“What happened?”
Emma huffed and pointed to the metal contraption at the center of the mess. “I was trying to make a latte with this espresso machine Sara bought me. The manual makes it sound easy, but they don’t tell you what happens when you forget to put the little metal basket in the filter before you turn it on.”
A laugh slipped out before I could stop it, and she shot me a dirty look, which made me laugh even more.
I put up a hand. “Sorry. Come on. I’ll help you clean up.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I know.”
I tossed my keys on the table and grabbed some paper towels to wipe down the cabinets, window, and wall.
Emma cleaned the floor and counter, stopping when she got to the espresso machine. With a sigh, she rinsed the removable parts and set them in the draining tray to dry. When she finished, she turned to me with a grateful smile. “Thanks.”
She tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ears, and I couldn’t help but notice how pretty she was tonight. Maybe it was because for the first time, her brown eyes were warm instead of guarded when they looked at me. I found myself wondering what it would take to make her smile at me that way more often.
“No problem,” I blurted when I realized she was waiting for me to respond. No way, man, not going there. Sara’s cousin, remember?
“You know there’s a coffee shop next door,” I said.
She smiled sheepishly. “I thought I could make one without having to get cleaned up.”
“You renovating or something?” I waved at her paint-splattered clothes. “I could help.”
“Thanks, but it’s not that kind of painting. I paint on canvas.”
“Sara draws and you paint. You really are a Grey.” I grinned at her. “Let me guess; you’re working on a painting of the sky.”
Her eyes widened. “How did you know that?”
I tapped my chin. “You have blue paint right here.”
“Oh.” She rubbed at the dried paint to no avail. “Excuse me. I’ll get cleaned up.”
“While you’re doing that, I’ll run next door and get us a couple of lattes,” I said.
She opened her mouth to say something, but I waved it off and headed to the door. “Be back in a few minutes.”
What are you doing, Roland? I thought as I jogged down the steps. Why was I getting coffee? I didn’t even like coffee for Christ’s sake.
I ordered a latte for Emma and a small iced coffee for me. By the time I got back to the apartment, she had changed into jeans and a fresh top and cleaned the paint off her face. I refused to let her pay for her drink, and we went into the living room to talk.
I could tell by her expression she was wondering why I was there. It wasn’t exactly as if we’d hit it off on our first few encounters. I decided to get right to the point.
“I came by tonight to see if you were okay after what happened at the cove today.”
Her face paled a little. “The cove?”
I nodded and set my drink down on the coffee table. “I called Sara, and she told me you know what we are. I wanted to apologize for today and to let you know you have nothing to fear from us.”
“But those wolves…”
“Those two wolves are visiting from up north, and they were out of line.” I pressed my lips together when I remembered Lex and Julie standing over Emma. “They broke pack law when they showed themselves to you, and they know better than to frighten a human. They’ve been warned not to do it again.”
She relaxed a little and took a sip of her coffee. “What about the other wolf, the black one who drove them away?”
“What about him?” I asked, curious about what she thought of my wolf.
“Didn’t he break the law, too, when he showed himself to me?” She bit her lip. “I hope he’s not in trouble for helping me.”
I wasn’t sure why I didn’t tell her I was the black wolf, but something held me back.
“No, he’s not in any trouble. He didn’t frighten you, did he?”
She toyed with the lid on her cup. “At first, he did because he looked fierce when he showed up. And after I… I didn’t know what to expect. But then I realized he wasn’t going to hurt me.”
After what? I wanted to know what she’d started to say, but I didn’t want to press her. It did make me wonder again what had happened in her past, and if that was why she’d wanted to stay away from us. I hated the thought that a werewolf might have hurt her and given her reason to fear us.
“I’m sorry he frightened you. He was just angry at those other wolves.” I set my coffee down on a coaster. “Whatever happened to you before you moved here, I want you to know you’re safe with us. We have a lot of out-of-town wolves here for a pack gathering, and they’ll mostly stick close to the Knolls. Some will come into town, but they know to behave themselves. If you ever feel afraid for any reason, you can call me, and I’ll come.”
“Thank you,” she said quietly. She gave me a wisp of a smile. “I like it here, and I just want to start over and not bother anyone.”
Her eyes were sad despite her smile, and I wished I knew what had happened to her. She was eighteen and looking to start over? It had to be something bad.
I steered the conversation to a more pleasant topic. “It’s a great place to live if you don’t mind how quiet it is. Have you seen much of town yet?”
She nodded. “Some. Scott showed me around today. He was with me at the lighthouse.”
I hid my displeasure. I hadn’t been happy to see Scott with her earlier, but the thought of her spending the whole day with him bugged me. I almost said something but stopped myself. I might not like Scott for some of the things he did in his past, but he really did seem to have changed. It wouldn’t be fair for me to try to come between their friendship just because of my dislike of him.
“Where did he take you?” I asked.
“The lighthouse, the mall, and a coffee shop,” she said. “Oh, and the marina, although we just drove past it. We mostly drove around. New Hastings is bigger than I thought.”
“Yeah, it’s spread out. In the Knolls where we live, it’s mostly farmland.”
Her smile returned. “Sara talked about the Knolls. She said she used to love playing at the farm with you and Peter when she was little.”
I laughed, remembering those days. “We had some great times.”
“You miss her.”
“Yes. It’s hard not to.”
“I know what you mean,” she said softly. “I miss her, too.”
For a brief moment, she let her defenses down and I saw loneliness in her eyes and a sadness that made my chest ache. I didn’t like to see her hurting, but I didn’t know what to do to make her feel better.
“So, you’re a painter,” I said, hoping to make her smile again. “What do you paint?”
Her face lit up. “I do landscapes, mostly.”
“Cool.” I glanced around the living room. “Can I see some of them?”
She blinked in surprise. “Are you sure? They’re really not that good.”
“I’m sure they are if you’re anything like Sara.”
“Okay.” She set her coffee down and stood almost shyly. “They’re upstairs.”
She led the way even though I could find Sara’s old room with my eyes closed. I’d spent countless hours at the apartment, and I’d slept on her old couch up there more than once.
I stopped in surprise when I reached the top of the stairs. The loft barely resembled the room I remembered. All of Sara’s things were gone, except for the comfortable old couch I liked. The walls had been painted a light neutral color, and the wood floor had been refinished. Instead of the bookshelves, there were worktables and shelves of art supplies. And there were canvases everywhere, some blank and some finished. In the center of the room stood a large easel with a canvas on it. I walked over to look at the painting she must have been working on before I arrived.
“Hey, this is really good. It’s the view from the kitchen window.”