Queen Bitch of the Callowwood Pack (Siren Publishing Classic) (8 page)

Tawny gasped, outraged, and her brother growled like a furious dog. Only Richard remained unmoved. Julianna still felt the anger and betrayal like fiery brands searing her flesh, but now was not the time to wallow in them. She just shrugged, refusing to waste more energy on the past.

“I can’t understand infidelity,” Jeff snapped.

Julianna laughed in surprise. “It’s a very human trait, particularly of the males.”

“That doesn’t make it right.” Her heart warmed at his ire.

“No. He was a self-centered bastard who manipulated everyone and had since he was a little boy, using his good looks to win him everything. I just learned the lesson a little too late. Our divorce became official two months ago, so I’m free of his manipulations now.”

“True enough,” Richard agreed blandly. “What’ve you done since graduating?”

Julianna was grateful to refocus on the here and now.

“I worked as a manager at a bed and breakfast in Fresno to pay the bills, coordinating the wait staff with the housekeeping. The waitstaff were all Chinese, while the housekeeping staff were all Mexican. It was like international relations, and it took a fair amount of patience and compromise. Still, I liked it until I heard my divorce had come through and my father was dying from lung cancer.” She spread her hands as if to say,
there you have it
. “So I came home.”

“What are you planning on doing here now that you’ve come home?”

She raised her eyebrows, almost laughing in disbelief. Since when was it
Richard’s
business what she did with her life now that she’d divorced? He wasn’t
her
father. She nearly told him to take a hike, but something about the way he asked made her think her answer might be more important than she thought. Wrestling her inner teenager back into submission, she tried to formulate an honest but unrevealing answer.

“My father’s illness took all my attention and energy for the month I’ve been home, so I haven’t considered where my path is going now that he’s gone.” She set her teacup down on the end table deliberately. “I plan to continue my research into Native American mythology, but that’s more of a hobby right now while I help my mother recover. I haven’t really had time to seriously think about a job.”

“Have you thought about remarrying or having a family?” Richard asked then.

Two conflicting emotions crashed inside Julianna.
Is he expecting me to be barefoot and pregnant?
Her anger was only overridden by fear.
How can I marry someone now that I have the quadruped issue each month? I’ll never be able to be intimate again.
Sorrow filled in the last little gaps in her awareness and she blanked her expression to show none of it.
I’ll never be with Jeff now.

“No. I’m not sure I want to get married again. Especially now.”

She hadn’t meant to say the last, but it just slipped out. Fortunately, her audience thought she meant because of the divorce, not because she’d become some fantastic creature from the very mythology she’d studied in college. She loved the changeling stories she’d read, but she never dreamed such creatures existed. And how could
she
actually be one of them? She
used
to be human!

“I hope that won’t become a permanent condition,” Jeff remarked offhandedly then smiled his heart-stopping smile. Julianna wanted to smile back, but her keen sense of loss torpedoed her attempt.

Think of what it would be like to have lots and lots of erotic and energetic sex every day from this day forward!
her Sister shouted at her from the back of her mind.
He’d keep you well satisfied and too damn tired to even walk!

Yeah, if he didn’t mind that I might gnaw off his face when I can’t find my favorite chew toy on those full moon nights.

“Time will tell.” Julianna stared at him for a few dizzying moments. “I know I’d like the opportunity to try.”
With you.

A slow smile spread across his decadent mouth, and she felt her heart flutter.
God, I wish he’d smile at me like that every day. I’d need new underwear all the time, but I wouldn’t mind that so much. Maybe I’d just go without.

“Maybe you’ll get such an opportunity.”

Julianna raised her eyebrows in question at Richard’s comment, but he glanced down at his watch and got to his feet. “Looks like it’s almost time for the party to start. Tawny, get yourself out there to greet folks as they come in. Ms. Morris, would you mind being a hostess? I know it’s short notice, but I think many folks would enjoy being greeted by two lovely young females.”

Another dose of surprise hit her system. They were asking her to hostess in their own home?

“I’d be honored to do that,” Julianna hedged, standing up.

