Chapter 2

“I don’t understand what this is supposed to be.” Sage didn’t bother looking at the new hire, who had started a month ago when he complained about the work they were doing. Instead she kept up with her work, ringing out people through her line while keeping up a conversation that they’d bring up to her. Mostly the price of food. “Why is it called an avocado when it looks nothing like one?”

“If you don’t know what it is, then all you have to do is look at the number that is stamped on the sticker. Put that into the computer like I told you. A dozen times.” He’d been told at least a dozen times an hour if you were to ask her. “Just put it on the scale and put in the number of them that they bought. Just like I showed you before.”

She wasn’t allowed to train people anymore, which suited her just fine. The last man that she’d trained had complained about her not being nice to him and not training him right. His idea of her training him had been for her to do the work while he played on his phone. Finally having enough of the little shit, she’d ‘accidentally’ knocked his phone on the floor and had stepped on it. The only reason that she’d not had to pay for him to have another one was to claim that he wasn’t supposed to have it out in the first place. He quit that afternoon. The level of frustration was getting louder by the time she was on her third customer, most of them from the line next to hers.

“Sage, can I see you for a moment?” She said sure as soon as she was finished with Mr. Humphrys. “That’s fine. Then put the closed sign on your register.”

She didn’t think that would go over well with that, meaning that everyone would have to go to the new hires line. She didn’t doubt that there would be a lot of people pissed off about it too. Once she was finished with her order, she hurriedly put up her sign before anyone else came to her line. She went to the office to see what Mr. Danielson needed from her. It didn’t bode well that he closed the door, she thought.

“I’m going to have to let the new hire go.” She didn’t so much as blink at him. “As I’m sure you’ve heard, he’s not catching on as well as I had hoped. That means that it’s going to be a little more work for you, I’m afraid.”

“I’m not afraid of some extra hard work, Mr. Danielson. You know that.” He nodded and then sat down at the corner of his desk. “Just tell me. I can take it. Do you have to fire me or something?”

“The store would literally collapse if I were to do that. No, I need a favor. It’s a big one.” He pulled out his h andkerchief and blew his nose. He was the only person that she knew that still used a cloth handkerchief. “My granddaughter and her husband were killed this morning. Some other couple killed them and took my great-granddaughter, Hailey. I’m not sure of the details yet, but that’s about all I have.”

“I’m so sorry.” He broke down then, and she helped him to his chair. The man was a mess, and her heart hurt for him. “What is it you need for me to do? You know I’d do anything for you.”

“Margaret can’t travel with me. She’s got that heart condition that keeps her from being able to fly. Not to mention the stress.” She knew where this was going and didn’t want to have to tell the man that she wouldn’t want to travel either. It was too much to ask of her, she thought. “I was wondering if you’d be a gem and stay with her while I’m gone?”

“Yes.” She more than likely should have given it more thought than she did, but being so thrilled that she didn’t have to travel with him made her happy. “She and I will get along well. How long do you expect to be gone? I’m assuming not too long.”

“A week, they told me. I’m going to have to see about bringing little Hailey home with me to raise. It’ll be difficult. We’re not exactly getting any younger, but there is literally no one else to raise her. Bobby, our son, has four children of his own and doesn’t want to be bothered with her. What a thing to say if you were to ask me. But I guess I can understand. None of us have ever met the child. She and her mother were supposed to come here for the holidays, but that didn’t happen.”

A lot of things didn’t happen during the holidays that she could say as well, but she kept her mouth closed. Her mother was supposed to come and visit with her new boyfriend, but at the last minute—she was at the airport to pick them up when she called to cancel. Even having the week off to spend with her didn’t pan out as she worked because there was no reason for her to stay at home alone.

“You’ll do it? You’ll stay with Margaret?” She told him that she’d be honored to and told him to make arrangements and she’d even take him to the airport so he’d not have to leave his car. “I expected you to tell me…well, I don’t know what I expected, but I’m so happy that you’ll be able to do this for me. Yes, I am.”

After making the arrangements for her to babysit his wife, she went home to pack. It wasn’t going to be difficult for her to gather up her things; she didn’t have that much in the way of clothing or anything else for that matter, but she did need to make sure that she could do her laundry while there as she’d certainly run out of things to wear at some point. After gathering up her things, she was on her way to the house as Earl Danielson was leaving first thing in the morning, and she’d be in charge of keeping his wife occupied.

