As I stole one last glance in the mirror, the doorbell rang and my heart nearly leaped out of my chest. I dashed out of my bedroom and tiptoed down the stairs, my heels barely tapping against each step. With a small black purse in one hand and my black leather jacket in the other, I hoped that I would beat my parents to the front door. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so lucky.
When I approached, three pairs of eyes stared at me and I felt a blush creep across my face. I glanced at Noah who stood outside the front door in the fading sunlight. The vision of him in dark blue jeans, a black button-down shirt, and black leather jacket sent my heart into a flutter.
Even with my parents at the doorway, I couldn’t peel my eyes away from him. I had dreamed of this moment all week.
I stopped a few feet away from the doorway. “Hi,” I said, smiling at him as I slipped into my jacket.
“Hey. Are you ready to go?” He seemed just as anxious as I did to escape.
“Yeah.” I glared at each of my parents, hoping they could read my expression. What are you doing?
My mother seemed to get the message. “Well, don’t stay out too late you two,” she said, breaking the awkward silence. When she turned to me, I prayed she wouldn’t say something embarrassing. “Have a nice time, honey.”
“Thanks, Mom. Good night, Dad. I hope you don’t get too many calls tonight.”
“Me, too, since I’m letting this guy off and I won’t have any back-up,” my father teased. “But seriously, Noah, enjoy the night off.”
“Thanks, Tom.” Noah looked at me and held out his hand. “Shall we go?”
I nodded, never taking my eyes away from his as I walked between my parents and through the doorway to take his hand. “Yes.”
His fingers curled around mine, his skin warm and his touch sending goose bumps up my arm.
As we started down the sidewalk, my father’s voice rang out behind us. “Be home by midnight so I don’t have to send out a search party.”
Noah turned to glance back at my parents. “Midnight it is. And don’t worry, sir, she’s safe with me.”
Whispers sounded behind us, mostly my mother who was probably scolding my father for being overprotective. Then the door finally shut, leaving Noah and I alone at last. I breathed a sigh of relief. “That was embarrassing,” I admitted.
Noah shrugged. “They obviously care a lot about you. A lot of parents these days just want their kids out of their hair and don’t take the time to know who they’re with.”
We reached the end of the sidewalk at the driveway and stopped. I looked up at him curiously. “You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”
“I am. Back in Pittsburgh, I always got sent to handle the kids since I was closer to their ages than most of the other officers. So many times, the parents had no clue what their kids were getting in to. And the kids...well, let’s just say it was obvious that they knew their parents didn’t care.”
I stared at him for a moment, realizing how much I still didn’t know about him. He had real world experiences to share, and I suddenly felt very young and sheltered. “Wow. I can’t imagine my parents letting me run all over town without knowing where I was, who I was with, and when I would be home.”
“Just as long as you see that as a good thing.” He smiled down at me apologetically. “I’m sorry. I don’t know where all of that came from. Can we start over here?” He paused, his eyes sparkling. “You look beautiful tonight.” He dropped my hand and gently touched the pendant hanging around my neck. “That’s a gorgeous necklace.”
“Thank you. It was a gift from my dad for my birthday. Apparently, it’s an old family heirloom.”
Noah raised his eyebrows. “Really? It looks brand new.”
“I know. That’s what I said.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the sheer curtains behind our family room window flutter. “Oh no,” I groaned. “I think we’re being watched. Maybe we should go now.”
“Good idea.”
Noah led me around to the passenger side of his silver sedan and opened the door. I slid into the front seat as gracefully as I could in my skirt and heels. As he circled around the front of the car and took his seat behind the wheel, I tugged my short skirt down. It had ridden halfway up my thighs and I couldn’t help wondering if Noah noticed. I glanced shyly at him, smiling as I caught his eye. He noticed.
We snapped our seatbelts into place and Noah started the car.
“Where are we going?” I asked as he backed out of the driveway. I glanced back at the house, but I didn’t see any more movement behind the curtains.
“I was thinking we could try Fireside, but I’m also open to ideas if there’s some other place you’d rather go.”
