She blushed, putting a pretty tint to her thin cheek, then batted a hand at his shoulder softly in a practiced display I was sure they'd perfected over their many years together. “Oh, go on with yourself, Frank. I see you've got a customer, so give me my Tupperware back, and I'll go put this in the office while you help this gentleman out.”
With another sweet kiss, Mr. Landry gave up the plastic bowl, and returned to the front counter. “Alright, sir, are you all set? Don't let me rush you, we have one of those microwave ovens back there if I need to warm my lunch back up.”
Chuckling, because I knew for a fact Mr. Landry would hate to microwave his wife's food, I placed the things I'd picked out on the counter. “I'm ready if you are.” I cleared the tickle in my throat, then grabbed a peppermint out of a bowl on the counter. “I wouldn't want Mrs. Landry to be mad at me for delaying your lunch any longer than necessary.”
He chuckled lightly and shook his head while he rang up my purchase. “You’re not wrong, son. You're not wrong. She can be a bear sometimes, that's for sure.” He gave me a wink anda smile. “Yep, we can both be bears sometimes, but fate put us together 60 years ago, so it's always worth the trouble. Can't argue with the universe, right?”
I took the packages from his frail looking hands, then held out my right hand in an offer of friendship. He took my hand in his and gave me a surprisingly firm, strong handshake. At my surprise flinch, he shook his head and eased up on the pressure before letting go. “Can't judge a book by its cover. You of all people should know that, Mr. Winthorpe.” My shock had to have been written over my face. “Now, we may be all the way out here in God's country, but we still love to read. It's a pleasure to meet you, but if I don’t go eat my lunch, I'll never hear the end of it.”
With that, he departed to the back and left me and Tommy to leave on our own. I took the warmest wool over shirt out of the bag and slipped it on over my sweater as another chill raced across me spine. I was immediately thankful for all the warm things I'd chosen.
“Aren't they the best?” Tommy commented as he grabbed a couple of my bags and walked me back out to his car.
“They are the best. It's nice to see relationships like that.”
“Oh, definitely. You'd never know they were both married before would ya?”
Shocked didn't begin to cover how I felt at that news. “ What do you mean, aren't they…” I trailed off because you never knew what someone knew or didn't know about the shifter community. I didn't have to worry though.
“Oh, yeah, they're mates for sure, but they were both mated before and lost their mates somehow. I never heard the particulars, but mom and dad said they were the best example of putting your trust in the process. They had to have been devastated, but then they found their mates for life in each other. I'm not that romantic, but sometimes things like that make me hope I find the same thing one day. Don't you?”
I nodded silently in agreement, then pretended I had some work to do for the trip up to the lodge. As I played on my phone, I felt my head and ears and realized I was burn up, just as yet another cool hit me. I had been vtrying to ignore the fact, but I was definitely getting sick. As we drove the forty five minutes out of town to the lodge, my head began to throb, but I tried to hold it together. I was obviously feverish by this point so I had barely paid attention to the guy checking me in. Branson was his name, I think, but he seemed distracted too. Must be going around. He said they could give me a ride up to the cabin but it would be an hour or two before they'd be free. They're was no way I'd last that long. I needed to lie down as soon as possible.
Tommy, who had come inside with me to help with my bags, offered to drive me up instead. I had already paid his fare and a generous tip, but I offered him some cash for the extra effort. He absolutely refused.
“No way, Mr. Winthorpe. Your cabin is on the south side of the mountain, and I've been wanting to go up that way for a while. I should thank you for letting me tag along.”
Curious, as the conversation from the store came back to me, I had to ask. “What's so special about this area? I heard you mention it earlier.”
He was quick to set my mind at ease.”Oh, it's nothing bad, promise. Some of us in the area have just noticed a few things that are interesting, that's all. The animals up here aren't that people or shifter friendly. They prefer to stay isolated and don’t socialize with any of us, even when we're shifted. I guess we're just curious about them because of that. Some places the animal population openly accepts the shifters, but not here. In this area, they stick to themselves and we get curious.”
“Ahhh, I get it. So are you a wolf shifter?”
Tommy nearly skidded off the narrow dirt road. We'd driven at the base of the mountain on several paved roads, then turnedon this dirt track over a mile back as few incline had increased, slowly climbing up to my assigned cabin #111. He steadied his SUV, then corrected me. “A wolf? You think I'm a wolf? I wish!”
He didn't tell me what kind of shifter he was, however, because the trail was even more steep and he was obviously concentrating. I didn't feel much like talking either. The scratchiness in my throat was getting more sore now and I had a small cough, so I closed my eyes and left him to drive.
“Here we are, Mr. Winthorpe.”
The trail we had been on had finally reached the top of the mountain peak before leveling out into a front yard of the most beautiful cabin I'd ever seen. The roofline sloped almost all the way to the ground in a ski chalet kind of way, with sharp pointed cathedral windows filling the full front of the house. A wide porch ran along the full length in front of the windows and right in the middle, was a Christmas tree lit like it was welcoming me home.
“Huh, I guess your cabin comes with your own truck to get down the mountain. Nice.”
I tore my eyes from the cabin and noticed the truck parked in the driveway right next to us. I tried to remember if Branson said anything about a truck, but most of my interaction with him was a blank. It wasn't like me to be fuzzy about the details, but I wasn’t feeling fantastic if I was being honest. My throat throbbed and the chills were stronger. I felt like a nap was a must as soon as I got inside and settled.
“That will be nice. I think he said there was some food in the house so I won't need to leave tonight at least. I think I can order room service too at some point. I'm not sure.”
“Yep, I think that's what he said. Hey, you feeling alright, Mr. Winthorpe? You look kind of pale all of a sudden.”
Smiling weakly, I reached for the car door handle. “I'm just tired, it's been a long travel day and this mountain air alwaysmakes me crave a nap. My throat is kind of scratchy too. I might see if there's any tea bags for some hot tea, then take a nap.”
“Oh, absolutely. Travel days can be exhausting, for sure. Let me grab your bags for you and get you set up and you can take it easy.”
I would normally have offered to help get my things from the car, but I was quickly fading and let the younger, more fit kid handle it. Using the key I'd gotten at check in, I tried to unlock the front door and realized it was already unlocked. I entered and forgot all thoughts of potential safety issues, when I saw the softest looking velvet sofa on the planet and made a bee line for it immediately. Deep maroon cushions called to me and who was I to deny the call. Sinking into the middle of the sofa, I waved my hand in Tommy's direction. “Just set all the bags and crap all by that dining table if you don't mind. I'm just going to nap for a while, then I'll sort it all out, m’kay?” I slid down to the side until my whole body was embraced by the cushions and my head was cradled by one of the silky throw pillows. I felt heavy and couldn't keep my eyes open a second longer.
Weakly, I tried to remain polite, “ I'm sorry for being rude. I'm just all of a sudden so sleepy. I know I already paid, but I want to give you another big tip for your troubles.” I tried to reach for my wallet, but lost the plot when I couldn't find my pants pocket and gave up when it became too much effort.
Tommy placed my bags by the table, then I heard him get something from the direction I assumed was the kitchen. After he placed something on the coffee table in front of me, I heard him go out another door further away, then back in again.
