Page 14 of Delivered to My Mate’s Best Friend

But my mother had pointed out, when my young and egotistical self judged everyone around me, we really didn’t know the details of other people’s lives. And what I hadn’t taken into account, mostly because I didn’t know nearly as much as I thought I did, was that mates came into a person’s life not when they were “ready” for them but when Fate decided they would. Sometimes a person who had been a friend suddenly came on the radar as a mate.

Fate’s timing.

Did that mean I would have Fate showing up now?

No, not at all.

But a wolf could dream.

The first few matches were singles, and while they were attractive and sounded interesting, I didn’t feel any spark. Then the couple. The only name I saw was Zephyr, which I thought was beautiful, and her picture came up. I thought…I wasn’t sure, but she was local, and she bore a strong resemblance to the lady with all the food at the farmer’s market. Was it her? I’d had such a quick look that I couldn’t be sure, but what I did know was that my wolf was reacting again, and I had to follow up and see if he was onto something.

It seemed the female was human—I hadn’t realized they were allowed on the site—but I didn’t care. I wanted to meet her and her mate. Find out what they were looking for and see how it aligned with what I wanted.

She sure was beautiful.

Chapter Thirteen

Zephyr

The guy didn’t react as if he knew Cypress at all, so maybe he was the wrong Birch, but Cypress was so sure. I hated the idea that he might be disappointed. Having opened up the can of worms that was his childhood, he did not need to revisit the hurt.

Why had his parents moved away? Was it grief over the loss of his second dad? With his remaining parents refusing to talk about him, it certainly sounded like that might have been the case. It had been a long time since, but how long was long enough in a case like this? From what I knew of mates, they did not do well when one died or even left, so it didn’t seem off that they were keeping their feelings to themselves. Many people handled emotional pain inside, but I personally thought it was not a healthy thing. Maybe shifters were different? If so, I didn’t believe that applied to Cypress.

After messaging a couple of times, we invited him to meet us at the coffeehouse. No big date thing, just come and have a drink and see if there are any sparks. Personally there were already sparks, which really worried me. Even if it was a traditional shifter-relationship style, it was not one I grew up with. No matter how much I tried to talk myself out of it, it just felt like I was preparing to cheat on my husband. And I did not like that feeling at all. It didn’t help that Cypress was so surprised at my even being willing to pursue it. Especially since it was mostly for his sake.

Or was I just trying to tell myself that?

I wasn’t sure. Just a couple of days before, if anyone asked, I’d have said my life was perfect. I had everything I wanted, except children, of course, but we were waiting for that phase until my business was more settled.

Birch agreed to our suggestion of the coffeehouse. In fact, he said in his reply that he’d driven past it and was intrigued by the name. He’d planned to stop by soon anyway. I tried not to preen, but Cypress knew me too well and took the opportunity to tease me a little about it, lightening the mood.

Standing behind the counter, I watched my mate waiting. He was so sure that he would be greeting his oldest friend, the one who he’d missed all these years. Children didn’t get a say when parents moved for a new job or relationships or simply housing. And sometimes the grown-ups neglected to tell the kids why the decisions were being made. Either because they were reasons they didn’t feel were appropriate to explain or even just because they didn’t think to do it. I’d had a couple of friends who had experiences of that sort, and it was really traumatizing.

Amazing, how he’d held back such a huge part of his life.

But now, if he was right, he was about to regain a piece of that life.

“Boss, we are all out of the pumpkin empanadas. Do we have any more in the back?” Eliza asked. “They are really popular.”

“I have some going in the oven right away.” Should have gone in hours ago, but I was too distracted by the whole mate waiting for his best friend who might be a new part of our relationship thing.

For his sake, I hoped it was his friend. For mine…maybe not. I had always loved novels with reverse harems in them. A fantasy I’d have sworn was not anything I’d want in real life. And yet…

My stomach tightened with anticipation as I retreated into the back to continue my baking for the day. I usually had it all done by this time in the late morning, but I’d come in late after making love to my mate this morning. I thought we’d both needed the reassurance that we were still turned on by one another.

We were. And it was wonderful.

Why would I ever take a chance at messing that up?

And how could I deny Cypress his birthright if it came right down to it and I chickened out?

Chapter Fourteen

Cypress

What had I done? As I sat with one of Zephyr’s mochas and one big slice of her dark-chocolate banana bread with the cream cheese river running through it, everything came crashing down on me.

I looked up at Zephyr, flitting around behind the counter. Her cheeks were red from being in the kitchen. Her hair was up in one of those buns that she claimed was for hygiene’s sake while she baked. To me, it was pure sin. I took great delight in taking it down almost every night. Watching her blonde hair fall down in shiny waves was one of the greatest joys of my life.