“Fireside would be great. It sounds perfect.”
After the five minute drive through town, Noah pulled into a gravel parking lot in front of a two-story log building. Darkness had fallen, but the restaurant beckoned from its hiding spot away from the road with soft light that glowed from within and candles that had been carefully centered in each window sill.
Noah parked between two SUV’s a few spaces from the front door of the restaurant. I started to get out of the car, but he darted around to my side to offer his hand before I could stand. I couldn’t have been more grateful for his steady support. My heels wobbled on the uneven gravel, and I grabbed his arm a few times to keep from falling as we walked to the entrance.
Noah held the door open, gesturing for me to go ahead of him.
“Thank you,” I said with a smile as I felt like pinching myself. Ten minutes into this date and it already felt like a dream come true.
The restaurant was warm and cozy. The hostess area opened up into a dining area on one side of the building. Above it, a second-level dining area could be glimpsed beyond the balcony railing. To the other side, log beams stretched across a tall cathedral ceiling. A bar bordered the back wall and a two-story stone fireplace extended to the ceiling’s highest point at the far end. A pile of wood sat upon the raised hearth as a fire crackled behind a decorative screen. A huge plaid couch and coffee table had been centered in front of the fireplace, and small dining tables were scattered around the perimeter of the room.
The soft hum of voices lofted through the half-empty restaurant and bar. Mouth-watering aromas of savory meats and sweet desserts hung in the air as we approached the pretty brunette behind the hostess stand. Aside from her elegant black dress, bright red lipstick was the only other color she wore. “Good evening. Two for dinner?” she asked, smiling a little too brightly at Noah. I was surprised she even noticed that he had a date.
“Yes, please,” Noah responded.
A pang of jealously whipped through me when he smiled back at her. But he quickly redeemed himself by turning to me and asking, “Do you want to sit over by the fireplace?”
“I’d love to.” I stepped a little closer to him until my shoulder grazed his arm as the hostess took two menus from the stack on the stand.
She instructed us to follow her and led us to a private table on the far side of the room that gave us a view of the fireplace. I barely noticed the few guests seated at the bar with their backs to us as the hostess placed our menus on the table. “Someone will be right with you,” she said before returning to her post at the front door.
Noah stepped behind me to slide my jacket off and hang it on the back of my chair. I shivered, not from being cold, but from his nearness and soft touch on my shoulders. He pulled out the chair, pushing it in as I sat down.
Then he quickly circled to the other side of the table and hung his jacket on the back of his chair. As he sat down, his eyes scanned the restaurant. “This is really nice. I’ve never been here before. It has that wilderness lodge feel. Very rugged.” He paused. “I mean rustic. That’s the word I was looking for.”
“You do realize you’ve moved to the end of the earth, right? Everything about our town and these mountains is rugged and rustic. Just wait until winter gets here. It can feel pretty remo
te up here when we get a snowstorm.”
He noticed the excitement in my eyes. “You really love it here, don’t you?”
“Yes. But I’ve lived here my whole life. I can’t imagine living in a city or someplace in the south where the seasons never change.” I opened my menu as I talked.
Noah followed suit. “So what’s good here?”
“Everything, from what I hear. I’ve only eaten here a few times.”
Before either one of us could say anything more, a waiter in a crisp white shirt and black dress slacks arrived at our table. He quickly took our drink order, a Diet Coke for me and an iced tea for Noah, and then headed back to the kitchen.
Silence came between us as we studied the entrée selections. Food was the farthest thing from my mind, but I decided on a meatless pasta, hoping my nerves wouldn’t prevent me from eating most of it. When the waiter returned with our drinks, we placed our orders and handed him our menus. As soon as he left, I quietly sipped my Diet Coke. Looking across the table at Noah, I couldn’t help wondering how I had captured his attention when he could have any girl in town, and not just the ones still in high school.
Finally, he broke the silence. “How’s Dakota?”
