14. Xyla

14

Xyla

T he storm finally quit sometime during the night. After breakfast, Howard went outside to survey the damage. He came back in with a grim look on his face.

"There are a lot of branches all over the place. We have a couple of old trees that toppled over. The resort itself suffered some damage. So, I hate to ask, but I was wondering if there are any volunteers who could help."

Sean, Sawyer, Tristan, Darren, Xyla, Marcie, and Ellie stood and walked over to their coats.

"Can I help, too?" Edward asked.

"Sure, Buddy. The more the merrier," Howard said. Then he looked at Xyla. "As long as it's okay with your sister."

Xyla nodded. "Of course."

Howard had a couple chainsaws. Sean knew how to use one and went to work on the tree that nearly killed him, cutting it up into small pieces, so it could be stacked and carried inside later. Xyla and Edward carried the pieces away as Sean cut them. The others hauled branches and stacked them into piles so that they could be cut. They also picked up some of the shingles that flew off the roof.

Once the trees were cut up, Sean walked over to the windows. "Should we take the plywood off the windows?"

Howard hesitated. "I want to say yes. We don't get many storms like we've had recently. It would let in the light and heat from the sun. If you guys will help me put them back up if that vicious wind comes back, I say let's take them down."

Xyla helped hold the boards as Sean carefully pried them off the walls and then Marcie and Ellie carried them to the shed, leaning them against the walls. With everyone's help, they were finished by two. They were all starving as they trudged back inside.

Franny met them at the door. "I knew you guys would be hungry and cold, so I made fresh bread and soup for everyone. Take off your gear and come into the dining room."

After everyone was done, Xyla went into the kitchen where Ginny was loading the dishwasher and Franny was mixing a cake.

"I know you guys must be overloaded with a constant full load of guests. What can I do to help?"

"Are you sure?" Franny asked.

"Yes. There are only so many board games one can play before losing one's mind."

Franny and Ginny laugh.

Franny pointed to a sack of potatoes. "If you want to start by peeling those and cutting them into chunks for mashed potatoes, that would be great. You can put them in a pot of cold water so they don't turn brown, and then peel and cut some carrots."

She accepted the potato peeler, cutting board, and knife from Ginny, sat at the small table, and began working. The peels went into a bowl, which would be tossed outside for animals scrounging for food.

Franny poured the batter into a large nine-by-thirteen-inch baking dish. "Today is my and Howard's anniversary. We've been married for thirty-five years."

"Congratulations," Xyla said enthusiastically. "That is remarkable."

"Thank you. It doesn't seem so long. Howard is an amazing man. He's laid back and calm. He still calls me his bride and makes sure that I know he loves me."

"It's obvious. Even a person who doesn't know you can see it every time he looks at you," Ginny said.

"That's part of it, but it's also all the little things he does for me. Sometimes he rubs my feet when I've had a long day or brings me a wildflower."

Ginny smiled. "That's why marriages don't last in today's society. People forget to do things like that once they get married."

"I agree," Franny said. She turned around and looked at Xyla. "What's up with you and that gorgeous red-headed man?"

Xyla blushed. "I knew him from a long time ago. I used to live in Angel's Creek. He owns a bar and grill there. He is smart and funny. Sean is probably the most giving person I know. There is a mountain just outside of town and people are always getting lost or hurt. He is the first person to volunteer for the search and rescue missions."

"You make him seem almost perfect," Ginny said.

Laughing, Xyla shook her head. "He's not perfect. It takes a lot to get him angry, but when he does, he can clear a room in nothing flat. He has a mouth that can hurt most people's feelings and reduce them to a pile of Jello."

"That doesn't sound like faults to me," Franny said.

"He can be moody."

"Eh, everyone gets that way sometimes. It sounds to me like he's almost perfect," Ginny said.

"He's alright, I guess."

Ginny looked at her speculatively. "It can be hard to love a shifter."

Xyla's eyes opened wide and her jaw dropped. She tried to recover, though. "What do you mean, a shifter?"

