Meg shuddered. Duke wasn’t the most stable individual she’d ever met. He and Penny were still fighting. Plus, he flipped back and forth over her living with Luc. When he’d seen the necklace on her the first day he’d brought files over, he’d about blown a gasket. Yelled and screamed at Ginny about how Luc was wrecking two lives once he’d gotten outside. Meg had been very glad that Luc had been way too out of it to hear a thing. The next day he was fine.
“Is this going to be an issue when Luc goes back to work?” asked Meg.
“I hope not. There is a reason Duke normally doesn’t work at the office. He’s about as stable as a shaken can of pop. Kevin on the other hand is feeling responsible and doesn’t want Luc coming back to a mess,” said Ginny.
“Ginny, what does Duke do normally?” she asked.
“He usually does outside work, like trenching cable and that kind of thing. Stuff that keeps him away from people,” said Ginny.
“Ah. Okay. Is he the kind of shifter that is more wolf than person?” asked Meg who was trying to understand the various dynamics.
“Not really, if he was just a human, he’d be bi-polar. However, Jeff has never been able to find a combo of medicines that work on both sides of his nature. It’s why his relationship with Penny is so fractured amongst other things,” said Ginny thinking about the latest argument which had been about furniture of all the stupid things.
“That explains a lot. I never know where I stand with him,” said Meg.
“Just remember to channel that inner bitch,” said Ginny. “Keeps all those wolves in line.”
Both women laughed. Ginny looked at her watch. It had been about fifteen minutes since they’d come out onto the porch.
“How do you feel about running around town for a while?” Ginny asked.
“I guess. Shall we go get the kids?” said Meg as she stood up.
“I’m hoping that they’ve fallen asleep,” said Ginny as a sly grin played across her face.
“What?” asked Meg.
“They woke up at 5am, and I kept them up all morning with making cookies and shopping. I fed them just before we came over. So, between being full and tired, I figured that the minute they stopped moving that they’d fall asleep,” explained Ginny. Meg raised and eyebrow over Ginny’s plans and then tiptoed over to the bedroom door. Looking in she found all three of them asleep. Luc had tucked them in under the top quilt. Sara was curled up under his left arm and Joe was asleep across his stomach. Luc looked like he had tried to stay awake, but fell asleep with his head lolled back against the pillows. The sheep was tucked up against his head. Meg suspected that had been Sara’s doing.
Ginny tugged on Meg’s arm and nodded her head towards the front door. Meg nodded and turned towards the front of the house. She grabbed her handbag and locked the door as they left.
They took Meg’s little Dodge Neon. It was a fairly quiet car and they headed downtown. First stop was the shopping mall. Meg had a destination in mind, and it was the first time she’d had a chance to even think about going shopping.
“Where are we headed?” asked Ginny.
“The Silver Lode,” said Meg.
“Good choice. The owner isn’t a shifter, but his one assistant is and makes most of the necklaces for the families in the area,” commented Ginny.
“I wondered when I finally found the receipt in Luc’s clothing. I hadn’t been sure about getting Luc a necklace, but the more I thought about it, the better I liked the idea,” said Meg.
“You’ll need about a 26 inch chain to fit Luc right. Maybe even 28 inches,” said Ginny as they left the car and headed into the mall. The Silver Lode was near the middle of the mall. When they entered, Ginny asked for the assistant. The girl at the counter nodded and went to the back of the store. A moment later, a tall sandy haired man stepped to the counter.
“Hello Ginny, how’s that no good piece of bear bait doing?” he asked jokingly.
“He’ll live. Surprised the hell out of him with that claw,” she replied.
“Oh, you are the one who capped the claw,” said Meg.
“Yes, and you are?” the man asked.
“Margaret Stewart,” she said and extended her hand. He took her hand and gave it a firm shake.
“And I am Andrew Davis, silversmith. I take it that you are the reason Luc Moreau was in here sweating over which necklace to choose?” he asked.
“Yes, and I want to pick out one for him,” Meg replied.
“Come this way. I have a number of acceptable choices,” said Andrew.
Meg and Ginny walked over to a table and sat down while Andrew picked up two trays from a showcase off to one side. He sat down across from them and showed them the first tray.
“This is the more masculine line. Well constructed and yet stylish,” he said. The tray held a number of chains similar to the one Meg was wearing, but nothing struck either woman as anything special.
“Then there is this line. A bit more conservative,” he said. Once again, the chains were similar. Long braided bands with a buckle at the clasp end. Meg fingered one or two, but nothing met what she had in mind.
“Last but not least are these,” he said and put the tray before the women. Meg and Ginny looked at the tray. There were braids as well as links on this tray. Two were patterned. Meg picked up the narrower of the two and realized that the pattern was made up of tiny wolf paw prints. The last one on the tray was a braid that literally flowed when Meg picked it up. It was beautiful.
“I really like this one, but do you have different styles of buckles for the ends? This one is really square and it just seems to clash,” said Meg.
“I do indeed,” said Andrew. “Something I think you will like. I’ve been working on it in hopes that Ginny would bring you into the store.” With that, he got up and retrieved a small box from behind the curtained off area. He set it down in front of Meg.