“And we’d be honored with your service,” Jeff said, his sultry smile burning her in unmentionable places. She wanted to throw herself into his arms, taking advantage of the promises in that smile, but she restrained herself.

“Miss Julianna,” Tawny said from the doorway, waving her through. “Let’s open the doors to the pack attending tonight and see if we can’t charm the fangs out of them.”

Julianna laughed in amused surprise at Tawny’s choice of words as they emerged into the hallway.
Odd turn of phrase
. The older woman walked just a little behind her as they strode toward the front of the house where the double doors stood wide open. Julianna frowned a little at Tawny’s insistence of remaining behind her guest. Was it a defensive move or a protective one?

The sight of the valets working overtime to accommodate the arriving vehicles distracted Julianna from her thoughts. Evening warmth wafted through the open doors, carrying scents of hot desert sage and excitement. The dress code for the party may have been “dressy casual”, but the energy of the guests implied something far more significant. Tawny positioned herself just inside the door and Julianna stood beside her, too unfamiliar with the invitees to stand opposite. Tawny winked at her just before the first guests stepped in.

Seething with excitement and anticipation, the crowd surged. The tide flowed past them, and Tawny transformed into the perfect hostess. She was gracious, friendly without being obsequious, solicitous without being smarmy, and Julianna did her best to emulate her. Most of the people passing treated Tawny with a measure of respect, but their response to Julianna was more reserved. Julianna didn’t mind. She hadn’t been home long enough to be familiar.

There were a few people she did know. Most of them, like the Winthrops and the Cutters, had attended her father’s funeral a few days earlier. Howard and Michelle Cutter brought along their daughters, Tammy and Ashley, both of whom twittered and giggled like teenagers at prom. Both families sauntered past Tawny with regal disdain, taking her greeting for granted. Julianna wanted to smack them all on the backs of their heads, but instead she smiled coolly, dismissing them as she turned to Bob and Sally Millner. They owned the feed store and were the first guests who seemed genuinely happy to be there. She didn’t know most of the others, though she recognized a few more faces from the funeral.

She certainly recognized Brenda Solaris. The blonde woman made an entrance like visiting royalty, complete with someone to announce her to everyone in the house and an unobtrusive bodyguard. She wore a silver gown that looked more appropriate for the Oscars than a Nevada dinner party, with one shoulder bare and a short train behind her silvery heels. A glittering Tiffany headband and bracelets reflected the house lights, and the scent of a perfume, a light, fruity scent reminding Julianna of sun-ripened apricots, flavored the air preceding her.

Despite her added height from the heels, both Tawny and Julianna stood taller than the ad executive. Tawny greeted her warmly with deference, but Brenda’s eyes swept past her like she was nothing and fixed on Julianna with immediate dislike and rivalry. Julianna’s first response was reciprocal, particularly after the way Brenda treated Tawny in her own home. The disrespectful action made Julianna straighten to her full five-feet-nine-inches and stare the woman down.

“Sorry, you must’ve missed Ms. Lightfoot’s greeting,” Julianna stated pleasantly as she gestured at Jeff’s sister. “Welcome to the Lightfoot House, Miss Solaris. We’re so glad you could come.” She said it loud enough for everyone in the foyer to hear, and Brenda was forced to stop and acknowledge Julianna’s companion.

Fury blazed in her pale blue eyes, but Brenda pulled out a warm smile and turned it on Tawny. “Oh, I’m sorry. Thank you. I’m very pleased to be here tonight.”

“You’re very welcome, Ms. Solaris,” Tawny replied sweetly, nothing in her face, voice, or bearing revealing any sarcasm. “Please, enjoy the party. Refreshments are in the gardens out back.”

“Thank you,” Brenda replied just as sweetly, and swept past them regally, her head up and her stride commanding. Julianna inwardly bared her teeth at her rival’s retreating back. Why were some of these people so damn rude to the hostess? She hated “big-fish-little-pond” syndrome. Smoothing her expression, she turned her attention to the next guest.

Before her gaze could focus, her nose caught the scents of wild mountain penstemon and ponderosa vanilla. An odd sense of familiarity enveloped her when she saw the short, slight form of Sebrina entering the double doors. Confusion filtered through her awareness.
Why does Sebrina seem so familiar? I only met her a few days ago.

