Chapter Seventeen

Jasmine

After wearing one another out yet again, we napped on the soft leather sofa in the family room for two hours and a bit. When we woke, the guys still wanted to take me to town, and since there were parts of me crossing a bit past pleasantly sore and into take-a-break territory, I was all for the trip.

The station wasn't in their closest town, and of course the diner was on the highway, which was the route we took from the train, so I hadn't gotten a look at the place yet and was excited to see what it was like. Everyone needed another shower first, though, and I was glad they didn't suggest I take one with them. Not that I didn't think it would be fun and stimulating, but my body would not thank me.

We took a two-lane road winding through open country, and I settled back in the passenger seat to enjoy the views. "How long have you lived here?"

"Since we got out of the military. We were looking for somewhere quiet both for our work and just general peace. We'd had enough of the opposite in the Middle East and other places we still aren't allowed to talk about." Drake was driving, one hand on my knee and very distracting. In a good way.

"Wow. I can't imagine what you must have experienced. But thank you for your service."

Naga chuckled dryly. "Everyone says that, but not many know what they are thanking us, or any service person, for. We went through a lot, but most of those in our unit came back, so there's that."

"Most…but not all."

"No. Not all. We lost some good friends." Drake's voice was low, subdued. "But you don't want to hear about the sad things."

"Any time you want to share, I want to hear." Not that I believed now was that time. I hadn't earned that level of connection and if I was going to leave, it would be unfair to pretend I had. I let a few minutes of silence pass before asking, "How far is this town anyway?"

"Just up ahead. You can't see it for the trees, plus the slight uphill here," Naga said. "Give it a minute."

"Okay." I leaned forward though, as far as my seat belt would allow, more enthusiastic than I'd have expected, to see a small town in the middle of almost nowhere. To be fair, there were other towns showing on the map I'd looked at, and a respectable version of a city not too terribly far away, but the one we were headed to had just been a blip on the radar.

Finally, the woods on either side of the road ended as we reached the top of the slope. Before us lay a charming collection of buildings, more like my definition of a village than a town, but that didn't matter in the least. "It's so cute!"

"Cute enough that most residents have to order things they need online or go elsewhere to purchase them," Drake said. "Still, it is ‘cute.'"

I cast him a questioning glance, but he didn't seem to notice, just drove onto the main street and found a parking place in front of a toy store. I hadn't even known toy stores still existed outside of the internet. "Can we go in there and look around?"

"Whatever you like." Naga hopped out of the back seat and opened my door before I could do it for myself. They were such gentlemen in many ways, and I could easily get used to it. "After you, Jasmine."

The store was amazing in every way. As soon as I walked in, a short, round man with large eyes and pointed ears stepped from between curtains at the back of the store to greet us. "Welcome! We don't get many tourists here."

I took the hand he extended and shook it. "Thank you so much. But I'm not a tourist, just here visiting with Naga and Drake. What a charming store you have here."

He released my hand and shook each of the guys', introducing himself as he did. "I'm William, and this is my shop. Everything you see here was either carved or created by me or one of my local friends. Please enjoy yourselves and let me know if you have any questions." He disappeared into the back again, leaving me puzzled. It was such a small town, and he didn't know the serpents? But then, they were single guys who hadn't mentioned any kids in their families. They probably had no reason to visit a toy store.

After exploring all the beautiful handmade items, I selected a wooden sailboat and a set of brightly colored blocks. William came out front again to ring me up and took down shipping information for my brother's address. "My nephews will love these," I enthused. "The shipping makes it perfect."

"It's no trouble. Nearly all of our sales are online, so we're all set up for that, the missus and I. We are the only brownies in the area. I see your mates are serpents, but what are you?"

He for sure did not know them, but he thought we were mated already? Well, nobody was perfect. "Ordinary garden-variety human, I'm afraid."

"I guess it's the connection with your mates that scents you as more. But sometimes mating with a shifter can have unexpected affects." He finished the sale and didn't comment on the fact I'd said I was visiting and he called us mates…or the fact that he hadn't realized the guys lived locally. It was all too confusing for me.

We wandered from store to store, and I soon learned that Drake and Naga were virtual strangers here. The only person who seemed to know them at all was at the small general store, and she didn't address them by name. How could they live here all this time and not get to know anybody? Heck, I already was on a first-name basis with most of the shopkeepers and, after our visit, so were they. We had lunch at the sweetest little cafe, and I bought a whole pie to take home with us after trying a slice of their wild blueberry for dessert. The chef/owner, Marty, a shifter of some kind I couldn't identify and didn't want to ask, gave me a hug when I told him it was the flakiest crust I'd ever eaten.

Finally, in the car on the way home, I asked the question that had been burning in my mind all day. "How do you manage to live here and be a total stranger?" Alarm bells were going off in my head.

And Drake's answer, "Oh, we work a lot and order almost everything online" didn't really ring true. Or maybe it wasn't enough. Did they truly try to avoid people for some reason?