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Sometimes I wondered why my mate even put up with me when I got this way. He deserved someone better, someone who understood his responsibilities and supported him unconditionally when—
Beep! Beep!
I flew to the window to see the Wrangler parked out in front. My mate was waving to me, and I grabbed two duffles and ran to toss them into the back of the car. “You took off the soft top,” I cheered. “Now I know we’re on vacation.”
“If my wearing a Hawaiian shirt doesn’t do it, I guess the top off will?” He climbed out and came around to take the bags from me.
“I didn’t even notice.” I’d been too excited that he was back. “But where did you get that thing?” It was a peach background with orange and blue birds of paradise all over it. “It looks vintage.” As in…worn a lot, well-loved.
“Sam made me take it when I stopped by to make sure his leaky water heater had been taken care of before we go.” Sam was one of the oldest in the pack, and we all helped him out. So while I’d been getting grouchy, my mate was checking on a pack member. I really did suck.
“And was it? The water heater, I mean?”
“No. And I got some rust and grime on my shirt…and that’s why he insisted on loaning me this one. He got it on his honeymoon in Honolulu and thought it would be appropriate for our trip.”
“Wow.” I studied the shirt closer. “That fabric looks awfully thin. Maybe you should take it off before it gets damaged? It’s clearly a loved memento.” Sam’s mate had been gone almost as long as I was alive, and he’d sworn she could never be replaced. What mate could?
“And hurt the old guy’s feelings? I had to promise to drive past his house on the way out of town so he could see us leaving…oh, wait.” He reached into the passenger seat. “Here. This one is yours.”
I stared at the turquoise shirt with scattered ferns all over it. “Is this…”
Zion nodded.
“He loaned us his mate’s shirt?” My eyes filled with tears at the thought. “We will guard these with out lives and return them in at least as good a shape as we got them.”
“Yes, we will.” Zion’s smile was soft but reached his eyes. “I know we both hated having to put off our trip, and I’m so sorry about it, but—”
“But our pack is worth it.” I buried my face in the shirt and soaked it with tears. “I’m so emotional about this. And the truth is, I love every day I spend with you. I don’t know why I’m so focused on this trip, as if it cements our relationship, when it’s already the most amazing thing I can imagine. It shouldn’t be this important to me.”
He stroked my hair and dropped a kiss on the top of my head. “Our honeymoon is important. And even if it were something else, what’s important to you is equally to me. Now, if you want to dry your eyes, we have a widower waiting to wave us off and wish us luck. We don’t want him to see you looking sad, do we?”
“No of course not. But let’s grab the rest of our stuff and get on the road before someone realizes they need you.”
He grinned. “The pack is worth everything, but if we don’t climb in the car in the next two minutes, I’m going to have this shirt and everything else off both of us, and we’ll end up spending our honeymoon in our bedroom.”
“And we can’t do that to Sam.”
“No, we can’t.”
To my astonishment, we not only made it as far as Sam’s, where we waved to him and his neighbor Helma who he spent a lot of time with but swore they were only friends, but all the way off the packlands and to the highway without being stopped. Nobody believed the oldsters were totally platonic. Maybe he wasn’t going to mate her, but the gossips said the lights were on in her house a lot more often than his.
I hoped they did have something more than friendship. Because love was the best. I leaned back in my seat, the wind flapping Sam’s mate’s shirt as we cruised along the highway headed for the beach.
For two weeks alone on the stunning California coast. We would stop at the market in town that Mom had made sure was still there and pick up some food so we never had to go anywhere but the cottage, the trails into the hills behind, and the beach.
Finally! Just the two of us.
It was about time.
