“God, yes,” Annabella said instantly.
Ross fetched two from the cooler and uncapped them before handing each over.They settled at the mini-bar in front of the window.Ross couldn’t drink on the job, but he deserved coffee after cleaning up that disaster, so he made himself a cup before joining them.
“I shudder to think of what this place will be like again when you leave,” Annabella said, apropos to nothing.
Glenn’s head came up sharply.“Leave?”
“He’s a college student,” Annabella explained.“He’s on break.”
“A long break,” Ross noted dryly.“Too long, in fact.I have to start up again soon, otherwise I’ll have to re-apply altogether.But that’s a different subject.Tell me more about this all-clan meeting.I was under the impression that there’s only four clans in this area?”
“Correct.”Glenn seemed more intrigued to talk about Ross, for some reason, and his tone was a tad reluctant as he answered.“You’ve seen the werewolf clan, which Feliks is part of.There’s another clan of vampires.Neither are pleased that my own clan occupies this territory as well, since we have such an interesting mix of people.It’s taken many talks to get things as settled as they are.”
Ross considered the interesting altercations that had happened in and around the gas station in the past eight months he’d been here.Almost nine months, now.Settled was not the word he would have used.
A phone rang and Glenn answered it with blinding speed.He spoke quickly, a frown gathering, but it was in—German?With a grimace, he hung up the phone again.“Apologies, Ross, we must go.My kobold reports a problem in my household.”
Ross had no idea what that was.Still, he got the gist.“Sure.May the problem not result in broken appliances.”
Even as Glenn slid from the bar stool, his expression grew dark.“A tad too late for that, I fear.”
Uh-oh.
Dunham was one of his regular customers, another werewolf with a Scottish accent thick enough to slice and serve on bread.He was this big, affable sort of man, a little shaggy with his greying brown hair and beard in perpetual need of a trim.He unloaded two armfuls onto the counter—an assortment of the basic grocery items the store carried, which included bread, milk, peanut butter, two types of jam, crackers, canned soup, and Mac and Cheese boxes.
Since this was a weekly event, Ross started ringing him up and placing it in bags.But this time, he found himself asking the obvious question.“You really do your grocery shopping here?”
The Scot stared at him, blue eyes nearly crossing.“No, this is for the bairns over yonder.”
“You’ve lost me, Dunham.Bairns?”
“Ye know, the wee ones,” he said as if Ross was just being dense.“The bairns that play over in the park, the ones that live in that flat over there.”
“Keep in mind I sleep during the day,” Ross told him patiently.“And I don’t live in this area.”
“Ah, then ye may no’ have seen ’em.Aye, they’re in a rough spot.They’re feisty and sweet, and their mother’s a good one, but their bastard father walked out and willna pay ’em a dime for support.Some days, the mother do no’ have enough food to put on the table, ye ken?I step in and buy ’em a few things to tide ’em over ’til next pay.”
Ross blinked at him.That was unexpected.“Do you know them well, then?”
“No’ so well,” Dunham admitted with a flap of the hand.“But it be age old tradition, ye ken?”
“No, I’m not kenning.What’s tradition, feeding children?”
“Aye, that.Well, families as need it.We Scots, we take care of our own.In olden days, ye gathered fish and put it on their windowsill, enough to feed ’em ’til market day.But I no’ be much of a fisherman, and yer goods will do ’em better.”
That was incredibly kind.Ross had done some research after realizing what his clientele was, but this habit of feeding the poor had not shown up on any of his searches.“That’s good of you.”
“Ye canna let the poor bairns starve.”Dunham shrugged as if it was no big deal.
“You could go to a proper grocery store, though.”
“I do, at times, but yer closer.And ye do no’ spook like some do.”Turning his head, Dunham breathed in deeply.“Seems most of me clan been in here.Clanmaster himself has been in often.What was Himself doing here?”
Ross was surprised Dunham hadn’t already heard about it.“Your total’s $42.38.He keeps inviting me to be his personal assistant.”
Dunham’s face brightened.“Oh aye, I can see how ye’d be good at that.Will ye take it, then?”
“Tell me why you think I’d be good at it?When all I’ve ever done is ring you up?”
