“Nice chair,” I said.
She set her book in her lap and glanced back at me with a cheeky grin.
“It’s my new office.”
“Then you might need this.” I handed her the tablet.
She reached for it in a stunned kind of silence. I hoped that was a good thing.
“The guy at the store said you should be able to surf the internet, even out here.”
She took it from my hands and hugged it.
“Thank you, Emmitt. I’ll try to pay you back.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s a gift.”
I didn’t want payback; I wanted appreciation. A hug would work. More would be very welcome but probably wouldn’t happen.
She was staring at the device with an unreadable expression. Her scent wasn’t giving hints, either. I stepped out onto the porch and moved to lean against the wall. She glanced at me then up at the stars. I wondered what was on her mind.
“Pretty crazy day,” I said idly after a few minutes.
“Makes sitting in my office at night just that much better.”
I waited but she didn’t say more. Taking the hint, I pushed away from the wall.
“If you need to talk about anything, I’ll be here.”
I left her to her thoughts.
Chapter 12
Her lack of reaction to my gift left me restless. Was she growing discontent here? Did she want something more for her brothers? With the work on the apartment finished, I had no outlet for my helpless frustration.
Jim saw me coming down the stairs and convinced me to go for a run. I’d grown so used to solo runs while away, I’d forgotten how good it felt to have a companion, even if the companion was my pain-in-the-ass brother who ambushed me and sent me flying into a swamp.
“What the hell was that for?” I said, shifting so I could stand. I immediately sank in the knee-deep, rank water.
“You need to pay attention to more than just Michelle,” Jim said from a safe distance away.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m trying to pay attention to everything. But having her so close, knowing she’s meant to be mine, and just waiting is killing me. It’s eating at my mind. It’s clawing at my—”
“Yeah, I get it. You’re desperate. But you can’t let her see that.”
I shook my head at him. Maybe if I did let her see that, she’d be nicer.
“I can’t wait until you find your Mate. I hope she has other ideas and gets in at least one nut shot,” I said, wading out of the water.
“Not a chance. No Mates for me. I know my path.”
I snorted. “You just need to convince Winifred and the rest of the Elders.”
He opened his mouth to argue, but I was within arm’s reach and sent him sailing into the same water from which I’d just climbed.
“You should have seen that coming,” I said with a grin.
I took off and for the next hour we chased through the back country like we were cubs back home.
Still reeking of brackish water, we trotted into the yard well after midnight. A soft, ambient glow came from Michelle’s balcony doors.
“She couldn’t have liked it too much if she left it in the kitchen,” Jim said, following the direction of my gaze.
“Where else is she supposed to put it?”
“She could have taken it to bed with her and dreamed of you.”
“Shut up.” I halfheartedly pushed him away and went inside for a shower.
He was already snoring from his room when I finished. Shaking my head, I went to the apartment door and stood there for a moment. Everything was quiet. Restless, yet knowing I needed sleep, I went to lay on the couch. I lightly dozed until dawn then got up to start making a big breakfast.
Jim didn’t sleep past the first whiff of bacon. As soon as he was up, he showered and joined me in the kitchen.
It wasn’t long before I heard Aden’s little voice carry down from upstairs.
Jim beat me out the door. After his stunt last night, I hurried to catch up. We reached the top just as Michelle asked the kids what they wanted for breakfast. I knocked briefly and opened the door before Jim could.
Whatever I’d thought to say disappeared as soon as I saw Michelle. Her skin was pale, there were dark shadows under her eyes, and she didn’t look like she’d slept at all. Had yesterday been too much?
“Come on, boys,” Jim said, waving Liam and Aden to the door. “Eggs, bacon, potato pancakes, and orange juice are waiting.” Still in their pajamas, the boys ran out the door with Jim close on their heels.
“You didn’t sleep,” I said when she didn’t move.
The tablet was on the counter, along with a piece of paper covered in her handwriting.
She blinked slowly and looked at the paper, too. I could see she wanted to get back to whatever she’d been doing. But she could barely stand. In two steps, I had her up in my arms, and started toward her bedroom.
She wrapped her arm around my shoulder and leaned against me. It was hard to be upset that she wasn’t taking care of herself when she did that.
I gently set her on the bed and covered her with a sheet. It was already too warm outside for more than that.
When she realized where she was, she moved to sit up. I stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
“But I have stock information for Nana’s friend.”
“It can wait until you’ve slept a bit.”
“But...”
“Sleep, Michelle. I’ll be listening.” After covering the windows so it would be dark enough for her to sleep, I shut the door.
The scent of her contentment drifted out with me, telling me just how much she liked having someone take care of her. And, I really did like doing it.
Stopping at the island, I studied the paper. I’d half expected travel plans or other notes about leaving. Instead, there was a bunch of random stuff about businesses. Why would she research stock information for Sam?
I thought back to the last few times she’d talked to Winifred about it. Michelle’s reactions had been odd, but frankly, all of her behavior had been a little off since arriving. Running scared from an unheard-of species would do that. But, she wasn’t running scared anymore, so I couldn’t place blame for her odd interest with stocks on that. Unless maybe she was still trying to deal with who and what we were? Sighing, I looked back at her room. There wasn’t anything I could do until she woke up.
I left the apartment door ajar and went down to stake claim on my portion of breakfast. Jim had the boys at the kitchen island, and they were just divvying up the bacon under Winifred’s supervision. She handed me my plate with a wink.
After the cubs finished eating, I helped them sneak upstairs to change while Jim and Winifred cleaned up. Both boys were eerily quiet as they went into the room to find their clothes for the day. I wondered how often in their lives they’d needed to dress silently like that.
We went outside and played for a while. When they grew bored with the swing set, Winifred sat on the porch while Jim and I stood side by side and tossed balls to the boys.
“I want to run to town to get some furniture for the new apartment,” I said in a normal tone. Jim and Winifred heard me, but the boys were busy heckling each other.
“Jim should go with you. Although his taste is deplorable, it will look more realistic with two men loading furniture rather than one.”