By the time she was in the little bedroom that she was given while there, she was exhausted. It was only seven-thirty in the evening, but the Danielsons were upset, and it was something that she wasn’t used to dealing with. Keeping them together, at least as much as she could, Sage was ready to go to bed long before their beloved show, Jeopardy, came on at eight so that they could have something normal in their lives. The poor couple decided that they’d go to bed early rather than their normal time. It was just nine, just after, when she found herself in her room with the lights off.

She’d be spending the next week with Margaret Danielson and that would mean that she didn’t have to work at the grocery store at the same time. Keeping the elderly woman company, she was happy that she’d not have to go to work, too, but then she thought it might be nice to have a distraction. But since she didn’t have any idea what she’d be doing all day with the woman, she also brought her tablet as well as a couple of books that she’d been wanting to read.

Taking Earl, Mr. Danielson, to the airport turned out to be a drama. Margaret decided that she didn’t want him to go and the two of them were crying in the airport. Asking her if she’d go, they turned over their ticket and money so that she could purchase whatever she needed when she got there. This was not the way that she wanted to spend her week off. Much less traveling to an unknown place to pick up a child that she didn’t know and bring her back to them in a few short days. Sitting on the tarmac, Sage didn’t even know if there would be anyone there to pick her up. Christ, this was worse than she thought it might be.

The ride wasn’t all that long. By the time she landed, there were two phone messages on her cell. One that the Danielson’s got home all right, and two that there would be a couple, Edwin and Storm that would be picking her up and taking her to the hotel. She only hoped that the hotel was all right, with it being her instead of Earl. Sage shouldn’t have done this in the first place and wished that she’d stayed home to work.

There was a couple there with a sign with them that said her name. Sage Tigner couldn’t have been that common but they did ask her to verify her name. After digging out her driver’s license, she handed it over to them and told them that she didn’t have any luggage. Instead of being upset, the two of them laughed.

“Hailey has been staying with my brother and his wife. They have other children, four little girls that are about the same age as your niece.” She explained to them that she wasn’t related to either the child or the Danielsons but was simply doing them a favor. “Oh. I guess I knew that, too. All right. How about some lunch? Then we’ll be on our way. There is a hearing in the morning for the couple that killed her parents. I’m to understand that you’ve been asked to go to that as well.”

“Yes. I’ve been asked to do a lot of things that I have no idea what I’m doing.” She didn’t mean to sound bitter but she wasn’t in the best of mood. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to take that out on you two. You’ve done nothing wrong.”

The child behind her had kicked her the entire trip, and it had been all she could do not to kick his mother in the head when she couldn’t be bothered to get off her cell phone long enough to keep her kid in line. Sage never wanted to have children, much less meet some man who might want to have them with her. She didn’t care for kids at all. And the thought of marriage of any kind was something that she never wanted to think about in her life.

The lunch diner had good food. When the bill was paid by Edwin, she thanked them after telling them that she was on a tight budget. The Danielson’s only had thirty bucks in cash between then and decided that their credit card would get her into more trouble than not. She was going to have to watch every penny and shop for second-hand clothing while she was here. This trip was something that she wished had never happened.

The hotel, of course, had trouble with her staying in the room that Earl had booked. Even after talking with him, they said that they couldn’t be scammed and that if she had the cash, she could get her money back from the Danielsons when she returned home. Like she had that much ready cash on her right now. In the end, she ended up staying with the Griffins, telling them that she was only there to pick up the child and return home. The sooner, the better.

“I don’t know that you’re going to have any better luck with that than you did with the hotel.” She just knew that Storm was going to be right about that. Why should that part, the only part that she’d come out here for, go any better than anything else so far? “I’ll see what I can figure out and pull some strings for you. I hate that you traveled all this way for nothing.”

“This was very last minute.” She told them how the Danielsons were an older couple in their early eighties. She thought that they were much too old to be raising a child but hadn’t voiced that to anyone. “Mrs. Danielson as been ill for some time now, and she couldn’t make the trip due to doctor’s orders. I was set to stay with her, but she wanted her husband at home, so I was persuaded to go instead. I have no idea how this is going to work at all.”

