“I know you will. But you can’t stop living. It’s no better than staying with a Mate who cheats and takes you for granted.”
Maia watched the people going by outside the window.
Valerie reached for another lemon tart; biting into it, she said, “Fate will show you the right path, Maia. I told you, no matter how you fight it, or what your plans are, fate will make sure you get what it’s planned for you. So you may as well get up and go out and make some friends and have some laughs while it takes you where you’re supposed to be.” Valerie took another bite, “You know, these may be in the top four. These are so good.”
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>
Kaid and Maverik strolled through the aisles in the store, “Yeah, he called me, too. I feel sorry for him. He’s hurting.”
“What did he say to you?” Maverik asked.
“Just sent us pictures of him and Cristie in front of the Christmas Dragons they bought. They’re cute. Now Monster wants some for our place.”
“Sent you pictures? Let me see.”
“Hold up,” Kaid reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone tossing it to Maverik.
Maverik brought up the gallery and scrolled through, looking for the picture. Finding it he grinned, “There’s my pretty-girl. Damn I miss that baby.”
Maverik forwarded the picture to his own phone before tossing Kaid’s phone back to him.
“We all do. Miss Riley, too,” Kaid said.
“Yeah. Beginning to think all this missing don’t have to be happening.”
“Whaaat?” Kaid said, feigning shock. “The mighty ‘I am never wrong Mav’ admitting he may have made a mistake?”
“No. I did not make a mistake. I stood by my daughter and will again, every single time,” Maverik snapped. “But, I’m beginning to wonder if maybe there’s a huge clusterfuck of a misunderstanding.”
“What did Riley say when he called, Mav?”
“Said there was never any other woman. Said he still didn’t understand why we all blocked him from Maia, and why she renounced him.”
“Hell, Maverik, I still don’t know.”
“The hell you say?” Maverik said, coming to a stop as he wove in and out of the racks while he followed Kaid through the stores as they Christmas shopped for Delilah and Valerie.
“You didn’t offer, and I didn’t ask. Your daughter, you know? And she’s fading, Mav. I figured you needed me to step in you’d ask. You blow a lot a smoke, my friend, but you are far from stupid. Sometimes wonder if our roles should be reversed,” Kaid said.
“Oh, hell naw. You are not about to hang me with all the crap Alpha brings with it. No, thank you.”
“Yeah, well, didn’t say I was giving it to you, just that I had no doubt you could handle it just as well. So, you gonna tell me what happened between them?”
“She heard him talking about leaving, about how he needed a better life to be able to offer to a Mate. After he’d been so distant and staying away from her for those weeks, she thought he was planning on finding another Mate.”
Kaid turned to look at Maverik, a wrinkle in his forehead, “He meant her. He was trying to build a life to offer her. He couldn’t stay here — he needed to find his own way, his own Pride.”
“Yeah, that’s what he said,” Maverik conceded, mumbling.
“That’s why she renounced him?” Kaid asked, incredulously.
“No. She renounced him ‘cause when she finally decided to accept his phone call and see what the hell he wanted, she heard a female in the background, and he was telling her to just take his shirt ‘cause it smelled like him and she’d like it better.”
“You kidding me?!” Kaid said.
“No, I’m not. That’s when she fell apart. When she decided that she had to let go. Valerie told me she said she couldn’t live her life like her mom did, being an afterthought to all his other women.”
“That’s rough,” Kaid admitted.
“Yeah, it is. And now I’m watching her fading. Watching her step back from life because her heart’s broken. And I don’t know what to do,” Maverik said.
“Did you tell him that, that she heard another female in the background of his phone call?” Kaid asked.
“Yeah, I did. He denied it, said there’s never been another female.”
“What are you going to do? You like to fix everything, how you gonna fix this?”
“I’m not! I told him to fix it! This is his shit, not mine. And I’m not watching her waste her life away because of this shit. ‘Fix it!’ I told him.”
