Ashley shook her head as she placed a fresh cup of steaming hot tea on my nightstand, next to last night’s empty one, and gave my thick wool sweater a confused look.
‘She left for a meeting hours ago. Like I said, it’s late.’
Without asking if it was OK, she took herself off on a self-guided tour of my room, inspecting my possessions one by one and turning up her nose at everything I owned. ‘She was wearing her big sunglasses. Y’all must have had some fun last night.’
Without her mother around, my aunt’s demeanour changed. She seemed younger and more ready to speak her mind but also much less eager to please. There was a definite vibe of reluctant babysitter as she picked through my things. The two of us had barely been alone together since I arrived and as she took a dismissive inventory of my minor additions to the room, I decided I would be happier if it stayed that way.
‘Do you know when she’ll be back?’
Ashley replied with an indifferent shrug. ‘Who knows? She’s rarely around in the mornings. The venerable Catherine Bell has a lot of responsibilities. She’s on the board of a bunch of charities and non-profits, then there’s all her “business interests”. Her life ain’t all strolling around the neighbourhood and taking trips to Bonaventure. You have a lot to learn about Catherine.’
‘Right,’ I replied, biting my tongue to stop myself from volleying the same accusation right back. She might not be so blasé if she knew we’d been attacked less than twelve hours earlier by a bloodthirsty monster roughly the same size of her Peloton.
‘But she did leave orders for you to drink that,’ Ashley said. ‘Said you weren’t feeling so great. Again.’
Pointing to the fresh cup of tea, she watched expectantly as I gave it a cautionary sniff. The strong herbal smell stung the inside of my nose.
‘I didn’t ask you to smell it, I told you to drink it.’
‘It’s intense,’ I replied as diplomatically as possible given I was literally choking on the fumes. ‘What’s in it?’
‘My own blend. Chamomile, arnica, a few other herbs. I grow everything myself in the garden. I’m not leaving until I’ve seen you drink so I would be eternally grateful if you could hurry the heck up.’
I raised the delicate cup to my mouth, fully intending to fake a sip, but when the warm liquid touched my lips, I couldn’t stop myself from gulping it down.
‘There you go,’ Ashley said with a self-satisfied smirk. ‘Don’t you feel better?’
‘Actually I do,’ I admitted with surprise. Whatever it was, her offering tasted better than it smelled and before I knewit, the tea was gone. The tight knot in my stomach unravelled itself and the vivid, ugly memory of the wolf with its bloodshot yellow eyes faded into black and white. Maybe it hadn’t been as bad as I remembered. Was the wolf really that big? Did it scratch that deep? Things always seemed worse in the dark and nothing was as scary in the light of day.
‘You should sell this stuff,’ I told her, tipping back the cup to get the very last drop. ‘It’s delicious.’
‘It’s an old family recipe. Can’t have our secrets falling into the wrong hands, now can we?’
She laughed and I smiled back but I couldn’t quite fight the feeling that she was laughing more at me than with me.
‘I have things to do in the garden,’ Ashley declared as she grabbed both empty cups, the fine bone china protesting as they clattered together. ‘Catherine told me to keep an eye on you. Do you want to come outside with me?’
Confirmed reluctant babysitter vibes. Even my stuffed bear could tell she didn’t really want me around. I glanced at the clock and suddenly remembered my plans for the day. Wyn. I was meeting Wyn at eleven.
‘Honestly, I feel great, a thousand times better,’ I insisted, desperate to get her out of my room so I could get ready. With no way of contacting him, I couldn’t risk showing up late. ‘And, I thought I might go for a walk. You know, start figuring out the town, get some fresh air. I heard that’s the best thing for jetlag.’
Ashley studied me for a moment and I fixed a too big, I’m-totally-OK grin on my face, willing her to leave without a fight.
‘Whatever,’ she said eventually, sauntering out of my room and off down the hallway, leaving my door wide open. ‘Don’t wander too far. We wouldn’t want you getting into any trouble now.’
‘I’ll do my best,’ I called as I leapt out of bed, closing the door and turning the lock. I would be just fine. As long as I didn’t run into any more giant wolves.
Chapter Ten
‘It’s not a date so I’m not doing anything wrong,’ I reminded myself as I walked quickly across Lafayette Square. ‘It’s a casual hangout with a stupid handsome human who has, for reasons best known to himself, taken pity on you. Probably some kind of community service. If he even shows up. But it definitely isn’t a date.’
But no matter how many times I told myself the same thing, my heart still pounded so hard I worried I might break a rib, and when I saw Wyn waiting for me underneath our tree, I was sure I heard one crack.
‘Oh,’ I whispered, stumbling up the kerb. There he was, looking even more beautiful than I remembered.
‘Don’t say anything weird,’ I warned my brain when he waved me over. ‘Don’t tell him about the wolf, don’t show him how you can turn your eyelids inside out and don’t tell him about the time you got so sick you puked spaghetti through your nose.’ If I could manage all of that, this would be easy.
‘Well, hello, Miss Emily,’ he said with a small bow, wavy hair falling into his face as he looked up at me.
