“Do I have some donut on my face?”
“No. But that was a lot this morning. It’s not like all shifters know each other, but as few of us as there are, sometimes it’s like having a lot of extended family show up unexpectedly. Was it too much?”
Macy snorted.
“It’s more or less like living in a small town. Everyone’s in your business, most people mean pretty well, and at the end of the day, we all have to be here for each other.”
“Including for Keith Parker?”
“Yes, including for Keith Parker. That’s the deal. Are you going to be okay with that? My term isn’t up for another two years, and I have every intention of running for reelection.”
Luca laughed, a low, rumbling sound that was more relaxed than she had ever heard him. She realized with amusement she had only known him stressed out over an endangered cryptid and caring for his nephew. This was almost another Luca entirely, reclined in her passenger’s seat, lazy, sexy, gorgeous, and utterly focused on her.
“Honey, where you go, that’s where I am. That’s what love is, and I love you.”
“I love you,” she said, the words soft and hot in her mouth, and then she couldn’t help laughing and saying it again as she pulled into the grocery store parking lot.
It was a beautiful Sunday in late summer. There were a pack of people she barely knew at her apartment waiting for breakfast. She was with Luca, and he loved her, and she loved him, and her heart was full to bursting.
Epilogue
∞∞∞
One year later
“You’re the Lincoln sisters,” Luca said with surprise. “You had the taiko drum experiment last year.”
“We got a perfect score on it!” exclaimed Adeola, who was holding a small potted plant in front of her.
“We got to go to the state competition,” added Alika, her twin, also holding a potted plant.
Their older sister Odera was not holding a plant—instead she had a clipboard and she gave Luca a stern look.
“That was last year,” she said. “This year, we are doing hydroponics, and the viability of green plants in desert environments.”
“Oh, very cool,” Luca said, only to receive a hard look. Apparently science was serious business, and he straightened up, only a little self-conscious in a gray button-down and nice slacks.
“Er, very interesting. Please walk me through your experiments.”
He listened attentively as the Lincoln sisters introduced him to the concept of growing plants without soil. In the back of his head, however, he couldn’t help but marvel at how it had now been a full year since meeting his true mate. It was the best year of his life so far, including a move to Clearwater, trips east and west for work, and oh yes, finding his true mate. Some days, he could barely believe it was real. Other days, running after the busy mayor of Clearwater while doing his own work, he knew it was very real, but then finally, there would be Macy, and it was real, and it was wonderful.
“And in conclusion, we find that our original hypothesis was correct, even if scaling up for a large sustainable farm could be tricky.”
“Someday we could do it on Mars or Venus!” said Alika excitedly, and her older sister shot her an exasperated look.
“We don’tknowif we could really do it on Mars or Venus,” Odera said to Luca. “That has yet to be determined.”
“Very good,” Luca said, hiding a smile. “Good science is all about knowing what we don’t know. Looks great, thank you for telling me about it.”
He shook their hands in turn, and then the hands of their proud parents as well before excusing himself to grade their experiment and turn it in to Devon.
“Hey, the boss’s up in her office, and she says she wants to talk to you. Here, take her a granola bar. And take one for yourself, too.”
“Oh, thanks. Did she say about what?”
“Ha, I’m her assistant, not yours. She just told me to tell you she wants to talk.”
“Fair enough. Get some water and food yourself.”