“Do you think it can be fixed, Mav?” Kaid asked.
Maverik shook his head, shrugging, “I don’t know. She’s not a little girl anymore, she’s a young woman. And she needs her Mate, but she believes he’s betrayed her. I don’t know what the fuck to do. I almost wish she was still little, ‘cause then I could take her ass to him and force them to work it out.”
“It’ll be what it should be, Mav. Just be there for her when she needs you.”
“That’s what Valerie says. I’m trying, Kaid, I’m trying.”
Chapter 15
Saturday morning came early. But as the sun came up, Riley and Lucas were already hard at it. They were laying out the frame for the diner addition. Richie was still inside the house, watching over Cristie until Libby got there.
As the morning passed, and each vehicle continued on its way without stopping, it became apparent that Scotty wasn’t coming. Each vehicle that neared, Riley would pause in what he was doing and watch, waiting for it to stop.
Finally, Lucas said, “I don’t think he’s coming, dude.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right. Hope everything’s okay.”
“I’m sure it is. Probably got a better offer to hang out with friends. It’s the age…” Lucas said.
“Not Scotty. He’s determined to win a place in this Pride. Something else must have come up.”
The sound of a car sounded in the distance. It could be heard making its way toward them. Eventually a little blue jeep came into sight, its turn signal flashing to pull off the highway and into the parking lot.
Libby drove slowly up to the front gate of the house and parked her jeep. She got out and waved to Riley and Lucas. “Morning,” she called.
“Morning, Libs,” Riley called back.
Lucas didn’t answer, but raised his hand and waved at her.
Riley went back to work, but Lucas kept standing where he’d been, watching Libby as she made her way up the front steps and into the house.
Riley stopped working and stood there, his sole focus Lucas watching Libby.
After Libby disappeared into the house, Lucas watched for a few seconds longer before turning back to the task at hand and found Riley staring at him. “What?”
“You seem a little preoccupied. Something you not telling me?”
Lucas shook his head, the muscles in his neck and shoulders flexing with the movement, “Nope. Not a thing.”
“You sure about that?”
“Yep,” Lucas answered, throwing himself into work.
Moments later Riley heard Lucas mumble, “Travis is a fucking fool,” under his breath. “A damned fool.”
The door opened at the house, and Lucas snapped his head in that direction, but it was only Richie. He was headed their way, a huge stainless steel thermos and three matching stainless steel tumblers with locking lids with him.
“Coffeeee!” Lucas rumbled.
“The lifeblood of the busy,” Richie called, grinning. He handed each an already filled tumbler before setting the thermos beside the tool box.
Two hours passed before Libby walked out onto the porch. She had Cristie with her, all dressed for the day, bundled up in her warm boots and bright pink ski jacket. They walked over to the diner, “Hey. Scotty just called me. Said they’ve got some trouble this morning. Travis found bark beetles in the trees they were hoping to harvest for next year. If they don’t contain it, it could take every tree on their place, so he nee
ds Scotty to help him for the next few days.”
Riley put down the nail gun and took off his work gloves, laying them down next to the nailer. “What do they have to do?”
“Scotty said they have to check each individual tree. If it’s infested, they have to determine to what degree and if it can be saved or not. If it can be saved, they have to treat it. If not, it has to be removed and hauled away so the insects in it can’t move to another tree once that one dies. And let me tell you, they have acres and acres of trees. When their parents were alive and the farm was in peak condition, they used to supply more than half the country with Christmas trees. Now, though, Travis is just trying to maintain about thirty acres. Some he had almost ready to harvest; the others are in different stages of growth. But if they don’t nip these beetles in the bud, they could lose all the trees — every one.”
“Damn,” Riley said, quietly, looking off in the distance, his hands on his hips.
“Can they get them all inspected within a few days?” Lucas asked.
