Sally had responded with an eyeroll emoji.
“She’s like a machine.” Elle watched Jen pull books off the shelves and toss them into the cart.
“Does she even know what she’s grabbing?” Rachel asked.
“I’ve learned that sometimes it’s better to just get out of the way and not ask questions,” Jacque said. “She’s a bit like the CIA. The less you know, the safer you feel.” They followed behind Jen laughing as she grabbed books, glanced at them quickly, and either tossed them into her cart or back on the shelves.
They turned down another aisle, and Jacque began to browse the shelves. Her eyes widened. “Jen, I don’t think we need any more of these kinds—”
“Too late,” Elle said. They watched Jen grab an armful of books and dump them into the overloaded shopping cart.
“I think it’s time to intervene,” Rachel suggested.
“Yep,” Jacque agreed. They hurried toward Jen, who was trying to grab another armful of books that covered her favorite topic.
“Let’s check out.” Rachel grabbed the cart and began steering it toward the cashier.
“Yes.” Elle nodded. “I’m starving, and I’ve never eaten mall food.”
“But—” Jen started. Jacque grabbed her hand and dragged her from the aisle. “There’s so many of them.” She sounded like a kid who’d just dropped her ice cream cone on the sidewalk.
“There can’t be that many different positions, Jen,” Jacque pointed out.
“Well, now we’ll never know. You made me drop the one that said, ‘all new positions and the pleasure they bring.’”
Elle laughed, and Jacque pulled Jen faster. “Can you help Rachel pay for the books?”
“On it.” Elle followed the healer, and Jacque tugged her BFF toward the entrance of the store and back out into the mall.
“You totally just killed my fun, Red.”
“You can always order them online,” Jacque pointed out.
“It’s not the same as picking them up and smelling them.”
“The fact that you're distraught over not being able to smell sexual instruction manuals in a public bookstore is a little disturbing.”
“Just a little?” Jen smiled.
“Depends on what they smell like,” Jacque replied.
Jen laughed, her irritation gone. With a sigh she said, “I needed this.”
Jacque nodded. “I know,” she said softly. “We all did.”
Elle and Rachel came strolling out of the store, no bags in hand. Elle must have used her mojo to get them back to the hotel. “Where to next?” Rachel asked.
“Food,” Elle said.
The group all muttered agreement and then located a map to point them toward the food court.
“I’ll text Sally and tell them to meet up with us.” Jacque already had her phone out and was typing away as they walked. Though they’d flashed a lot of places, they all seemed content to meander at the moment. The Christmas music playing around them was cheerful, and the chatter of all of the shoppers seemed to have made their group eager to be a part of the human world and all its normalcy, including a lack of instantaneous transportation.
Jacque tucked her phone in her back pocket and couldn’t help but grin as she looked around. There were Christmas decorations everywhere, stores trimmed in garland, Christmas trees in every window, and a massive tree in the very center of the mall. It brought back good memories of Christmases past.
“I’m sorry you haven’t had this since you met me, Luna.” Fane’s voice rumbled in her mind. “You’ve given up a lot to be my mate.”
Jacque should have known he would be listening in, even though he had been trying to give her privacy so he wouldn’t know what she was buying. “I’ve also gained a lot by being your mate,” she said. “I wouldn’t give any of it up, Fane. I wouldn’t change anything.” She thought about Alina and Vasile, and her chest tightened. “Okay, maybe I would change a few things, but I don’t think those things would be in my power to alter.”
“I love you, Jacquelyn.” His emotions enveloped her through their bond.
“And I you, wolf-man. Kiss our son for me.”
“Hurry up and come back to us so you can kiss him yourself. And me.” His voice dropped to a growl.
“Soon,” she told him, using the word he’d muttered to her so many times when she wanted him to hurry.
He chuckled. “Soon.”
*****
“When were you going to tell me that you called your parents?” Decebel’s deep voice reverberated through Jen’s mind while she laid on her stomach in the quiet room where she was currently getting a massage. The rest of the girls were laid out on the other tables that were lined up in two rows of four. Jen was so relaxed that she must have let down some of the barriers she’d had in place to keep that tidbit from her mate.
“You’re interrupting my massage. Franco had me in a state of zen, and you’ve totally un-zened me, B. Not cool.”
“Franco had better be short for Franchesca, female.”
“That doesn’t even make sense.” Jen snorted.
“Will it make sense when Franco—who better be Franchesca—loses his hands?”
Jen sighed and put a lid on her irritation. It was her own fault. “I knew it would upset you that they upset me, and I didn’t want to put that on you.”
She felt his frustration ease a little. “I’m your mate, Jennifer. Part of the honor of having that position is getting to bear your hurt, burdens, and pain with you.”
“I also felt ashamed. I haven’t made an effort to stay in touch with them. I haven’t shared anything about my life with them. Honestly, at first, I was just glad to be free of the constant arguments that me and my mom always had. Is it horrible that I didn’t really even miss them? At least not until recently?” She felt his hand on her cheek and took a moment to appreciate the bond that allowed them such intimacy even when so far apart.
“You love your parents, baby. I know because I can feel it when you think of them. But you haven’t had the best relationship with them. Maybe you’ve needed time to get past old pain. And they love you, too. They’ll come around, and if they don’t, then we’ll just show up at their house with their granddaughter. After they meet Thia, nothing else will matter to them.”
The tension that had been a constant companion since Jen had had the phone conversation with her parents started to ease. Part of it was because she’d made things right with Decebel and no longer concealed a secret from him, and the other part was because he was right. Once her parents met their grandchild, they’d be putty in her hands. But they’d have to work on Thia’s vocabulary, or at least bribe her not to use her new favorite words while with her grandparents.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I promise one of these days I’ll get this whole healthy relationship thing down,” Jen said and then groaned as the masseuse rubbed a spot on her back where some serious stress knots had formed.
“We both get it wrong a lot, but we’re still learning. Now, back to this Franco guy who has a death wish.” His voice suddenly hardened.