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“Hello,” Abbie said, not opening the door enough to let them in. They were not welcome in her parlor after the terrible way they’d behaved. “I trust you’re not here to ask for another mate-match. I made myself quite clear the last time.”
Anyone – male or female – who rejected a mate-match would never, ever be matched by her. Valerie’s page had been taken from the mating book and destroyed the moment she’d left Abbie’s.
“We’re not here for a new match,” Rick said sternly. “We’re here to go through with the original match.”
Abbie’s eyes went wide. “You must be joking.”
“I assure you we’re not.”
“Well, it’s out of the question,” Abbie said. “I explained at the time that not approving of Diesel because of his injury wasn’t grounds for canceling the match, and that I wouldn’t match Valerie again under any circumstances.”
“I want to mate with Diesel,” Valerie said. “I realized I made a mistake when we got back to our pride, and I was miserable.”
Abbie stared at the young female. There was something off about her tone. While she looked contrite, she seemed unhappy, too. But of course, her perception of the female was colored by how pissed she’d been at the match rejection.
“It’s out of my hands,” Abbie said. “Diesel found his heart-match and he and the female are already mated and living together. I can no more match you to Diesel than I can make it snow in August.”
“But I’m his match,” Valerie said. She looked at her father with a pleading gaze. “Daddy, please.”
“We’re within our rights to demand the contract be enforced,” Rick said.
“Only once it’s signed,” Abbie said, shaking her head. “But even if both parties signed it, Diesel found his heart-match and the original contract would have been nullified.”
“We’ll see about that,” Rick snarled.
He stomped off the porch, Valerie following quickly behind. Denise stood alone on the porch, first watching her mate and daughter, and then looking at Abbie. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I didn’t raise her to be like this, but her father has certain ideas about some things and she’s definitely her father’s daughter.”
Abbie didn’t want to be cruel to someone clearly suffering, so instead of telling her it wasn’t her problem, she said, “I wish you the best of luck, but hope you understand my hands are tied.”
Denise nodded and turned, following after her mate and daughter. Shaking her head, Abbie closed the front door. She sat in her favorite chair and picked up the match book. Perhaps it really was time for some changes.
* * *
Friday afternoon, Em handed change to a woman who ordered a vanilla latte to go, and then shut the cash drawer. She looked out the front windows and saw her sexy man planting flowers in the front mulch bed.
“He’s the hardest working man I’ve ever seen, and that includes your father, who is no slouch,” her mom said as she refilled the pastry case.
“I think he likes being outside, too. Must be a shifter thing.”
“I told your father not to work him too hard or he’ll scare him off, but every time we’ve suggested he take a break or take it easy, he says he likes to stay busy and asks for another project.”
Em smiled. “I’m very lucky.”
“I talked to Grandma and Grandpa, by the way,” her mom said as she adjusted the pastry items within the large, glass case. “They said they’re probably going to put the house up for sale if you’re sure you and Diesel don’t want it.”
“He wants to live in the lions’ territory. It’s really nice there, too. The pride lives in homes in the territory, and although they’re near each other, because it’s wooded it feels private.”
Diesel’s three-bedroom ranch was on the same winding road as his mom’s house. There was a lovely view of the woods from the kitchen, which Em enjoyed since she loved to cook. Before Diesel, she hadn’t bothered to cook much because it had just been her. But now that they were living together, she had someone else to cook for and adored how much he enjoyed her food. He could put away food, too. She rarely had leftovers.
“I’m sure we won’t be leaving the territory,” Em said, smiling at her mom.
“I’ll let them know. Is the house all emptied out?”
She nodded. “Of my stuff, yes. But you know Gram’s a pack rat.”
“I just know that Dad and I are going to have to store all her stuff at our house, since they have zero storage space in the RV.”
“Well, Diesel and I will help. Just let me know.”
