The bold colors of the flowers spaced about added some flare and contrasted nicely with the grayish tan of the walls. I walked back toward the window and noticed that the new display revolved around a large, beautifully framed picture of Elijah and myself at Ms. Wilson’s tea party. As I looked at our smiling faces I was amazed at how happy we looked together.
I almost didn’t recognize myself. It was a good picture. Kat had two large boards directly behind her display windows so that the inside of the shop could not be seen from the street except through the glass of the front door. These boards were painted tastefully in a soft beige and draped with several cream and dark brown cloths. A decorative tea set was displayed in front of our picture as well as a vase filled with what looked like the same flowers in the picture. I had to admit, Kat had done a good job helping to spread rumors about Elijah and me, as well as sprucing up her shop.
In the opposite window there was a mixture of the same colors, but in the middle was a bold red sash. It looked as if it had been thrown casually over the board, and at its feet sat one of my paintings of the beautiful Don Juan roses growing on my balcony. I had to at least keep up the front of being an artist, so Kat sold some of my paintings in her shop. It probably wouldn’t go over well with the community to know that I was really a werewolf hunter.
“Where have you been? It’s after lunch!” Kat had finally noticed me milling about the shop.
“I had to buy groceries, remember?”
“And that took all day?”
“All morning, yeah. We were out of everything.”
I walked to the back of the shop with Kat where she had an office as well as a small sitting room. We both flopped down on the couch as I said, “So come on, spill it.”
Kat chuckled and asked, “What do you want to know first?”
“I want to know how things are going with Charles, of course.”
She launched in to a soliloquy about how things were going well, how they were both pretty compatible. They had been to the movies, been to dinner. They both had a bizarre love of Chinese and Brazilian restaurants also. When she finally stopped to take a breath I decided to give her the routine she usually gave me.
“That’s nice, but how was he?”
“Lilith!” she pretended to be scandalized. “We’ve only been dating a month now. What makes you think that...?”
“Oh come off it.” I laughed.
“He’s like a wild animal,” she squealed. “I swear it’s the best sex I’ve ever had.”
“This is including the sailor you picked up in Panama that time?”
She looked flustered. “Oh, I forgot about him.... Ok, so it’s a close tie, how’s that?”
I just laughed. “From what I remember of the sailor story, I’d say that’s pretty damn good.”
“Of course, I suppose that doesn’t impress someone who’s been sleeping with a werewolf that can make you howl without even taking his pants off,” she retorted.
I could feel myself blushing to the roots of my hair. I almost denied that we’d been sleeping together, but it was true. We had been sleeping together, just not in the way Kat was implying. So I shut my mouth and just blushed to match my hair.
“Come to think of it, he didn’t use his mouth either, did he?” she pressed.
“Nope,” this time my evil smile matched hers as I continued, “and that takes skill.”
“So, you still plan to do what you said, go on with your lives and see where that takes you?”
“That’s all I really can do. I have to know what’s going on with Alfred first. What I feel for him is something I can’t leave unfinished. I just have to know. Does that make any sense?”
“It does, but I think I’d have to know what was in Marco’s pants, too.”
“You’re so bad.” I snickered.
“Seriously though, I know what you’re saying. It wouldn’t be fair to yourself or to Alfred to not pursue what you guys had going before he had to leave. I mean, how many years have you known this man?”
“Fifteen.” I sighed. “I love him, there’s no question about that. I’ve loved him for years, as family. But, lately that’s changed and I need to know what else it might become. After all, good men don’t just fall out of the sky.”
“I don’t know,” she said seriously, “I dated a paratrooper once.”
“So, how big are we talking?” I teased. It was about time Kat had a taste of her own medicine.
“On a scale of what?”
“On a scale of that guy you went out with in high school or the sailor.” I laughed.
“He’s on up there, but the sailor’s still got him beat,” she admitted.
“By how much? We talking only noticeable with a ruler, or the difference in ‘Ooo and ah’?”
She cackled with laughter before answering, “Oh, it’s noticeable, but he’s still above average by any standard.”
