Page 34 of Shifters in the Night

He raised his eyebrows and she shrugged. “I noticed you’ve been getting quieter and quieter as the days go on.”

“Um, I’m not sure,” he said. “Things between us aren’t exactly official.”

“Ah, well, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there, let her know how you feel,” she told him. “There’s a special sort of magic in knowing that a man is making himself vulnerable for you.”

“So losing my dignity is the new sexy?” Jon asked.

She thought about it for a second and nodded. “Yep.”

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out to find a text notification from Will. “Sorry, my brother is trying to make me all tech savvy.”

“Is your brother aware that you have a rotary phone in the workshop?” she asked, sipping her drink. “He should have started with that.”

“Funny,” he snorted.

“Come on by the house,” the text read. “I made Gran’s beef stew.”

Instantly, Jon’s mouth watered. He loved Gran’s beef stew. And Will managed to make it just like she did. Jon tended to undercook the roux.

“Got Eva with me,” Jon wrote back. “Seems sort of rude to just run off on her.”

“Bring her with you!” Will replied. “I made plenty. I want to get to know this engine genius a little better.”

“You hungry?” Jon asked her. “My brother has invited us to dinner.”

“Always,” she said, standing up.

Jon was shocked at how quickly she accepted. Did people not spend an extended amount of time considering this sort of invitation? Was that just him?

“Do we need to bring anything?” she asked.

Though he’d assured her that Will and Sonja wouldn’t expect them to bring anything but themselves, Eva had stopped in her trailer to grab a bottle of her homemade persimmon wine. He didn’t even know persimmons could be made into wine, but she was happy she could contribute.

But as his truck rolled over the gravel towards the maison, he realized he should have asked Will a few more questions about this dinner. Because there were a lot of cars in the driveway. This wasn’t a dinner. This was a party. He recognized Zed’s truck, Jillian’s car, and… aw, hell, Lia’s SUV. “Um, I didn’t realize it would be this many people.”

“I should have brought more than one bottle,” Eva muttered. “And I did want to meet more locals than just my boss, so this will be nice.”

He parked, telling her, “We need to review your definition of ‘nice,’ Boudreaux. Also, stop calling me your boss. It makes me uncomfortable.”

Sonja came out of the house to greet them, thanking Eva sweetly for the wine and practically dragging them inside the house. They walked into the maison’s tiny living room and found most of the League and town officials sitting around the coffee table with a map of the town square, covered in scribbles. Everybody turned to greet them and even though he knew and liked everybody in the room, he froze under that much attention. This many people in a confined space? It was his idea of a nightmare. And on top of that, Lia was there, sitting next to Jillian and the baby, letting Dalinda poke at her face with her chubby baby hands. And all the words had gone out of his head, along with the spit in his mouth. She smiled and he forget all of those sad feelings he’d barely processed over the past week. He was just happy to see her.

And he still wasn’t talking.

Fortunately, Sonja stepped in and said, “Everybody, this is Eva Boudreaux. Eva, I won’t tell you everybody’s names because it gives the impression that there’s a quiz later. But everybody will be happy to introduce themselves.”

Unlike Jon, Eva smiled brilliantly and said, “Well, I met Lia earlier. Nice to meet the rest of y’all.”

Lia smiled with genuine warmth and it made Jon feel … better, somehow? He wasn’t sure why. Jon looked to Eva, who shook her head. “I’m fine, go on and yell at your brother. I’ll meet him later.”

“Just remember we can hear everything,” Sonja murmured as Jon passed, setting out an extra dining chair for Eva.

“I thought you said ‘dinner,’” Jon hissed as he walked into kitchen. The achingly familiar smell of his Gran’s stew hit him, making him damn near collapse against the counter. He managed to do it while he continued glaring at Will.

“Well, yeah, dinner as they put the final tweaks on the Founder’s Day plans before presenting to the committee,” Will said. “Or something like that. I don’t really know. There’s a reason they leave me in the medical services tent.”

“It would have been nice to know all these people were here before I came over! How did you end up hosting this thing anyway?” Jon asked.

Will puttered around, dishing stew into bowls. “Don’t tell Sonja, but she’s pretty much worked herself into the ground trying to help Zed plan it on such short notice. I know she enjoys her work, but she also needs a chance to relax and not think about what other people need for just a little bit. So this is sort of the best of both worlds.”

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