After she hung up, she smiled. “Hey, sweetgirl.”
“Hi. How . . . ” I’d been about to ask how she was feeling, but I wasn’t supposed to know. “How’s everything going this morning?” I jerked a hand toward theinn.
“All’s fine. Quiet night. Quiet morning. I’ve rescheduled a couple outings for some of the guests because of the weather, and I reorganized the cleaning staffschedules.”
“Thankyou.”
“You have nothing to thank me for.” She squeezed my hand. Her skin was clammy, the same way my mother’s had been on the worst of days. “I also went to check on Jeb. He’s been sleeping most of the morning. I dropped off some food. Perhaps you should stop by to see him. He might appreciate somecompany.”
I wondered if she knew what was happening. Wives weren’t kept in the dark, but were they informed of the Alpha’s everymove?
“After I stop by to see Evelyn, I’ll go sit withhim.”
I also needed a shower and fresh clothes. Could she smell Liam on me? She wasn’t a wolf, but she’d seen me walk in, so she knew I’d spent the night somewhere other than my own bed. If she sensed where I’d been, there was no judgment on her face. Just a sweet smile. Why did disease have to attack the good people? Why couldn’t it strike down people like AidanMichaels?
I started in the direction of the kitchen when Isobel’s voice stopped me. “Do you have any plans for dinnertonight?”
I turned around just as Lucas came through the doors. I longed to say no, but in what state would I be tonight? In what state would Liam be? Plus going to dinner at the Watts’ probably meant August would be there, and even though I’d spent my childhood having dinner with him and his family, things were differentnow.
“I can’t tonight,” I ended up saying, at the same time as Lucas said, “Morning, Mrs.W.”
“Good morning, Lucas.” She smiled at him before looking back at me. “Okay. Let me know when you have a free night. I’d love to catchup.”
“I . . . I will. I promise. Maybe thisweekend?”
“You just let me know. Or you just show up. Our house is yourhouse.”
Her words squeezed my heart. I gave a jerky nod before resuming my walk toward the kitchen. The large space was riddled with delicious smells that had my empty stomachrumbling.
“Ness!” Evelyn handed Kasie the tongs before hobbling towardme.
The change in air pressure always made her arthritis flare up, and considering how she limped this morning, I sensed her body ached. I met her halfway. The menthol balm she religiously rubbed into her sore joints soothed my frayednerves.
She kissed both my cheeks, surely leaving bright lipstick smears behind. “Kasie, do you have everything under control? I need to speak toNess.”
“Take your time, Evelyn. I’ve got our vegetablesprovençalcovered.”
Evelyn tucked my hand in the crook of her arm and pulled me toward the door. “Come. Let’s have some tea,querida.”
I grabbed a teapot from a high shelf in the pantry, when Skylar popped in carrying a laden breakfast tray. “Hey! How are you,hun?”
She set down the tray next to the sink, then pushed a piece of peroxided hair off her forehead and seized the teapot from me. “Here, let me do that. Black, green,herbal?”
“Earl Grey,” I said. Evelyn only liked dark teas. “But I can doit—”
She shooed us away. “Out of mypantry.”
“Thank you, Skylar,” Evelyn said. “We will be on the terrace. It is not raining yet, isit?”
Reaching up to grab the tin box of loose-leaf tea, Skylar said, “Not yet, but I suspect it’ll come down anyminute.”
“We will take our chances,” Evelyn said, guiding me through the dining room and out onto thedeck.
Only Lucas was out here. He’d taken a seat on one of the many Adirondacks and was checking out something on his phone. Had Liam sent a message? I was tempted to pull out my phone, but it could wait until after my visit withEvelyn.
The sky was tiled with mauve clouds that reminded me of the quilt Mom had sewn for me when I was a kid, the one I’d given to the army vet on our street corner one unseasonably cold winter day. While the man’s dog growled at me—I assumed because I still smelled like a wolf—his master smiled, raising the bottle of liquor that seemed forever grafted to his palm, and gathered the cover around himself and hispet.
Eyeing Lucas, Evelyn walked toward the farthermost edge of the terrace. We took our seats at a square teaktable.
