The Keeping (32 page)

In no time at all,
she had her word processing program up and running, the outline of
her article on Ryne before her. Hovering her fingers over the keys,
she wondered what to type. She knew so little about the man.
Wracking her brain, she decided she could include a bit about how
he was renovating that big old house. Mentally she formed a picture
of the place and began to record some ideas.

*****

By mid-morning,
Mel had answered the phone four times and sold about a dozen papers
as well as writing down a concern about a misspelled name in one of
the articles. She’d also exhausted her meagre knowledge of Ryne’s
home renovations and had even listed the names of some of the books
she’d found on his library shelf. That information was probably of
no value, she told herself, but you never know.

Saving the file,
she connected to the internet, thinking she’d pass some time there
learning more about Lycanthropy, having recalled that Ryne had a
book on the subject. Soon she was immersed in the subject, still
finding it hard to believe anyone would spend so much free time
creating a mythical world inhabited by people who turned into
animals. It was utterly ridiculous, but still fascinating, fiction.
There were even sites that you had to apply to, complete with proof
you were a werewolf, before they’d allow you access to the data in
certain sections.

Mel shook her head
as she examined the application form. They wanted your family tree
so they could prove your blood line—as if! Still, it was a cute
gimmick. She wondered if anyone ever actually applied and what
would happen as a result. On a whim, she decided to fill one out.
If nothing else, it would give the webmaster a chuckle that someone
had actually tried.

She just finished
pressing send, when Beth returned. She plopped down beside Mel with
a happy satisfied look on her face. “Hi! How’d you make out?”

“Just run off my
feet.” Mel winked. “Did you get all your deliveries made?”

“Yep. No problem,
though I did have a few people standing by their mailboxes
wondering why I was late. The delivery of the Gazette is the high
point of the week, after all!” Beth laughed and then leaned forward
to look at Mel’s computer screen. “Lycans? You’re interested in
shape shifters?”

“Not really.
Mostly, I’m just fooling around, seeing what’s out there on the
topic. I saw a book on it and thought I’d check it out. This
site—Lycan Links—is the most realistic I’ve found yet. Not only
does it list all these great fictional stories featuring Lycans,
but there’s a ‘myths and facts’ area and FAQ.” She snorted as she
pointed out the next bit. “Look here. This is where you’d go to
help Lycans find jobs, immigration assistance, find physicians; you
name it. Of course, I can’t access most of these areas because my
application hasn’t been approved yet.”

Beth examined the
page and frowned. “You didn’t really tell them all about yourself
did you?”

Mel snorted. “No.
They just wanted to know my family tree—I had to ‘prove’ I was a
werewolf—but since I don’t know my father, it was pretty sparse.”
When Beth raised her eyebrows, she hastened to reassure her. “And
no, I don’t think I’m a werewolf. I was just curious about what
would happen. You know, does anyone ever respond to this type of
thing? What would the response be? It’s harmless fictional
stuff.”

Nodding, Beth
still looked a bit concerned. “I suppose, there’s no harm in
that...”

“Beth, don’t
worry. They have my name, my mother’s name, when and where I was
born, and my e-mail address, that’s it. No phone number, no street
address, or anything else. I haven’t opened myself up to an attack
by ravaging wolves or a cyber weirdo. Besides, I bet nothing will
even come of it. There are tons of sites like this, created by avid
fans of paranormal stories. It’s all just for fun. No one really
believes in it.”

*****

Mel helped Beth
around the paper until noon, then went for her daily walk that was
fast becoming a habit. As she passed by Miller’s Service Station,
she tried to see if Ryne was working. If he was, she could stop in
and ask about tonight. Unfortunately, she saw no sign of him.
Instead, Harley came out to greet her and she crouched down,
spending some time telling him what a good boy he was, even if he
did scare her the other day.

“Yes, Harley. You
scared me, yes you did. You scared me down by the river yesterday.”
She baby talked to him while scratching his silky ears. He half
closed his eyes, his tongue lolling out to one side, showing how
pleased he was with all the attention.

“What’s that about
Harley down by the river?” A deep male voice spoke beside her and
Mel looked up to see Ben Miller watching her. They hadn’t been
introduced yet, so she got to her feet, stuck out her hand and went
through the formalities. Once that was taken care of, she explained
her comments to the dog.