“Some of them, but it would be hard to get them all done with just Travis and Scotty. Anyway, that’s why Scotty isn’t here. He didn’t want you to think he just blew you off,” Libby said.
Riley looked back at the work they’d just begun, the partial frame standing. “Let’s secure this, then pack it up and head over to help Travis and Scotty.”
“Really?” Lucas asked.
Riley looked at him, “Yep. We’ll have time to get it done before the tables, chairs and shelving we ordered in town the other day are delivered. If not, we can store it temporarily on the store side until the diner is expanded. The dishes and pots and pans can be stored in the house if they come early.” He looked away in the distance in the direction of Travis’ house. “Besides, it’s the right thing to do. I can’t stand by and watch somebody lose everything when I might have been able to make a difference.”
Lucas watched Riley looking for a piece of wood to brace the partial frame they’d have to leave unfinished. He had a slight smile on his face.
Richie saw him, “He’s an unusual kind of Alpha,” he said to Lucas.
“I’m beginning to see that, Number 2. I am beginning to see that,” Lucas answered, before going to pick up the tools and materials they’d strewn about.
“Just put this stuff in the diner — we’ll get back to it as soon as we see if we can help Travis,” Riley said.
“Already on it,” Lucas answered.
Less than half an hour later Riley’s truck, packed tightly with ladders, chain saws, picks, and his entire Pride pulled into the drive of Travis and Scotty’s home. Riley looked around, but didn’t see anyone, so he leaned on the horn a few times before opening the door and getting out. The rest of his Pride joined him, climbing out one at a time and looking around. A chain saw could be heard in the distance, and they heard a four wheeler start up. They could just make out the four wheeler heading toward them. When it got closer, they could see it was Travis.
“Riley,” Travis greeted. “There a problem?” he asked. His face clearly showed signs of stress. He was covered in saw dust, and it was apparent he’d been working non-stop for hours.
“Heard you have a problem with your trees,” Riley said.
“Yeah,” Travis answered, looking around at all three males, and then Libby as she climbed out of the truck with Cristie on her hip.
“We came to help,” Riley announced.
Travis’ eyebrows rose in surprise, “You, what?” he asked.
“Came to help. All of us. Shut down our project when Libby told us what was going on. So, we’re here. Tell us what to do — we’re here for whatever you need done. Well, except Libby and Cristie — I just couldn’t leave them behind without one of us there.”
Travis was speechless at first, looking from Riley to the others. Then, finally, “You’re serious?”
“’Course. Friends help friends. Show us what to do,” he pointed his thumb at the supplies in the bed of his truck, “I wasn’t sure what we had that might help, but I brought ladders, axes, picks and chainsaws. So, come on, put us to work,” Riley said.
Travis pursed his lips, nodded his head, “I don’t know what to say.”
“Well, you could start with how to help,” Richie said, chuckling.
“True, okay then, follow me. I’ll show you,” Travis said. Then he gestured toward the house, “Libby, if you’d like, you and Cristie can stay here at the house. It’s not locked. Or you can hang around and explore out here. Whatever you want, make yourself at home.”
“Thanks, Travis,” Libby said, taking a step toward the front door.
Travis held out his hand to Riley, who shook it without hesitation, looking him in the eye, “Thank you, Riley. Thank you.”
“No need for thanks. Lead on, show us how to kill the little fuckers,” Riley said, grinning.
Libby paused on her way to the house, listening to Travis explain that the trees could be perfectly green, not look like there was a problem at all as long as the weather was cool. Then as it began to warm, the tops would begin to turn brown, and some would already be dead and beyond saving.
“How did you find the infestation?” Lucas asked.
“The trees react by releasing pitch. The pitch leaves little tubes on the outside of the tree. If the pitch is white, it means that the beetle was successfully repelled. If it’s reddish brown, the beetle most likely got in. We need to peel back the bark in small sections of any trees you see that have pitch tubes on them, look for any holes that indicate the beetle bored into it. If you find it, we need to treat the tree if it’s a minor infestation. If it’s a major infestation, we have to take the tree down and move it to the pile over there.” Travis pointed to a place off in the distance where the chainsaw could still be heard whining its way through pieces of lumber.