“Much better. His neck is healed, and he was up and about this morning like nothing happened. But he took off today and hasn’t come home yet. For all I know, he’s been hurt again.” I let out a worried sigh, almost wishing Noah hadn’t reminded me about him. And yet I was glad he did because it meant he remembered last weekend and cared.
“Why do you think it could happen again? Do you know what attacked him last week?”
“I’m not really sure. Dakota has roamed these mountains his whole life and nothing like this has ever happened.” I paused, debating on how much to tell him. “But I think whatever bit him is what bit the guy who took Ryder.”
“What? I mean I just figured Dakota had bitten him.”
“So does my dad. And I’ll admit I wondered about that too, at least until last Friday night.”
“What happened Friday night?”
“I saw another wolf in the woods at the party. It actually looked a lot like Dakota except for the eyes. They were gold.”
Noah frowned as concern came over his expression. “Have you told your father about this?”
I shook my head. “No, and you can’t either. If he knows, he’ll just worry about it.”
“Where was the party?”
“Up at the old abandoned campground at Matthews Pond.”
“Oh,” Noah said, smiling. “I’ve heard that’s a favorite party spot.”
“Okay, yes, I’ve heard that, too. But I’d never been there until last week. I only went because Brooke dragged me there. I wanted to be a good friend and give her some moral support, and a ride.”
“You don’t have to explain to me. You’re in high school and you’re supposed to go out to a party or two. As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters.”
“Well, I don’t drink if that’s what you mean. But if you mean straying away from the party to come face to face with a strange wolf that doesn’t belong here, we might have a problem.”
“Yes, we might. How far away from the party did you go?”
I looked at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking. “Not very. I could still see and hear the other kids. You’re not going to tell my dad, are you?”
“About what?”
“All of it. Any of it. The party, the wolf. He can’t know. He has enough on his mind right now.”
Noah smiled warmly. “Of course not. But thank you for telling me. It means a lot that you trust me. Just promise me you’ll stay out of the woods for a while.”
“No problem. The last two times I tried to take a hike, Dakota wasn’t cooperative. Last weekend he chased me home. And this morning he took off without me. I’m not even sure I want to go out there anymore. At least not alone.” I remembered my nightmare and shivered. Taking a deep breath, I flashed him a smile. “Okay, enough about Dakota and wolves. You now know a secret about me, so it’s time for me to learn a little more about you.”
Noah leaned his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his hands. “What would you like to know?”
“Well, you said you’re from Pittsburgh. Did you grow up there?”
“Born and raised.”
“Was your dad a police officer, too?”
Noah’s enchanting smile instantly faded as he looked down at the table. “I never knew my father. My mom raised me all on her own.”
“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.”
He raised his eyes to meet my gaze. “It’s okay, don’t be sorry. My mom and I got by just fine.”
“But do you know who he was? Did she ever talk about him?”
“I learned long ago that subject was off limits with her. I asked her about him when I was eight years old, and I’ll never forget the way she told me there was nothing to tell. She said she barely knew him, but I’ve always thought there was more to the story.”
“Have you tried asking her about him since then?”
“Never.” He paused, as if searching for the right words to say. “I think he hurt her and the memories were just too painful. She did a lot for me over the years, made a lot of sacrifices. She doesn’t deserve to have painful memories dredged up from the past.”
“That’s really nice of you to protect her. Is she still in Pittsburgh?”
“Yeah, but we keep in touch. My move up here was a little hard on her.”
“Then she should come to visit. Fall is just around the corner and you wouldn’t believe how beautiful the leaves will be. People come here from all over the world for the fall colors. It would be a great time for her to visit.”
“Maybe next year. I’m still settling in and I want to know the area a little bit better first.”
I shrugged. “Okay. But at least send her some pictures.”
Noah grinned. “You know, the leaves change colors in Pittsburgh, too. But maybe I should send her some pictures of things we don’t have in Pittsburgh, like you.”
I gasped. It seemed awfully soon for that. “You wouldn’t!”
He laughed. “I’m only teasing. I wanted to see your reaction.”
