Seven Years (30 page)

I leaned against the wall and cupped my elbows. “How permanent is this? It sounds like a big decision and I just want to be sure.” I turned my head, listening to Ivy and my mom in the kitchen humming a song. Well, mom was humming and Ivy was singing. Couldn’t make out the song, but it sounded like an oldie. A few pots clamored and the fridge door opened and closed.

“You’re not signing your life away in blood. There’s always a choice to switch packs if your needs aren’t filled or you’re unhappy.”

Deep down, I knew my mom would only stay if I did. Being alone was wearing on her, which is why I visited so much. Having a houseful of men and women gave her people to look out for who, in turn, would offer her protection. I hadn’t seen her look so energized in years.

“Just give me a little time to think about it, Austin. It’s a lot to take in.”

He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Is it him? Church? Are you thinking about going to his pack? He’s got a lot to offer a woman like you.”

I sighed, unable to look him in the eye. I didn’t really want to go with Church, but I wanted to know more about my real parents. Would moving in with Austin be a good idea? How would it change our relationship? Maybe he felt an obligation to Wes to look after his family; Austin was loyal like that. He would have jumped in front of a train for Wes. But did he see us as a burden on his pack?

“I just need to think about what’s best for everyone,” I finally said. “There are just way too many decisions being dumped on me at once and I need a little time to think them through. I’ve got this thing with the business, and then I’ve been contemplating calling the cops about my dad. Of course, I don’t know how to explain that one, but I feel like someone should be looking for him.”

“Someone is.”

His statement rattled me. “Who? Ivan? I don’t want you owing a man like him.”

He took a deep breath through his nose and spoke on the exhale. “No, it’s not Ivan.”

“Then who?”

“Prince.”

“Huh?”

He leaned against the wall across from me, planting his feet beside mine. “Prince called me up; I don’t think the idea of what happened to Maizy, her being left on the side of the road, sat with him too well. He’s a man who looks after his own, and while he doesn’t have a mate or any kids I’m aware of, I guess it hit a sore spot with him. Prince is doing it on his own, no strings attached.”

“He isn’t going to hurt my father, is he?”

Austin tilted his head. “That man is
not
your father.”

“Doesn’t matter. I don’t know what your rules are, but he’s still Maizy’s father. I’m more concerned about the man who’s after him.”

Austin scratched his chin, deep in thought. “I’ll have a talk with Prince and see where his head is. Why don’t you go in there and help your mom? Rumor has it she’s making prime rib, and Denver is coming out of his skin waiting for dinner. I’ve caught that idiot in there three times stealing bites of what they’re cooking on the stove.”

I smiled. “Maybe you need to put him outside in the doghouse.”

Later that evening, we gathered in the kitchen at the small oval table
. Only this time, Austin sat to my immediate left.

“We need a bigger table,” Mom declared, setting the prime rib in the center. Denver sliced into the succulent meat with a carving knife, devouring the visual display with his indigo eyes. He had a fit body—trim, but not svelte like Jericho. By the time my mom was finished with him, he was going to need to upgrade his shirt size.

No one dressed up for dinner. Denver sported an orange Atari T-shirt and Reno wore long sleeves. It was thin, breathable material, but I couldn’t figure out why he’d dress like that in summer. I hadn’t noticed any scars or tattoos, but it did give him a more serious air of authority. Austin had mentioned Reno was the most obedient wolf in the pack, and I wondered how the family dynamic affected the oldest brother who was used to being in charge and looking after his younger siblings.

Maizy sat beside Ivy, who placed a spoonful of cucumber salad onto her plate. Maizy loved vegetables, but she didn’t look crazy about the meat. We also had homemade mashed potatoes, and Austin looked like he was in heaven as he devoured my mom’s home cooking. He used to eat dinner with us at least three times a week, and I could tell each bite took him down memory lane.

Mom periodically described how she seasoned the asparagus, or the technique she used to grill the French bread, just so everyone would compliment her cooking all over again.

Totally
eating up all the attention.

“You going back to work?” I asked, sipping my tea.

“I’m not sure what to do,” she said with a click of her tongue. “The house is paid off and I’ve been thinking about selling. Too many memories.”

“You’re living with us,” Wheeler said. “No arguments. If I can eat like this for the rest of my life, then I’m going to die a happy man.”

Mom beamed and tried to refocus on my question. “I’m too young for social security, but I do have a little money tucked away to live on. Not enough to keep up with the bills, so I guess I have no choice but to work.”

