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She lifted her fork and sliced off a nibble, slowly placing it in her mouth. When she sucked in a breath, I braced myself.
“It’s . . . good,” she said in a neutral voice. “Decent.”
“Thank you. I added a touch of coffee to enhance the chocolate flavor.” Normally, I buy my chocolate from a grower in Costa Rica, but I’d made do with what Mazie had in her cupboard.
“It’s nice.” She took a bigger bite, then another, eating half before her fork paused over her plate. “You’re Asher’s father.”
“I am.”
“You hurt my daughter.”
“I’m going to spend the rest of my days making up for that.”
“I don’t know what happened. Mazie didn’t share a thing. But if you hurt her again, I’m going to stab you with this fork a billion times then kick you for good measure.”
“If I hurt her, I’ll lay there and let you do it.”
Her lips twitched upward. “Have you told Asher?”
“I’m letting Mazie decide when it’s the right time.”
“He’s a good boy,” she said, taking another bite and speaking after swallowing. “The best child. He looks a lot like you.”
“He’s got that cute dimple in his chin like Mazie.”
“Your build, hair, and eye color.”
And perhaps the gene for shifting, though I wouldn’t love him any less if he didn’t.
“Mazie told me you’re Kuunik’s brother. The one who disappeared.”
“I am, and if it makes any difference, I didn’t want to leave Mazie. I . . . was given no choice.”
Her gaze shot to the scars visible above the collar of my t-shirt. “Are you one of them? A shifter?”
This woman amazed me. Everyone in this community did, though I hadn’t met many except a couple of moms when I took Asher to the park.
Even with just those brief interactions, I felt welcome here. Wanted.
Loving Mazie at night only made my life better. I was going to ask her to marry me soon.
Kuunik and I were wise to choose this area for our business venture. I’d bring it up with him when he returned.
“I am a shifter,” I said carefully. Asher sat on the sofa, playing one of his games, though we’d set up a puzzle and intended to finish it soon. He seemed oblivious to our conversation.
“Beaver? Fox?” She frowned. “Your community thinks the rest of us don’t know, but while they’ve sheltered here for years, believing they’re hiding in plain sight, we’ve always known. We’ve done things to protect them.”
“Thank you. And . . . dragon.”
Her eyes widened. “Thought they’d all died out other than Kuunik.”
“Many have had the same thought. I don’t know if there are any others left.”
She shot Asher another glance over her shoulder. “Perhaps three. Four if we count Livy.”
“Some get the gene, some don’t.”
Eating her last bite, she laid her fork carefully on the plate and nudged it away. “I’ll take a slice of that when I leave.” Rising, she walked over to grab her purse.