I smiled with relief, gazing at him and savoring the moment. But my focus on Noah was suddenly interrupted when two loud rowdy boys stumbled in through the entry way and headed straight for the half-empty bar. I recognized them from my class. They both played on the football team, their green and gold letterman jackets evidence of their school spirit.
My smile quickly faded as the unruly scene unfolded before us.
The boys approached the bar, the rhythm of their footsteps uneven and their movements wobbly. As they settled onto the bar stools, they whistled, hailing the bartender’s attention.
“Hey, gorgeous,” Eric, the dark-haired boy slurred to the blonde, white-shirted bartender. “How ’bout a couple shots o’ tequila for me an’ my friend?” His voice rang out loudly against the hushed voices in the room.
“Do you boys have some ID?” the bartender asked in a steady voice, remaining calm and stoic.
The sandy-blond-haired boy, Mark, sputtered out a laugh. “Do you know who we are?” He turned to Eric. “I don’t think she realizes that our families practically own this town.” Then he leaned over the bar, grabbing her wrist and clamping her arm down against the surface. “My father runs the ski resort and his dad is president of the town bank. We get what we want when we want unless you, darlin’, want to be unemployed. So I suggest you pour us those shots.”
I sucked in a quick breath as I looked at Noah. He couldn’t sit by and let some spoiled rich kids bully the bartender into serving them alcohol, especially when they were obviously already drunk. He caught my gaze, shaking his head apologetically before jumping up.
He rushed over to the empty stool beside Mark. “I suggest you let go of the lady. She’s only doing her job.” His confident posture and authoritative tone rem
inded me of my father.
Mark slowly uncurled his fingers around the bartender’s wrist as his gaze shifted to Noah in disbelief. “Who the hell are you?”
Noah was ready and waiting with his badge pulled out of his pocket. “Noah Lawson, town deputy. And quite frankly, I don’t care who either one of you are. It’s very simple, no ID, no tequila.”
Mark slapped his friend on the back. “Did you hear that? He wants to lose his job, too!” When he spun around to face Noah, anger sparked from his green eyes. “This is none of your business, so why don’t you get lost?”
“It is my business. I won’t let you harass the bartender. She’s not going to serve you, so I think it’s time you both leave.”
He stared at Mark, his eyes bold and unwavering. He wasn’t backing down, and even though I hoped this would end quickly so that we could get back to our date, I enjoyed seeing someone stand up to Mark and Eric.
Mark looked at his friend. “You ready to leave, Eric?”
The dark-haired boy shook his head slowly. He was obviously much drunker than Mark. “Naw. We jus’ got here. I wanna drink.”
“I’m with you.” Mark turned back to Noah. “We’re not leaving until we get what we ordered.”
Noah sighed, realizing it was going to take more than simple reasoning to get the boys to leave. “Then I’ll have to take you out of here.” He grabbed Mark’s upper arm to lead him away, but the younger boy wiggled out of his grasp. Curling his hand into a fist, he swung it at Noah.
With lightning reflexes, Noah blocked the punch and caught Mark’s arm with one hand. He spun the boy around, wrapping his arms around Mark’s frame and locking the boy’s arms against his sides. “That’s assaulting a police officer,” Noah gritted out in his ear.
While Noah kept a hold on Mark, Eric jumped out of his seat. I gasped, watching in horror as Eric lifted his fist and aimed it at Noah’s jaw. “Noah!” I cried as I brought a hand up to my mouth in shock.
Before Eric could swing his arm, a man at the end of the bar launched out of his seat and grabbed Eric from behind, pulling the boy back a few steps and out of reach of Noah. I didn’t recognize the stranger who had been quietly sitting at the bar with an amber colored drink since we had arrived. He appeared to be in his late forties. His jet black hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, and he wore a brown blazer with a pair of jeans. His black eyes narrowed as he held Eric back. “Easy there, son. It’s not worth it. You need to get out of here and sleep it off.”
Shadows at Sunset: Sunset Trilogy ~ Book 1 Page 16