Trust Me When the Sun Goes Down (33 page)

Chapter Three

The morning broke bright and clear, the autumn sun still dominating the sky, though there was a noticeable chill in the air marking the passage of summer.  The sound of a lawnmower in the distance woke Amelia, and she stretched in her soft, downy comfort. 

Cutter’s Folly. 

All at once it flooded back to her – she was in Cutter’s Folly with her grandmother and a couple of cousins she’d never known about.  Did she have other family in town?  It was a comforting notion, which was a big plus considering all the other jumbled thoughts that crowded for space in her mind.   

First order of business – a shower and something to eat.  The idea of putting her dirty clothes back on after a shower made her cringe, but when Millie swung her feet down to the floor, she realized her clothes were not where she’d left them in a crumpled heap on the floor.  Someone had been in her room and what… tidied up in the middle of the night?  The clock on the bedside table showed it was after ten a.m., most likely the entire household had been up and around for some time.  Maybe Scarlett or Gran had come in to check on her? 

On a hunch Millie padded across the dark, wood floor to the closet, opening it wide.  Sure enough, there was a small selection of clothes, close enough to her size, and Millie sent out a swift
thank you
to her thoughtful cousin.  A quick survey of the dresser drawers found more casual clothes, better suited to her style, and she grabbed a pair of jeans and a long sleeved top to change into after her shower.  There was even a soft yellow bathrobe to wear on the walk to the bathroom down the hall.

The bathroom was old fashioned, but scrupulously clean.  A huge clawfoot tub stood at one end with a shower attachment and a small pedestal sink and toilet at the other.  As long as there was hot running water, it all looked like heaven to Millie, and she used up every last bit of it without a trace of guilt.  Emerging over half an hour later feeling clean and refreshed, she set out to do a little exploring. 

There wasn’t a sign of anyone on the ground floor, but she did find a scribbled note from Scarlett on the kitchen table under a blueberry muffin. 

Ran into town for some errands, will be back to make lunch soon!

– S

  Millie picked at the muffin, breaking off tiny pieces and popping them into her mouth as she stepped out onto the back porch.  The sound of the lawnmower no longer echoed over the grounds, but the
snick, snick, snick
of clippers could be heard over the late morning birdsong.  The steady sound of the clippers occasionally gave way to a decidedly male grunt or the odd swear word, bringing a smile to her lips as she strolled through the gardens. 

Gardening was never her idea of a good time, and it didn’t surprise her to find Grandmother opted to hire out to tend to the extensive grounds.  A warren of shrubs and flowering plants formed a maze like path, with a gazebo the focal point in the center of the back yard.  A large expanse of lawn surrounded the area between the house and the surrounding woods.  She was struck again by the lush beauty of the property, so different from the rocky desert terrain of New Mexico.

Turning around to go back to the house, Amelia was startled to find her path blocked by the gardener, a wicked pair of shears in his hands and an even more wicked smirk on the face she recognized from the bar the night before.

“You…”

“Me?” he prompted, eyes raking over her boldly.  Millie wasn’t used to being stared at so openly, so that she started to worry something about Scarlett’s clothes wasn’t fitting her right, but she resisted the urge to pat herself down to check.

“You ah, you work here?” Amelia immediately felt like the biggest dork for stating the obvious.

“Only when forced.  What about you?  What’s Adele making you do for her?” he asked, shoving the pointed end of the long clippers into the soft ground.

“Me?” she blinked in surprise.  “She’s not making me do anything for her.”

“Don’t be too sure about that,” he muttered, a flash of something in his eyes before the amusement returned.  “So, what’s on the agenda today, Millie?  Wake up when the sun is warm, enjoy a little breakfast, and then it’s off to go shopping on Granny’s dime?”

Something about his tone annoyed the hell out of her, implying that she intended to sponge off of the elderly woman, when she hadn’t made any such plans.  She wasn’t even sure if she was going to stick around.  “Whatever I do is none of your business, and… how did you know my name?” 

