Her Tiger Twins

by Bonnie Burrows

  Mabel’s head was spinning. How could she have been so foolish? Of course Grant knew what was going on, and of course Samantha had been up front and honest about a previous commitment to him. Grant and Samantha were grown adults and were more than capable of handling themselves without Mabel’s interference

  .

  She was so embarrassed. What if Samantha had seen her, especially when the Locke twins were still there? What if Samantha had thought that she was spying on her for Grant and she blamed Grant? That would have been a disaster.

  “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make a mess out of everything,” she said.

  “It’s fine. You always were a little too nosy for your own good.”

  “Is that why you didn’t want me to talk about anything with her until she brought it up?”

  “Yes. I didn’t want all this getting out. Samantha is a good person, and I didn’t want you to think less of your friend because she was passing the time with a couple of weretigers while she waited for a real man to sweep her off of her feet.”

  “I never would have thought badly of her. She’s a free spirit. She doesn’t lead the life I would, but I love her anyway.”

  “And that’s why I didn’t want you to know about her plans today. The bond you two have is special, and there’s nothing more important to me than my sister and the mother of my future children being best friends like you already are. I’m so lucky.”

  “She’s lucky and so am I. Grant, when I think of how I almost ruined everything, I just-”

  “Don’t worry about it. You helped me out, anyway. I know the flowers got there on time, even though it was such a pain to find someone willing to go up the mountain so early in the morning. Did you know that they’ve never delivered flowers in Barnes Point? But there’s hardly anyone up there; just you and Samantha and a bunch of older couples who probably don’t even remember the last time they had sex.”

  “The flowers were beautiful,” Mabel said.

  “She hasn’t called me yet, so I’m guessing she hasn’t seen the flowers yet.”

  “Probably not,” Mabel agreed. “She had just returned about ten minutes before I called you.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m in no hurry for her to call. She needs her space just like I need mine. I’m going to have to run, Sis. I have to meet with a realtor in an hour and traffic is bad this time of day.”

  “You could avoid that traffic by living somewhere less crowded.”

  “I’m considering it, but didn’t you say I move too often?”

  “Are you moving again?”

  “Maybe. But I think you’ll like it this time.”

  “Are you moving closer?”

  She was genuinely excited when she asked. She’d longed for the days when her brother was close by, and as the only family she had, she truly missed him when he wasn’t around.

  “It’s a possibility. I’m looking at some land on the mountain. If this gets serious, I want to be close while still having my own space.”

  “And what if you two eventually get married?”

  “Then she would move onto this property. Her five-acre plot is nice, but I found a place – well, several properties butting up to each other – that is much bigger that I think she’d like.”

  “Where is it?” she asked, excitement welling up inside her.

  “I don’t want to jinx it. Once the ink is dry on the paperwork, I’ll take you to see it.”

  “I can’t wait,” she said.

  “Neither can I. Things are really looking up for the Daniels family. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us.”

  He said goodbye and quickly hung up, letting her know that they’d talk soon. Mabel was feeling better, the earlier panic completely gone. She should have known that her imagination had gotten the better of her. She’d been ridiculous, and she’d almost caused a lot of trouble in the process. Good thing Grant was able to set her straight. If she had brought all that up with Samantha she could have made a complete mess of their relationship.

  And she would do anything to avoid that.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Samantha watched Dylan and Jacob drive away, resisting the urge to walk around the side of the house and see them down the entire drive. She didn’t want to appear desperate.

  Letting out a huge sigh, and feeling disappointed that they were gone, she went up her back stairs and through the back door. Even though she was sad to see her time with the pair of them end, she was glad to be home. She had work to do, and now that she’d taken a mini vacation, she was ready to get back at it.

  She’d left her phone on the charger, completely forgetting it when she’d come into the kitchen to find the twins were still in her home that morning. A quick look at the call log and she was thanking her lucky stars for the oversight. Grant had called twenty times or more, not leaving a single message.

  “I’m going to have to do something about that,” she said.

  But she’d deal with Grant another day. Right now, she needed to rid her house of anything that reminded her of the twins and find a way to move on without that twinge of regret that had been eating away at her ever since she decided she couldn’t see them again.

  She walked into the kitchen and stopped dead in her tracks.

  The large basket that Mabel used to bring her vegetables from her garden was sitting on her kitchen counter, positively brimming with freshly picked veggies. Her stomach sank and her heartbeat quickened. Mabel had been here, in her home, but when?

  Normally, that wasn’t a problem, and they had a pretty open-door policy between them; Samantha had even emerged from her office, exhausted and sore from a non-stop day of work to find a box of handcrafted chocolate and a bottle of her favorite wine on the counter. Mabel was intuitive, and always seemed to know when Samantha was too busy taking care of everything else to take care of herself. Any other day, she would have been happy to find the thoughtful gift from her sweet friend.

  Today was not that day.

