Six Months Later
Jade knew something was up the moment Wolf didn’t take the usual turn.
She sat in the passenger seat of his new mini-van, Jane strapped safely in the back, humming to herself around a toy she’d been chewing on for the past five minutes.The late afternoon sun stretched long across the road, warm and golden, but Jade barely noticed it.
Her attention was on her man.Wolf rested his hand casually on the wheel, but he didn’t seem entirely relaxed.
From the way his hand rested casually on the wheel—but not entirely relaxed.
From the way he hadn’t said much since picking them up.
From the way they’d passed her street.
“You missed it,” Jade said, glancing out the window as the familiar turn to her apartment building disappeared behind them.
“I know.”That was all he said.
Jade frowned slightly.“Wolf, what’s this about?”she asked.
“You’ll see.”
That was it, no further explanation.That was just like him.Jade leaned back in her seat slowly, her curiosity sharpening into something else.Nerves, but the good sort.Had Wolf planned some kind of cute surprise?
She twisted slightly, checking on Jane.Her daughter looked perfectly content, kicking her legs and babbling to herself, completely unbothered by whatever mysterious detour they were on.
Jade envied that a little.
“Give me clue to where we’re going?”she asked again, softer this time.
Wolf glanced at her briefly, then back at the road.“You’ll find out soon enough.”
The streets changed, and the buildings shifted from worn and tired to something newer, cleaner.The kind of place Jade usually only passed through, not somewhere she imagined stopping.
Wolf slowed the van, then turned into a quiet complex.Jade’s stomach flipped.
“Wolf?”she pressed again, but he parked the van and cut the engine.Wolf unbuckled his seatbelt, then turned toward her fully.
“Come on,” he said.
He led her and Jane to the building.It was nice and new, the kind of place where the paint wasn’t peeling and the windows didn’t rattle when the wind picked up.
Jade adjusted Jane on her hip as they walked up the steps, her heart beating faster with every step.
“We visiting a friend of yours?”she asked, glancing at him.
“Trust me,” he told her.
All right then.Jade decided to ask her questions later.Wolf stopped in front of an apartment unit, somehow having a key to it.He pushed the door open, and let Jade and Jane enter first.
The apartment was bigger than anything she’d lived in before.The living room opened up into a small but bright kitchen, sunlight spilling through wide windows that actually let light in instead of filtering it through thin, tired curtains.
The floors were clean.The walls freshly painted.There was a couch already set up, a small table.Nothing overdone, but enough to feel like a place someone could actually live.Jade finally understood.
“Wolf, did you get this for us?”Jade asked, a little teary-eyed.
“Go look,” Wolf said quietly behind her.
Jade moved before she could think too hard about it.