“You’d be surprised at some of the things I know about you, Millie.”  He gave her that wolfish grin again. 

A roll of the eyes was given, Amelia was not amused.  “You don’t know anything about me except for maybe what Scarlett might have mentioned in passing,” she replied, figuring the friendly blonde must’ve shared her name with the sexy gardener. 

“Blame it all on Scarlett, huh?  Fair enough, though you should be careful what you tell her.  She never could keep any secrets from me,” he grinned again, dropping the predatory vibe.  “Okay, then what
are
you going to do today?  Or were you just planning on wandering the gardens, tromping all over my begonias?”  He raised a single brow.

Looking down, Amelia noticed she’d strayed off the path and was indeed stepping on one of his plants.  “Oh, sorry.  I guess I wasn’t paying attention.”  She hopped to the side, pleased to see the bush spring back into place.

“No harm done.  They tend to grow a bit wild and then Adele has me cut them all back within an inch of their lives and then the cycle starts all over again.”

“Oh, so you’re not a full time gardener here then?”

A low, throaty chuckle rumbled out of him like she’d said the funniest thing ever.  “No, I’m not the gardener.” 

“Oh.”  Millie’s cheeks grew hot.  She pushed past him on the path, eager to escape those dark eyes, but he followed along beside her.  “What do you do then?”

“Anything I have to,” he replied in an unexpectedly grim tone.  “Which roughly translates into, the same as you.  Whatever Gran wants, and she lets me and Scarlett live here.”

Realization dawned on her, he must be the
Chase
Scarlett had mentioned the night before.  “Oh, that would make you Scarlett’s…”

“Brother,” he finished for her, offering his hand.  “Chase LaRoche, pleased to formally make your acquaintance, Millie.” 

Her cousin.  Amelia eased a little at that news, shaking his hand.  “Nice to meet you, Chase,” she smiled wider.  “Have you guys lived here long?”

“Long enough.”

“Sounds like you’re ready to move off on your own maybe?” 

“Not hardly,” he snorted, looking up at the big house.  “Someday this place will be mine and I’m not moving away and forfeiting that.  I’ve worked too hard doing every little thing Gran’s ever asked of me to give that up now.”

“A real slavedriver, huh?”  Millie gave him sympathetic look.  Would she have the same demands placed on her for the price of being taken in? 

“Nah, not exactly.  She doesn’t work us to the bone or anything, we have plenty of time to ourselves.  She just… Adele is used to having a certain amount of control over us, being Alpha.”

Alpha.  She was familiar with the term and started to see what bothered him most about being under Grandmother’s thumb.  “And you don’t like having to check in with her over every little thing?” 

“That’s it exactly,” he smiled, snapping a branch off of one of the bushes and chucking it towards the tree line. 

“You said before all this would be yours someday, does that mean you’ll be Alpha someday too?” 

“Never can tell.”  His brows danced playfully.  “If it was based on pure desire alone I’d get it easy enough, but there’s a bit more to it than that.”

“Want it so bad you can taste it, huh?” she grinned back.

“Taste it, feel it, smell it…”  His eyes blazed for a moment and then the easy grin returned.  “Soon… I can feel it coming soon, there is change on the wind.”  He lifted his nose to scent the air.

Millie sniffed carefully, but all she could smell were the soft scents of fragrant flowers, fresh loamy soil and maybe just a hint of Chase himself.  “Is Grandmother supposed to step down soon?  It seems like she’d want to retire at some point.” 

A heartfelt sigh was given.  “She’s gotta step down sometime, one way or another.” 

“So, you’re ah, a shifter then?  You can change forms?” Amelia asked suddenly, realizing she had the perfect opportunity to learn more about her heritage since Chase seemed perfectly comfortable talking to her about pack things so far. 

“Yes, Millie, I’m a shifter.  Would you like to see?” 

“Wait, right here?  Right now?”  She looked around the deserted garden.

