“This home is yours for your life, and that of your son. You cannot sell it, but you are more than welcome to make it your own.” Nodding, she looked around the large empty space that was supposed to be hers. “Your furniture is not coming as you were told, I’m afraid. They only just decided that if the house is not empty, then Paddy might move into it. Then they can get him for trespassing. However, all your personal items, pictures and the like, are on their way here. They are to arrive in the morning. The Mannings are going to make your ex-husband’s life very difficult if he manages to get out of jail for any reason. They’ll keep him off the streets. In light of that, we’ve been given permission to give you whatever you want here. Would you like the same kind of furniture, my lady, which was in the other home?”
“I don’t understand.” Hailey nodded, then snapped her fingers. The living room, with the exception of the extra space because of the size difference, looked just like the one at home. She realized just then that she didn’t care for the home back there. Paddy had ruined it for her. “I want something different. Can you do that as well?”
Hailey nodded and snapped her fingers again. It was the kind of furniture that she had always wanted in a home, but could never afford. Soft and inviting. It was so rich in earth tone colors that she thought that she could easily sit in this room for the rest of her days.
“Now that we know what you want, it will be easy to make the rest of the house look the same. With the exception of the bedrooms for the two of you. You will need to decide what you wish in there. And you should remember that everything we do, it can be changed easily.”
Anna loved this room. And she was excited to see the rest of the house too. Going into the kitchen with Philip, she saw the large basket on the counter with hers and Philip’s name on it. Philip was having an apple as she read the note.
“You will be safe here. In case no one mentioned it, you are now living in Las Vegas. Your teaching position does not start until the next term. Good luck, Anna and Philip. Remember, all you need to do is think of us and we’ll be there. But we’re all betting that you’ll be just fine now.” Then it was signed by all the Manning men and women.
Chapter 5
“You wish for me to live here? I don’t think that’s very smart, do you? I mean, I’m an old woman, set in my ways. What if I cause friction between you and my daughter?” Carla looked at her daughter when she snorted. “You know that I’d love to be here with you, Wynter, but I also know what it’s like to want to have your husband all to yourself.”
“And I will. Like when we’re in our rooms or at work. I’m going to find me a job, after all this other stuff is finished with.” Carla nodded but still wasn’t sure. “Look Mom, you can move out should you want. I can understand that on some level. But you’re an immortal. You and I are going to be alive forever. If you decide that you wish to move out or in at any time, I want you to know that you’ll be welcome.”
“I’m not an immortal.” Tristan told her that she was. “When did this happen? I mean, no one asked me if I wanted to live forever. What if I had had plans?”
“Plans to do what, Mom? Die? No, I need you in my life now more than ever. Not because I’m going to marry this idiot, but because you’re all the family I have right now. Tristan and I are going to have children. Not just our own, which will be dragons, but we’ll do what the others are doing too. Bring in children that need us as much as we’ll need them. Mom, I’ve never even babysat before. How the hell am I going to know when I’m screwing my kids up?”
“You will do no such thing.” She looked around the lovely home and thought about all the hours she’d already spent there imagining that she was going to live there until she passed on. “You do have a very lovely library here. Some of these books are older than I am.”
“And they’re signed by the authors as well, for the most part. You are welcome to use it at any time, Carla. Whether you live here or not, our home is always open for you to come here. Forever. We both hope you’ll live with us, but at least visit quite often.” She laughed with Tristan. “You decided. But I want you to know that Wynter and I will provide you with a home, staff, and anything that you wish to have in your home.”
“Oh no, I won’t ask you for that.” He said that it was a done deal. “I don’t know what to say.” She thought of something. “What if I just wanted a place out back? A couple of rooms with a nice view of the mountains. A bath...I’m thinking of one of those tiny houses, where I can come in if I need to. Would that be something that could be arranged? Nothing fancy or big. Just a place that I can call my own.”
“Yes, I can do that for you. I think that even Wynter will be all right with something that has you close, but that you could have quiet time in as well.” Carla nodded. “I’ll talk to the faeries and see what they can work up for you. If you would tell them what it is you’re looking for, I’m sure that after I find them, they can do that for you. But I would like to caution you, make sure that they understand you want small, not giant. They want to please, and believe that everything has to be large and accommodating.”
“Yes, I’ll keep them on track.” Carla hugged Tristan, then her daughter. “You’ve both made me feel so welcome here. I don’t know what to say. And to be here for a very long time, with grandchildren—you don’t have any idea how you’ve made me feel with that. If we could only get this taken care of with the courts—I will rest easier knowing that Wynter isn’t going to be shot again or back in jail for the rest of her days.”
“We’re working on that. I think that Hudson has it all about worked out.” Wynter hugged her again, and Carla felt so blessed by it. Tristan continued with his plans for the court hearings. “He said that he might be able to make it so that not only will Wynter be exonerated, but she will be made a hero from this.”
“Not that I want that. Not at all.” Carla told her that wouldn’t be so bad after what everyone was saying about her. “Yes, it would. I’m not very good around people. And having them think I’m something that I’m not will put me over the edge. I’m not ready for that sort of thing.”
