Max’s mom and dad were coming over to visit on the weekend, which was going to be the first time Poppy would ever have been in the same room as both of them at the same time. She was both dreading it and looking forward to it in equal measure. Sparks were sure to fly, but whether in a good way or a bad way, she had no idea.
Apparently they’d had a few cautious meet-ups, with Max’s dad floating the idea of maybe rekindling their romance, while his mom was more circumspect. She had moved on, after all, and seemed to be enjoying her life more than ever, if Max’s word was anything to go by – certainly she seemed to be enjoying collecting as many spangly, sequined t-shirts and leopard print leggings as money could buy – but the hurt was not easily forgotten, no matter how good the reasoning behind his actions had been.
Poppy was glad that they were at least on speaking terms. Max seemed to be coming more and more out of his shell, and it made her heart sing to see him so happy.
Still, she didn’t think she’d be able to relax the entire time they were here! The first time she’d met Max’s mom, Flora, she’d apparently thought that it would be a grand old joke to ring the doorbell and then shift into her lion form. Poppy was quite surprised, really, at how well she’d taken it, reacting with little more than a small jump, and Flora had shifted back into her human form with ahmph, sweeping past Poppy into the house with a waft of long blonde hair and expensive perfume.
Max’s dad, on the other hand, had awkwardly asked her upon their last meeting if the treasure wheel was still on the television. It had taken way longer than she wanted to admit before she’d worked out that he was talking aboutWheel of Fortune, and then she’d had to explain the concept of Ryan Seacrest to him.
All in all, it wasn’tquitewhat she’d imagined her relationship with her in-laws to be like – but, to be honest, she didn’t actually mind. There was never a dull moment, in any case. It was bound to be a memorable weekend.
She grabbed some leftovers and flicked on the TV, happy to veg out for a bit while Max typed away on his laptop. Tomorrow evening they both had a meeting with the local businessowners’ association, so for now, she wanted to relax.
The association had been a godsend, in its way – not only was she learning a ton about how to run her business, but a weirdly high proportion of the members were shifters and shifters’ mates.
She’d particularly been getting help from Ethan at the vet clinic, who, like her, had moved from a more corporate job to running a business… and who, very much unlike her, was a pegasus shifter. His mate, Chloe, the town’s veterinarian, had given Geri a clean bill of health, and sometimes Poppy suspected that Geri liked Chloe more than she liked Poppy herself. Most cats hated going to the vet, but Geri just had to be a contrarian like that.
The abundance of shifters’ mates in Girdwood Springs really had helped her to settle into her new life. Whenever she had any questions or doubts, there was always someone she could turn to for answers. She was so grateful for her new circle of friends – she’d never really realized how lonely her existence had been, how superficial her non-family relationships were, until she’d been given the opportunity to start a different life.
And Max had been making friends as well. Not only was there a bevy of mythical shifters here to help him learn everything he needed to know, but he’d also slowly but surely been making friends with other people in the town. He often chatted with Luna, an itinerant travel writer, when she was in town, and he was getting to know other people as well. Poppy knew that it had been an adjustment for him, not being able to make other people ignore him anymore, but he seemed to be doing well.
Part of why he was doing well, she was sure, was the fact that he and his manticore seemed to have reached an accord of sorts.
While Poppy was sure that the manticore wasn’t quite as much of a jerk as Max made it out to be, she did know that it was headstrong, and she’d seen its fearsome powers. Knowing that it had calmed down and was willing to work with Max was making all of their lives easier, and their relationship had only improved. Sure, the manticore could still be ornery – by Max’s accounts, anyway – but Max could now shift and fly with ease, which, Poppy had to say, was pretty fricking cool.
Margot had been doing some research as well, confirming that the children of fae and shifters could sometimes end up with a mythical or hybrid shifter animal. Or, as she had put it,some mystical force takes random bits from other creatures and sticks them onto the original animal.
But what Margot lacked in social graces, she more than made up for in knowledge. She’d been invaluable in helping Max tolearn more about manticores, using her impressive collection of, ah,nichebooks to conduct the kind of research that you could never get from a regular reference librarian.
And, as it turned out, there was even another half-shifter in Girdwood Springs – Lily, the child of Sylvie from the bakery and her mate Gale, who was a unicorn shifter. When Max had found out, he’d mutteredof course,like it explained something he’d been wondering about. Gale and Sylvie had confirmed that they didn’t know whether Lily would be able to shift when she got older – but said they would love her with all their hearts no matter what, their eyes full of adoration for their little girl.
“Here,” Max said, breaking her out of her reverie. “What do you think?”
He passed her the laptop.
Poppy had a look. It was his blog – well, Aubrey Z.’s blog, and she’dmostlystopped teasing him about that. There was a new update:
I’ve got an announcement to make: I’ve decided to take a step back, and retire as Aubrey Z.
I know this must come as a surprise. It’s not a decision I’ve taken lightly, but it’s the right one for now.
Make sure to check back from time to time – maybe one day I’ll decide that I miss the open road, and will update again.
It’s been an honor to write for you all. Take care, and make sure to enjoy every mouthful.
Poppy looked up at him. He looked back, his eyes searching hers. He didn’t look nervous as such, but he was obviously wondering what her reaction would be.
She smiled. “You know that I support you in whatever you want to do, right?”
And she did. She really did.
Max’s shoulders relaxed a little.
Poppy thought about it. “Is this because you can’t do it as easily without your powers, or do you just not want to do it anymore?”
“A little of both, really,” Max said. “It’s all I’ve ever really done, so I’d like to concentrate more on helping you with the shop, or do something different again.” He laughed. “And I’d like to be able to enjoy my food without trying to come up with a synonym forexquisitethat I haven’t used ten times already.”
Poppy laughed as well, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. “I’ll miss the cravat. But you gotta do what you gotta do.”
