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She sniffs her wrist and then wiggles her eyebrows.
I laugh. “But we’ll go ring shopping. Maybe spend a weekend in your town so you can show me more of the area.”
“I’d like that.”
“It can’t be estate jewelry, though. I don’t want it to carry anyone else’s juju like with Amelia.”
She waves a hand. “We can zap the bad juju out if it’s beautiful. And yay; it’s settled. We should get back outside, Boo Boo Bear.”
I smile, kiss her one more time, then swat her ass and lift the full coffee pot. We head for the kitchen door. But something dawns as I look around. The wide windowsill that overlooks the yard is filled with colorful plants. The kitchen island has a big bouquet of colorful flowers on it along with two stacks of fancy teacups and saucers and six teapots. Like the one I saw outside, they’re all colorful, some of them quirky. I stretch my neck and see a jungle over in the otherwise empty dining room. There are at least twenty big plants in there in various pots.
“A lot of plants,” I remark.
“Oh,” she leans back and looks where my eyes are pointed. “That’s less than half of them. The rest of them are upstairs. Gotta figure out the best homes for all of ‘em.”
I laugh. “Guess I’d better get that greenhouse built soon.”
“Yeah, great. But those are all indoor plants. I like having greenery around me. When you build the greenhouse, I can grow more plants.” She taps steepled fingers together while wiggling her eyebrows like a villain with the perfect plan to take over the world.
“Go enjoy some time with your family. I’ll throw some pancakes and bacon on. Yeah?”
“Ooh. Sounds good, honeybee.” She kisses me and skips back outside.
***
After breakfast and time getting acquainted, Rikki’s sisters and aunt are ready to head back to the Drowsy Hollow apartment. They got here last night and after the journey the aunt is still tired. The sisters offered to split up so some could help Rikki unpack, but she sent them off saying she was happy to do it alone, wants to do it by herself. One of her sisters muttered that some things never change, and they got into a little debate about it, but my mate won and convinced them all she can manage.
I like them all. The sisters are close and it’s nice to see. I’m glad she had them all these years, though for the life of me can’t imagine why they didn’t set her straight on all that guilt.
In terms of their personalities from what I gather, Jessie and Ronnie are a little more on the whimsical side like my mate. Vivica and Danica are more serious. Vivica is warm. Danica is a little chilly, which I thought might be because of our previous meeting the day I caught my mate’s scent, but quickly figured out she has a sharp, irreverent wit and put the tongue-lolling Jase in his place more than once as he shamelessly flirted with her. The aunt was quiet and observant. I tried to talk to her on the side about the meeting tomorrow, but she changed the subject.
When we see them to the driveway, I reach for the closest one to me, Danica. I hug her. I’m about to speak but she whispers, “Thank you for being the man she deserves.”
I freeze.
She goes on, “She hasn’t sang, hasn’t laughed much, hasn’t done much other than try to be worthy of you for seven years. But she’s laughing and singing and smiling today. She worked her ass off to be good enough, Riley. I’m glad you’re looking like you’re worthy of her, too. I’m glad I made sure you caught her scent that day, though I’m sorry for the pain it caused you.”
“Don’t be sorry for that. It was about fuckin’ time I found out the truth.” I squeeze her affectionately and though my throat is feeling clogged, I hope my expression shows what I think.
Jessica is next in line for a hug. She, too, whispers to me.
“It’s her birthday the day after tomorrow, Riley. Her twenty-eighth. We’re gonna stay until the day after. You think we can cobble together a little party here for her?”
I whisper back, “How about a big party? Perfect time to introduce her to my pack. I’ll introduce you to my mother and Bailey when you come back for dinner. Work with them? They’ll make it happen and they’ll make it special. We have plenty of room for everyone over at the town hall.”
“Will do,” Jessica says, giving me a wink and a beaming smile before reaching for her sister who’s whispering with her aunt.
I get the aunt next.
“We’ll speak later, Riley Savage.”
“Yes ma’am,” I say. “Again, I apologize for what happened when we met.”
