Page 74 of Wolf's Forbidden Curse

DAPHNE

Al took his time in getting around to talk to me. He would drop off food and make sure everything in my apartment was working well, but he never hung around for very long. I had a feeling he wasn’t sure what to do or say around me, but after nearly a week of stunted conversations and no eye contact, I was sick of it. He came up to my apartment one morning when Rory was running some errands for me and tried to duck back out of the door almost as soon as he’d entered.

“I just came to drop off some leftovers from my dinner last night,” he said, keeping his head down the whole time. “There are also some ibuprofen in there, vitamin C packets, and a new ice tray because I know the one you’ve got in the freezer is on its last leg.”

“Thank you so much. Don’t rush off!”

“It’s okay. I don’t want to bother you.”

“Wait, wait,” I called after him. “I just made a pot of coffee. Sit down and have some.”

He waved. “Thanks for the offer, but I really should be getting back downstairs. You save some for Rory when he gets back. I’ll get out of your guys’ hair.”

Rory and I hadn’t explained the full story to Al yet, and I knew he must’ve been bursting with questions. He was just too polite to ask them.

“No, I insist,” I said. I beat him to the door and closed it, blocking his exit. “I feel like the two of us haven’t talked in forever. Can you please just sit down and have one cup of coffee? Then, if you want to dash away, I won’t try to stop you.”

He lingered by the door for a second, then sighed and walked over to the coffee pot by the sink. “Alright, but let me get it. You sit down.”

I was happy with those terms, so I took a seat. He brought two mugs of delicious-smelling coffee over to the table and sat down, putting the larger one in front of me. “Thanks.” I took a sip, even though it was too hot, and then breathed in the steam coming off the surface of the liquid. “Ah, that’s good stuff. Rory bought some expensive coffee the last time he was at the store. I was making fun of him for spending so much, but now I have to take it all back.”

Al took a sip as well and nodded. “That is pretty good.”

He still wouldn’t look at me.

“So listen,” I said, putting my mug down and staring at him. At least one of us was going to try for eye contact. “I know things have been strained ever since you found out that Missy had something to do with my disappearance, but I was hoping we could clear the air. If you have anything you need to ask me, I swear I will tell you the truth…”

I’d already decided I would tell Al that I was a werewolf. It would be too hard trying to keep such a secret from him, and I trusted that he wouldn’t use it against me in any way. That said, I wanted to go about this delicately so that I wouldn’t shock the old man.

“I—I don’t know that I have anything I need to ask you about…” He started to say. Then he laughed. “Well, that’s not true. There are a lot of things I want to ask. But before we get into any of that stuff, I just need you to know how sorry I am. I had no idea Missy was such an awful person, and the fact that I put you in harm’s way by letting her spend so much time around the house…”

“You couldn’t have known.”

“But still, I?—”

“You what? You’re mad at yourself for not being able to see into the future?” I clicked my tongue. “Al, don’t do this to yourself. You’ve been nothing but kind and supportive ever since I got here, and what happened with Missy had absolutely nothing to do with you. I never blamed you for even a second.”

“What about Rory?”

“He doesn’t either.”

“Why do I not believe you?”

“No, really. I swear to God. He knows you had nothing to do with Missy’s plan. Besides, you would know if he was holding any of this against you. He’s not exactly a subtle man. Not when he’s mad at someone.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

“Really, Al, I want us to be able to put this in the rear-view mirror,” I went on. “Because it’s not going to be good for either of us to keep dwelling on it. Missy is in jail; I’m safe, so there’s no reason things have to be awkward between us. I’m hoping to return to work soon, assuming you didn’t give my job away already.”

“Not a chance,” he said. “But I don’t want you to come back before you think you’re ready.”

“I’ll take another day or two, but I’m starting to get antsy just sitting around the house with nothing to do.”

He nodded. “I get that. I’ll try to come up with some easy tasks to start you out with.”

“Works for me.”

He brought his mug up to his mouth and drank, not even wincing at the heat. I wondered if his tolerance was from years of drinking hot, black coffee or years of drinking whiskey straight. Probably a little of both.

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