Alison huffed a frustrated laugh. “It’s ridiculous. I just met him yesterday. I shouldn’t be this upset that he’s going to finish the mission that brought him here to begin with.”
“When you find someone who truly sees you, especially if they’re your mate, it’s hard to even consider that they won’t be there for even a minute,” Maeve said.
“I don’t know if he even really sees me, or decided I’d be easy to convince that he sees me,” Alison said.
Maeve walked over to Alison and put an arm around her, leading her gently away from the door. “Don’t go doubting yourself, Alison. You’re pretty, and sweet, and caring, and any fool would see that. Don’t doubt him until he deserves to bedoubted. Come on, let’s finish our breakfast and then you and I and Griffin can go explore today.”
Alison allowed Maeve to get her settled at the table again, then warm up some quiche and put a plate back in front of her. “I don’t think he’s coming back,” Alison admitted.
“If he doesn’t, then it’s his loss, and it’s the fates making sure you’re not tied up with the wrong male because the right one is headed this way.”
“You truly believe that?” Alison asked her.
“I do. It’s about all we have.”
“What is all we have?” Alison asked.
“Faith. Just faith that tomorrow will be better and that steps we take today will get us to the best places for us tomorrow.”
“What about your faith in the fates?” Alison asked.
“Oh, my fates are drunk,” Maeve said.
Alison laughed.
“Seriously. Drunk. They actually think I’m going to have faith in a pretty boy, bar manager who has professed his whole life that there will be no mate for him and sleeps with a different female each night. How am I supposed to believe they’re anything other than drunk?”
Alison smiled at her. “Niko is a bit fancy and he’s definitely pretty, but he’s also a good male. There are reasons he’s like he is. He deserves faith, too.”
“Tell you what, you keep faith in yours, and I’ll keep faith in the fact that I do believe Niko isn’t all bad, and we’ll both see what happens from there.”
“Sounds like I have to keep more faith than you do,” Alison said, scowling at her.
Maeve laughed. “Because yours is more stable.”
“Mom?!” Griffin yelled from the downstairs half-bath.
“I’m coming,” Maeve answered, getting to her feet to go answer her son’s summon.
“I just want to know when I’m gonna get some different clothes. I’m tired of wearing these,” he complained as they heard the sound of him washing his hands.
“Maybe in a day or two we can make arrangements to go into town. We’ll take care of it then,” Maeve said. Then she looked at Alison. “Is there a thrift store in town? I didn’t have much cash to bring with us, but I do have a little.”
“Yeah, and we’ll find something. In fact, let’s take care of that today.”
“Really? That’d be great,” Maeve said. “I could use a change or two of clothes, myself.”
Chapter 19
The front door at Jack’s house opened and Niko and Feral walked in.
“Well, nice of you to join us,” Frenzy said sarcastically.
Feral shot him a ‘not now’ glare and walked over to the large formal table they all sat and stood around.
“Where you been?” Jack asked Niko.
“At Alison’s.”
