“You did? Who is it?”
“According to my sources, it was narrowed down to one of two shifters, but we finally decided it could only be Heath Morrison. He works for the High Council and is currently assigned to Reeve Nicolet…”
“Can’t be,” Tristan interrupted. “Reeve introduced me to each of his men and my mate was none of them.”
“The Petticoat Express is never wrong,” Pete muttered to his grandson, keeping his voice low.
Pouring herself a cup of tea, Kathy continued as if there’d been no interruption. “Heath is Reeve’s right hand man and a personal friend which is why he was chosen to escort Rudy and his co-conspirators to the High Council jail. He returned last night so that explainswhy you haven’t met him before. His family is respected among the wolf packs in England as his father has served as a liaison between the Council and the English wolf shifters. It was expected Heath would follow in his father’s footsteps but…”
Leaning over, Pete whispered in his grandson’s ear, “You’d better stop your grandmother or she’ll be telling you the size of your mate’s dick next.”
Unable to stop himself, Tristan burst into laughter before realizing his grandfather was serious.
“…he decided to go into the enforcement side of politics. He come from a large family but only one of his siblings has found his mate. And by all accounts he’s close to all of them and…”
Holding up his hand, Tristan said, “Stop grandma, please! I only needed his name…not his life history.”
“Information never hurts,” Kathy replied, smugly. “For instance, knowing what he likes will help you select a gift to give him along with your apology.”
“I didn’t think of that,” Tristan mumbled.
Nodding, Kathy said, “It’s a good thing to do so he knows you mean it.”
“Flowers are always a good choice,” Pete said.
“Only because I love them,” Kathy replied, smiling. “However, from what I know, I think it would be better if Tristan gave his mate some of my blueberry muffins. According to my sources, Heath has a sweet tooth and loves muffins in particular. Hmmm…” Pushing back her chair, she got up and walked out of the room, calling over her shoulder, “I’ll be right back.”
Bewildered, Tristan stared at his grandfather. “I don’t understand how she knows so much about my mate.”
“Petticoat Express.”
“You keep saying that but what the hell is it? I never heard of it before.”
Chuckling, Pete replied, “I guess you haven’t…probably because I coined the phrase myself after seeing your grandmother in action. Any time I was worried about what Josiah was up to, I mentioned it to Kathy and before I knew it, she knew everything and could answer all my questions. Some might call it the pack grapevine but that tends to be mostly gossip…but not the Petticoat Express. When your mother left, Kathy got together with a group of her friends and explained what worried her. Swearing to be there for her, they vowed to keep her informed about anything that might affect us. From there it grew into what you saw today. There isn’t anything Kathy and her friends can’t find out, as you just saw.”
“Then you weren’t kidding about them knowing the size of my mate’s dick, were you?” Tristan asked, grinning.
“Nope…trust me, nothing is safe from the Petticoat Express.”
Hustling back into the kitchen, Kathy set a beautiful tin box down on the table. “I’m so glad I remembered I had this. It’ll be perfect for you to give to Heath.”
Lifting an eyebrow, Tristan looked down at the box. “I don’t think my mate would want that. Didn’t you say I should give him some of your muffins?”
“Silly boy,” Kathy said, giggling, walking over to a drawer and opening it. Shuffling through it, she finally pulled out a package of red and white checked waxtissue paper and a roll of white ribbon. “I bought these a while back when I was thinking of starting a cookie business.” Quickly lining the tin box with it, she then carefully filled it with twelve blueberry muffins before setting the lid back on. “Now, for the final touch.”
Fascinated, Tristan watched as his grandmother wrapped the ribbon around the box, tying a big bow before handing it to him. Taking it gingerly, he smiled at her. “This is gorgeous…thank you. None of my gifts ever looked this good. You’re amazing!”
Blushing, Kathy said, “I’ve had lots of practice. Now, you need to go shower and get yourself looking respectable before your mate returns.”
“He’s not here?” Tristan asked, alarmed.
“No, this morning he’s helping Reeve move Elenor’s belongings into her new home. But he should be back soon. Now go!”
Rising, Tristan leaned down and kissed his grandmother’s cheek. “Thank you…for everything.” Then picking up his gift, he headed for the door, but before he opened it, he felt his grandfather come up behind him.
“Make sure you bring your mate over so we can meet him and welcome him into the family,” Pete said, reaching around Tristan to grab the doorknob and opening the front door.
“I will…promise.”
