“What?” He slapped a palm over his chest. “The great Ness Clark doesn’t know everything?”
I slugged his bicep, and it was like hitting solid rock. “Shut up.”
He chuckled, which was strange, because Lucas was a sulky bastard, not a chuckler. He jutted his chin toward the house. “You locked up?”
“I don’t have a key.”
“Liam didn’t give you a key?”
I frowned. “Why would he?”
As he pulled out a keyring from the pocket of his mesh shorts, he cast me a sideways glance. I didn’t ask what his look meant. While Lucas locked up, I climbed into the SUV and strapped myself in. A minute later, he sprang behind the wheel and revved up the engine.
As he pulled out of the driveway, I examined the forest again. “Is there another pack in these parts?”
“Not that I know of.”
“So loners?”
“Possibly. But they’re playing with fire by running around here. If they value their lives, they better have been passing through.”
The landscape was cloaked in a gray light that turned everything flatter, duller. I was glad there was no sun. I didn’t feel like sunshine. I checked my phone for updates on the Everest hunt. Having none, I stuffed my phone into my bag.
“Nervous?” Lucas asked as we headed up the inn’s long driveway.
I chewed on my thumbnail. “Aren’t you?”
“Nah. I have total faith in my Alpha.” He side-eyed me. “Unless he’s not the person you’re nervous for.”
The golden log façade of the inn rose beyond the windshield. Soon it would belong to a detestable man. Aidan would probably strip it of its hominess and transform it into another impersonal, multi-million dollar venture.
“He’s my flesh and blood, Lucas.”
“He used you, then tried to have you killed, yet you hope he gets away with his life? I don’t get it, Clark.”
I twirled the ends of my ponytail. “What if there’s more to it? What if he didn’t mean to do any of that? What if Aidan Michaels coerced him to do it? Or blackmailed him?”
“And what if Aidan Michaels didn’t?”
My skin prickled from his sharp answer. Then that would make my cousin truly heartless. “I guess we’ll never know since Everest won’t get a trial.”
I gripped my door handle.
“We’re not animals. They’ll interrogate him before putting him down.”
Sucking in a sticky lungful of air, I gritted out, “He’s not a dog.”
“You know what I mean.”
I did, but it still bothered me. “You don’t have to come inside.”
“Until it’s over, I’m shadowing your ass.”
I heaved an annoyed breath and hopped out.
While Lucas went to park, I pushed through the revolving doors. The inn was bright and warm and smelled faintly of potpourri and varnished pine, scents I’d come to associate with Boulder. It wasn’t home, and it wasn’t a safe haven, but for a while it had been the closest place to a home I’d had. I stopped by the bell desk where Isobel was answering a call. She raised her index finger. I waited, studying her face. She was pale, but not sickly so. And although her cheekbones pressed against her skin and her shoulders jutted through her cream blouse, she wasn’t emaciated. For a moment, I superimposed the image of my mother over Isobel, and my heartbeats slowed.
After she hung up, she smiled. “Hey, sweet girl.”
“Hi. How… ” I’d been about to ask how she was feeling, but I wasn’t supposed to know. “How’s everything going this morning?” I jerked a hand toward the inn.
“All’s fine. Quiet night. Quiet morning. I’ve rescheduled a couple outings for some of the guests because of the weather, and I reorganized the cleaning staff schedules.”
“Thank you.”
“You have nothing to thank me for.” She squeezed my hand. Her skin was clammy, the same way my mother’s had been on the worst of days. “I also went to check on Jeb. He’s been sleeping most of the morning. I dropped off some food. Perhaps you should stop by to see him. He might appreciate some company.”
I wondered if she knew what was happening. Wives weren’t kept in the dark, but were they informed of the Alpha’s every move?
“After I stop by to see Evelyn, I’ll go sit with him.”
I also needed a shower and fresh clothes. Could she smell Liam on me? She wasn’t a wolf, but she’d seen me walk in, so she knew I’d spent the night somewhere other than my own bed. If she sensed where I’d been, there was no judgment on her face. Just a sweet smile. Why did disease have to attack the good people? Why couldn’t it strike down people like Aidan Michaels?
I started in the direction of the kitchen when Isobel’s voice stopped me. “Do you have any plans for dinner tonight?”
I turned around just as Lucas came through the doors. I longed to say no, but in what state would I be tonight? In what state would Liam be? Plus going to dinner at the Watts’ probably meant August would be there, and even though I’d spent my childhood having dinner with him and his family, things were different now.
“I can’t tonight,” I ended up saying, at the same time as Lucas said, “Morning, Mrs. W.”
“Good morning, Lucas.” She smiled at him before looking back at me. “Okay. Let me know when you have a free night. I’d love to catch up.”
“I… I will. I promise. Maybe this weekend?”
“You just let me know. Or you just show up. Our house is your house.”
Her words squeezed my heart. I gave a jerky nod before resuming my walk toward the kitchen. The large space was riddled with delicious smells that had my empty stomach rumbling.
“Ness!” Evelyn handed Kasie the tongs before hobbling toward me.
The change in air pressure always made her arthritis flare up, and considering how she limped this morning, I sensed her body ached. I met her halfway. The menthol balm she religiously rubbed into her sore joints soothed my frayed nerves.
She kissed both my cheeks, surely leaving bright lipstick smears behind. “Kasie, do you have everything under control? I need to speak to Ness.”
“Take your time, Evelyn. I’ve got our vegetables provençal covered.”
Evelyn tucked my hand in the crook of her arm and pulled me toward the door. “Come. Let’s have some tea, querida.”
I grabbed a teapot from a high shelf in the pantry, when Skylar popped in carrying a laden breakfast tray. “Hey! How are you, hun?”