“What if the trees have no sign of infestation?” Lucas asked.
“Then we need to mark it and come back through to treat it chemically. If we treat it before its infested, the adult beetles will die when they land on it.”
“Why don’t we just treat the infested ones as well?” Richie asked.
“If they’re already infested, there are usually two or three generations of beetles in it by the time it’s evident. If there are already larval stage beetles inside, it’s too late. Safer to just take it down and remove it before they can move to another tree. We do spray the trees with insecticide before we take them down to kill the beetles on it, but it’s got to go. And don’t assume if the tree is green it must be healthy. They may not begin to show brown or fading color until the cold weather moves on, and it gets warm again. Each and every tree must be checked.”
“Got it, where do we start? And show us some infestation before we each head out in opposite directions, so we can be sure,” Riley said.
Scotty looked up from the pile of trees he was cutting up and dragging to a safer burn location. He pulled his safety goggles to rest on his forehead, so he could better see in the distance. His face broke into a wide grin. He killed the engine on the chainsaw and started toward the group of men headed his way. Scotty jogged the short distance toward them, “Alpha! Richie, what are you doing here?” he called, coming to a stop and shaking hands with Lucas, “Welcome, Lucas,” Scotty said.
“Hey, Scotty. We heard you had some problems this morning. Came to see if we could help,” Riley said.
“Aw, Alpha. Thank you. It’d take us weeks to do everything we need to do. Thank you so much,” Scotty said, beaming at Riley.
“You’re welcome, but no thanks needed. Travis is showing us what we need to do,” Riley answered.
“I’m removing and burning the dying trees, after we’ve treated the beetles on them, so they can’t fly away and infest other trees.”
“There’s cans of spray paint here. Red means it’s infested and has to be culled, blue — it’s good but needs to be treated, so it can’t be infested.”
“Okay,” Lucas said, “Treat every t
ree, but mark it red if it has to come down, blue if it’s staying.”
“That’s it. Scotty is working his way through taking down all that I’ve already marked red. Once we get all the inspection done, we can join him taking them down and burning.”
“Alright, then. Let’s get it,” Riley said.
The men worked through the day methodically, completing acre after acre of trees. It became apparent that the younger trees, the last that had been planted, were not affected, but they still diligently checked each and every one.
Around mid-day Riley’s phone rang, and he answered, his heart lurching like it did every single time it rang — thinking that it could be Maia. He shook off his work glove and grabbed it, looking down at the screen. Nope, just Libby. “Hey, Libs. What’s up?”
“I thought I’d make you guys lunch, but there’s not much here. Could I take the truck and go into town for some food?”
“Sure, that’s a good idea. There’s an extra set of keys in the ashtray.”
“Thanks, Riley. I’ll be back soon.”
“Ya’ll doing okay?” he asked.
“Yes, we’re good. We’ve been exploring around the old barn, and then we decided we’d clean the house for Travis. He’s got a lot on his mind, and we decided it would be nice for him to come home to a nice, clean house. Cristie dusted while I swept and did some laundry.”
“Very good. Ya’ll be careful, Libby.”
“Always, Alpha.”
Chapter 16
“You did what?!” Maverik yelled, his face a mask of shock as he looked at Valerie.
Valerie’s demeanor settled into one of deceptive calm, “You yell at me like that again, these babies are going to be fatherless. You get me Maverik-ASS?” she said very calmly.
Maverik opened his mouth to speak again, but thought better of it. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and tried to regain a bit of the control he’d lost when he came home from work to find that Maia hadn’t come home the night before.
“I’m sorry. Now, can you please tell me again, why my daughter didn’t come home last night?” he said softly, though his eyes were flashing with anger.
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