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“We are,” Jessie agreed. She smiled back at him. It might have been a little forced, he thought. She was as worried about Benny as he was. “Didn’t you say something about celebrating?”
He hugged her tight. And for a while, they just sat there, contented to be with each other. Finally he smiled. “Celebrating,” he said. “You did say that word, didn’t you?”
“I did,” she said, and pulled him to his feet. “We’ve got a lot to celebrate.”
They surely did, he thought, and he ushered her inside and upstairs. They surely did.
Chapter 27
Day 163 of the re-emerged Hat Island pack, Sunday, Nov. 17, Hat Island
Abby put her phonedown on the end table next to the sofa. She and Jake had the day to themselves for a change. Tom Garrison and Nadia Vuk had left yesterday to go north to check on things. The security team with Michel had had some wild stories. Tom had decided to go see for himself.
And so she and Jake had Retreat House back to themselves. After spending the week in Seattle, then coming home to house guests? She needed this.
She glanced at the clock... 10 a.m. They’d managed to sleep in, get coffee, and have breakfast. And they’d been cuddling on the couch, each of them with a book, when Geoff called earlier about Benny. He called back now.
“Was I right to interrupt your morning?” he asked.
“Yes,” Abby said promptly. “I trust your judgment, Geoff. And anything to do with Benny warrants a priority alert.”
“Is he OK?”
“I’m going to see,” she said. “And we’ll make him OK. All of us. We owe him, for one thing. He sacrificed a lot in Russia. The more I learn about shifters, the more I realize how much he risked. But more than that? He’s special to me personally.”
“To us all,” Geoff agreed. “I wonder if he knows that?”
Abby put her phone away. Good question, she thought, troubled by what Ryder had told her. She smiled at Jake, who still had his arm draped around her shoulders. “Think you can be my spotter?” she asked whimsically. “Benny and I need to have a talk. But this is farther than usual for me, even with him.”
“I will always have your back, Alpha,” Jake promised.
Abby got up and made coffee. She poured herself a big mug of it and added cream. Jake followed her into the kitchen and rummaged around in the cupboard, coming up with a bag of beef jerky. Abby grimaced. Not her favorite snack, but if she over-extended, it would probably help her more than the coffee would.
“Maybe chocolate?” she said hopefully. “Meat, caffeine and chocolate? The basic food groups for a shifter?”
Jake laughed, and grabbed a couple of Hersey’s chocolate bars, Abby’s favorite kind. Oh, she appreciated the specialty chocolates, but these took her back to childhood. Comfort food.