  She placed a hand on the carrots resting on the top of the pile and groaned inwardly. Everything was still warm. Which meant that she’d been in Samantha’s home recently.

  “Mabel?” she called out. “Are you here?”

  She listened for a response, semi-relieved when none was given. But where was she? Had she seen the dishes in the sink and put two and two together? Or maybe she assumed that Samantha had had three meals without putting away the dishes. She shook her head. No, Mabel had teased her for eating all of her meals out of the same bowl like a bachelor. She doubted that Mabel would assume that Samantha had suddenly changed such a huge habit of hers.

  Running her hands through her hair, she tried to quash all the ridiculous scenarios playing in her head.

  “Eighty percent of the things you worry about never happen,” she muttered as she hurriedly put away the clean dishes, “so there’s no use borrowing trouble.”

  She knew that logically she was right. The more practical scenario was that Mabel had come over, and been surprised to find Samantha gone. The basket was ridiculously heavy, so rather than lugging it back to her house, she left it on the counter and had gone home. Because the simplest answer was usually the right one.

  Then why didn’t she feel any better about it?

  “Stop it, just stop it,” she told herself.

  What did it matter if Mabel was in the house and had discerned for herself that Samantha had guests for breakfast? So what? Even if she’d actually gotten that far, why did it even begin to matter? It wasn’t like Mabel was psychic and would know exactly what Samantha had been up to. More than likely – if she had even gotten as far as Samantha’s wild imagination was suggesting – she had shrugged it off as none of her business.

  And if she hadn’t, or if she was upset that she hadn’t been invited to breakfast, that was on her. Samantha didn’t mind her friend popping in uninvited, but she hoped her friend would understand if she’d already made plans.

  She fussed a
round the house some more, shaking off the feeling of dread about Mabel’s visit and ridding her house of everything that reminded her of the twins. It took her almost an hour, but when she was finally done setting everything in her world back to the way it once was, she took a deep breath and sighed.

  “Too bad the house still smells like them,” she said.

  She laughed it off, amused that no matter what she did, their presence still lingered. She had a feeling the same was going to be true in her heart.

  Opening her office door, she sat at the desk and turned on the computer. She ignored her current project, heading straight for the dating site and perusing the different sections. Maybe she’d try a bear this time. Or werewolf. Anything but a cat.

  After all, she thought, the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.

  She laughed at her joke, clicking around the site aimlessly and coming up dry. The men were gorgeous, but none of them were even close to Jacob and Dylan. She hadn’t noticed it until now, but so many of the profile pictures were smug, the men sure of themselves in a way that was off-putting rather than sexy.

  Another thing she noticed right away was that many of the ads listed “no aftercare” and “no overnights”.

  “Nothing like a little wham, bam, thank you, ma’am,” she muttered.

  That might be what she’d wanted before, but after being spoiled by the twins, the bar had been raised too high.

  She backed out of the bear’s den, backtracking on the site until she made her way back to the cats and the section where she’d found the twins. She clicked on their link, furrowing her brow when she saw their ad.

  “Booked” was highlighted and the contact button was disabled. When she tried to click the icon to tell her when they’d be available next, it was also disabled. What was going on?

  It only took her a moment to guess. They had already booked enough dates to keep them busy for a long time, and they didn’t have time for any more. Feelings hurt, and disgusted with herself for getting attached to a one-night-stand, she closed her computer down and left her office. She wasn’t going to get any work done today, so maybe it was time for a day off.

  She grabbed a book off the shelf in the hallway and headed to the front door. The sun was still warm enough that the front porch swing was going to be the best seat in the house. Cheering up at the prospect of a little light reading in the warm afternoon sun, she all but skipped out to the door. She pulled the door open and gasped at the stunning array of flowers on the porch.

  “Well, these are pretty.”

  She squatted down, the arrangement so tall that it was even with the top of her head when she was crouched down like that. It took her a moment to find the card, which was tucked neatly beside a trumpet lily.

  Sitting cross-legged, she eagerly opened the card, wondering when the twins had had a moment to order her flowers, let alone have them delivered.

  Her stomach sank when she saw the signature on the bottom.

  “What the hell?” she said.

  She read the card over and over again. The words seemed innocuous but Samantha couldn’t shake the feeling that it was what he wasn’t saying that was important.

  Sweet Samantha,

  I enjoyed your company yesterday, and I’m glad after a small stumble that we were able to move forward. You’re a special woman, and deserve a man that can give you the attention you crave. I look forward to many more meals together.

  Yours Truly,

  Grant

  “That was gag-worthy,” she said out loud, tucking the note back where she’d found it and lugging the floral arrangement into her house.

  It wasn’t that she wanted to keep it, but she didn’t want it sitting out there for all the neighbors to see. She opened the closet where she kept her trash bin and shoved the display in. It filled the small space, standing taller than the trash can and pressing it up against the wall as it vied for premium space. Samantha closed the door, shaking her head and pacing around her living room.

