“What’s happening?” Melody asked.
“I bought the bookstore for Cecilia.”
The room stirred with excitement and congratulated me. Everyone looked surprised except Archer, who simply smiled from his spot on the ottoman.
Tak entered the seating area and snapped his fingers at Krys. “Off the chaise. Hope is with child, and she should have her feet up.”
Hope stood from the floor. “Now you’re just being ridiculous. I’m not even showing.”
Regardless, the two swapped places.
“Pregnant women are royalty in this pack, so everyone needs to treat them like the queens they are.”
Hope snorted. “This queen would like her mate to make a three-tier chocolate cake with buttercream icing and sprinkles.”
Tak gave her a sidelong glance. While the Packmaster knew how to do basic cooking, baking was not his forte.
Robyn popped up from Montana’s lap. “As long as we’re giving gifts, be right back!” She disappeared into the art room for a few moments before bustling out with a medium-sized picture frame.
Propping it on the floor in front of me, she searched my eyes with a glimmer of uncertainty. “Full disclosure: I sketched this myself using images from illegal sources. I was going to save it until after you two were officially mated, but now seems like a good-enough time.”
Archer rounded the couch to join my side. “It better not be a sex picture of us from one of Lucian’s cameras.”
A burst of laughter flew out of Virgil’s mouth that sounded like a hyena. “I need to take more walks on the property if that’s the case.”
Robyn slowly turned the image around and watched me with a worried expression.
I steered my attention down to a sketch of an elderly man, and when I recognized him, I fell to my knees and wept. Gripping the top of the frame, I stared into my father’s gentle eyes, and a flood of memories washed over me. I covered my mouth in disbelief.
Robyn crouched. “Archer mentioned where you used to live, and Lucian was able to track down old surveillance footage that was never deleted. We tried finding photographs, but you know how that goes.”
I shook my head. “But how did you know which person he was?”
“Well, Lucian has some kind of facial scan he can run, so we didn’t have to look through a million hours of footage. We used a photo of you. It was a shot in the dark, but it pulled up several instances. We saw the same man walking alongside you in two of the shots in a grocery store. The quality wasn’t the best, so I had to use my imagination as to what he looked like up close. I’m sorry if I screwed it up.”
Archer put his arm around me as he squatted and looked at the drawing.
“It’s so real,” I choked out. Wiping away my tears, I steadied my voice. “We never took photographs or had paintings done. When he died, I started to forget what he looked like. I can remember his voice, but his face was fading.” I put my hand on hers. “Thank you for this. I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”
Robyn wiped a tear from her eyes. “Maybe this is a silly idea, but Iwasgoing to draw that worm you painted for your store to hang behind the counter. Then I thought maybe you’d want your dad to watch over you instead. You can do whatever you want with it, but I thought it would be nice to hang it up in there.”
I pulled Robyn into a hug. “I love you all so much.”
Some of the pack must have seen the sketch already, because they were more interested in my reaction than the framed image.
“I have more basic sketches,” she admitted. “I wanted to capture the right angle, so you can have those if you want them.”
After wiping my tearstained face, I rose to my feet. “I don’t deserve any of you.”
Tak approached and lifted my chin with the crook of his finger. “Do not diminish your worth. Love takes courage, and this pack has the most courageous people I know.” He offered a gentle smile before claiming a spot on the couch.
“I’ll put this away until after the movie,” Robyn said before carrying it back to the art room.
“Tell everyone about your number,” Archer said, urging me to speak.
With all eyes on me, I nervously touched my hair. “Lucian created an emergency number for me to hang in the store.”
Hope stood and walked behind the sofa. “What kind of emergency number?”
