do. But this is more important, I agree.”
“What are you worried about, exactly?” Teri’s eyes were compassionate. Lillian wasn’t used to seeing a look so...adult, from her seven-years-younger sister. “You can tell me.”
“It’s just—all of it!” Lillian swept an arm out in a gesture that encompassed everything that had just happened. “I can’t believe I did something like that. Especially in a situation as serious as this. It was irresponsible at the very least.”
“In the safety of Cal’s home?” Teri asked skeptically. “If you were doing it out in the woods, maybe—”
“Teri!”
“Sorry, sorry,” Teri said, laughing a little. “Just kidding. I only meant—you didn’t do anything wrong! Even if it isn’t anything serious, you didn’t do anything wrong. You just had a good time—I’m assuming it was a good time?”
Teri was looking at her expectantly, eyebrows raised. Lillian pressed her lips together and refused to comment. But she could feel herself blushing.
“Okay, it looks like it was a good time. A good time with a good man. There’s no reason to be—I don’t know, embarrassed or ashamed, right?”
“I don’t do this,” Lillian insisted.
Teri sobered. “That’s why I think it might be...a shifter thing. A serious thing.”
“That’s ridiculous, though.” Lillian took a few steps away, turning to look out the window instead of at Teri’s earnest face. “There’s no reason for it to have been serious. We only met yesterday. The reason he’s helping me is my ex-husband’s debts, because of which I’m living with my impossible mother! I’m the last person anyone should be getting serious about.”
She felt a small hand on her shoulder, and turned a bit to see Teri standing beside her.
“Hey.” Teri’s voice was warm. “Don’t talk about my sister like that.”
Lillian found herself speechless. She and Teri had had a distant relationship at best for so long...hearing something like that from Teri’s mouth was overwhelming.
“You are a catch,” Teri asserted. “You’re smart, and pretty, and you work harder than anyone I know, and you have this—” She waved her hands at Lillian.
This what? Lillian didn’t ask out loud, because she wouldn’t stoop so low as to fish for compliments.
Even if she did kind of want to hear what Teri meant.
“You’re always put together, and poised, and—graceful and stuff. Anyone looking at you knows you’ve got it together.”
Lillian shook her head. “But I don’t have it together. I just explained that.”
“Yeah, you do,” Teri said seriously. “Come on. You live with Mom. And of all the people in the world, I know what that’s like. You handle it like a freaking pro—I watched you do it, while I was there. If you can manage Mom, you can manage anything.”
Lillian had never really thought about her situation in those terms. To her, it had always been a sign of failure. She had to live at home, after all.
“It’s an accomplishment,” Teri insisted.
Not a failure, but an accomplishment?
“Any man would be lucky to have you,” Teri said firmly. “And I bet Cal thinks the same thing.”
That was going a step too far. “You can’t speak for him,” Lillian reminded her. “Only for you. But I’m—grateful to hear that from you. Thank you for telling me that.”
Though Cal had said the same thing, about living with her mother. He’d almost seemed to admire her for it.
Teri gave her a tiny smile. “I always looked up to you, you know. That’s never changed.”
Lillian blinked back a sudden prickling of tears. “I don’t know,” she said. “I think it might be my turn to look up to you.”
Teri hugged her. Lillian hugged her back, and thought that if nothing else, she had to be grateful to Lew for helping her find a relationship with her sister again.
Howev
er inadvertently.
The hug lasted a long time, but was eventually broken up by a knock at the door. Teri sprang away to answer it, and Lillian was struck by how much energy her sister had. She’d always been like that, especially as a kid, but then the car accident had stolen it from her for a while. Lillian remembered how painful it had been to watch Teri exhaust herself just by walking a few steps.
She’d ended up feeling overprotective. And she realized that that had been a mistake. But now, she was so happy to see Teri bounding around the room again, like she’d never met a physical challenge she couldn’t face.
It was Cal at the door, of course. Teri let him in, and Lillian tensed up all over—and still wasn’t prepared for the way she felt at the sight of him. He seemed to fill the whole room, so tall and broad, radiating concern and protectiveness. Warmth flushed through her. She wanted to run to him and let herself be caught up in his arms—
No. If nothing else, Teri was right there. And they had bigger concerns at the moment than whatever attraction she was feeling for this man.
“What’s this about the mountain lions threatening you?” Cal asked, striding immediately over to her side. He was close enough to touch, which was not helping her resolve at all.
So Lillian focused on the situation. She recounted the phone call once again. This time, she mentioned how the mountain lion had said that the snow leopards weren’t enough of a power to stop them. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Teri’s eyes narrowing.
“If he’d actually broken your window, we’d be going to the police,” Cal said grimly. “As it is, I don’t think there’s enough evidence for them to do anything to anybody yet. But—I’m sorry, Lillian, I don’t think you should drive anywhere alone again, until this is all resolved.”
Lillian nodded. “I agree. I’m not so reckless as to want to put myself in danger, I promise. I honestly thought that I’d be completely fine if I was in my car.”
“And you were, because you were smart,” Teri put in. Cal turned to her, and she said, “The guy tried the whole, ‘oh no, my car broke down and my cell phone’s dead’ trick on her, but she didn’t fall for it.”
Pride was evident in her voice. Lillian felt strange, hearing it. It was so long since anyone had been genuinely proud of her.