She wondered if shifting was some kind of obscure extreme sport, maybe a variation on surfing? But Wade didn’t strike her as an adrenaline junkie.
He went in a different, even more unexpected direction:
“It’s like how werewolves are people who can turn into wolves. Shifters are like that, just less specific. You could have a mouse shifter or a tiger shifter or a horse shifter.”
He was some kind of cryptid enthusiast, maybe? Did he really believe in this stuff? Or—
Oh. He was telling her an idea he had for a book or a movie! Not only was he a woodworker who could carve pieces that looked like they had somehow justgrownthat way, he was a writer, too. Mira wished she could be that creative. She loved analyzing other people’s art, and she felt like she did it well, but it would be cool to be the one making it for a change.
Anyway, she liked this “shifters” idea he had. She leaned forward, her chin on her hands, and listened avidly.
Wade looked immensely relieved by her reaction. Maybe he’d worried she wouldn’t be into fantasy? Most of the romance movies she covered were on the realistic side, give or take a suspension-of-disbelief-straining plot device. But she liked other things too. She couldn’t wait to hear where this was going.
“I’m—”
A voice cut in: “Right this way, please.”
A server led an elderly couple to the table to Mira’s left. She missed the privacy she and Wade had been enjoying a moment ago, but these two didn’t look like they were likely to start shouting at each other or causing a big ruckus. They were already holding hands as they quietly went over the menus together. If she needed to whisper to Wade to talk without straining her voice too much, he would probably still be able to hear her. She certainly wouldn’t have any problems hearing him.
Except he had stalled out midsentence.
Because she had looked over at the other table? Mira gave him an affirming smile:I’m back on you now, 100%.
But Wade didn’t dive back in. He glanced over at the other table and shook his head minutely.
“I should’ve guessed this wouldn’t work out,” he said under his breath. “I can’t really talk about it with other people around.”
She could understand that. She could tell he’d had to psych himself up to even tellherhis idea, so it wasn’t a huge surprise that he didn’t want to accidentally air it to some strangers. She got self-conscious having personal conversations other people could easily overhear too, even when the less neurotic side of her brain told her that no one was trying to eavesdrop. It could easily be ten times worse when talking about a creative endeavor Wade obviously felt pretty shy about.
It was such a shame, though. She wanted to know more about his shifter idea!
She at least wanted to know what kind of animal Wade would turn into, if he could shift like his characters could. Mira studied him, trying to make up her mind on that point.
Something strong. Maybe something that lived in the woods, given his job? She would have to think more about it.
“I get wanting to keep it under the radar,” she said in a hoarse whisper. “You’re not getting off the hook for telling me later, though. And you still have to do most of the talking tonight, obviously.”
Wade still looked adorably amazed at how she had just accepted his idea. It made Mira wonder if other people had scoffed at it before, and that idea filled her with an odd desire to go punch somebody. It was a good premise for a story! Whohadn’twished they could turn into an animal? How could anyone lucky enough to have Wade open up to them make him feel belittled or embarrassed about it?
Wade distracted her from her building fury on his behalf by telling her some Petey stories instead. Her favorite was their short-lived career as would-be blockbuster filmmakers—armed only with a camcorder they’d picked up at a garage sale—ended with both brothers grounded for a month after a catastrophic attempt to make some volcano special effects in their backyard.
“Your poor parents!”
“We’ve tried to make it up to them.”
“Petey should have given them his Hawaii tickets.”
“They didn’t need them. They’re already spending Christmas on a cruise in the Mediterranean. Since they retired, all they do is travel.”
“My parents were like that too, before my stepdad got sick.” She could see he was about to apologize for accidentally bringing up something sensitive, and she waved him off. “Don’t worry, it’s nice to think about how much fun they had together. Hopefullythey have plenty of time left to enjoy each other’s company, even if they can’t do as much globe-trotting anymore.”
That was the good thing about love. Life was never made up entirely of highs, so what you needed to do was find a person whowasa high, who made even the bad things better just by standing at your side while you went through them. Her mom would rather live in a retirement home with her stepdad than in Paris with anyone else.
I knew I was in love with him, she had told Mira once,when we sat through this ridiculous timeshare presentation to get this super-discounted vacation. We weren’t even dating then, just friends willing to park our butts in folding chairs for four hours to collect a prize. I already knew he was the kind of guy I could happily spend a week with. But as we sat there and the presenter drone on and on, and I watched Cliff try not to laugh at something, I knew I could sit next to him for the rest of my life. If anything was boring—and a lot of life is boring—he would make it interesting. He’d make it funny. And he was the one I wanted to laugh about things with.
That was the love story Mira had grown up with, and it was the one she wanted for herself.
She didn’t want to rush things, but Wade made her feel like she might have found it. It was amazing how much more tolerable this job was since he’d arrived.
