7. Connor

7

Connor

“ H ow was the date?” Evelyn sat down next to me on the porch swing, her travel mug in hand. “You were supposed to call me last night when you got home.”

“Sorry.” I took a sip of still-warm chai. “We spent several hours out here last night talking after dinner. When he headed home, I fell into bed with all my clothes still on and crashed. I’ll make sure to call after the next date.”

“Oh, so there will be a date two?” Evelyn gave me a gentle shove in the side. “Is Connor thinking Fate got something right here? Are you ready to get over the past?”

“Maybe.” I put my mug on the table and pulled my legs under me. “Yesterday was amazing, and I was reminded of all the good times we had together while realizing all the incredible moments we could have ahead of us.”

“But?”

“But,” I sighed, “I’m scared.”

“I know.” Evelyn wrapped her arm around my shoulders. “But I think you need to stay open to the possibilities here. I really do feel that you are on the right path.”

“I love you, girl.” I rested my head on her shoulder. “What would I do without you?”

“Go insane or live a boring life.”

“Most likely.”

“Love you, too, Connor.”

We sat there swinging for several minutes, the gentle motion grounding me, the perfect thing for a morning. Sadly, we were interrupted when Evelyn’s phone rang.

“Augh.” Evelyn moaned and held up the device so I could see the screen. “It’s my manager, and I’ve got to go. I’ll check in on you later tonight.”

Watching my best friend run down my steps and get into her car, I realized how stressed and worn out she looked. Her usually radiant skin lost its glow, and her voluminous hair lacked its normal luster. The next time I saw her, I really needed to ask her why she looked so ragged.

What kind of friend am I that we only speak about my issues lately?

Drinking the rest of my coffee, I walked into the house and refilled my mug. It was now time to start my writing for the day. I had a daily goal of five thousand words and figured it would be a full day of writing and self-edits. The good news was that the manuscript was almost complete. I thought by the end of this week, I should have the writing parts finished and just need to revise and edit my grammar before sending it off to the professional editors the publishers hired.

Meow!

Ren rubbed himself against my leg and walked to his treat cabinet. I would ignore him for most of the day, so I figured he deserved a little yummy goodie as a bribe to be a good boy for me while I wrote.

I brought some treats to my office and dropped them into his area. I had a little kitty den set up in the eastern corner of my office for him, complete with a toy laptop he could lay his head on and mimic me. Ever since I’d gotten that for him, he had limited the times he jumped onto my lap or onto the desk while I was in my writing zone. It was truly a lifesaving tip when I found it on my local author’s chatroom.

Sitting in my oversized desk chair and crossing my legs, I opened my laptop and pulled up the correct file, renaming it with the day’s date before beginning to type. As the words flowed through my fingertips, I lost myself in the story. It was only after I’d finished for the day that I noticed how many messages I’d missed throughout the day.

Bryce

“How was the date?” My father sat at the kitchen table drinking his morning coffee while Papa made pancakes for us at the stove.

“Good. We went to El Sabor del Sol for dinner then stayed up talking outside his house most of the night.” I poured some orange juice for all three of us.

“That sounds really promising.” Papa turned his head and smiled. “When’s date number two?”

“Next week.” I took the plates out from the cabinet and placed them on the table. “I would have taken him out tonight, but he does have a book to finish writing, and I probably should get started on sorting out some sort of plan for my future.”

“Says who?” Papa brought the pancake platter to the table and joined us. “You have worked hard training and winning for the last decade. Take a break.”

“He’s like me, dear.” Father winked at me. “We need to be useful.”

“Well then, I have a few projects if you need something to do.” Papa pulled a note from his pocket. “Here is the list of things your father hasn’t been able to get to lately due to work. We would appreciate it if you could get some of these checked off.”

My father put down his fork and reached for the list. “But don’t worry if you can’t—”

“I can do this.” I folded up the list and stuffed it in my back pocket. It was hard for my father to accept help, even if he needed it. I wasn’t going to allow him to turn me down this time. I needed the distraction of hard work anyway. “I’ll start after breakfast.”

“Thanks.” Papa smiled and took a bite of syrup-drenched pancake.

Pulling out my phone, I texted Connor my plans for the day and then finished my breakfast. Going by that list from Papa, I was going to have a busy few days coming up. This was a perfect way to pass the time until I could see Connor again.

By the afternoon, my parents had clean gutters and a mowed front and backyard, and I was beginning to build a new shelving unit for Papa’s prepper pantry.

“You don’t have to do that.” My father walked into the garage and handed me the level I was reaching for.

“It’s no trouble.” I was pleased to see that the shelf’s ledge was even. “You work hard at your job, and Papa has trouble doing some of these things himself. I’m able to do it, so why not? I’m happy to help wherever and whenever I can.”

“So.” Dad sat across from me, on a red cooler, and handed me an ice-cold water bottle. “Things between you and Connor are going smoothly so far?”

“Seems that way.” I peeked at my phone and saw that my messages were still unread. “He said he would have to dedicate several hours to writing and editing every weekday for the rest of the month in order to meet his deadline, so I don’t expect to hear from him much. But last night went well, and I have hope for the future.”

“That’s good.” Dad nodded and gulped his water. “I always liked that boy. I never understood why you didn’t beg him to wait for you or even to go with you.”

“I wanted to. I argued with myself over not doing so every day since the day I left Valleywood. But I thought he needed to stay here. He’d decided not to leave for college because his parents were sick and needed his help. I didn’t want to take him away from them. I was confused about the right thing to do.”

“You could have spoken with me and your papa. We do know a thing or two about being in love and having to make tough decisions.”

“Would it have changed things? I probably still would have followed my dreams.” Or I would have given up all my dreams of playing hockey and stayed here and been mated earlier. I would have known we were fated if I stayed just one extra month. What if I had talked to my parents about feeling conflicted, and they had told me to wait that extra time? Would it have mattered? I wanted to say it wouldn’t have, but maybe it would have.

“You seriously didn’t even suspect you two were mates?”

“Nope. Do you think I honestly could have left if I had?” It would have been nearly impossible for me to have done that. It was almost too hard as it was. “We didn’t turn eighteen until after I’d already left.” The Goddess didn’t give our type of shifter the ability to sense our mates until we reached the mature and legal age of consent. That way, there were no issues with the matings of minors. “If I had known, I’m unsure I would have left. At least not without him. So, I think it’s best that it happened as it did.”

“I understand that. It would have been impossible if I had left your papa after we had scented one another.”

“It was nearly impossible to say good night to him last night and leave his house. My wolf demanded I shift and sleep on his porch all night.”

“Connor wouldn’t have found that charming.”

“He would’ve called the police on me just to prove a point.”

“He’s good for you.” My father chuckled and finished his water.

“I know. I just hope I’m good for him, too.”