AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The design company wants to know what I want on the sign.”
I look at his design. It looks good but is kind of dull, as “Mountainview Homeless shelter” is rather predictable.
“You don’t like it?” Valen sighs.
“How about you let me design it?”
“You want to help? What about your petition?”
“I can do both. Is this the designer you’re going through? I do know a better designer who’s local and has a cheaper signage manufacturer,” I tell him.
“Who is your designer? The same one that did the murals along the restaurant walls?” he asks, and I nod.
“Yep, I know she would love to do it.”
“She?”
“Me,” I tell him.
“Wait, you did the murals in the restaurant?”
I nod. “Yes, and the one in the pool area along the fence. We couldn’t find anyone to do them back then, and I used to paint. Your mother found one of my drawings and asked me to have a go at doing a mural. I did one, then she got me to paint all of them,” I laugh.
“You don’t paint anymore?”
“No time anymore, but I was going to ask if I could do a mural out in front of the homeless shelter anyway, so I can design your sign and send it off to get it made?” I tell him. He thinks for a second before nodding.
“Any other cool things you can do?”
I shrug. “No, but Macey did all the welded statues in the gardens,” I tell him.
“Macey can weld?”
“Yep, she used to do odd jobs as a welder/metal fabricator around the city,” I tell him.
“Huh, I didn’t know that,” he murmurs thoughtfully, and I shrug before messing Valarian’s hair. I glance at his homework to see he’s finished and now just doodling on the edges of the paper.
“Right, that’s sorted then. When you can, if you give me a list of what you want, I’ll order it in,” Valen says, and I smile. I haven’t painted in so long, so I’m excited about the challenge.
Hearing my phone ping with a message, I check it. I don’t recognize the number, but I know undoubtedly where it came from by the statement it holds.
Think, Everly, you could destroy everything you worked so hard for, pull the petition, or the packs will come for you.
I growl, annoyed at the threat, and Valen looks over at me.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I’ll sort it out,” I tell him before placing the phone back down and walking off to get Valarian ready for bed.
ChapterEighty-Three
Valen
All night, I can tell something’s wrong with Everly, feel her stress through the bond. I can also feel she doesn't want to worry me about whatever is bothering her. She’s so used to dealing with her struggles herself, I think she forgets she can actually share them and that she’s never a burden to me.
“Are you going to stop by the homeless shelter today?” I ask her as she gathers her handbag and keys.
“Yes. I’ll stop by after I see Emily. Any news from the patrols about any more forsaken sightings, or anything about her son?” she asks me. I really wish I had an answer for her, but I don’t. We have no leads, no scent trails, nothing. It’s like they vanished altogether.