  Grant had her address. She went over and over their “date”, trying to figure out when he could have gotten that information. Maybe he ran her license plate? But no, he hadn’t been able to see the parking lot from his place on the patio and she’d waited until he left before she went to her car after lunch.

  No. She knew who the culprit was, and she was going to have to put a stop to this. She should have called her friend immediately and let her know what a disaster the date had been, but she was hoping that Grant had better things to do than to harass someone who’d very clearly brushed him off. Their lunch date had been anything but pleasant and she had no idea what he had hoped to accomplish by sending her flowers. All he had managed to do was piss her off.

  She locked the front door, fumbling with the seldom used deadbolt for a moment before she was able to slide it in place. She’d never been good about keeping her doors locked, but she suddenly felt exposed.

  Her phone rang, making her jump out of her skin and give a startled squeal. It was the landline this time, and not her cell. Good. They could leave a message. It was either her publisher calling for an update or a telemarketer. She was in the mood for neither.

  The phone rang only three times before the answering machine kicked on, playing the canned greeting that came with the machine itself. She laughed every time she heard it, it was so obviously a fake voice. But she’d had the machine since college and couldn’t bear to part with it.

  The tone sounded and a familiar voice came filled the room. Chills flew up her spine and she spun, afraid for a moment that he was actually in the house with her.

  “Samantha? I know you’re there. I’ve been calling your phone all day. It’s time to quit playing games.”

  Shuddering at the sound of Grant’s voice, she fought the need to hit the stop button and cut him off. If she did that, he would know that she was there, listening to him. She advanced on the box quickly, sliding the volume down all the way and jumping back as if the machine was possessed.

  Maybe her earlier nostalgia was misplaced? She didn’t need an answering machine. What she did need was a new phone number.

  But how had he even gotten this one? Mabel didn’t have it, and it wasn’t a listed number.

  The answering clicked off and Samantha realized then that she’d been holding her breath. She felt trapped in her own home, wondering where he was and if he was headed her way.

  She grabbed her purse, fishing around inside of it, looking for her house key. She didn’t keep it on the key chain with her car keys because she never used it. She finally found it in a zippered pocket and shoved it onto the keyring before heading out the back door. Grabbing her cellphone on the way, she tossed it into her purse and didn’t bother looking at the call log. It probably had hundreds of missed calls, and she wasn’t ready to deal with that right now.

  Right now, she needed to get out of her house and escape this irrational feeling of being watched. He wasn’t in her home, and she knew it, but still. She locked the door behind herself and got into her car, but not before checking through the window to make sure no one was hiding in the backseat.

  Briefly, she considering calling Dylan and Jacob, but she discarded the idea as quickly as it had popped up. They didn’t belong to her, and they certainly didn’t owe her any form of protection. As tempting as it was to call in the big guns and play the damsel in distress, she couldn’t do it. No, she was going to take care of this herself and she was going to start by talking to Mabel.

  She drove down the driveway, eyes peeled for anything suspicious. At least that was one good thing about her line of work; she was prepared for anything.

  She slowed when she got to Mabel’s end of the street, looking around and making sure that there were no unfamiliar cars nearby. Satisfied that Grant wasn’t lurking, waiting for her to leave the safety of her home and visit her friend, she got out and hurried to Mabel’s front door. She almost turned back for her cellphone but decided against it. Normally,
she would call ahead, but this was not a normal circumstance. Hopefully, her friend was home.

  She hopped over the single step and onto the porch. Knocking loudly, she was impatient as she waited for Mabel to answer. She knocked again and pressed the doorbell several times, looking nervously over her shoulder in the waning afternoon light.

  Maybe this was a bad idea, she thought, feeling much too exposed.

  Hurried footsteps from the other side of the door sounded, and a harried, damp-haired Mabel flung the door inward.

  “Samantha,” she said, shocked. “Is something wrong?”

  “Everything is wrong,” she said, pushing past her friend and closing the door behind them.

  Samantha locked the door herself, double checking the bolts with trembling hands that were as much from anger as fear.

  “What’s going on, Samantha? You’re scaring me. Are you hurt?”

  Mabel pelted her with a barrage of questions, her voice raising with uncertainty and fear when they went unanswered. When she finally fell silent, her hands clutching her robe together at her throat, Samantha looked her friend square in the eye.

  “Mabel, we need to talk.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Mabel’s face paled.

  “I’m so sorry I went in your house. I thought you were home and-” she blurted out.

  “Mabel, that’s not why I’m here. It’s alright that you did that and I appreciate the produce. That’s not what I came to talk to you about.”

  “Oh. Then what are you here for? Samantha, you look like you’ve seen a ghost or something.”

  “Not a ghost, just an ugly past I don’t ever want to relive.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “First, I want you to tell me, and please be honest. What were you doing in my house?”

  “I thought you said you weren’t mad.”

  “I’m not mad. But I need to know exactly what you know so I know where to go from here. If you lie to me, then I’ll be mad.”