He knew Tim fairly well. He was a cougar shifter and a good parent. His wife had left him a few years ago when Josh was still a young boy. She was a cougar shifter too. Sage remembered when the divorce happened because everyone always thought they were bonded mates, fated to be together, until she’d left. No one had questioned their bond or checked for a mating mark. No way would she have been able to leave him if they were. Once a shifter bonded with his fated mate that was it for life. No taking that back, so everyone knew the truth at that point. There were some speculations as to why they had lied about it, but Sage couldn’t remember what they were. He had been a young kid at the time and didn’t pay close attention to the adult gossip.
And Sage needed to stop gossiping with himself.
“Enjoy gentlemen.” Sage left them to their meal.
When he looked at Garridan’s table again, he noticed Vaughan sitting with him. They appeared to be in a serious discussion about something. The fact that Vaughan was serious about anything said a lot more than the frown on Garridan’s face.
Sage went back into the kitchen and helped Craig for a good twenty minutes before he took another order out to a table. His brain went on autopilot, creating a habit of always darting a glaze to the corner booth. When he looked, Vaughan sat at Garridan’s table by himself.
Sage’s heart beat hard, causing his chest to ache. He had an overwhelming urge to scream in protest. Instead, he took the plates of food where they belonged, practically throwing them on the table. The poor customers had no idea what got into him.
“Are you all right, Sage,” Mrs. Bonner said, grabbing his hand. He pulled away from her and shook his head.
“I’m sorry. I’m just…”
Mrs. Bonner met her wife’s gaze and some sort of silent communication passed between them. As many years as they had been bonded mates, they didn’t even need the mental link to communicate with each other anymore. “Go find out where he went. Maybe that will help you calm down.”
Gods, could they read his mind or what? Sage nodded and then went to the corner. “Where’s Garridan?”
“What happened toCan I take you order?” Vaughan said.
He felt the rise of panic in his chest and couldn’t think about anything else except for the fact that Garridan was no longer sharing the same space he was. “It got stuck up your ass the second Garridan left. Where is he, Vaughan? Please tell me he’s in the bathroom or something.” His stomach clenched the longer he stood there. “He’s coming back, right?”
“I’m afraid you’re stuck with me for the next half-hour or so,” Vaughan said with a grin.
“Is he at the garage with Bennett or at Mother Estelle’s?”
“He’s at Mom’s talking with Ramsey about the Magnus situation.” Vaughan’s eyebrows drew together, and he watched Sage for several seconds.
Sage couldn’t hold in the distress he was feeling. It built up in his chest like a damn tower and was so huge it was about ready to topple over at any moment.
Vaughan looked around the room before whispering, “Calm down. You’re okay, Sage. I’ll take you to him when you finish your shift.”
He heard Vaughan call his name as he turned around without a word. He was sure Vaughan followed, but he went behind the counter to the back, which was off limits to everyone except employees.
He made his way into Andrea’s office. “Can I use the phone?” He asked her. He knew every single emotion he felt was written in his body language. No way could he hide how he felt.
“What’s wrong? Is someone giving you a hard time?” Andrea was a bit of a mother hen to everyone in her employ and she was clucking.
“Vaughan is here instead of Garridan.”
Andrea’s blond eyebrows drew together. “Why is that a problem?”
“I can’t be here without him.”
“Why not?”
“I just can’t. Please, can I use your phone?”
“Did you take your medication this morning?”
“I take it at bedtime and yes, I took it last night.” Sage hovered near the phone.
“No offense, Sage, but I think you need to talk to Dr. Tucker about changing your meds.”
Sage tried to decide if she was right or not. He supposed he did come off as a neurotic mess. He had only come back to work when he felt he was well enough. Andrea hadn’t seen how he was before. “This is an improvement. Can I call him or not?”
“Yes, of course.” Andrea shook her head and went back to what she had been doing before he barged into her office.