“No matter. We’ll figure it out.” She was happy that they were confident about the way things were going. Not only had the Danielsons not met the child, but she’d never met her parents either. “Now, let’s get you to our house, and you can unwind a bit. It’s been a hard couple of days on you and you need the rest.”

What she thought that she needed was a tall glass of tea. Along with as much chocolate as she could stuff in her face. Not only weren’t things even remotely going her way, but she doubted that things were going to go well for the kid either. Other than her name being Hailey, that was all she knew about her.

The ride to the house was quiet. She found herself dozing off and on, and it took her a while before she was ready to wake up. The house, a mammoth of a thing, was looming over her in the afternoon sun that made her think of money. And a great deal of it. That was when she noticed how the couple was dressed. Yes, they were monied, all right.

“I can read your mind, Sage. Yes, we’re monied but we don’t flaunt it around like some would do. Also, we’re considered old money. I’m not sure how that works but we have had money all our long life.” She asked him how old he was. “I don’t know exactly. I know that I’ve been around when things were much simpler. A handshake was as good as a contract and there were no homes, not a one around that we didn’t have a hand in building for the town’s people.”

“You’re not human.” When she thought of what she had said, she told him she was sorry. “Sometimes my mouth gets ahead of my head, and I just say what is right there.”

He laughed, and she felt embarrassed. When they welcomed her into their home, she went in with the knowledge that she’d never be able to count the amount of money that this home was worth. And she knew as surely as she was standing in the front hallway that she’d never be able to just hang out with these people. They were beyond anything that she’d ever encountered before.

“Remember, I can read your mind.” She told him that if he was offended, then he should stop invading her thoughts. All he did was throw back his head and laugh. Being embarrassed, usually, that sort of thing never bothered her. She asked where she’d be staying. Sage found that she was exhausted from all the stress that had been going on.

“There is a room set up for you. Also, I wanted to clarify that you’re correct in saying that we’re not human. The family are wolves. Ancient wolves that have, as you were told, been around for a very long time. Longer than dirt, I’ve been told before.” She asked Edwin again when he’d been born, and he told her once again that he really didn’t know. But long enough to see things that wouldn’t bother her at all today. “My family is coming over for dinner tonight, and my brother, Jeffery, will be bringing Hailey over with their children.”

“I’m not good around a lot of people. I’ve lived alone since I was eighteen, and I like that.” Storm asked her about her family. “I have my mom. She goes through boyfriends like someone with a cold does tissues. I’ve not seen her in years, which I usually think of as a blessing. I know that I shouldn’t say that, but that’s just the way I feel about her.”

She told them about how she’d been to the airport to pick her up and she cancelled at the last minute. They told her that was cruel of her and that she might well be better off with her not coming to visit.

“Thank you. I needed that.” After being shown her room, Storm handed her a bag. It didn’t have any kind of printing on it and it did seem to be empty. “Thanks.” She laughed and explained to her what the bag was for.

“Just think of something that you’d like to have on, and when you reach into the bag, it will be there. It’s unlimited—I noticed that you only had your backpack for you to use, so I didn’t think you’d have much in the way of clothing.” She said that it had been last minute in her coming here. “I think you mentioned that. But the bag will help you out with anything you need. Even a toothbrush as well as paste.”

Thinking about the pretty sundress she’d seen in the airport, she was shocked that not only was it the dress she’d seen but her size as well as the green color that she wanted. Laughing, she asked her if she could have shoes as well.

“Whatever you wish. And you’ll be able to keep the things that you pull out, so we’re going to get you some luggage to take things back with you.” They both laughed and she found the pretty little sandals that matched the dress in the bag as well.

“A girl could get used to this.” She went to the bathroom and changed. It was a little big on her at first, but it molded around her petite body as soon as she realized that she’d gotten the wrong size. Giddy with the things that she was doing, she asked Storm why they’d do such a thing for a stranger.

“You’re not. A stranger, I mean. You were a person who was asked to do something nice for someone, and we wanted to make sure that you had all that you needed. And just so you know, I think that you’re right in thinking that the Danielsons are too old to raise a five-year-old. Perhaps things will turn out better for the two of you soon.” While she had no idea what that meant, she let it go.

For the first time in, she didn’t know when, Sage felt pretty. Having her room set up the way she liked, Sage took the advice of the other woman and laid down for a short nap. She’d gotten very little sleep over the last couple of days, and she was ready to do just what had been suggested.

