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Veronica wasn’t used to having guards. And her general mistrust of everyone and their prying ears and eyes wasn’t helping the situation.
Sara looked behind them at the two pack enforcers, looked ahead, and chuckled. “Oh, don’t pay them any mind. Your brother wouldn’t let me leave the house without him if they weren’t with me. It’s just standard operation, Xavier told me, for the pack alpha. Let’s concentrate on having a fun day at the mall. Okay?”
Sara looked warmly at Veronica and gave Xavier’s sister a one-armed hug.
Veronica’s stern look melted, and she offered a meek smile back.
“Okay, I get it. Ignore the goons at our six. Now, which store are we headed to first?”
“Baby Wonderland. It’s a wonderful place. It has everything mommy and baby could desire. I figure we’ll use Xavier’s credit card until it burns in the cashier’s hand.”
The women both laughed and headed straight for the double glass doors.
“Holy gopher meat! You weren’t kidding. This place is baby central. Look at these nursery room furniture sets. They’re solid wood.”
Sara walked over and picked up one of the hanging price tags. Her eyes popped. “A solid price too. If I picked this out, Xavier might have a heart attack.”
“Meh, my bro can handle it. Pick away.”
Veronica wandered farther into the store to explore items for the nursery. Meanwhile, Sara chose the furniture set … a lovely, solid, colonial maple set with a crib, changing table, and a chest of drawers.
“Hey, Sara, what do you think of this wallpaper? I’d love to help you decorate the room.”
Sara looked at the paper. “Oh, that is lovely, but no. I couldn’t possibly impose on you like that.”
“But I’d love to help.”
Sara simply smiled and said nothing more. Veronica quietly re-shelved the paper. Sara wondered if she should have accepted Veronica’s offer as it did seem genuine, but the two of them were hardly besties yet.
Undoubtedly, there still was some friction between the siblings. It made sense to Sara that there would be, given what Xavier had told her about Veronica and her need to interfere and cause havoc within a pack. Sara was determined not to cause any rift between Xavier and herself. Their relationship and the baby’s future took precedence over Veronica and whatever familial or pack plan she was cooking.
An hour or so later, with the two enforcers’ arms full of bags and boxes, the two women hit the mall café for a breather and time to talk. Sara made sure to pick seats around the mall’s circular fireplace, a handful of yards away from the guards’ ears.
After getting two lattes and two slices of carrot cake, the women sat, warming themselves by the open flame. Sara merely enjoyed the comfortable surroundings, though she noticed Veronica’s eyes scouting out the place, homing in on areas of egress and boisterous shoppers. Sara assumed her sister-in-law’s behavior was a built-in reflex, standard for wolves and especially wolf families of alpha leaders.
Veronica’s eyes finally stopped roaming, and she leaned forward to focus her attention on Sara. “So, what has Xavier told you about me?”
“Honestly, not much at all. As I said the other day, until you showed up, I didn’t even know he had a sister. Since your appearance back in his life, all he’s said is that the trust between you two is a little weak.”
Sara worded her response in a way to dampen any offense. She needed the brother and sister to get along, at least while she was pregnant. Sara didn’t want to give any stress to the little one growing inside her.
Veronica took a sip of her latte and rolled her eyes. It was not so much a look of disdain but seemed more like slight embarrassment. “Ah, well, that would mostly be my fault.”
Sara took a bite of her carrot cake. “How so?”
“I think I’ve played down just how awful I was to him,” Veronica admitted. “I’m not trying to make excuses for my behavior. But it was a confusing time for me. My parents were gone, and my brother was suddenly my boss. You know?”
Veronica shook her head, frowning a little. “If you could have seen me back then, you probably wouldn’t even be talking to me now. I’m lucky Xavier is, to be honest, after everything I did to make his life hell, to ignore his orders, to interfere with his authority as alpha. Honestly, it’s embarrassing now to admit it. I can’t even make myself say some of the horrible things I did because I’m so ashamed of them.”
“Oh, Veronica…”
Veronica laughed. “Sure, I know you like to keep the peace. And I appreciate that about you, certainly. I’m lucky to have someone like you in my brother’s life. I promise you, Sara, I’ve matured in a big way since those days. I’m back because I love my brother. Always have. And I want to make things right between us. Mend the hurt and help him in the pack if I can. If he’ll trust me again.”
Sara put down her coffee and laid her hand on Veronica’s. Her heart opened for the first time since she met Xavier’s sister. Everything Veronica said sounded genuine and truly honest for the first time. Trust was building, at least from her side.
For the rest of the coffee break, while the enforcers waited patiently behind them and yawned in between coffees, Veronica regaled Sara with tales of her and her brother’s childhood.
“Oh, Sara, you should have seen us back then. What a feisty pair of kids. It’s a wonder our parents didn’t die sooner trying to keep us acting properly. Everything was a competition. And I meaneverything. Whether we were building pine bow forts in the forest or roasting marshmallows at camp. Who was the quickest and the best? And you know, nobody trained us to be that way. We simply were. But no matter who won or lost, Xavier and I always laughed and contentedly fell asleep together. Neither one of us felt safe without the other around.”
