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Her heart felt like it was going to explode in her chest, it was beating so hard.
He was comfortable? My future was a convenience to him? I may as well have been a blow-up doll.
“I see,” was all she could manage to say in return.
“Look, Caroli—”
She cut him off, no longer able to stand the sound of his voice. “I’ll sign the papers, but instead of taking the house and paying you out for half, just put it on the market and send me the cash. I won’t be going back there. I’ll notify my lawyer of the change. Goodbye, Peter.”
Chapter Nine
“Good news, Elles. I’m staying, and I have the money to get our new shop up and running—” Caro’s brows raised as she walked back into the kitchen and spotted the folks who were gathered around her sister’s island.
“Really!” Ellie squealed and ran over to give her a huge hug.
All she could do was laugh. Caro wasn’t sure she’d ever seen her little sister this happy or affectionate, but she hugged her back, relieved that this enormous life change for her wasn’t going to be one she had to take on solo.
“Really,” she said when Ellie finally pulled back. “In fact, I can’t wait to start testing recipes.”
“Ooooh, I’ve heard so much about your confections, my dear.” An older woman dusted flour off of her hands and came over to where they were standing. “I just know you two ladies are perfect to take over my shop.”
“This is Ms. Cally. She’s the owner of the shop and Diego’s aunt, so I thought we may as well get the introductions out of the way—and then, since we were having dinner, I figured we could turn it into a potluck so you can meet more of my friends here.” Ellie shrugged and went back to stir the tomato sauce on the stove.
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Cally.” Caro held out her hand, but then was engulfed by the tiny woman in a hug strong enough that she was surprised how much strength was behind it.
“We’re all so glad that you’ve decided to stay, my dear. And sweet Bennett has been telling everyone how talented you are. The town has been sorely missing its sweet shop since I decided to close up.”
Caro blushed and looked up to the island where Bennett was standing with not only Diego but Craig as well, and it lookedas if Ms. Cally had given each man a job to do for meal prep.
Bennett just grinned ear-to-ear and shrugged. “What? I need more marshmallows.”
She laughed and joined them. “Well, what are we working on for dinner? I know Elles is making cannelloni. What can I do?”
“The boys are helping me with the gnocchi, so you can start on a couple of salads. Does that work?” Ms. Cally certainly didn’t seem to have any issue taking charge of anyone, and Caro liked how the men were more than happy to pitch in and help.
“The Morrises from next door are bringing steaks and chicken to grill,” Ellie explained. “I didn’t want to overwhelm you with new faces. If these guys had their way, the entire town would be up here for a BBQ.”
Ellie nodded to Bennett and Diego, who only smiled and shrugged.
“We love to get together and have communal meals and events,” Craig said. “Hillard is basically like one big family. You’ll get used to it—if you mean to stay, that is.”
Caro thought she detected a hopeful tone to his voice, and for some reason, it made her blush, but she wasn’t quite sure why though.
“Those potatoes won’t peel themselves, Ranger.” Ms. Cally poked Craig in the side with a cheeky smile before turning to wink at Caro.
“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted with a grin before turning back to his assigned job.
****
Craig smiled to himself as he felt Caro’s gaze focus on him once again. He knew that if he glanced up and met her eyes, she would smile and blush before looking away. He was positive now that she was indeed his mate, and it appeared as if she felt the pull just as strongly as she seemed to have a tough time keepingher eyes off of him as he worked. What it would take to bring her fox to the surface? Bennett and Ellie had been together for a few months now, and by her evolving behavior, Craig believed that she would most likely shift soon. Both women could have gone their whole lives never knowing of the shifter genes that were hidden inside of them. If they were never exposed to the hormones of a male shifter, they would have lived and died fully human. At this point, he couldn’t be happier that something had brought Ellie, and therefore Caroline, into Hillard and his pack.
“Oh, Caro, I may have picked up some mascarpone and ladyfingers while I was at the store as well…” Ellie waggled her eyebrows enthusiastically, causing everyone in the kitchen to laugh. “Think you can whip up some tiramisu action for your beloved baby sister?”
“Well.” Caro sighed. “If you’re going to play the sister card, what choice do I have? Let me just finish up the pasta salad.”
Craig moved over to stand beside her. “Why don’t you let me finish it up? You can just direct me.”
She looked up in surprise. “Wow, okay. That’s very helpful, thank you.”
