Hunter Moon (Lupine Moon Series) (32 page)

“
You didn’t call her
?” My question came out as a screech but I was in a panic.

“Shells, I’ve been asleep almost as long as you have. I didn’t have time.” His expression was sympathetic, but all I could think about was Jesse,
and how I was would
kill
James the second I saw him.

My stomach dropped to my feet at the thought of what my best friend would be going through after I dropped off the face of the earth for five days.
She must be going nuts!

“Oh no. Oh no...no...no...no—” I moaned as Cash pulled the rest of the way down my driveway. There was a piece of paper stuck to my front door and I had a bad feeling it wasn’t a love note. I hopped out of the truck before Cash could even open his door and ran up my front stairs. Snatching the note off the door, I opened it up and read:

Shelby Rae Flint,

You had better be lying in a ditch unconscious somewhere because that’s the only thing

I’d ever forgive you for being MIA for five days.

Jesse

“Well, she’s not too far off there,” said Cash as he read the note over my shoulders. I smiled wanly at his attempt at levity, but I was still really nervous about facing my best friend who was obviously angry enough to pull out the middle name bomb. I turned around and found myself face to face with my fiancé.
Hehehe…fiancé!

Suppressing my internal desire to jump up and down giggling, I smiled up at Cash. “I think you should go. I’m not going to be able to think with you around and I’ve got to face the music sometime with Jesse.” He tried to look hurt and sad, but the bond gave him away. He didn’t want to be anywhere near ground zero when I had to tell Jesse. “Oh, quit giving me that look, puppy dog.”

He pulled me into his arms. “Only you are allowed to call me a
dog,”
he growled.

By anyone’s standards Cash and I had a whirlwind courtship,
more like a tornado.
But his embrace felt like home. I breathed in his unique woodsy scent and tried to borrow some of his strength.

“You can’t tell Jesse what we are, Shells,” he whispered into my hair.

 I pulled out of his grip. “How am I going to explain this past week? She’s my best friend, Cash and she’s known me forever. She’ll know that I’m lying to her!” My voice got more and more frantic with each word. I
never
lied to Jesse. Besides Grandpa, she was the only constant in my life, and even the thought of lying to her felt like the worst kind of betrayal.

I looked up for reassurance, but Cash’s whole mien was loving sternness. It pissed me off. I pushed past him and walked into my house and my breath misted.

“Geez, James couldn’t be bothered to turn on the heat? It’s colder than a polar bear’s ass in here!” I grumbled, stomping over to the thermostat to flip the heater on. Cash wasn’t affected by my surliness. He leaned against the wall looking more inviting than an electric blanket.
Stupid hot fiancé.

I pressed play on my answering machine, mentally preparing myself for Jesse’s verbal onslaught.

“Hi Shelby, it’s Vince with some good news. Your cousins have agreed to arbitration and the date is set for eight am Monday. It’d be good if you could get your grandfather’s medical records so we can prove he still maintained his mental faculties well into his decline. Call me if you have any questions.”

I thumped down into a chair and put my head in my hands. With all the recent drama I had completely forgotten the litigation between my cousins and I. How could I face everything
and
try to save my ranch?

“It will be okay.”

The breath caught in my throat at his words. The wave of fear I had been battling since this morning crested and crashed over me. I was terrified. So scared of the new knowledge of lupines and witches, frightened of becoming a wolf or losing my home, anxious for Cash and afraid for my friendship with Jesse and what might happen if I constantly had to lie to her.
This is more than any girl should have to deal with,
I thought bitterly.

A sob broke free as my head thudded against the table. I heard Cash sit next to me before I was cradled in warm, strong arms. Soft kisses feathered against my hair as he murmured quiet reassurances over and over. I let my tears fall unabated, sobs wracking my chest until Cash’s love flowing through our bond and his sweet words worked their magic and I could breathe again.

“It’s going to be alright, Shells. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to keep you safe and we’ll deal with whatever comes together, Okay?” I nodded wetly against his neck. “And Jesse will forgive you as soon as you give her something else to think about.”

Confused, I lifted my head and blinked at him. “Like wha—oh!”

After I pulled myself back together, Cash left me to steel myself for my meeting with Jesse. I showered, washing away the dirt and grime on my skin, and an hour later I was warm and pink from scrubbing myself thoroughly with a loofa until every inch of me felt squeaky clean. In my head, if I looked and smelled like myself I’d stay that way.

