by Xander Jade
The guy looked confused but shrugged it off. They discussed something else and laughed about other things. I was hungry, so I butted into the conversation and asked, “Girls, are you hungry? I’m headed to the diner. Come with?”
“Sounds good. We will meet you there,” Abby replied immediately.
I nodded and went over to Bella; we headed outside.
At the diner, the server guided us to a booth, but before we sat, Bella whispered, “Can I sit with you?”
Without hesitating, I replied, “Sure, hon.”
I let her sit first, then slid in beside her. Our server gave us a menu and took our drink order. A few minutes later, the two teens came in and sat on the opposite side. The server brought our drinks and took the teens’ order before heading off again.
“Mom, it’s so good to see you out and about,” Abby praised.
Julia nodded, “We’ve missed you at the shop.”
“It’s only been two weeks, girls,” Bella scoffed with a smile.
Abby looked over to me. “This scene looks familiar, Dominic. Trying to get in our good graces?”
I was taking a drink of water and choked on it when she said that. All three ladies laughed, I tried to keep myself from coughing up anything.
Abby leaned over the table. “You got mom out of her room, so it looks like I already owe you. We can meet in my room after this if you want to cash it in.”
I didn’t respond. The bold statement shocked Julia and Bella, the former’s cheeks went pink and when the latter got herself together, she hissed at her daughter, “Young lady, that is inappropriate.”
Abby glanced over at her mom. “Why? I’m of age, and he’s an attractive male.”
Bella stammered something. I just chuckled and shook my head. “Abby, don’t have your mom worry about you.”
The teen was serious when she responded, “Julia and I have talked it over. When you’re ready, big boy, then let us know.”
I turned my attention to Julia. Her cheeks were crimson now and she wouldn’t look at us. Not knowing how to respond, I took a breath to calm down.
Bella spoke up, “Ab, Juls, what has gotten into you two? Wait, I don’t want to know. Let’s just have a pleasant lunch.”
The teens giggled and nodded. I still said nothing, not wanting to get myself in trouble. The server brought drinks for the girls and bread for the table. We ordered our food, before leaving she asked, “Sir, I have to ask. My colleagues noticed you come in and wondered why you were about to fight Lamar?”
I groaned inwardly.
“You said that you weren’t the guy,” Bella chastised me.
Abby nodded, “Yeah, Roger kept saying that you were him, but I said it must be a mistake. Why did you lie?”
“It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
The server commented, “Lamar’s a vindictive piece of shit. He’s evil.”
“Nice to know, but he doesn’t scare me. His small friend made some derogatory remarks to some people that are with me. I tried to be nice, but he kept going, so I choked the little bastard and threw him out of the clothing shop.”
The waitress was laughing softly. Bella shook her head. Julia wasn’t deterred in any way. “That was you? Christy and the others were talking about that as well.”
I rolled my eyes. The server left and Bella said in a low voice, “You need to be careful. Lamar is a dick and has a reputation for hurting people.”
I looked her in the eyes. “I will. Now, let’s talk about something else.”
Julia couldn’t help it, she was curious, “Who’s with you?”
I took a moment to answer. “Well, some ladies that needed help. A boy as well.”
Abby chimed in, “Are they going to join your family?”
Bella looked up at her question. I didn’t want to say anything out in the open, it wasn’t anyone else’s business.
“I don’t know. We’ll see. I took William in as my ward. He was an orphan and now I’m teaching him how to read and write.”
Abby smiled and shook her head. “There you go again, helping people.”
I grunted.
Julia broke in with her question, “Can we meet them? Is Nikki with you?”
Bella couldn’t keep quiet then, “Who’s Nikki?”
Her daughter replied, “A gorgeous blonde, she was with him the last time he was in town.”
Bella nodded, but kept quiet. I thought about Julia’s question before answering.
“We can see where they are when we’re finished here or do it the next time that I’m in town.”
Julia responded before I finished my statement, “After this.”
Abby nodded in agreement. “Are they from different races?”
Bella looked over at the girls with her brows raised. “Why are you asking that?”
“We’re curious about the women that are involved with Dominic,” Abby replied with a smile.
I chuckled at their banter. “Yes, they are from different races. Tianna is a drow, an earth mage. Celina and Lily are beastkin.”
Julia asked in a rush, “Really? What species?”
“Lily is a ram, and Celina is a puma.”
“Incredible! Has Celina shifted for you yet?” Abby gushed.
I laughed and nodded. “Yeah, she’s deadly. William, my ward, is a panther.”
Both teens said in unison, “Cool.”
Bella asked in confusion, “The girls said that you were with Nikki. Where does she fit in?”
I figured that I needed to tell them about the others as well.
“There are two others that are living in Strongfair. Nikki is a nephilim and Emoli is a drow, and another earth mage.”
Julia whistled, “Damn, Dom. You have some deadly women hanging around you.”
I shrugged. We made small talk the rest of the time until the food came and ate in silence. It was great. Pot roast with red potatoes. When lunch ended, I paid our bill, and we left after leaving a tip. I didn’t know where the others were, but it surprised me to see them walking back from the livery. I guessed they had finished shopping. We met on the deck of the diner.
“Hello, Dom,” Lily smiled as they came up, “we just finished with our errands.”
I nodded and was about to introduce everyone, but they all did it themselves. Shrugging, I stepped back and watched. I noticed William look over at Abby and Julia many times, but the young women just nodded at him and listened to the ladies chatting. I chuckled to myself. It wouldn’t be long, and he would have girl fever.
As they were talking, I realized that I forgot to buy the jars. Shit. I turned to the women, “Ladies,” they stopped talking and looked in my direction, “I seem to have forgotten an important item from the general goods store. I’ll grab the wagon from the livery and stop to purchase them. When you’re done, then head over.”
They nodded and went back to their conversation. I laughed softly and walked to get my wagon. Coming up to the livery, I paid the fee for everything and made sure all the packages were tied down. Flicking the reins, the Jutlands slowly made their way over to my destination and stopped. The hardware clerk and an assistant brought out my purchases as I applied the brake, they put them on the wagon. I then went to the general goods store and hurried inside to get the jars. The clerk had five cases, so I bought them all. The clerk and his assistant helped me carry them to the wagon and secured the boxes. We had a full load, good thing we brought the horses.
I heard footsteps behind me and looked over my shoulder to see William walking up.
“Need help?”
“Little late, isn’t it?” I smirked.
He blushed and tried to come up with an excuse.
“It’s okay, they’re beautiful young women. You aren’t of age yet, though.”
“I know,” he mumbled and shook his head.
“Go grab your horse and let’s get ready to go. I’ve already paid.”
William nodded and hurried off. I saw the women coming my way, so I waited and got Coal ready. Cel
ina got up into the back of the wagon and made a spot so she could sit near the front, the other three sat on the seat.
“We’re ready to go, Dom,” Tianna said.
“When William comes out with Buddy, we’ll head out.”
They nodded and waited, not for long though. When my ward came out of the livery, I started Coal out while Tianna flicked the reins to get the Jutlands going, headed home.
* * *