“They wanted to have a tea party for lunch, so Liza served it in one of the other rooms,” Flo observed.
He knew he was lucky to be here, where his daughters could get the best possible care.If they were a little spoiled, that wasn't the worst thing that they could be.They realized that they'd been in danger, and he was sure they knew that Lottie had been taken because of them.That couldn't be easy to deal with.Instead of interrupting their tea party, he'd wait and see them when it was over.
Darren knew that he had plenty to do, and he got his computer and brought it downstairs so he could see his girls as soon as they were through with their party.Once he got to his work and was doing well, he didn't feel this tired.It was important that he get his work done well so he could support his children the way he wanted to.Not everyone understood stocks the way that he did, and he enjoyed working with them.He would review the available information and decide what constituted a sound investment.
He was almost always right, and the few times he was wrong, he made it up to his customer by pointing them to a different stock that more than made up for their losses.Few people were truly talented like he was.If he’d been younger and single, he’d have made even more, but he chose to take time off for his daughters.They were his whole world, and they were even more important to him than his job.Darren found that Lottie was becoming more important to him.The wolf inside howled in approval.His wolf was pushing hard for a different relationship with Lottie.
His girls came running to him, done with their tea party.“Daddy!”They yelled.
“Was the tea party fun?”
“We had little sandwiches, crackers, cheese, and cookies.”
“That sounds wonderful.What do you think about doing some of your reading this afternoon?”Darren suggested.
“We can do that,” Adele said, and Ellis agreed.
The girls ran to get their books, then sat on the living room floor reading.He continued working on his computer, but occasionally he looked up to watch them.What would happen if he started seeing Lottie?Darren thought the girls would approve because they liked her.Would she be willing to date him?It was hard to say, but once she recovered from recent events, he planned to ask her.
Lottie was up and joined them by supper.She looked good, but he could see some signs of strain on her face.That was no surprise under the circumstances.The talk at the table seemed to be about everything but what had happened.There was no point in discussing it with the girls at the table, as it would only upset them.The girls were the first to finish their meal and left.It seemed no one wanted to bring it up now either.How did you even talk about something like that?
Did you ask someone how they felt about what happened or what was done to them?He wasn't sure he wanted to know whether anything awful had happened to her, and he wasn't sure she would want to discuss it with a group of people, either.All he really wanted to do was make sure she was all right, and that if she wasn't, she would recover.Darren wished he could assure her that everyone involved would be punished, but that wasn't up to him, and he wasn't the one out there searching for the bad guys.Harry was probably the one who would know the most, but since she was a witch like Lottie, she was probably resting and trying to regain her magic.
Cage might know, but Darren hadn't heard anything from him yet, and if his mother had, she wasn't sharing.
Chapter 6
Is it Love
Lottie woke up, suddenlyunsure where she was.Relief ran over her when she realized she was back at Flo’s house.They had found her even though she’d been moved.Harry had even called in Zorth, who she knew was a powerful witch, even more powerful than Harry.It had been a dream that woke her, and it had been an awful one.She was still shaking as she sat up in bed.Maybe a warm shower would help.
After the shower, Lottie got ready and made it to the dining room in time for supper.She felt awkward after her imprisonment and hoped no one would mention it.Nothing had happened, beyond being imprisoned, thrown in a dirty cell, not fed, threatened with bodily harm and rape, and sold to a slaver.She had not been there long, not like many of the other people that had been saved, but she could not deny that she had been scared to death from the moment she'd been taken until the moment she'd been released.
Lottie had always thought she was brave and could handle any situation without falling apart.It was true that she had not fallen apart, but she had started to crumble more than once, and it hadn't been easy to keep herself pulled together.It was clear that she was going to have to re-evaluate the way that she looked at herself.This experience would give her the reason she needed to start working on some of her weaknesses.Her magic had failed her, and it was clear that in that area she simply wasn't good enough.Even with the backup of her artifact, she had been easily taken.The only thing she could be proud of was having protected her charges.
As she entered the dining room, she nodded to everyone as she took her seat and fixed her plate.Thank goodness no one had asked any questions or made any comments about what had happened, because she was simply not ready to discuss it.Lottie did notice a distinctly different scent coming from Darren.He'd made the change, and now he was a wolf.Her own wolf sat up and took notice.