“No fur for me,” I muttered as I French braided my hair. “My bad hair days are awful enough without having bad hair all over days.”
Yeah, keep telling yourself that, sunshine.
I quashed my inner snark and avoided that subject by turning my thoughts towards Jesse and how I could avoid a broken nose.
Does that healing thing work both ways?
I worried until Cash’s comfort flooded our bond.

“Nosy dog,” I said smiling to myself.

By the time I was finished getting ready and mentally prepping it was lunchtime so I headed over to the General Store, rationalizing that Jesse was much less likely to kill me if there were witnesses.
Less likely, yeah right.
My grip on the steering wheel of the Blazer was so tight the vinyl squeaked.

The parking lot at the store was full from the quarry workers eating lunch so I had to park on the street and walk but I used the time to go over my official story.
You see, Cash got shot so I spent five days in the hospital with him until he was out of the woods. My phone? The battery died. The hospital’s phone? Well, they forgot to pay their phone bill so—oh! She’s never going to buy this!

I kicked a rock with my foot in frustration,
Ow,
and then mounted the steps to the entrance of the store with all the enthusiasm of a woman trudging to her own execution. But before I could raise my hand to open the door it shot open and I was faced with five feet two inches of brunette fury.

I opened my mouth to speak but was cut off by Jesse’s raised finger in my face, forcing me to walk backward until we were both standing in the parking lot. I could have sworn I saw lightning flash in her chocolate brown eyes.

“Where the
hell
have you been?” Jesse asked flatly.

Oh crap,
I thought,
I’m so dead.
Yelling I could take, screaming I could handle, but this dead calm tone of voice had my life flashing before my eyes.

“Um—Cash got shot and the bad guy got away?”

 Her anger didn’t wane at all. Instead she crossed her arms over her chest and glared harder. “So he was shot but still healthy enough to drive you home this morning? I saw him drive by on my way to work.”

Crap!
Explanations flitted through my mind at the speed of sound but each was just as quickly discarded as inadequate. Like the chick clinging to that door in Titanic I grabbed onto the only thing I could think of and held on for dear life. “I’m engaged?”

I watched her face intently and didn’t miss the surprise that flared in her eyes. “Is that a question?” She snapped.

I had expected the whole “engaged” thing to work as a get out of jail free card and was baffled at the rancor in her voice. “No, I’m engaged,” I said quietly, confusion and hurt coloring my voice. “Cash asked me this morning. I’m sorry I didn’t call, Jesse. I really am.”

 I really thought that even though I had messed up big time by not letting her know I was okay,
which wasn’t my fault, stupid lupines,
Jesse would still be quick to forgive me, especially since I dropped the “engaged bomb”.

She stood very still for a long moment, eyes scanning over my face until she spoke. “Well, okay then.” Then she lunged at me.

Fully expecting punching, kicking or biting I braced myself but not enough to withstand one hundred fifteen pounds of best friend squealing and barreling me into a parked car. When I pried myself out of her bear hug enough to see her face she was crying and giggling at the same time.

“You’re getting married!” she squealed. “Hallelujah! I thought I’d never see the day!”

“Hey! That’s messed up. I always wanted to get married, you know that. I just took a while to find the right guy.” I growled.

“Oh, I have to buy a stack of bridal magazines right now! There’s so much to do, we’ve got to get started.”

I could almost hear the groaning protests of metal gears not rated to whir that fast in her head. I laughed in relief and gave her a big hug before turning her back toward the store. My legs were wobbly, and I needed a coke to restore my composure.

Jesse was still rattling things off and I barely heard her, lost in my own joy. I was going to marry the best, handsomest man I’d ever laid eyes on and my best friend was still speaking to me. Now all I needed was to get rid of my squatter and life would be just about perfect.

Cash must have felt my happiness because I felt his own surge through our special connection.
Yup, things are looking up!

A hamburger, fries and a Coke later and Jesse nearly had my entire wedding planned down to the color of the linens. I didn’t really care about which shade of pink the napkins should be—I let my mind wander until she snapped her fingers in front of my face.

“Alright, obviously this is all the wedding fun you can stand for now. Are we going to do Hobb’s this year? I’d like to go with your new
fiancé
so I can get to know him better, since he’s going to become family.”

 I smacked my forehead with my palm. “That’s right! I forgot tomorrow is Halloween. Of course we are going to do Hobb’s. Cash would get a kick out of it, and I’m sure James would like to get out of the house.” I smiled to myself at the picture of Mr. Three-piece-suit sitting in straw on a wagon for the “haunted hayride”.