Mentally shaking her head, Julianna jumped in surprise to see Tawny nearly drop to her knees with reverence and love before the old Paiute woman. Sebrina smiled warmly and patted Tawny’s hand at the younger woman’s greeting.

She wore a very plain but elegant charcoal gray dress with what looked like tiny quartz crystals sewn into the scoop neck and sleeve hems like sparkling stars in the night sky. A geometrically patterned shawl draped around her shoulders and hung off her arms with fringed ends. When she stepped, her soft-soled boots made no sound against the tiled floor. Her eyes twinkled in the lights of the foyer, and Julianna felt the weight and power of her gaze like a heavy cloak settling around her shoulders.

“Well met, wayward daughter,” Sebrina said with a smile that crinkled the crow’s feet around her golden eyes. “I’m very pleased to see you here tonight. It’s an important night for the Lightfoots and for you, I should think, so it’s good you are here. Perhaps you would be willing to escort an old woman to her seat.”

Julianna hesitated as she glanced at Tawny. “I’d be happy to, but I have promised to help Tawny welcome the guests, and I can’t just leave.”

“Don’t be silly, Miss Julianna,” Tawny demurred. “The tide is ebbing, and I can handle it from here on. Please, take Ms. Westwind to her place.”

Julianna heard Tawny’s reverence in the name, but she filed it away to think on later. “You’re sure?”

“Of course,” Tawny insisted, making gentle shooing motions. “Go on, I’ll be fine.”

“Very well, I’d be honored to escort you to your seat,” Julianna told Sebrina as she offered the older woman her arm. “Truth be told, you’re one of the few friendly faces I’ve seen coming through these doors, and I’m grateful to remain in your company.”

Sebrina beamed with approval. “You’re a great flatterer, daughter.”

“I can be if I try, but this time, I was speaking the honest truth.”

Sebrina laughed softly with what sounded a little like sorrow. “Yes, I think you were. I said earlier this will be an important night for you, but I think it will also be trying. Have courage, daughter. Remember who you are, no matter the recent changes in your life, and you’ll make it through with your honor intact.”

Julianna’s previous nervousness increased in volume. She remembered Tawny’s comments about a ceremony, and her stomach lurched. Was she going to be part of it? Was that what the “entrance interview” had been about? Her jaw clenched, but she tried to keep her expression serene as she escorted her companion into the garden tent.

People milled everywhere, and the grounds were awash with all the colors of the rainbow, like a kaleidoscope had broken apart and the multicolored bits had scattered everywhere. Pockets of shadow stood beside the colored spots, the more somber color scheme of the males in the group highlighting the females. Sound beneath the tents combined into a muted roar as friends and neighbors caught up with the daily news.

Sorrow gnawed at Julianna’s insides. She’d been gone so long and had missed out on the easy camaraderie of a small town’s residents. But after careful consideration, she realized there was a subtle hierarchy among the guests, some commanding instant respect and deferral, others backing down and treating
everyone
with obeisance. Disgust at their behavior surged through her, and Sebrina chuckled, jerking Julianna’s attention away from the crowd.

“Do not be so hard on them, daughter,” the old woman remarked. “They know their places and perform them admirably.”

“Sorry?”

Sebrina gestured to an older man who quickly stepped aside to allow a younger man to serve himself punch, completely interrupting the older man’s task. “He is showing courtesy to the younger man. You will understand more the longer you stay in Callowwood.”

“Forgive me, Sebrina, but it looks like he’s getting railroaded by that young punk, and the youngster should be showing the old man some respect. At least wait for him to finish.” Julianna shook her head. “I feel like the world’s gone topsy-turvy. Everything’s just odd. Guests are rude to the hostess in her own home. The young treat the old without respect. Heck, Mr. Lightfoot damn near interviewed me before the party started. I’m just a guest! Everyone’s excited like this is a special occasion, but I thought it was just a spring garden party. I know there’s something going on, but I don’t know what it is or what it has to do with me.”