My mouth drops open in surprise.
“People shouldn’t piss Dani off,” Ronnie says before popping the last of her muffin into her mouth.
“What happens after the meeting?” I whisper.
“A lot can change in a day. Imagine what can change in three,” Vivi says, sagely.
Three?
And I wonder if she knows something I don’t know. And I’m chiding myself for it because it’s obvious that Vivica Young knows lots of things nobody else knows.
“But there’s that whole…nobody gets between an alpha and his mate thing,” I say.
“That’s their rule. We never agreed to that,” Jessie advises with a big smile.
“Is it all going to work out?” I ask. And I don’t know what ‘working out’ looks like.
Vivi reaches over and squeezes my hand before releasing it and rising from the table. “Should we hit the road?”
My heart stumbles and staggers for a few beats before I force myself to move.
***
I walk into my silent house and find my father sitting on the couch, staring into space. No television, no radio, just silence.
When the door snicks shut, he doesn’t even blink. It’s like he’s somewhere else.
“Dad?” I call out and this jerks him out of it. He gets to his feet and rushes toward me, wrapping his strong arms around me.
I hold back the tears, try to hold back all my emotion, because if I let it out, I don’t know how long it’ll take for the flood to stop.
Vivi and Ronnie dropped me in the driveway and were going to pick up Erica and head straight to where Jared is restrained, in the woods in some storage bunker the council uses.
Ronnie wants to know what his history is, is wondering if she’ll see what defining moments in his past broke his wolf. If they know what did it, they might be able to determine how to fix it.
I’m worried about Cicely, and I’m worried about me. There are no texts or missed calls from her, so it’s clear she has her hands full. I don’t know if she even knows I left town. I doubt she knows what’s what with Jase and me.
On that last thought, I ask Dad, “How are things here?”
He gives me a peculiar look. “How are things here?” he repeats as if I’ve just said something utterly ridiculous.
“You and Mom?” I ask.
He looks irritated, but calls over his shoulder, “Carrie!” He does this loud and with annoyance.
“We’ve been worried about you, that’s what’s happening here. What in the world possessed you to follow him out of town?”
“Oh, my word!’ Mom rushes down the stairs toward me and her appearance throws me. She’s got bedhead and a strawberry jam stain on her pajama shirt.
It’s mid-afternoon! Mom is an early riser. Mom gets showered and dressed before she tackles making breakfast for Dad every day. She hasn’t showered. She hasn’t even brushed her hair. Things obviously aren’t any better here. In fact, I’d lay a bet that they’re worse.
I hug her.
“Hey,” I say. “Are you okay?”
“Jason Creed,” Mom whispers and looks at me with light shining in her eyes before she squeals. Quickly, her expression falls. Probably mirroring mine. She surely expected me to squeal, too.
“Catch me up. Come on, let’s go make and spill some tea.”