Jericho quickly wiped a napkin across his mouth and pushed away from the cabinet where he’d been eating. “I have to head out. I’ve got a gig tonight and I’m already running late for sound check.”

His brown hair had been gelled and styled in that sexy “I don’t give a shit” way, with strands of at least two shades of brown. His jeans were loose and black with a few chains going around the back, and his sleeveless shirt had the name of some band I’d never heard of before. Not to mention he wore a smudge of black liner that made his green eyes pop.

Jericho leaned around to kiss my mom appreciatively on the cheek before heading out the door. “Thanks, Miss Knight.” He strutted out the door and Mom looked wistfully at her plate.

Miss
Knight. I knew what she was thinking. She had been called Mrs. Knight for years, and even after my dad left, she never corrected people. That’s just what women her age were assumed to be. It had taken three years before she stopped wearing her wedding ring.

Reno stood up and filled his empty plate with seconds. “The new house needs a paint job,” he informed Austin. “We can hire someone to do the exterior, but you need to figure out if you also want them to paint the inside. We patched up some of the holes in the wall. I don’t know what the fuck happened in there, but it looked like a barroom brawl.”

“I can help,” Mom volunteered. “Ivy can come along and we girls will see what needs to be done. I’ve laid my own flooring, installed crown molding, and even wallpapered three rooms.”

“True story,” I said, chewing a piece of bread. “Don’t even get her started on landscaping. You have no idea who you’re messing with; my mom can wallpaper Alcatraz and you’d think it was a bed and breakfast.”

She slapped my hand jokingly and I smirked, sipping on my glass of sweet tea.

“I’d appreciate that, Lynn,” Austin said.

Awkward.

Austin had always called her Mom.
Always
. It was never Mrs. Knight or even by her first name. That’s just how he saw her. Maybe he felt like he had disappointed her and his privileges were revoked.

Mom tapped her fork on her plate, pushing around the cucumbers. I don’t think she knew how to go about addressing the topic, but I could tell it was on her mind.

“Damn, this is fucking good,” Wheeler exclaimed from the counter he sat on. “If you don’t go back to work, then I’ll hire you as our personal chef,” he offered, wiping the back of his wrist across his mouth. Good thing he kept his circle beard short; the idea of men getting food in their facial hair repulsed me.

“Maybe I’ll take you up on that,” she replied.

“Dead serious,” he said, lifting his light brown eyes to hers.

“You need a job to be able to pay her,” Austin suggested, chewing off a bite of bread.

Wheeler’s posture stiffened and his lips thinned. “How about we take this conversation offline? ’Preciate ya,” he said in low words.

I lightly stepped on Austin’s foot beneath the table and got the weirdest vibe from him when he looked at me. The alpha didn’t know how to react with a woman silently telling him to shut up.

“What kind of experience do you have in finance, Wheeler?” I asked.

His brows popped up and he leaned forward on his elbows, pushing something around on his plate. Wheeler’s mouth curved up at the corners and my, didn’t he look like a slick fella? “I have a CPA license. I’ve also done taxes, accounting, and worked as a financial advisor. Lots of rich assholes out there who don’t know how to manage their money. But I’ve dabbled in other things.”

I looked at Austin and we had a mental conversation.

“I may need your advice on something if you have the time. We can talk about it later.”

He licked the prongs of his fork, watching me carefully. “Maybe.”

“No maybes,” Austin said in a thick voice. “If Lexi needs your help, then you’re going to give it to her.”

“
I’ll
give it to her,” Ben said suggestively, and he wasn’t talking about accounting.

“Keep it up,” Wheeler warned Ben. “See what happens.”

Austin’s chair scraped against the floor as he rose from the table and delivered a palpable glare at Ben. There was no attempt to charge after him, and somehow it made him more menacing. Ben submissively walked across the kitchen and ate in the corner alone. Austin sat back down and my mom was the only one who didn’t notice what had just transpired between the men.

Everyone else did. Ivy stared at her plate, shoulders hunched, spreading her mashed potatoes around with a fork.

Mom sprinkled a dash of pepper on her steak. “I’ll go with you in the morning and see what you boys are dealing with. As a homeowner, I know a thing or two you wouldn’t think to check. I just hope you had an inspector come out and look at the foundation. Lexi, do you mind watching Maizy for the day? I won’t be able to keep an eye on her and I don’t think that’s the kind of place she should be running around in. There might be nails or loose wires.”

“Sure. No problem.” Mom didn’t bother asking me to go because she knew my stance on manual labor. Especially after the paint-thinner fiasco.