Carla went to her room to pick up the books that she’d been reading. The thought of going out on the deck to read in the warm sun made her giddy. Just as she bent to pick one of them up that had fallen to the floor, she remembered the book—the book that had come with Wynter the night that she was left on her doorstep. She went to find Trystan again.
She found him in the big office that was as beautiful as the library. She started to back out of the room when she realized that he was on the phone, but he waved her inside. Carla looked around at the books in there. Most of them were college editions of different things, but there were a few that she thought that she might enjoy. When he hung up, he asked her if she needed him for something.
“Yes. I completely forgot about a book. It was with Wynter when she was dropped at my door. I don’t know anything about it. I couldn’t read the language that was written on the pages, but I put it up for her. It’s in a safety deposit box at the bank.” She handed him the key. “Wynter can go with you to open the box up. After my husband died, I put her name on it in the event that she had to make arrangements for me.”
“I was going to ask you about it. I completely forgot as well. And Wynter wanted to talk to me about a dream she had too. I’m losing my mind, I swear.” He laughed when she did. “I’ll gather her up now and we’ll go and get it. When we get back, if you want, I can tell you what it says if I can read it.”
“No, I don’t think I want to know what might be in it. It must have been important for Wynter to have, and that was another reason that I put it up for her. Also, the clothing that she had around her when she was dropped off. It’s not made of any material that I’ve ever touched before.” He asked her what else might be in the safe. “My insurance policies, Wynter’s things. A branch of something that was also with Wynter—I’m thinking now that she’s to plant it. Nothing too much that I can think of. If you h
ave a safe, I’d be happy to have my things stored in that. I’m not able to go to the bank as much as I used to.”
“That reminds me—you’ll have a car. Don’t tell me you don’t need it. I know you like to go take walks, and there are any number of places you can do that around here.” She wanted to tell him that she’d take care of it, but there wasn’t any way that she could afford a car. Carla thanked him several times for it, hoping that it wasn’t too expensive. “I spent as much as was needed to keep you safe for us. You are my mother-in-law now, and you deserve any and all things that I can provide for you. Because without you, Carla, I would never have been as happy as I am right now. You gave me Wynter.”
“Thank you so much, Tristan. She’s given me a great deal too. After her dad died, it was hard on us both. But we managed to stick together and get things, for a time anyway, back on track. Then after she was shot, then arrested, it was difficult for me to make it alone.” He asked her how long she’d been in jail after being arrested. “A month in the hospital recuperating from being shot at the mall. Then another four months in jail. I lost nearly everything in that time because of that. Not that I blame her; she did nothing but be in the wrong place at the wrong time. I guess we were very lucky that you came into her life. Thank you for loving her so much.”
“I love you too, Carla. Never forget that. You’re my family now, and as much as I want you to stay to make Wynter happy, I also realize that you need things too. Don’t let her bully you into living here.” Carla laughed and said that she wasn’t the bullying type. “Really? She sure does bully me into things. I won’t go into details with you, but she can be quite persuasive when she wants to be.”
“Yes, well, I’ll take your word for that.” She left him then. He was still laughing, and she couldn’t help but smile at him.
Just as she was going to her room again, this time to tidy up, she found several faeries waiting for her. Carla was still trying to get used to all the things that went on around the house. There were faeries and brownies everywhere. She’d only just found out last night that their cook was a wolf, and that the cleaning staff were all faeries. They would make her bed before she was able to come out of the bathroom. Today, it looked as if they had dusted and put her laundry in the wash too.
“Hello, my lady.” The one that landed on her hand told her their names. “This is Pippen, Jerry, and Flower. My name is Rose. I am the king’s faerie. It has been asked that we send some crew over to build you a tiny home. I have warned them that it must be tiny, but so that you can fit inside of it. We are all very literal when it comes to doing things.”
“Yes, that’s what Tristan said. To remember that with them, my version of tiny might not be theirs.” Rose laughed too. “I don’t really know what I want in the shape. I’d like for it to fit into the way the land is. What I mean is, I want you to use the elements that are surrounding this place so it works with the mountain and trees. I’d like at least two bedrooms, but it’s not necessary to have them both. Also, a small kitchen that I can make a pot of tea or some soup in. Also, I want windows. A great many of them that I can look out to the yard beyond and the mountain back there. I’m sure that you can work around that, can’t you?”
Pippen, the one that stood in the middle, asked if he could see into her mind. When he touched her with his tiny fingers, he asked her to think of what she’d like. It was easy, really, since she’d been thinking of nothing else since they talked about it that morning. When he stepped back, he was smiling at her.
“Yes, we can do that. That will be a very lovely tiny home for you.” He snapped his fingers, and there on the floor was the house that had been in her mind. Bending to pick it up, Carla wondered how she was going to tell him that it was much smaller than she needed. “This is just an idea of what you had in your head. Your home will be a bit bigger. Take the roof off.”
