She didn’t doubt that. He opened the door and gestured for her to enter.
“Go on in,” he said with a smile.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Willow stepped into a small,cozy living room that matched the cheerfulness of the outside of the house. In the room to her right, sunflowers sat in vases on each end of the blue, gingham couch. Photos lined the mantle of the red brick fireplace; she recognized the young hunter they met at the camp and Gus.
In most of the pictures, an attractive, plump woman with an endearing smile and a pretty girl joined them. As the people in the photos aged, the girl became more sullen until she had the pursed lips of a teenager who was not happy to be in the family photo. The girl’s dyed, jet-black hair clashed with the fairer hair of the rest of her family.
The house smelled of lemon and fresh-baked cookies, but beneath that, she detected the aroma of cats. Then she spotted three felines lounging in the sun spilling through the front windows. The cats didn’t bother to lift their heads to look at them, but one flicked its tail to let them know it wasn’t thrilled about the noise.
“The phone is in the kitchen,” Gus said.
He pulled off his hat to reveal his disheveled, gray-streaked blond hair. He hung the hat on the coatrack by the door before leading them past a set of stairs on her left and down the hall. More family photos decorated the hallway wall. In these photos, the sullen teen was a happy, vibrant young girl with blonde hair and a radiant smile. As they walked, Willow heard a distant rattling clink and realized it was the garage door opening.
The kitchen was everything she’d imagined it would be with its bright yellow paint, blue curtains over the sink, and ivy plants hanging from hooks in the corners. A small table sat in a corner near the door leading into what she assumed was the garage. Four chairs surrounded the table. Across from the door leading into the garage was another one with glass windows revealing a small side yard.
Before Gus could lead them to the phone hanging on the wall near the fridge, the garage door opened. A plump woman with chin-length blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes entered. Over her shoulder, Willow spotted a brand-new truck and a Mini Cooper in the garage before the door closed.
“Hi, dear,” the woman greeted and then looked up from the aluminum tray in her hands. She came to an abrupt halt when she spotted Willow and Declan. She stared questioningly at them before focusing on her husband. “I wasn’t expecting you home already.”
“Well, a funny thing happened in the woods today.” Gus gestured at them while he smiled at his wife. “I found some more strays for us to adopt.”
When the woman frowned at him in confusion, Gus laughed. “Willow, Declan, this is my wife, Cheryl. Honey, these two got lost in the woods and wandered all the way here from Maine.”
The woman’s mouth fell open, and she looked like Willow could push her over with one finger. She was suddenly glad for her ruined clothes. She imagined she didn’t look so hot, but she didn’t look as bad as a human would after being lost for three weeks. The condition of their clothes would help distract from that.
“That can’t be possible,” Cheryl said.
Gus shrugged. “I wouldn’t have thought so either, but here they are.”
“It was a stupid thing,” Declan said to Cheryl with a smile that, despite her reservations about their story, caused Cheryl to smile in return. “We just have to use your phone to call our friends, and then we’ll be out of your hair.”
Cheryl set her tray on the table. “You poor things! You must be starving!”
“We offered them some food at the camp, but they weren’t hungry,” Gus said.
“Not hungry?” Cheryl asked in disbelief. “How can you not be hungry?”
“We did have supplies with us for a while,” Willow said.
“You had enough supplies to last three weeks for a one-day hiking trip?” Gus asked.
“I always like to be prepared,” Willow said. “Plus, we may not be the best with directions, but Declan and I know how to hunt.”
The secretive smile she sent him and the amused gleam in her eyes did nothing to ease Declan’s growing unease about being inside this human dwelling. Though everything was normal-sized, he felt like a giant in a land built for munchkins, and it was too confining.
“Do you still have your guns?” Gus asked.
For the first time, Willow sensed unease from Gus as he shifted and his gaze darted to his wife before going to the phone. Willow was getting tired of the endless questions, and as much as she hated to play with the minds of humans, she was seriously considering it to calm him and put an end to their curiosity.
“No guns,” she said, and Gus visibly relaxed. “I’m good at making traps.”
Gus’s face lit up. “That’s a good thing to know.”
Two chairs scraped against the tile floor as Cheryl pulled them away from the table. “Even if you’re not starving, you must be exhausted. Sit and relax. My clothes won’t fit you, dear, but my daughter’s clothes might. I’ll get some for you.”
“Oh, thank you,” Willow said.