“Good. We’ll stop by the hardware store and pick up several gallons of white paint. Something always needs a fresh coat of paint and we might as well get started right away.”

“Mom, do you really want to be painting in this heat?” I argued.

Yeah, she did. That woman was born to redecorate. She just never had much room to do it in her small house. But the idea of a large home that was big enough to have once been a hotel? I knew she was about to die a little bit and go to heaven. I wouldn’t be surprised if she had them laying down wood flooring by sunset.

I leaned into Austin and spoke privately. “Did you clean up everything?”

The first thing my mom would see when she walked into the house was a mattress with tangled sheets, and I was sure I had left some of my things there. I didn’t want to give her the wrong idea of what kind of daughter she had raised.

Austin grinned, telling me visually that
hell no,
he hadn’t moved a damn thing.

Ivy finally piped in. “I can help furnish the rooms. I’m good with finding cheap or free furniture and fixing it up; just give me some money and I’ll work with a budget. People wait for trash day and put it on their curb, so if one of you can come along with me on those days, we can scope out some of the neighborhoods and load them onto a truck. Garage sales will get you bargains if you go late.”

“Why late?” I asked. “Early bird gets the worm.”

She pushed her braid off her shoulder and a strand of hair slipped in front of her nose. “Early bird also pays a fortune. The late bird gets the deal on leftovers, because the owners just want to get rid of it for any price at that point. People can’t see the potential in some pieces that look ugly or broken. I can. I see beneath all the glossy paint at the raw beauty below the surface.”

Hand to God, every man in the room was watching her like she was a prophet. Ivy had such a beautiful voice and the manner in which she spoke drew you to her words, as if everything had a deeper meaning. She could be talking about scrubbing a toilet and make it sound like she was teaching you a lesson about humility.

I smiled and took a bite of cucumber. Ivy was going to fit in well; she was exactly what this pack needed. They had somehow accepted her as a sister, even though she was insanely beautiful in an earthy way, with lush lips and delicate features. I had so much to learn about Shifters.

“You going to be okay by yourself?” Austin asked hesitantly.

“Sure. I’ll have to plan something fun with Maizy,” I said in an animated voice, grabbing her attention. I winked at her and she giggled while nibbling on a tomato wedge. “Maybe we’ll do Pretty Pigtail Day and make some homemade pizza. Would you like that, Maze?”

She gave it the weighty consideration only a six-year-old can. “Umm, okay. Can we play games like at the pizza place?”

I glanced at Austin, not wanting to let her play on Denver’s game system. “You got any kid games around here?”

He frowned a little and thought about it. “Cards?”

“Then I’m just going to have to kick it old school and show her how to play hopscotch.”

“Hide and seek!” she replied.

“I don’t think we have the stuff to make a pizza,” Austin murmured in a deep voice.

“Trust me, you do. I know how to make homemade dough. Heck, I can make a pizza using toast if I really need to.”

“She can,” Mom agreed. “And it’s appalling.”

“You have tomato sauce in the cabinet and there’s provolone cheese slices in the fridge, so it’s all good. Call me if you want lunch later on. Maybe you can lend me the keys to one of your cars and I can swing by.”

“What’s wrong with yours?”

I gave him
the look
. His brows relaxed as he remembered. I’d once hated that car because it was a symbol of Beckett’s infidelity, but now it was a reminder of the man who tried to take my life.

“The wolves will stay off the property,” he stated as fact. “I’ve marked a warning and the Packmasters in the area know about our situation. If you have any trouble, you can call Prince. His number is on my phone and I’ll leave it with you.”

“Prince?” my mom suddenly piped in. “The guy in the sparkly pants who sang ‘Purple Rain’?”

I did a facepalm, trying not to laugh, because it
was
funny. I’d actually gotten used to his name and didn’t find it unusual until she brought it up.

“I like Prince,” Maizy declared, putting a giant forkful of mashed potatoes into her mouth. Ivy pointed to the napkin on her lap and silently coaxed her to wipe her face. “He’s my hero and got me from the road with all those cars. I was really scared that no one would find me.”

Denver stretched his arm behind Maizy’s chair and angrily tossed his fork on his plate with a clang.

Mom looked at Austin. “He was the one who found her?”

Austin nodded and sliced up more of his meat. “He’s sent a few of his men to look for your ex. I don’t think he liked finding a little girl abandoned on the side of the freeway because her father decided to drop her off like a bag of garbage.”