Page 79 of Unwilling Wolf

No one made a barn-raising entrance quite like two fetching, glowing-eyed werewolves, a city-slickin’ accidental wife, and an exotic-looking woman dressed like no other.

When the four of them stepped off the wagon, time stopped. Every person seemed to freeze in whichever position they were in to stare at the unexpected combination of acquaintances. Eliza understood the stares at Lenny. The girl was beautiful, and her dress outshone the others by far. At least that was her opinion, and she was confident in her beliefs. The men looked dapper with their freshly-shaven faces and clean clothes, and freshly dusted off black felt hats. Not even the crisp, dark hats could hide their masculine faces, and chiseled, well-bred appearances. What she couldn’t understand was why so many of the men stared open-mouthed at her. Or why some of the women shot daggers at her with their looks.

Eliza wiped a slow hand over her face. Perhaps she had biscuit crumbs on her or something.

Garret sighed impatiently beside her. “You don’t have anything on your face, Eliza. They are staring because you look—” He cleared his throat as if uncomfortable and mumbled, “beautiful,” almost inaudibly.

“Not me, sir,” she said. The scrutiny made her skin crawl and her cheeks burn.

When she took one of the pies from the wagon and tried to hand it to Lenny, the girl seemed frozen in place. No response, which left her holding the pie awkwardly. “Can you boys grab the food?” she asked Burke.

“Yeah, of course,” Burke said, recovering from the town’s unexpected reaction to their little group.

Everyone was still staring, but now the whispers and murmurings were kicking up.

She linked her arm in Lenny’s and led the way to the tables of food set up for luncheon.

“I changed my mind. We should leave,” Lenny said so quietly, Eliza struggled to understand her.

She leaned toward Lenny and whispered, “We will not get chased off that easily. The men aren’t complaining, and the women will get used to us eventually. Now, laugh as if I said something funny.”

Lenny giggled convincingly, and so did she. Garret and Burke caught up and looked at them like they were lunatics, which she happily ignored. When the pies were showcased on the dessert table, the men disappeared to help with the work on the barn, and she and Lenny decided to join the line of people waiting to fill plates of food.

Boston dinner parties were quiet, mannerly, and boasted the smallest portions of food imaginable. Three boiled quail eggs had never a hearty dinner made. A lady had to keep her figure, after all, but out here in a wooded clearing with a half-built barn as a backdrop, people were filling plates high with the most delicious-looking foods. Cornbread, stews, beans, slices of beef, potatoes in every form imaginable, green beans seasoned with ham, and pans of slow-roasted carrots. There was an entire cooked pig at the end of the final table, and nearby were a half dozen fires with iron skillets over them, cooking various delectable-smelling meats and stews. There had to be a dozen different options of bread and rolls! There were even bowls of different flavored butters for the bread. She’d seen buffet-style dinners before, but nothing like this.

The first pass, she and Lenny got what they thought the boys would want. It was Eliza’s idea. It would be a little thank-you for carrying the bullet hole in him. They would need something easy for the men to eat quickly, so she piled meat and vegetables onto split dinner rolls, and Lenny followed suit. They weren’t the only women doing this. Others waved and smiled as they headed toward the barn with similar plates for their men.

Garret and Burke were helping to raise a huge wall on the east side of the half-built barn. They waited, and Eliza watched in awe as Garret used his inhuman strength to hold up that side, and then pulled a hammer from his belt and worked seamlessly with another man to secure the walls together. He knew exactly what to do.

There was something so attractive about a man who knew how to build things, though before this moment she’d never given it a thought. Five minutes more, and the men had the entire wall standing and secured. A couple of men talked to Garret and Burke with bright smiles and rough claps on their shoulders. Clearly they knew each other.

Garret glanced over at the food tables, and then back to the men he was chatting with. She tried to wave the next time he glanced over there. But it was just a quick look, and away to the conversation again. Now they seemed to be talking about roof beams, as they kept shading their eyes and looking upward, and others were gathering ladders.

The third time Garret looked over at the food tables with a frown, Eliza got suspicious. Perhaps Anna Jennings was catching his attention over there. She twisted around and scanned the line, but failed to see anyone she recognized.

“He’s looking for you,” Lenny enlightened her.

That rang of truth. “Oh,” she said softly. Eliza made her way into his line of sight, and his eyes cast to her and held. And she didn’t miss it—there was this tiny little smile that crooked the corner of his lips.

She returned the grin and held up the plate. “Want it now?”

“Is that for me?” he called as she approached, with Lenny trailing just behind her.

“We figured you boys could use some food before you lose yourself in the work.”

Burke descended on the plate Lenny handed him like a starved vulture, dipping his sandwich into the puddle of gravy she’d scooped onto the metal plate and taking the biggest bite Eliza had ever witnessed a man take. He rolled his eyes closed and made a groan of pleasure that drew a laugh from Lenny.

Garret handled his plate in a more mannerly fashion, and she got all caught up watching his chiseled jaw move as he chewed. He swallowed a bite. “Why did you bring me this?”

“I don’t know. Just to be nice, I suppose.”

“Why?” he asked.

“I don’t…” Eliza held her hand up to shield her eyes from the saturated sunlight pelting her in the face when she looked all the way up to Garret the Giant’s face. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I haven’t been nice to you,” he said, then took another bite.

She chewed on the corner of her lip and considered what he said for a bit, before she told him low, “The bullet hole in you says differently. So…thank you, Garret. For last night.” Burke and Lenny were some distance off now, chatting away as he told her about what they would do next. “I was scared too.”

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