“So you see, when
I looked up and saw Harley, I thought he was a wolf. It scared me
and I slipped into the water.” She bent over and rubbed the dog’s
chin. “But you didn’t mean to surprise me, so I forgive you,
Harley.” Harley thumped his tail as if he understood what she was
saying.

Mel stood up and
smiled at Ben. “I’m just glad he made it back home by himself.
That’s quite a distance for him to travel.”

Ben rubbed his
neck and looked puzzled. “I don’t know exactly what you saw, Ms.
Greene, but it wasn’t Harley. He was with me all day yesterday. I
took him to the clinic for his rabies shot and then kept him inside
afterwards.”

“You did?” Mel
felt her jaw slacken. “You mean that might have been a real
wolf?”

“Could be, or a
large stray dog. All I know for sure is that it wasn’t Harley.”

“But Ryne said...”
She let her voice trail off and furrowed her brow. Had Ryne really
said it was Harley? Yes, she was pretty sure he had. But why would
Ryne lie? And what animal had she seen? Knowing she wouldn’t be
satisfied until she had some answers, she decided to query the
man’s whereabouts.

“Ryne said what?”
Ben looked at her curiously, obviously wondering about her half
finished statement.

“Er...nothing. Is
he working today? I need to talk to him about something.”

“No. He called in
early this morning and asked to switch his day to Thursday; said
there were some things he had to take care of today.”

Mel nodded. “All
right. Thanks for the information.” With a final pat on Harley’s
head and a nod to Ben, she slowly crossed the street, heading
towards the diner. This definitely deserved some thinking and a
very large, very strong cup of coffee.

Chapter
23

Mel sat in the
diner, only providing absentminded answers when Ruth and Al spoke
to her. Thankfully, the two were in a heated debate about possible
changes to the diner’s menu and only looked to her for an
occasional grunt or nod that she was still listening.

“We need to
diversify, Al! We’ve been serving the same thing for the last ten
years. Tastes change. People want fancier food with sauces and
exotic names; isn’t that right, Mel?”

“Uh-huh.” She
nodded while wondering why Ryne would want to pretend that there
wasn’t a wolf, or at least a wild dog present, when there really
was. It made no sense.

“Our customers are
the same ones we’ve always had, Ruth. They like the food, they know
what we have to offer, and that’s why they keep coming back. You
like what we serve, don’t you, Mel?”

“Yep.” Mel gave Al
a smile and then returned to her musings. Was Ryne hiding
something, beyond his ‘I didn’t exist before photography’
background? Or had he somehow arranged something that looked a bit
like a wolf and set it there to scare her? But why would he do
that? And what had he used? And where had he hidden it afterwards
because there hadn’t been anything there when she got up out of the
water. Maybe he was some type of witch and had conjured up a wolf.
Mel snorted at the idea. There was no such thing a magic. She
rubbed her forehead, trying to massage away the beginnings of a
headache, while ignoring the great menu debate that was going on
around her.

Thankfully, Ruth
and Al finally moved their argument into the kitchen and she no
longer had to feign interest in what they were saying.
Unfortunately, Lucy arrived to take their place. Apparently, the
waitress was more observant than her employers for she plunked down
beside Mel and looked at her earnestly.

“So what’s wrong
with you, hon? You look like you’re miles away. Not still brooding
over me and Ryne, are you? ‘Cause if you are, there’s really no
need.”

“No. It’s not
that, at least not much.” Mel glanced up at Lucy. “Even though you
say you don’t care, I still feel sort of weird about it.”

Lucy scrunched her
forehead as if thinking hard for a moment. Then her face cleared
and she smiled. “Have you ever found pair of jeans or shoes that
you really liked?”

“Yes.” Mel
answered slowly, not at all sure where this was going.

“Well, you like
them and try them on, only they’re a bit tight, but you like them
so much you buy them anyways. Then, when you get home, what do you
do with them?”

“Um...I put them
in the closet.”

“And?”

“Well, sometimes I
try them on at home, just to see if, by some miracle, they finally
fit.” Mel gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Of course, they never do,
so I just stick them in the back of the closet.”