It was perfect. The windows were huge in her little sitting room. There were two bedrooms, hers larger than the other, which held a set of bunkbeds. She had wanted that for grandchildren should they want to stay over. The kitchen looked like a faerie kitchen, with just a small stove and larger refrigerator, a table, and two chairs. The room with the view had walls of bookshelves, as well as two chairs and a fireplace. She absolutely loved it.
“This is just what I had in mind. I even love the colors. I don’t know how much I’ll use the fireplace. I’ve never been very good at those sorts of fires, but I love the way it looks.”
Pippen told her that it was magical. “You only need to think of a fire and how much you wish it to burn, and it will be there for you.” Carla asked how long it would take for them to get started, thinking that she’d have to wait until warmer weather. “It is nearly finished now, my lady. We knew what we had to work with, and now that you said you liked this model we made, we’ll only need to take this out to the woods and make it larger for you. Then come spring, we’ll come out and help you with your garden. You can have meals from it should you wish. Or plant flowers for us to nibble on. That is a great treat for us.”
“I don’t know what to say. This is wonderful. The colors and the way you have it finished on the outside is perfect. I never would have thought of blending it into the trees as you have. I’ll think of you guys every time I wake up in such a house.”
They were right. It had only taken a moment or two for the house to be finished. The hardest part for her was trying to figure out if she wanted to see the trees and mountains behind her, or the lake that was just to the right of the forest. In the end, they settled the house so that should she want, she could see both, depending on which window she looked out of.
Taking her few things into the new house, she was surprised to find Rose there with Pippen. She asked her if she’d done anything wrong in wanting the house. The little faerie shook her head and smiled.
“Nay, my lady. Pippen would like to be your faerie if you have not picked another yet.” She said that she’d not. “He is a good faerie, and can serve you well wherever you are, either here or in the big house. And when you wish to read, he is not one to chatter on about things, but will allow you to have quiet.”
“I’ve never thought of having a faerie. I thought that they were only for the dragons.” Rose assured her that all family members of dragons needed to have a faerie, to keep them safe. “All right then. I would love to have Pippen here for me. He’s a good fellow, and I think that I’d enjoy his company. Also, can he teach me some things about dragons while we’re together? But I don’t want to get him into trouble.”
“It would serve me well to teach you all I know about dragons, my lady. I have been around a long time, since the time when they were plentiful in the skies.” She smiled at him. Carla asked how to pay him. “Fresh flowers, my lady. Or a bit of sugar. I’ll be really happy to be staying with someone like you. Fresh from being around humans, and maybe you can impart some of what you know about them for me.”
“I’d love that.” Carla was happy to have someone to talk to and to learn from. She thought that this was going to be a great partnership. “I think we’ll have fun out here, Pippen. I really do.”
~*~
Tristan paced his office. He thought about the dream that Wynter had had. She said that she thought that she’d been her mother. While he thought so as well, he didn’t think that was all there was to it. Something was missing in the story, and he wanted to talk to Flame to see if she could answer some questions.
“Can I tell your dream to Winnie and Hudson? I think if anyone could find Flame, then it would be them. If they can’t find her for some reason, perhaps I can talk to Aurora. She’s the queen of all the little creatures of the land.” She said that she didn’t mind. “Then after we get someone on that, you and I can go and get the book that your mom said was dropped off when you were.”
“I love that idea. I want to pick up my mom a housewarming gift too, if you don’t mind.” He said that he didn’t. “She’s so excited to have a place. I guess she
has a faerie too.”
“You should get one too. And soon. I’m not sure what being the keeper of records will entail, but I’m sure that having a faerie to help with the dates and everything will be very beneficial to us.” Tristan thought of the dream again. “You said that your father is dead. I don’t suppose you know how he was killed, do you? I’m assuming a human killed him, but I’m not sure.”
“She didn’t say, other than that his name was Briton. Mother said that she wasn’t able to take the precautions that she’d needed to keep me safe. That someone named Sadie had told her that I was meant for something special. But that wasn’t talked about either.” He asked about Flame. “I know that there was a team standing by to take my mother’s body away when she made me into a human. Why didn’t anyone come for me after that?”
“I think they might have. That was probably the reason that your mother brought you to Carla’s home. To keep you safe.” Wynter nodded. “Okay, we can speculate about this all afternoon, but we need to get answers. I’ll contact Hudson to see if he can talk to us. If not, we’ll find Winnie. I’m not sure what she’s up to today.”
“Okay.” Tristan could see the worry on Wynter’s face, and that hurt his heart. He didn’t want her to worry. “You don’t think that my parents were terrible for dropping me off with a human, do you?”
“No. She did what she thought was right to keep you safe for me.” He grinned at her. “You’re just fine, honey. I promise. I just hate unanswered riddles. I need to figure this out for us both.”
“Okay.”
They contacted Hudson, and he said that he was awaiting his turn to talk to the judge that would be presiding over the courtroom when Wynter was brought back in. He asked if he was foreseeing any trouble from that.
Tristan: The Manning Dragons ― Paranormal Dragon Shifter Romance Page 6