Page 81 of Unwilling Wolf

Lenny caught up right quick, and apparently she thought it was hilarious too, because she couldn’t stop grinning. Or perhaps it was something different that pulled the happiness from Lenny’s facial features. She was blushing, and she kept looking back toward where Burke was standing by the barn, talking to a man.

The line for the food table had grown long, so they hit up the dessert table first. Daylight bounced off giant sugar granules dotting fruit-filled pastries, and frosting whipped to such fluffiness it would surely float away bathed a row of cakes. The air was filled with murmured conversation and the clinking of silverware as the masses hefted generous portions of food onto metal plates. She gave Lenny one wide-eyed grin before collecting a trio of cookies onto the plate she’d brought back from Garret. They would have a little gravy on them, but she was pretty convinced that it would still taste delicious. And it did.

She and Lenny ate dessert off the same plate while they waited in line for food.

With a filled plate, she led the way to an unoccupied table. No one joined her and Lenny until they were finished eating, at which time a group of brave, young, and seemingly eligible bachelors approached the table and asked to sit with them.

After they were settled, the apparent leader of the group introduced himself as Jimmy Yule and said, “I haven’t seen you ’round these parts before. You new to town?”

“I am,” Eliza admitted with a polite nod. “I lived here when I was younger, but have only just moved back. Roy Davis is my father. Do you know him?”

“Oh yes, ma’am. Everybody knows old Roy. He is a good man.”

She thanked him and tried to steer the conversation in a different direction. Currently, Roy was a new werewolf and was probably trying to murder everything.

“Sooo, you’re living up with Roy now?” one of the men asked.

“Oh, no. I live with my husband, Garret Shaw.”

A few wide-eyed glances were exchanged, and it was Jimmy who broke the awkward silence. “You’re married to him?”

“Yes. Newly so.”

“You know, there’s lots of rumors around this town about your husband.”

“Rumors come from bored people with empty lives. Are you one of those such people, Mr. Yule?” she asked curtly.

“No ma’am. Just giving a warning, is all. Be careful around that one.”

“We should have known,” another of the men said. “Ladies get snatched up quick around these parts. ’Specially ladies as purty as you.”

The gentlemen beside Jimmy nodded agreement.

Heat swept up her face. They must have all lost their minds, and likely her pretty dress was the culprit. “Alas, I’m happily taken, fellows, but my friend Lenny is still very much unattached.” The lingering looks they’d given her companion during the conversation had been quite obvious.

Lenny tossed her a slightly-mortified look, and Eliza winked. “Unfortunately she has very patchy English, so communication will be an issue. Though from what I’m learning of men, communication isn’t your strong suit anyway. Am I false in my presumptions?”

The men laughed amiably, and the banter continued until a few girls around her age eventually joined the group. If Eliza had a guess, they had apparent interest in some of the eligible men. Eliza made sure to introduce herself and Lenny before making room for them at the table. Years in society had taught her the women’s acceptance would be important if either of them were to thrive in this small society.

“So that squaw—” a girl with honey-colored hair named Martha started.

“Lenny,” Eliza said patiently.

“Right. Lenny. Is she with you?”

“Of course. She is my friend,” she said, not liking where the conversation was going.

“How can she be your friend if she doesn’t have much English?”

“She has enough.” How could she even begin to explain the ways Lenny had been there for her, and even saved her life last night. Under the sleeves of her dress, her skin still burned from her reaction to all those cactus needles Lenny had tirelessly removed. “Plus, she has many other attributes that I can appreciate as her friend.”

“Such as?” Jimmy asked.

“Such as, she could probably out-hunt, out-ride, and out-shoot most of the men at this table.”

Everyone grew quiet.

It was quiet for almost, almost too long as she held Jimmy Yule’s gaze.

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