“Thanks, Mom.”
“I hope you’ll find a way to come home for the holidays,” Renata said. “But if not, maybe we can come to you.”
“I’m hoping to be able to be here. This is home. I want to be here. Maybe after some time away it’ll be easier to deal with and I’ll be able to be around her without nearly losing my mind.”
“We hope so, too,” Basilio said. “Hey, did you talk to everybody?”
“I called Riley. Told him I had to get back to Atlanta. I didn’t tell anybody else — there’d be too many questions. But Remi knows. I really like him. He’s a good male.”
“That’s what I hear. I got a good feeling from him when we met him yesterday. And Roman thinks the world of him, too. Roman’s a hard sell.”
“Yeah he is.”
“What about Cristie?” Renata asked.
“I have a text message ready to send to Cristie after I’m on the road. I don’t want to give her time to track me down and tryto make me confess the reason I’m heading home. She knows I had some time left to be here.”
“Yeah, she’s persistent,” Basilio said.
“To say the least,” Kaiser agreed. “I’ll miss her, too, though.”
“Of course, she’s your bestie,” Renata said.
“I guess that’s it,” he said, taking a few steps backward. “I’ll let you guys know when I get home,” Kaiser said, repeating what he’d already promised.
“We’ll walk you out,” Renata said.
“No, you don’t have to do that. It’s still dark out.” He stepped forward again, kissed both his mother and his father, waved as he backed away, then turned and hurried to the door.
“Talk to you soon, Kaiser!” Basilio said.
“Don’t forget to call,” Renata called out.
“I won’t forget. Love you guys,” Kaiser said, stepping through the massive front door and closing it behind himself.
He walked out onto the front porch, then around the shrubbery and flowers that decorated the exterior of the family home. His step faltered as he rounded the corner and got a good look at his car. He took a deep breath and prepared himself for whatever was to come, then forced himself to continue on toward his vehicle, and the male leaning against it.
Lucas stood there, leaning against Kaiser’s car, his legs crossed at the ankles, his arms crossed over his chest, as he calmly regarded Kaiser. “Mornin’,” he called out.
“Morning, Lucas. What brings you out here before 4:00 A. M.?” Kaiser asked.
“Thought I’d come see when you’re planning on returning,” Lucas said.
Kaiser came to a stop several feet away from Lucas, careful not to challenge his personal space since he didn’t really know the reason for the male being here and didn’t want to piss off hismate’s father before she even knew he was her mate. “There’s not really a hard target on when I’ll be back.”
“That’s a shame,” Lucas said.
“Why’s that?” Kaiser asked.
“Because the last thing I want is my daughter to live her life without a mate in her life because he ran.”
“Who told you?” Kaiser asked.
“Could have been Remi,” Lucas said.
“No, Remi wouldn’t tell.”
Lucas grinned. “No, he wouldn’t. But y’all need to be more careful when you’re talking about sensitive shit. Take it inside. Turn on the faucet to drown out the sound of your whispers so nobody else that happens to be nearby can hear you.”