“You take pictures?”
“Ok, now I know you’re just being an ass.”
“You’re right.” I laughed. “I have no interest whatsoever in seeing his naked ass.”
“Why not? That’s his best feature.”
Before I left, I assured Kat that I really
didn’t
want to see naked pictures of her boyfriend. However, she informed me that should I ever get my hands on revealing photos of Marco, “You’d better share.”
—
The next few days passed uneventfully. Sam was good company and I felt safer having him around. When I walked out on the porch that Wednesday Sam had just parked his bike in front of the house. He was dressed in black again and, from his sleeveless t-shirt to his cowboy boots, it looked good on him. I walked down the steps with a smile. “You going my way, stranger?”
Sam smiled. “I was just about to take a ride. You care to join me?”
“Sure.”
I loved motorcycles and roughed up old cowboys who knew how to drive them. As I slid into place behind Sam I wrapped my arms around his waist and asked, “Can I talk to you about something?”
“I was wonderin’ when you’d ask that.”
While we drove, I gave Sam the grand tour of my home town along with my life’s story. Since I felt like I could talk to him, I decided to go with that feeling. There were some things I needed to get off my chest, about Marco, and Alfred, and everything else. Besides, Sam was the perfect person to get insight from, if anyone could offer one. He was a friend of Marco’s. He had dated a sorceress at some point. He was an alpha werewolf, and he was a man. He was also a good listener and as we talked I understood why Marco trusted him so much.
By the time we pulled back up in front of the house, I’d told him the story from every angle I could think of. I’d even told him about Mathias and his warning. There was more to Sam than a friendly smile, and if you looked carefully you could see the wisdom in his dark eyes. If eyes were truly the windows to the soul, then Sam had seen a lot.
“Well, I don’t think his warning was about Marco in particular,” he said finally. “I think it was about everybody. I also don’t think he meant the word love like you do. See, there’s a fine line between what The Seducer calls love and everybody else calls sex.”
“Good point. I knew that it was about sex, but I thought he was talking about an emotional connection, too.”
“I think he was. But, take Alfred for instance. You said you loved him, right?”
I nodded.
“But, have you taken on any of his characteristics? Do you like any of the things he likes that you didn’t like before?”
“No. Are you saying if I sleep with him that might change?”
“I think that’s what Mathias meant.”
“Son of a bitch,” I said. “I was afraid of that.”
“Darlin’ wizards never give a straight answer. And every answer they do give has at least three different meanings.
That’s why people think they’re so damn mysterious and wise. I just think they’re indecisive.”
I laughed. “Come on, Sam. Let’s get something to eat.”
—
I felt better after talking things over with Sam. He’d helped to clarify several things that I’d already begun to suspect, mostly about myself. I’d told him what Marco and I had decided about going on with our lives and he agreed with me that that was best. He said that way I wouldn’t have to wonder what might have happened with Alfred. Even if things didn’t work out, at least I wouldn’t have to wonder. I agreed with him. I’ve always said in the time it takes to wonder, you could know. But, I still missed Marco.
Every night I had to meditate in order to fall asleep. In my mind Mathias let me know we had interpreted his warning correctly, but I was still over complicating things.
“Tomorrow will come if it was meant to, whether you like it
or not.”
I also figured out, with Sam’s help, that part of the reason I missed Marco so much was because I’d felt the pack through him. Most pack members lived near one another because of the security and comfort that being near other wolves brought them.
He said that was part of the reason I was experiencing ‘withdrawals’.
“But, you’re a werewolf,” I pointed out.
“Yes,” he said, “But, I’m not from your pack. See, you felt Marco’s pack through his connection to them. They are all tied to their alpha and when you hold him you feel their link.”
“They’re not my pack.”
“Maybe not, but they’re his....”
“He’s not mine,” I interrupted and it hurt to say out loud.
“If you say so.”
