“There are a lot of weirdos out there, Amie. If you leave, I can’t keep an eye on you,” he said. I had to smile at him.
“That is sweet in a chauvinistic kind of way. But I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself. I’m more worried about you. Have you two sorted things out?” I asked to distract them. The way they both turned bright red told me they hadn’t. “Yeah, I thought so. Look, it’s easy. Jessie, you like CeCe, like a lot. But you’re worried your reputation as the town flirt will deter her. CeCe, you have had a crush on Jessie since forever. But you are afraid he doesn’t take you seriously, but as just another hook up. You are good together, you respect each other and I’m not going to tell you what to do. But in my opinion you need to sit down and talk about it. Otherwise, life will pass you by and you will both end up old and with a lot of what-if questions.” I felt quite happy about my little speech. It had the desired effect of drawing the focus away from me leaving and all the questions they could have about it. We spent a couple of moments in silence as CeCe and Jessie tried not to look at each other, and then ended up smiling each time they caught the other one doing so. I felt like a third wheel but was rescued when Mrs Jones walked over to us. She gave the two lovebirds a questioning look and then rolled her eyes at me. I smiled.
“I talked to Laura, she can start on Monday. Does that work?” she asked me. It would mean I needed to stay in town for a week and a half. That was not as bad as I had feared.
“Sounds good to me,” I confirmed. After that, I just sat around and watched people coming and going. There was nothing wrong with the rumour mill in the town. Soon everyone of thelocals knew I was leaving, and they walked over to my table to exchange a few words, telling me it was sad to see me go. It was a nice feeling. Even Mrs Andersen stopped by.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this morning. I wanted your sister to be the first one to know,” I told her.
“Oh, that’s okay, my dear. Am I right in guessing that sexy piece of man that dropped you off yesterday is the reason for all of this?” she asked and wiggled her eyebrows. It was a little unnerving to hear that coming from her, but I smiled.
“To some extent. But not in an eyebrow wiggling way. He offered me a job,” I told her.
“Sure, sure. My sister told me as much. But we aren’t blind, you know. We see things.” I just smiled and shook my head. I changed for my shift in the bathroom and was almost feeling nostalgic about knowing I had a limited amount of days left to put on the mint green uniform. When I ended my shift, I walked home and sent a text to Finlay, letting him know when my last day would be. It took him two minutes and then he called.
“I’ll be collecting you on the Saturday after next,” he said.
“You know, you can send someone else. I don’t have much stuff, most of my furniture I can donate as the room in the pack house has everything I need,” I said.
“Don’t even try. I know the way, so it will be easier for me.”
“Sure, or there are these things called GPS nowadays,” I teased him.
“Are you trying to get rid of me, Red?” he asked.
“Never. But I would think an Alpha would have better things to spend their time on than collecting me and my boxes,” I told him.
“Nice try. I’m not giving you an out until I have blooded you,” he joked. We ended up talking for almost three hours. It was nice to have his company, even if it wasn’t in person. It helped withthe anxiety my wolf felt being away from what she clearly saw as her pack.
Chapter 10
Amie
The week and a half both passed by quickly and seemed to stretch out for an eternity. Laura turned out to be a natural at waiting tables and she soaked in what I had to teach her in no time. It eased my guilty conscience a little, as I knew I wouldn’t be ditching Mrs Jones and CeCe with a heavier workload. My last shift in the diner was an evening shift and as soon as the last paying customer had eaten their dinner, Mrs Jones announced the diner was closed. To my surprise, most of the town then flooded in as CeCe announced it was my goodbye party. It was a wonderful evening and I even got a little teary-eyed a couple of times. CeCe and Jessie insisted they would come over to help me pack my car the following morning, even though I told them I would get help. In the end, I ran out of excuses and agreed they could come over. I don’t think I could have kept them away even if I had said no. It was their way of trying to assess if they felt I was safe with Finlay or not. It was sweet. I had a hard time sleeping, my stomach was filled with nervous butterflies and my wolf was giddy with excitement.
My alarm went off at seven a.m and I got up. I packed the bedding in a box I had saved for it and then headed down to the bakery. Mrs Andersen had promised to make me breakfast so I wouldn’t have to dirty any of my kitchen things my last morning. I carried in the two sacks of flour I always helped her with and she offered me several freshly made muffins and some delicious coffee. As I was enjoying it and chit chatting with Mrs Andersen, I heard a car arrive, but it didn’t sound like Finlay’s truck. I headed out back to investigate. To my surprise, it wasn’t just Finlay that had arrived. He was leaning against an unknown truck with Sam and Meadow. Meadow squealed when she saw me and ran to give me a tight hug. I laughed and hugged her back.
“I have missed you,” Meadow said.
“I have missed you too. But I didn’t expect you to come here,” I replied.
“I know, but when Finlay said he would get you, we thought…” Meadow began but got interrupted by Sam clearing his throat. “Okay, okay, I thought, it would be a nice thing if we came as well,” she finished.
“I’m not objecting. But four people to move me seems a little much.” At that moment, CeCe and Jessie came walking. I introduced everyone to each other and watched as Finlay and Jessie gave each other a measured look. I rolled my eyes and both CeCe and Medow giggled.
“Okay, let’s get me packed,” I told everyone before it all turned into a dick measuring contest. With six people and my very limited amount of boxes, it took less than half an hour to stow everything away in the Volvo and the truck.
“I’ll be driving,” Finlay told me and held out his hand for the key to my car. I hesitated.
“I usually don’t let anyone else drive her,” I told him.
“Her?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah, Amie has an unhealthy attachment to that car,” CeCe giggled.
“Hey, me and Beula have been through a lot,” I objected.
“Beula?” Meadow asked.