~*~

Stone was happy that it was the weekend. He’d been keeping up with the kids in his class by answering questions that they had about the shooting that had happened earlier in the week. Just as he was ready to go home, the principal asked to see him. While he didn’t have much respect for the man, he was his boss and needed to do what was required of him to be able to keep his job.

“Are you…let me phrase this another way. I need for you to work this summer for the kids that are coming in for summer school.” Stone told him that he didn’t volunteer for that. “No, you’d not. But I still need for you to do it. All the other teachers have things that they’ve planned and since you have no family of your own, then I’m telling you that you need to pick up the slack and do this.”

“No. I’m a kindergarten teacher. And I know for a fact that none of my students need to stay over for the summer. And I do have a family as well. A large one, as a matter of fact.” Principal Jorden waved him off. “I have no idea what that means but I’m not going to work the summer. I have plans.”

“You’re just going to have to change them. I told you what I need, and that’s the way that it’s going to be. You’re a good team player, usually Stone, and this is something that I am ordering you to do.” Stone stood up. “I’ll expect to see your schedule on my desk on Monday morning. Thanks.”

“I quit.” Before he could think about what he’d just done, Stone left the office and went to his room to start packing up his things. There wasn’t any way that he was going to work the entire summer when he wanted to just relax. It was his downtime, and he needed it as much as the teachers with families did. Edwin contacted him just as he was putting his things into his briefcase. The entire room of things were his, but he didn’t have time to pack them up just yet.

“Mr. Jorden just called me. He said that you were fired. That can’t be right, is it?” He told him that he’d quit and then explained to him what had happened. “ I’m on my way there. Storm and Rain are with me, so expect the worst.”

“I can’t understand how it could be any worse right now. I’m out of a job that I love, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now.” He heard the ruckus at the front of the school and told his brother where he was. “Try to keep them from killing anyone, please? I just need help in packing up my room.”

“I’ll try, but I can’t make any promises. You know how they are when it comes to this family—maybe you should come down here. Things aren’t going well.” He rolled his eyes and picked up his briefcase. “Stone, I’ve been told to keep you from saying much. All right?”

“I can do that.” He looked around the big room and wondered what he’d do with all the stuff that he’d collected over the years. Deciding that he’d just leave it for the next person if they wanted it, he contacted his brother again. “I’ve decided that there isn’t anything that I want in here. I’m headed to you guys.”

The police were in front of the school by the time he made his way to the front offices. Whatever happened, he hoped the hell that he wasn’t going to prison over it. He’d hate to spend his summer months in prison for something that he’d not done. Putting a little more pep in his step, he was just coming into the office when he heard Roland Jorden being read his rights.

“He hit me.” Stone asked Rain if she was all right. “Of course I am. But the man thought that hitting me was the way to go. And since my mate is an FBI agent, the police were called in. Can’t have the little missus beat up, now can we?”

Stone was accused of causing a riot. The police, most of them laughing behind their hands, told Roland that he’d only just entered the room when they did. Case in fact, he’d let them in.

“He called his family in when I fired him. That’s bad enough.” Joan, the first cop on the scene, asked him if he’d been fired. He explained the situation to her and told her that he just wanted to have his summers off like everyone else did. “He doesn’t need the summers off. What’s he going to do? Lay around the pool all summer? I needed him to do what he was told, and like a little panty waste, he called in his family. I had it under control.”

“What is it that you think you had under control? From what I’m hearing, you demanded something, and he turned you down and quit. Here, you had one of the best teachers around, and you ticked him off enough that he’s packing up to leave here. My daughter is nearly ten years old and said that he was the best teacher ever born. That’s saying a lot if you ask me.”

“No one asked you. And no, I’m not going to take him back if that’s what you’re all here for. He’s been a pain in my backside since I started working here. It’s Griffin this and Griffin that. Durn it all to heck and back, the world does not revolve around the Griffin family and their money.” No one said a word. “Well, you quitting or not?”

“I’m finished.” Edwin said that he was, as well. Looking at his brother, he could see a bit of his wolf there, like he was more pissed off than he was.

“You don’t work here. Why should this school care that—”

“No more funding from us. No backpack drives. No stadium repairs. Nothing.” Roland just snorted. “You’ll not think that in a few hours once the board finds out what it is you’ve done. Come on, Stone, it’s time we headed home.”