“So, what happens
eventually?”

Mel thought of her
jam-packed closet at home and the annual spring purge that she
always performed. Items that were too worn were discarded while
clothes that she didn’t like or that no longer fit were given to
friends or charities. “Eventually, I admit they’ll never fit and
give them away to someone.”

“Exactly!” Lucy
leaned back in her seat, folded her arms, and smiled in a smug,
self-satisfied way.

Blinking, Mel
pondered what her friend had just said, but finally admitted
defeat. “Lucy, I have absolutely no idea what my bad shopping
habits have to do with you and Ryne, or me feeling guilty.”

An exasperated
look passed over the waitress’s face. “But don’t you see? Ryne is
my pair of shoes that don’t fit! He’s gorgeous and I like having
him, but he’s not really made for me. So rather than hanging on,
I’m giving him to a friend so she can see if he’s right for her or
not. Understand?”

Mel stared at the
other woman and then chuckled. "You know Lucy, that’s a very good
analogy.”

Lucy made a show
of buffing her nails against her chest, nose in the air while
attempting to look superior. “I thought so.”

Gently nudging the
waitress with her shoulder, Mel smiled at her. “Thanks for trying
to make me feel better.”

“And did it
work?”

She considered the
situation she was in. Yes, she felt more secure in the fact that
being involved with Ryne would not hurt her friend’s feelings.
However, Ryne and his behaviour still had her in knots. She forced
a smile though, not wanting Lucy to think her efforts were wasted.
“Yeah, I guess I feel a bit better.”

Lucy gave her an
assessing look. “You feel a bit better, but not great. So, what’s
still bugging you? Maybe I can help with that, too.”

Mel traced a
pattern on the tabletop with her finger, hesitant to speak her
concerns, but really wanting another opinion. Lucy had just proved
she was the sensible sort, so Mel decided to take the plunge. “Do
you think Ryne is honest? I’m not talking about stealing or
something like that. I mean, honest as in telling the truth.”

“Ryne? Well, I
suppose I consider him honest. He’s always been upfront about
relationships; never promising me, or any of the other local girls,
anything beyond great sex as far as I know. Why? Do you think he’s
stringing you along?” Lucy frowned at her.

“No, no. It’s
nothing like that. He was very blunt about our...er...encounter. I
mean honest as in telling the truth, or making up stories.”

“As far as I know
he’s never told me an outright lie—well, except about coming to fix
my leaky faucet, but that’s more of him being busy and forgetful
than lying I think. So, what’s going on?”

Mel sipped her
coffee, before answering. “I’m not sure. The other day he told me
something and I’m pretty sure he knew it wasn’t true.”

“Was it to, you
know, protect your feelings? Like when a guy says you don’t look
fat in a sweater, but you know damn well that you do?”

Mel snorted, but
considered the situation. Would lying about Harley being there have
protected her feelings in any way? No, not really. She shook her
head at Lucy and the other woman continued.

“Well, was it a
lie of omission? Like he didn’t say anything or he left something
out? I know Ryne’s real private and he’s great at avoiding
questions and changing the topic, when he doesn’t want to answer
you.”

“Maybe. I don’t
know. It wasn’t really that kind of a situation...” Mel let her
voice trail off, for some reason reluctant to actually explain the
whole incident. “I think it’s just something I’ll have to work
through in my head.”

Slowly, Lucy got
to her feet. “All right, but if I can do anything for you, just let
me know, besides more coffee, that is.” She tagged on the last bit
because Mel raised her cup hopefully. While pouring her a refill,
Lucy added one last point. “I don’t know what’s going on between
you two, but I do know that my gut tells me Ryne’s a good man and
I’d trust him with almost anything.”

“Thanks. I’ll keep
that in mind.” Mel took a sip of the warm brew and nodded
appreciatively at her friend. “Good as always, even if it isn’t
a—”

“Cafe mocha,
whipped cream, with shaved chocolate curls and a cinnamon stick.”
Lucy cut in and finished Mel’s thought, looking rather pleased with
herself. Mel knew her face must reflect her surprise and the
waitress giggled. “I’ve been reading up on all those fancy coffees
you keep talking about.” With that, she walked away to see to the
other customers.