Elijah sends a more detailed text when he gets to work, an update about Sofia and the fight that went down between her and her mother. I read it through and then put my phone back in my pocket and smile at the matriarch of the Sol clan. She narrows her eyes at me and pokes a gnarled finger into my chest.
“You’re trying to get out of being paid again, aren’t you?”
“I would never,” I say and feign being offended.
“I heard word my granddaughter has come home.”
I shrug. “I can’t tell a lie. She has.”
Her smile widens knowingly, mockingly. “Oh, and I bet you’re just sad about that, aren’t you now?”
I shrug again, but I can’t hide the smile. “Devastated. We are not actively pursuing her at all.”
Her lips twist, but her eyes gleam with mirth. She’s almost as tall as I am, though frail with age now, but no one could underestimate the power rolling off Grandma Sol. She is a titan in this community, a pillar of strength and wisdom and one of the most down-to-Earth, good-hearted people I have ever met.
“Has my foolish daughter decided to stop this pack making nonsense?”
I shake my head, glancing at Grandpa Sol, who is sitting on his rocker, arms crossed over his chest as he watches the seagulls. He tries to be hard and tough, but he’s a perfect match for his bonded.
“It just so happened that with some…uh…gull intervention, we’re now matched with Sofia.”
Her almost-gone eyebrows go right up. “Well, isn’t that just the most interesting thing I ever heard? Gull, you say?”
“Sergeant Sully ambushed the event.”
“Sully has been in a mood lately. Best not to antagonise him,” Grandpa advises.
The pair of them have been in Sunshine forever, and everyone calls them Grandma and Grandpa Sol. I don’t actually remember what their names are.
“Trust me, sir, no one wants to get on the wrong side of Sergeant Sullivan.”
The seagulls on their lawn let out croaky shrieks as if they agree with us. But Sully is missing. He’s a slightly bigger gull with big red and white eyes. He blends in with the flock until he interacts with anything alive. The bird is a born tyrant. I once sat watching him chase a rabbit around one day for seemingly no particular reason than he didn’t like it. The bird is a menace, but he’s become local lore now.
“Humph.”
“When is Sofia going to come visit us?” Grandma Sol asks, glaring at me.
“Now?”
I whip around and see her walking along the sand-covered path. She’s got a basket in her hands, and she’s wearing a yellow sundress that swirls around her calves, and her adorable little bundle of paws is bouncing around at her side.
“Sofia. You’re home!” Grandpa Sol levers himself up and takes a few staggering steps to the porch. “And who is this? Oh, you adorable little bean! Do you have cute little toesies, too? I bet you do. Come to Grandpa and let me get a look at you.”
“Well, I can see where I stand,” Sofia murmurs as she passes me, leaving me in a cloud of coconut, mango, and ginger that has my mouth watering, and goes up the porch to hug her grandparents.
Grandma Sol is a female alpha, the only one in Sunshine Cove, but she has been the backbone of this community for forever, and standing beside Sofia, it shows. The omega burns in a whole different way from the rock hard strength of the older alpha.
“Come on, darling. We’re going to talk inside. We have lots of catching up to do.”
Grandma Sol turns on me. “And you, you devil, send me a bill.”
I shake my head. “No can do, Grandma, it’s already paid for.”
“I’ll hire someone else next time, you ratbag.”
“There’s no one else in Sunshine, and consider it a family .”
“You’re not family yet, Sonny Jim,” Grandpa scowls.