"Don't give me that. I've been around enough that I recognize the signs when I see them. There are a few shifters hanging around, and I know that both he and Sawyer are." Then, Ginny grinned. "Plus, I'm a deer shifter and shifters can sense each other."

"Oh. How do you keep from ending up in someone's freezer?" Xyla asked before she could stop herself. She put her hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry."

Ginny and Franny laughed. "No worries. I'm just very, very careful. I do my best to make sure there aren't any humans in the area when I shift. Wild animals can smell my human side so they don't attack."

"That makes sense."

Ginny was quiet for a minute before she spoke again. "Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, or maybe just fifty miles away from here, I was in love with a tiger shifter and he loved me back. My father hated him because he was a predator and forbade me to see him."

Xyla's heart hurt for the woman when she saw tears welling up in the back of Ginny's eyes. "What did you do?"

"I listened to my father and stopped seeing him. He begged me to run away and be his mate, but I refused. Eventually, he married someone else and they had three children. Those children could have been mine. I would see them in town once in a while and my soul would shatter into pieces."

Franny put her hand on Ginny's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, honey."

Ginny patted Franny's hand. "My father died and I was left completely alone in the world. I could never love another man. I saw the advertisement for a housekeeper here, and I applied for the job. I've been here ever since. Now, Franny, Howard, William, and Sara are my family."

Wiping a tear from her face, Ginny sighed. "I think about him every once in a while, and my heart hurts for what might have been." She looked at Xyla intently. "If there is something between you and Sean, you shouldn't let anything or anyone get in your way – not your daddy, not your job, nothing."

"Thank you for sharing your story. If things keep going with Sean, I hope I am brave enough to follow my heart."

The oven beeped and Franny put the cake in, setting the timer. "I'm planning on Salisbury steak tonight. I've got the hamburger set out, thawing. Xyla almost has the potatoes done. I think I'll do glazed carrots to go with it."

Xyla pretended to rub her tummy. "That sounds terrific."

After dinner, Xyla wasn't in the mood to socialize. She went into the library and sat at one of the desks, writing in her diary.

I've always had a thing for Sean until Dad told me that he was a shifter. It had been beaten into my head that shifters are evil and killers. I was so stupid to believe Sean could have a malicious bone in his body. I know that there are some shifters who are bad, but there are bad and good people in every group.

I think I'm falling in love with him, although I'm not a hundred percent sure. After all, we're all cooped up here together. Is it really love or is it an infatuation like a summer fling?

Regardless, I'll never be sorry for making love to him. He made me feel so incredible. It was magical, like in all the books.

Sean likes me, too, I think, even after the way I treated him. That's a testament to how good a man he is. Could he ever love me if my feelings are real?

She tapped her pen against her teeth and realized she was thirsty. Knowing that she would be right back, she left her journal on the desk and slipped into the pantry for a bottle of water.

Her heart sank when she saw her father reading her diary when she got back. His face was bright red and he was shaking.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing?" he bellowed.

Xyla snatched the book out of his hands. "You had no right to read that."

"You left it lying out. What are you doing with Sean? You fucked him? How could you?" The anger and disgust vibrated in his voice as he glared at her.

"It felt right. I'm a grown woman and I'm quite capable of making my own decisions."

Elliot gnashed his teeth together and clenched his fists, showing white knuckles. "He's a dirty shifter. He's not even human."

She looked her father in the eye and said in a calm voice, "Sometimes, I think he's more human than you."

"How dare you?" he hissed at her.

"Sean has been nothing but kind and respectful. I don't know what happened to Mom. Heaven knows I miss her so much. But even if she was killed by shifters, that doesn't mean that all shifters are bad. There are human serial killers, but not all humans are bad."

Elliot bared his teeth and growled. "You listen to me. You'd better end this relationship with Sean or I will. I'll make sure that he never makes it off this mountain."

Xyla's heart flipped and her stomach knotted at something bad happening to Sean. "Don't do anything stupid. You wouldn't win in a fair fight, and if you murder him, then you are no better than what you claim the shifters are."

Her father glared at her for a second and left, leaving Xyla standing alone in the room trying to catch her breath.