Angie nodded. “If Ginny and Patrick don’t want to swap, I will probably sell my house. I adore George, and don’t want to sleep in the basement the rest of my life,” said Angie.
George blushed a deep red. “Um… Can we finish up so we can have lunch?” he asked as he put the rugs back on the floor.
“Yes,” said Meg and Angie at the same time.
*
Ginny woke up just as Patrick pulled into the driveway. She stretched and tried to figure out who was here by all the cars in the driveway.
“This is some home coming crowd,” said Patrick.
“Yes, and here I was hoping to sneak in,” said Ginny. “If I count it right, there are at least a dozen people here.”
Patrick nodded. “Now wait for your crutches, or I will carry you in over my shoulder,” he said firmly.
Ginny started to protest and stopped. Over the last couple of weeks, she had discovered just how ‘alpha’ Patrick was. At least with her, and while it didn’t rankle, it took getting use to. The last one to be that dominant was her grandfather. Patrick brought her crutches around and handed them to her just as the door opened and everyone poured out. Sara, Ivan and Joe headed the pack and almost knocked Ginny over in the effort to hug her.
“Wat happened Awnty Ginny?” asked Sara.
“I fell Sara. We’ll tell you all about it when we get inside. If I’m on my feet too long, Uncle Patrick there will growl at me and I don’t want that. Do you?” Ginny asked the three pups.
“No!” said Ivan and Joe at the same time. Sara started to say something and Patrick growled softly at the same time he smiled. Sara blinked and ran in the house with the bag she’d been given to carry.
Everyone greeted the two of them and helped in bringing in the bags. Ginny navigated the doorway and got inside. She was astonished by the change in the house, even though all she could see was the living room and dining room. She started to head further in, when she heard Patrick growl behind her. This time it had none of the joking that had been present when he growled at Sara. Ginny sat down.
“Ginny, what on earth did you do?” asked Meg. In the full light of the living room, Ginny’s bruises and scrapes were visible.
“I slipped, fell and face planted on the deck. Broke my nose, blacked my eyes and screwed up my ankle,” she said.
“I heard all about that from Doc Rogers,” said Jeff as he came out of the kitchen. “I had a busy night that night.”
“What? Did Doc keep you on the phone longer than he told us?” asked Ginny totally confused.
“No, but I had to tend to someone else that fell and hurt themselves, which made for a a very busy time,” said Jeff smiling.
“Who?” asked Ginny as she looked at the faces of everyone in the room. George turned beet red. “George? What happened?” asked Ginny.
“I… um… fell through the floor at Angies,” he said at last.
Ginny looked at him and then at the others. Then it dawned on her. “All of you knew?”
“Some of us knew,” said Luc. “As leader of this pack, I get told all sorts of things. Best part is that each of you told someone not to tell the other so that they wouldn’t worry,” he finished.
That made everyone laugh.
“So, instead of fixing up just one house, we had to fix two,” said Peter. He stood over to one side, with his arm around his wife Lisa.
“Worst part was waiting for George to heal so we could work in the basement,” Cal teased. George reached over and thumped him on the head.
“Yes, but we got all the work done,” said George. “Which brings us to a question.”
“And that would be?” asked Patrick.
“Are you and Ginny invested in living here? Would you want to check out Angie’s house, or do you two want a house of your own. Reason I ask is that there is no way I can live at Angie’s. Even thinking of shifting makes the floors creak for me,” said George.
“I hadn’t thought of that,” said Patrick.
“Neither had I,” chimed in Ginny. “Could we wait to decide until we’ve had a chance to see Angie’s house?”
“Oh! Of course,” said Angie. “Men! Make her think she has to move tonight? After just getting home? Give her a chance.”
“Angie, I didn’t mean she had to move this second,” said George softly.
Ginny smiled. She liked seeing the tender side of George. Better yet, she liked seeing Angie handle George so well.
“Peetzas ready!” called the three pups from the kitchen.
Angie looked past George at the three of them and cleared her throat. “What do you say?” she said firmly.
“Dinner is ready,” said Sara, Ivan and Joe all together.
“Thank you. We will be there in a minute,” said Angie who turned around quickly so that the three wouldn’t see her smile.
“You know, that was even better than seeing George put in his place,” said Ginny with a smile on her face.
Angie smiled. George blushed.
“Let’s go eat,” said Meg. “I’m starving.”
Jeff looked at Meg. “I take it you aren’t skipping meals?” he asked.
“No, I haven’t. I’ve been eating like a pig, and I’m still hungry,” said Meg as they all walked to the table. She gave Ginny a hug as Patrick helped Ginny to the table where Bitty and ‘Solda waited to serve dinner.
“Okay, just checking,” said Jeff.
“Don’t mind him,” said Martha. “He just worries too much some times.”
“Martha, if you hadn’t told me I’d be so hungry, I’d have thought I had something wrong,” said Meg. “Oh, and Ginny, as soon as you can walk, we need to go shopping.”
“I noticed your wardrobe had taken a Luc-ish style to it,” said Ginny with a smile.
“Oh yeah,” said Meg.
Pizza, beer and salad was passed around the table. The conversations mellowed as people ate.
“What was this about an old shifter?” asked Luc.
“His name is Buster, and he lives at the Bed & Breakfast. To be honest, I don’t think he’ll last a month,” said Patrick. He explained a bit more and the rest of them listened.
“Did you ever find out who his family is?” asked Ysabel.