“Well, how about we all sit down and have some more cake, then?” Sylvie said with a laugh. “I feel like I didn’t get to ask you much about how you’ve been doing, Natasha – you’ll have to catch me up on everything!”
Slowly, as they talked and ate the next piece of cake Sylvie brought out from behind the counter – this time some kind of amazingly delicious layered honey cake – Natasha felt the sadness and disappointment of her missed date beginning to melt away from her heart.
She’d never imagined she’d feel so at home again here – or that she’d be welcomed back so warmly.
It does make me miss the place just a little,she thought, as Sylvie offered them all coffee.And so what if I just got stood up? Kieran’s not the only man in the world! Who needs him? If he’s going to behave like that, then I certainly don’t!
And yet, even as Natasha laughed at some story or other Sylvie was telling about some people they’d known in school, she couldn’t help but feel a pang in her chest as she remembered the way Kieran’s eyes had sparkled as he smiled at her – that dazzling,amazing, heart-warming smile…
No! No. I didn’t come here to find a boyfriend,Natasha told herself sternly.I won’t fall for that again – I’m not agreeing to another date, not even if he comes to me with the best excuse ever and the world’s most groveling apology. Never, ever again!
Chapter 6
As soon as his griffin had allowed him to return to his human form – which had been, thankfully,afterthey’d returned to earth, having spent the afternoon soaring through the mountain peaks – Kieran knew he’d have to come up with the best excuse ever and the world’s most groveling apology if he ever expected Natasha to speak to him ever again.
I hope you’re happy,he told his griffin as he walked down the main street of Girdwood Springs.We’ll be lucky if Natasha ever speaks to us again.
The griffin – perhaps, to its very, very slight credit – seemed a little contrite at having let its temper run away with it.
We are back now,it said, a little quietly.I have returned us to the town.
Yeah, four hours late!Kieran snapped back at it.You know there’s no chance she’s still waiting for us, right? At all?
The griffin seemed to retreat a little in baffled silence at that. Perhaps, Kieran thought, the problem was actually twofold: the griffin clearly feeling that he’d been neglecting it for far too long,andthe idea of trying to impress the concept of punctuality upon a mythical being.
Maybe it just didn’t understand things likebeing on time,and so, when he wasn’t able to control its actions, as he hadn’t been able to lately, it simply forgot that humans just tended to like it when you were where you said you’d be at the appointed time.Especiallywhen the thing you were supposed to be doing was adate.
Women don’t like it when you stand them up, and quite rightly so,he lectured the griffin as he walked.I know she’s our mate, but I don’t know if humans feel the mated bond in the same way as shifters do. And even if she did, that’s absolutely no excuse for being so rude! You have to show your mate just the same amount of respect as anyone else! Fate doesn’t matter if you just act like an asshole!
Whether or not the griffin was listening to him, Kieran couldn’t tell. It certainly didn’t answer, and its presence within him had shrunk as to be almost undetectable. Maybe itwasfeeling embarrassed about earlier. Griffins tended to be hot-headed, acting first and thinking later. But this was the first time Kieran had experienced it losing its headquiteas badly as this.
But maybe it did also have a point…
He reallyhadbeen neglecting it. He couldn’t blame it for feeling that way, and wanting to be let out a little more often than it was. It was a wild, mythical creature, after all. It wasn’t meant to sit in a cage, thinking longingly of the skies but never being allowed to soar through them, feeling the wind in its feathers.
I’m sorry,he tried to offer, inwardly sighing.I know you didn’t mean it that way. And I can see why you’ve been upset.
No answer. Perhaps the griffin, stung by his words, was sulking. In that case, he’d just have to let it come back in its own time, and maybe they could have a more reasonable conversation.
Walking to the diner, Kieran checked through the front window, hoping against hope that, somehow, Natasha might have still been waiting for him. But of course she wasn’t – he was more than four hours late, and she didn’t seem like the kind of woman who liked to be kept waiting. Kieran wouldn’t have blamed her if she’d walked out after only ten minutes, let alone four hours.
Still, on seeing her nowhere in sight, Kieran felt his heart sink and his shoulders sag. He didn’t know where she was staying, nor did he have her number. And even if hedid, he really didn’t know how he’d go about explaining himself, especially via text.
No, if I want to try to win her back, I have to talk to her in person. Somehow.
It was possible, he supposed, that someone in town might know where she was staying. If she was from Girdwood Springs originally then she’d have old friends here – she probably would have let them know where she could be found, or if she hadn’t they could easily find out for him, or tell him if they’d seen her around.
The thought made his heart seize up in his chest, but Kieran knew it had to be done. What were the other options, after all? Flee town and never see his mate again? And even if shewasn’this mate, basic good manners dictated that Kieran try to apologize for his bad behavior.
But maybe I should try to really make things up to her properly,he thought, as he made his way back up the street. It was late in the afternoon but before the restaurants started getting busy for dinner, so the streets were pretty empty now, and a lot of the smaller stores had already started closing up for the day.
Would a little gift be a good idea?Kieran wondered as he looked in the window of a small knick-knacks shop – but he realized he hadn’t gotten as far as finding out what kind of tastes Natasha had, or what kind of small ornament or artwork she might like. Perhaps it would be worse to bring her something she hated than nothing at all.
As he walked up the street, Kieran suddenly caught a whiff ofthemost incredible scent he’d ever experienced – sweet and spicy both, delicate and yet all-enfolding, warm and soft and special… almost like the smell of home…
Oh, it’s a bakery?Kieran thought, blinking, as he finally spotted the source of the enchanting scent. But it couldn’t bejusta bakery – there was definitely something magical about it. Kieran could sense it from just one sniff. Whoever had made these cakes and pies couldn’t be an ordinary human.
I should check this out…