“Sure, why not?”  He tugged his sweat stained t-shirt up and over his head. 

“Don’t you need…  Well, doesn’t it need to be night or something?”

“Nope, and I don’t need the full moon either, though it is hard to resist the moon’s song sometimes,” he admitted, flinging the shirt aside and kicking off his shoes. 

Her eyes flicked to the house, feeling a little odd about him undressing right in front of her in the garden, but he seemed not to have a self conscious bone in his body.  Not that he needed to, his well muscled form was appealing enough that she had to remind herself he was her cousin and turn away.

“What’s the matter?  I thought you wanted to watch me change?” he asked, and she could hear the rustle of clothes as his jeans dropped to the ground.

Knowing her cheeks were probably a bright red, she kept her face averted.  “I ah, I wanted to see you shift but… I guess I wasn’t thinking you’d have to be, you know, naked for it.”

“Trust me, it’s a lot easier on the clothes that way.” 

“Millie?”  Scarlett’s voice came from the back porch where the slam of the screen door announced her presence. 

“Shit… you’ll have to catch the show later, Millie,” Chase muttered. 

A curious sound reached her ears, like someone cracking their knuckles or popping their back in a deep stretch, only intensified as if they were cracking the joints all over their body.  Millie turned around just in time to see the tail end of a large grey wolf disappearing around a bend in the garden path.

“Wait!” she called out, but he was gone, loping toward the tree line with fluid grace.  Millie could only stare after him, dimly registering the idea that only a moment ago she’d been talking to that wolf. 

“Millie?”  The call came again, this time with a note of concern in her voice.

“Coming!” she yelled back, following the path back to the porch with a smile and a wave for Scarlett once she came into view. 

“There you are, for a moment I thought I’d lost you.” 

“Just enjoying some of the fresh air.”  Millie climbed the stairs, using the height to try and spot Chase out there, but there was no sign of him. 

“Looking for something?”

“No, Chase was going to… you know, shift, so I could see it.”

“Any excuse to strip in front of a pretty girl,” Scarlett laughed.  “You’ve really never seen it before?  Not even your own family?” 

“No, before last night I had no idea they could even do that, and before the attack I had no idea it was even possible.”

“Oh.” Scarlett sobered at the mention of the attack, her blue eyes clouding with sympathy.  “That must’ve been really scary for you, I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thanks, and yeah, it scared the crap out of me.  I thought we were being attacked by wild animals or something.”  She swallowed back a wave of nausea at the memory of all the blood.  

“It doesn’t have to be like that, you know,” Scarlett said softly.  “All the fighting and death.  It can actually be quite beautiful, and the freedom…”  Rapture shone from her face and Millie hadn’t realized before that Scarlett was speaking from personal experience. 

“You can do it too?” she asked in surprise.  Somehow she’d thought if Chase could, then Scarlett couldn’t. 

“Of course, didn’t you know?” Scarlett answered with equal surprise.  “If you want me to show you sometime I’d be happy to, and I’ll do it without the striptease,” she grinned. 

“Yeah, maybe sometime,” Millie nodded thoughtfully, moving inside with her cousin.  “Scarlett, do you work for Grandmother?” she asked, as something Chase said earlier weighed on her mind. 

“Mmmhmm,” she nodded, moving to the kitchen counter where groceries awaited.  “I manage her correspondence, help maintain the books for her businesses in town, take care of her personal errands and things, drive her around where she wants to go.”

“Sort of like a personal assistant?”

“Yes, I guess you could call it that.  I help Gran out and she takes care of my needs, same with Chase though his tasks are usually more varied than mine.” 

“Chase said something along the lines of, he wonders what Grandmother will want me to do.”

Scarlett looked up from the cupboard with a shrug.  “It’s hard to say, you should really talk to her about it, but she hasn’t mentioned anything to me.” 

“Do you ever think about wanting something more?  Getting out to see the world?  Live your own life?”