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Most women would languidly take in the absolute male beauty of a naked Lincoln Fowler, but I don’t. I avert my eyes, then I climb down and change out of my nightgown, clip on a clean bra, then pull on a clean dress and panties. As I’m pushing my arms through armholes, there’s a soft knock on the side window. I pull the curtain across and see Cicely holding a steaming mug. She’s not smiling; she’s also not frowning.
I open the door and tentatively greet, slash ask, “Hi?”
“Here’s a cup of coffee for you. If you need to use my bathroom, feel free.”
“Oh, thank you. I appreciate that.”
“In fact,” she goes on, “a spare key that you can use while you’re here.” She hands me the mug and key, hooking her thumb toward the building with her free hand. “In case you need to use it and I’m busy in the store or not here or whatever. But it’s usually unlocked.”
“That’s kind of you. But, why are you being so kind?”
I feel self-conscious as she takes a good five seconds giving me a once over before answering.
She finally says, “Bailey has strong intuition. Mine’s not bad either. We don’t know why you did what you did or how it’s going to turn out, but you’re fated to be part of our pack, and we take care of our own.”
A lump forms in my throat.
She must see it by the panicked look creeping across her face. “It’s just access to some plumbing.” She raises her hands like I’m about to shoot.
“It means a lot. Particularly since you don’t have much information. I appreciate it.”
“Yeah, well, there’s a reason your coven has been part of our pack since the beginning, despite whatever happened with Graydon Blackwood and Grey’s birth mom. You also made sure things worked out with Tyson and Ivy and with Mase and Amie, so…”
“Those things probably would’ve worked themselves out eventually,” I reason, “but we might have worked to smooth out some of the wrinkles in the journey. After all Tyson Savage has been through, he didn’t need wrinkles.”
She nods. “And Mase and Amie are strong enough for the wrinkles.”
She does have intuition. But I say nothing. I sniff the coffee. It smells heavenly. I blow on it, anxious to get it cool enough for a mouthful.
She goes on, “And yet nobody is allowed to iron out the wrinkles for you and Riley?”
I shake my head. “No. Because I’m the one who wrinkled things, so I get to do things the hard way and Riley gets to suffer.” My defeat is evident in my body language.
I straighten up. I don’t deserve to act like a martyr.
“Then I hope the reward will be all the sweeter,” she rasps, looking emotional as our eyes meet.
I bite my lip.
God, I hope that’s true. But it’s not like I deserve it.
“But if you wind up hurting him more…” She stops.
“I’ll do my best not to,” I vow before she has to deliver her threat.
Her eyes rove my face for a beat. “Anyway…” She takes a step back. “I’ve got to open up. Don’t hesitate to use the bathroom. The kitchen upstairs. Whatever you need. I’m here all day today. Linc tasked me with babysitting you. He was desperate for a run.”
“I won’t make your job hard,” I vow, empty hand over my heart. “Thank you so much, Cicely.” I sip from the mug. “Mm. That’s good.”
She gives me a tight smile and heads to the store.
I gather a few toiletries and a towel and carry the mug to her place with me.
***
It’s the early afternoon and I have my nose in one of Aunt Lyrica’s notebooks when Bailey approaches, a bag in hand.
“Lunch?” She holds the bag out.
I straighten up in my folding lawn chair with the footrest, while arranging the ribbon bookmark and closing the old leather book.
“Um… I hadn’t thought much about lunch yet.” There haven’t been as many curious people looking me over today. My guess is that they now know who I am and have no desire to breathe the same air as me.
I should count myself lucky they haven’t publicly stoned me.
“Food is my love language,” Bailey advises. “Though I can’t cook, so it’s complicated. But I brought chicken wraps from Roxy’s.”
“Why are you speaking your love language to me?” I inquire with a frown.
Cicely. Bailey. These people are good people. I have no clue what’s in store for Cicely, but Bailey will definitely have her reward. Though my sister Vivi wouldn’t tell me who she’d end up with, she said it’ll be an angsty journey. I find curiosity niggling at me about Cicely. I’d love to have Ronnie lay hands on her to see what she can glean.
“Because your sister dropped off those records already. They arrived this morning and I’ve had a great morning compiling data. I’m a spreadsheet geek. And I figured lunch would be a good way to say thank you. So… thank you.” She extends a foil-wrapped tube and after I take it, she unearths two cans of pop from the bag.
