“You’re Evelyn?” He held his hands in front of his face, his smile wide like he could barely contain his excitement. A-freaking-dorable. “It’s so nice to meet you, Dante. Evelyn’s my wife, forty-two years. Gonna have to bring her over one day to meet you.” Then he went on and on, telling their story and how they ended up living where they did.
“How is she doing?” I tried not to ask too often because he tended to get teary-eyed at her deteriorating mobility.
“She’s gonna be doing a lot better when she knows there’s some eye candy to come look at. Congratulations, you two. Will there be wedding bells, or are you gonna do that little eloping thing like I did?” Their parents hadn’t agreed to their marriage, so they went to city hall and did it behind their backs. They wenthome as if nothing happened, only to tell their families a few weeks later after they found their first apartment. Humans were weird.
“We’re gonna go with that elope thing,” I said. I wasn’t going to explain to him that we were pretty much already married in shifter eyes and that we didn’t need rings or visits to city hall to make things official. We already were connected in all ways that counted.
Marty left, and my mate and I took our cinnamon rolls upstairs. I put a pot of coffee on as we nibbled on the cinnamony goodness. It was the perfect start to a day, and I was looking forward to a lifetime of them.
Chapter Thirteen
Dante
A couple of days after the event, Karma’s assistant called and asked if I could come by later, maybe around noon. She wanted to talk to me. My stomach tensed. Sure, she’d been very nice about the whole curse-and-toss-the-mic thing, but I didn’t think it would be as easy as that. I’d been waiting for something like this.
I didn’t tell Augie because I didn’t want him to feel responsible for any trouble I’d bought myself. Sure, Karma would understand love, since she clearly adored her own mate, but she was also a serious businesswoman who was known not to tolerate fools.
Had I made a fool of myself?
I wouldn’t put it that way because finding one’s mate was anything but foolish. But perhaps I could have skipped the swearing and the tossing. Or perhaps not. In any case, I dressed in jeans and a button-down and drove to animals, arriving just before twelve. In the kitchen, I found the chef and some of his workers busy at their duties, and I just said hello before heading for the corridor where the offices were located.
“I’ll send the tray right in, tell Karma,” the chef called after me. “Did I tell you those cooks were fine the other night? Treated my kitchen well and left it spotless.”
“I’m glad to hear it. They had nothing but nice things to say about your kitchen and how organized it is as well.”
He beamed at me then turned back to his work as I headed off to find Karma and take my medicine. If she had lunch coming, she probably wouldn’t keep me long, which was a blessing. My business was important to me, and I hoped shedidn’t think I was that terrible. Not terrible enough to warn people off me at least. Maybe I could ask her to pay me less?
“Dante! There you are.” She poked her head out of a door. “Come on in and sit down. I have your pay and I’ve been dying to talk about the event and get your thoughts.” She disappeared back inside again and I followed, bemused.
Sure didn’t sound like I was in trouble.
I found myself in a small conference room with an oval table and six chairs. Karma sat at one end with a laptop in front of her. “Come and see. We got the photographs from the event and the totals and things. I thought since you were the event coordinator, you should see the results of all your hard work.”
“I would, yes.” I moved to sit next to her. She sounded like her normal self, and I thought it was all good, but what if she had serious complaints as well? I didn’t know her well enough to read her yet. She was unfailingly kind but also could be serious. “So, was it a success? I hope we didn’t cost the animals anything by my outburst.”
“What?” Her laughter pealed out. “After you publicly marked one another, disappearing into the love you were discovering as if nobody else was even in the room, money poured in. Everyone was so heart warmed and happy to be in the presence of your new mating. We have never raised so much money at any fundraiser. Come look at the pictures and see.”
I sat in the chair next to Karma’s and viewed the pictures as well as charts reflecting costs and expenses for the event. In the photos, all the guests looked so happy and smiling, and when I shouldered my way to my mate and we marked one another, there were eyes filled with tears. Smiles. People fishing out their wallets and remarkable checkbooks. Some shifters were so long-lived, I knew they still wrote checks, but photographic evidence made me laugh a little.
“So, our timing wasn’t bad, then.”
“I should say not. Look at this.” A spreadsheet appeared on the screen. “Not only were donations spectacular, but you managed to get so many of those you hired to give a discount, and took one yourself which you should not have. The wildlife rescue will have the funds they need for a long time into the future, and if they need more, we will support them again. I hope we can count on you for that and other events when I cannot handle them myself.”
Now, my eyes were teary. “This was the best thing I’ve ever done. Not only did I enjoy making the arrangements for such a good cause, I met my mate and I also got to spend time getting to know you and your mate.” I swallowed over the lump of emotion in my throat. “I’d like to think we could maybe be friends in the future?”
Her eyes widened. “Dante, I thought we were already friends.”
“You did?”
“Well yes. That’s why we talked so much, wasn’t it? I mean, really, some of those calls could easily have been emails.”
“Here is your lunch, Karma.” The chef himself came in carrying a tray.
“You brought it yourself?” she asked. “Everything okay in the kitchen?”
“Yes, but I hoped to get a look at the pictures from the event? I invited a number of people, and I was too busy supervising the caterers to come and see if they attended or if they donated.”
“Then come join us.” Karma scooted over to make room for a third chair at the table. “I still have other things to show and tell. First, the pictures. You can start eating, if you like, Dante.”