“There you go again, thinking that you’re all that simply because you have money. This school has done just fine without your family, and we’ll go on being just fine from now on.” No one mentioned that the school was only here because of their funding. There were only enough buses because of them. There was a great deal riding on them being around, not including the teachers being paid well beyond what other teachers were making. “Get out of here before I have you arrested for trespassing. That means all of you, too.”

“Did you hear that? He just trespassed us. All of us.” Joan said that she’d heard and would escort them off the property. “I’ll be seeing our attorney about the rent that is due as well.”

They owned the land that the school had been built on. All of them. Stone thought about what would happen if the board went along with the trespassing of them on the land, not to mention finding out about the family stopping all forms of money coming to the schools. Not even the band and school teams were going to be able to go very long without their funding. Stone wanted to be in on that meeting more than anything now that he’d thought about it.

“I believe your construction company is working on the new field, aren’t they?” Edwin said they were about half finished with the work. “Seems to me that they’re trespassing, too, since you hired them. I’ll go with you to make sure that they get their things loaded up—it only just occurred to me, too, that your family was going to pay for the gardens that the kiddies plant about now. I’ll stop that work too.”

“This is going to be bad, isn’t it?” Joan laughed and said it might be the best thing that has ever happened to Roland. “You think that they’ll fire him?”

“He’ll be lucky that the parents don’t run him out of town tarred and feathered. A great many people depend on those drives you guys set up for the kids. Not to mention the fields and uniforms. Yes, sir, he’s going to be one lucky man if they don’t burn his house down for this.” Joan laughed and said that she would be called as a witness to the things that went on today, and she could not wait. “I think I might enjoy this more than my wife having my firstborn. Please don’t tell her that. But boy-oh-boy, this is going to be epic.”

Edwin and Joan were headed to the ball fields, and he and Storm with Rain headed to the house. He needed to get a home set up now that he was off for the rest of spring and into summer. Stone wouldn’t have believed it, but he was actually looking forward to having some extra time to fiddle around the place he owned or get himself a home instead of a condo where he owned the area. Maybe he’d find himself a lover or two and never come out of his bedroom again. It was worth some thought.

By the time he was in his condo, he’d passed seven homes that were for sale. It was time that he got out of living like he was. Hearing the neighbors fighting. The kids screaming in their yards and his. He didn’t mind the kids so much as the fighting. One night, the police had had to be called, and he’d been keeping his head low since then. That was when he remembered that he and his brothers were going to an auction on Saturday. He was going to get a jump on things and make sure that he knew as much about it as he could. The house wasn’t for sale, but the land surrounding it—about fifty acres were. He might build if he didn’t find himself something to live in before then.

Calling someone who would know about the land, he got in touch with his dad. He’d know everything there was to know and also who might be putting up their homes for sale, too. He wasn’t a gossip or anything but he did listen very well. Stone loved his parents very much.

Dad told him of four homes that he knew would suit his needs. While he had no idea what his needs were at the moment, he trusted his dad. Once he’d made arrangements about getting things squared away, at the last minute, Dad was called away to an emergency school board meeting. Mom was going too, so he decided to go to the homes on his own.

“Hey.” He turned and looked at the woman that he’d bumped into when she came out of the store. “Watch where you’re going, please? You could have killed—you must be a Griffin family member. I’ve never seen a family that looks so much alike as you guys do.”

He bent over to help her pick up her groceries and knocked heads with her. Telling her he was sorry again. This time, he reached for the things that were spread out all over the sidewalk instead of what was right in front of her. The bag was ripped, so he offered to carry things to her car.

“I don’t have a car. Of course not, right? I’m going to have to make a couple of trips.” Just as she was speaking, Odell Armstrong came out of the store with several bags that were cloth, the ones that he sold for people and helped them put things in the bag. “How much do I owe you, sir? I’ll gladly pay for them.”

“No trouble, miss. None at all.” He shook hands with him and said that he’d seen it happen and wondered if they were both all right. “I know that Stone here has a hard head that’s why I’m asking. How are you, son? Heard about the kerfuffle at the school. Sure going to miss having you around.”

He told him how his dad had been called to an emergency board meeting. Telling the man that he’d decided to look for a house. He told him to wait right there he had some information that he might need.