—
When it was time for the hearing, Sam and I decided to rent some movies and try not to think about it. We went to one of the local video stores and selected a variety of westerns. In all honesty, we both looked at the drama section but thought getting all emotional at that point would be counterproductive. Nothing like watching a good old fashioned ‘shoot em’ up’ western.
The clerk, who was used to seeing me with either Alfred or Kat, gave Sam a rather rude appraisal. I had known the girl since I was thirteen, and I didn’t like her any better with age.
She kept giving him dirty looks, so I finally said, “Is there a problem, Lola?”
She kind of snorted before answering, “Who’s your friend?”
“What does it matter?”
There was no denying the nastiness in my voice and I saw Sam cringe out of the corner of my eye.
She continued undeterred, “Well, the rumor around town is that you’ve been seeing Elijah Jasper.”
I just looked at her blankly.
“They say you dumped your live in boyfriend for him.”
I just kept staring expressionlessly at Lola. The longer I looked, the more she seemed to develop diarrhea of the mouth. “Of course, I haven’t said anything, I just listen, but everybody comes in here, and that’s the latest word. I was surprised. I mean, Jasper’s cute and all, but that Italian, oh my God. So, I said something must be wrong with her, to myself of course....”
Sam seemed to find the situation funny and finally interrupted, “Honey, you believe everything you hear?”
Lola tucked her dark hair behind one ear nervously and stuttered a bit before saying, “Well, I didn’t expect to see her walk in here with a tall drink of water like you.”
A thought seemed to come to Lola’s mind, and her eyes lit up expectantly.
“You must be the man she was seen riding around town with this week, the one with the Harley,” she practically squealed with excitement.
“That would be me.” He smiled.
Sam might have been getting a kick out of the situation, but I was not. My blood positively boiled at the thoughts of people spying on me. My private life was not, nor would it ever be, any business of theirs!
“Don’t you have anything better to do?” I sneered nastily.
“What do you mean?” she stammered.
“I mean, does no one in this town have enough of a life to interest them even slightly more than who I might be sleeping with?”
“Well, you don’t have to get mean about it. If you don’t want to answer, just say so,” she sounded brave, but Lola was beginning to cringe behind her computer.
“I’m not being mean, Lola. Mean is spying on your neighbors and running your mouth about things that you don’t understand. What you’re witnessing right now is not me being mean. This is how someone reacts when confronted with idiocy in motion.” The more I spoke the more soft and deadly my voice became.
Normally, I don’t have such a short fuse, but Lola had pushed the right button on the wrong day. In spite of my reaction, I could still see the question in her eyes. She still wanted to know if any of it was true.
“Rumors will fly as long as idiots give them wings,” I snarled as I picked up the movies and made my way to the door.
Sam walked quickly to catch up enough to open the door for me. As I stepped out onto the sidewalk he glanced back at Lola and added, “For the record, I’m staying in the guest room.”
When I tried to open the door, my hand was shaking so much I nearly scratched the paint with the key.
“Give it up.” Sam stretched his open hand toward me.
Fortunately, we’d parked around the side of the building away from Lola and her prying eyes.
“What?” I asked.
“You are way too upset to drive.”
He was right. I handed over the keys and climbed into the passenger seat. Once we were out of the parking lot Sam asked, “You want to explain to me what the hell that was all about?”
“It just pisses me off,” I snapped.
“Well, no shit, but do you realize you’re shaking?”
“You would be too if people had talked about you behind your back your whole life.”
I launched into an explanation about how ever since I was in school people kept deliberately starting things with me. I had never understood why. I didn’t sleep around. I didn’t start fights. For the most part I was really easy going until someone finally pushed my buttons one time too many.
“The shit they say has never been true,” I panted.
“Let me guess, these rumors are spread mostly by women.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yeah, so?”
“So, they’re jealous.”
“Of what? Being the center of ridicule? They want everyone watching every move they make, hmm?”
“I take it these rumors have never prevented you from getting a date?”
“What are you implying? I might not be a saint, but I’m nothing compared to some of the whores in this town. That bitch back there’s seen more wang than the Hong Kong phone book.”