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Chapter Twenty-Four
Jasper
“Seemslikeit’srunningpretty smooth,” Micah said as he sidled up beside me.
I didn’t bother to look at him as I scanned my checklist.“Sure.Unless you count the horse that’s limping.”
“She’ll be fine by tomorrow.Just a little cramp in her foreleg.The crew is taking care of it, and Dylan’s going to look at her later.”
“We’ll have to rearrange the luggage if she can’t carry tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Micah shrugged.“We can do that.”
His easy attitude scraped at me.“The crew delivered the wrong luggage to two of the guests.That can’t happen.That’s why we have the ticketing system.”
“Uh-huh.Trouble is, the guests don’t always pay attention to the tickets.Who would have thought that two women would have the exact same ugly-ass designer satchel?Besides, they figured it out.Now they’re talking about the best places to shop in Paris, so I think they’re fine with it.”
“Still.We have to do better.”
Micah rolled his eyes.“Yes, sir.”
“I’m serious.”
“What?Jasper?Serious?”He laid his hand over his chest in mock surprise, then snatched my clipboard out of my hand when I looked up to scowl at him.“These are no more than the usual disasters,” he said, running quick eyes down the list.“We’ve got about ten minutes before we ring the dinner bell.I can handle this.Why don’t you go check in with our physician?”
My heart leapt, but I narrowed my eyes at him.“Why?”
“She wandered down toward the stream a few minutes ago.We wouldn’t want her to miss her meal.Why don’t you go fetch her?After all, it’s quiet and private there.I might even say it’s romantic, what with the wildflowers and the babbling brook.And this time of day, no one else is liable to go down.Why, if someone didn’t go get Edie, it might be hours before anyone disturbed her.Which is no big deal, since we’ve got this under control.If you wanted to join her and spend a few minutes, um, relaxing under the trees--”
“Enough.”Part of my mind was still snagging on the things I wanted to check off my to-do list.But I had to admit that the image Micah painted was appealing.It had been days since I’d been alone with her, days since I’d touched her in more than the most casual way.My need for her throbbed like a bruise.“I’ll go down and get her, but only because I want to make sure she has all the supplies that she needs.”
“Ah, yes, I see that right here on your checklist,” he said, crossing it off with relish.
I almost told him he shouldn’t cross something out until the task was complete, but even I wasn’t quite that priggish.“I’ll be right back,” I said.
“Take your time,” he said, and sailed off to check on the dinner prep.
Micah was really in his element, I noticed.Because he was the baby of the family, it was easy to think of him as someone who needed to be watched and tutored.But as I watched him kneel to straighten a little girl’s cowboy hat, it occurred to me he was actually better at some aspects of customer service than I was.People obeyed me, but they liked him.He was integral to our gardens and our IT operations, and we couldn’t afford to lose him there, but maybe I’d talk to him about doing more activities with the guests.
And I could certainly trust him to handle things for a few minutes while I talked to Edie.
I stuffed my hands in my pockets I strode off down the path toward the stream, vowing that was where they would stay.It was all about control, I reminded myself.Edie needed to concentrate on finding out what was wrong with my mother.That had to be my top priority, not the howling need that set every cell in my body screaming when she was near.She’d looked so beautiful when I saw her earlier, youthful and curious as she looked around at the little village we’d constructed in the middle of the mountains.
There was so much more I wanted to show her.If she’d give me the chance.
When I saw her standing a shaft of sunlight with one hand outstretched, my heart banged hard against my ribs.Then I saw that the angle of her arm was defensive, and my vision tracked down.
The second I saw a red wolf with its tail high and its ruff flared, I transformed.I put no thought into the tourists who were mere yards away.The only thought in my mind was protecting my mate.
The wolf heard me coming and turned.Without hesitation, I barreled into her, sending her sprawling with a snap of my teeth.I wanted to tear into her, but Edie needed me.I threw myself in front of her, snarling and growling, looking for the rest of the pack.
I found them.There was a black wolf on one flank, a dark gray wolf on the other.I used my body as a shield, forcing Edie back toward the creek as I tried to keep my eyes on all three wolves at once.I could howl, I knew, and my brothers would come running.
Along with everyone else.I could smell the campfire and the tourists from here, with the enhanced senses of a wolf.The combination of humanscent and shifterscent should have been enough to drive off every animal in the area.So why were they here?
And why weren’t they attacking?
Cautiously, I sniffed the air.I couldn’t catch the scent of the rest of the pack, just these three.Their smell and body language weren’t aggressive.In fact, the red wolf had sat back on its haunches, though the gray continued to paw the ground nervously.The one I had knocked over was slowly getting to her feet.She had black fur streaked with white, which reminded me of my mother’s hair.
