As she watched Tyr carrying a sack of fertilizer between the greenhouses, muscles flexing under his shirt, her eyes blurred abruptly with tears and she had to look away quickly, turning toward the green yard until the urge to weep passed.
It just seemed so selfish to want more. She had so much already. She’d found a safe place to land with the twins, andshe had women friends in Gaby and Peyton. She loved Tyr’s kids too, as she slowly got to know them.
And yet there was always this constant yearning under her skin. As Tyr moved around the yard, she seemed to bend toward him like a sunflower following the sun.
Could she be happy if they could only ever touch at the full moon? Was she willing to live with this continual ache, thiswantingthat there was no way to ease?
If colorful cartoon characters can get a happy ending, why can’t we?
Her view of her lap and the book blurred again. Fiercely she dashed at her eyes, and then looked up to see Tyr walking towards them, as if drawn by her unhappiness.
He smiled at her supportively, washed his hands at the hose, and then crouched to greet the twins, who had cheerfully crawled in his direction as soon as they saw him. Tyr flopped dramatically on the grass and let them shift and clumsily scramble on him.
“Do you know what I was thinking?” he asked, turning his head to the side.
That we can’t live like this?But that was her own insecurity and unhappiness talking. “What?” she asked, bracing herself.
“That it’s a beautiful day for a drive, and I’d like to teach you how.”
“Oh.” That was such a change from her own thoughts that she didn’t know what to say. Tyr looked a little disappointed, and Cela clawed her way out of her depressive funk by her fingernails.
Shedidwant to be able to drive. It would be lovely not to depend on Gaby or Peyton, or on her own ability to fly without being seen, to get to work in the morning. Running errands on her own, without Tyr needing to drive her and the entire rigmarole of getting the kids bundled into their car seats, also had a strong appeal.
“Can we bring a picnic?” she asked, and Tyr beamed.
Rather than take the kids along this time, Tyr called Paula, and a half hour later—just as Cela was packing the last of their picnic lunch—Paula pulled into the driveway with Austin and Lissy in the car.
Lissy bounced out of the backseat. “I can’t wait to see the babies!” she exclaimed.
“I hear we’ve been volunteered for babysitting again,” Austin grumbled as he got out of the front passenger seat with considerably more reluctance.
“It’s not volunteering if you’re getting paid,” Tyr told him.
Paula greeted Cela and mouthed “thank you” at Tyr. “Summer vacation,” she explained to Cela. “I’m sure Terry’s told you what that means. Austin is working part time with Derek and Ben this summer, and Lissy has summer camp, but I’m certainly not going to complain about anything that gets them out of the house for a few hours.” She hesitated, then added, “Could you show me the greenhouse?”
Cela glanced toward Tyr, who was getting the twins settled with Austin and Lissy. “Would you rather?—”
“No,” Paula said firmly. “It’syouI want to show me the greenhouse.”
Now more than slightly nervous, Cela walked with her mate’s ex toward the thriving set of greenhouses. Pleasant growing smells flowed to greet them.
She got along okay with Paula, at least she thought so. She didn’t think they’d ever be friends, the way she was friends with Gaby and Peyton. But Paula didn’t seem to dislike her. And if anything did go wrong, Cela reminded herself, she was physically stronger than a human, and she could shift and fly away. Paula knew about griffins, so the cursed tattoo wouldn’t stop Cela from shifting in front of her.
“So the new seedlings are here,” she began, and for a littlewhile they did simply chat about plants. Cela hadn’t realized that she had picked up so much from Tyr about plant types and uses. At this point, she could easily show a customer around the greenhouse, and that was the part of her that was at the front right now—glib and chatty, the same way she was with customers in the café. But she could tell there was something on Paula’s mind.
She was still unprepared for Paula to blurt it out. “Is Terry your mate?”
Cela opened her mouth, closed it, and said uncomfortably, “Are we allowed to tell people?”
There were so many social rules she didn’t know outside of Griffin Island—different ones for humans and shifters, too. She had learned that asking someone their shift type was rude, and revealing someone’s shifter status to anyone else wasterriblyrude. Maybe this was, too.
Paula winced. “Sorry. I’m—not sure, actually. I didn’t even know shifters were a thing until recently, when I found out about Terry and the kids. You don’t have to tell me. The reason why I asked, though, is because I like you, Cela. I don’t want you to get hurt. And now that I know more about shifters, I think for any shifter to be involved with someone who’s not their mate is a bad idea. It might feel good right now, but in the long run, you’re only going to get hurt—like I got hurt with Terry.”
Paula was blunt, but Cela appreciated that. She liked that Paula didn’t tiptoe around difficult topics the way a lot of people in the human world did—and on Griffin Island, for that matter. In fact, Griffin Island was worse, in its way.
“Yes,” she said. “He is.”
Paula’s serious expression dissolved into a beaming smile. “I’m so happy for you,” she said, and gave Cela an impromptu hug.
