Page 36 of Shifters in the Night

“No, I don’t think that would make things less awkward,” she said, as Jillian came in to reclaim the baby. Zed gave Dalinda up with much reluctance. “But I’ve been thinking lately that I want some sort of normal life, not staying in a hotel or a trailer. A real house, with a yard and some sense of permanence, even if it’s not real. But I also realize that I moved here to the Bayou to resolve a housing crisis so there’s little wonder that no living spaces are available here.”

Jillian gave Bael a long look, making him nod and turn to Lia. “Actually, Jillian and I might be able to help with that. My great-uncle Bayard recently passed away and left me his house.”

“You mean the little house that close to Jon’s place?” Lia asked, her eyes alight. “We drove by there the other night. It’s adorable.”

“Wait, your uncle Bayard hadn’t spoken to you in years!” Zed exclaimed. “He’d RSVP’d ‘nah’ to your wedding!’”

“Well, he always resented Farfar’s hold over the family as the patriarch, being expected to do as he was told, when Bayard was older,” Bael said. “I figure this is one last finger at Farfar.”

“He also left Dalinda his treasure hoard, which is sort of a double finger, leaving your fortune to an infant,” Jillian added, patting the baby’s back. “Which was very sweet of him.”

“I’m never going to get used to conversations in the Bayou and I kind of love it,” Lia said. “But what does your recent inheritance have to do with me?”

“Well, we were just going to sell the house, but if you want to rent it for a couple hundred dollars a month, that would be great,” Bael said.

“Oh, I couldn’t do that,” Lia objected. “You could get amazing rent for that place, given the market.”

“No, you would be doing us a favor,” Jillian told her. “Right now, it’s just sitting there empty, which can be dangerous in the bayou. All manner of creatures can move in and make themselves a nuisance. Rodents, reptiles, one of Bael’s cousins.”

“It’s furnished and fully stocked with dishes and towels and such,” Bael said. “So you wouldn’t have to worry about that stuff.”

“And Bayard was a pretty great housekeeper, so it’s move-in ready,” Jillian added. “We’d like to know that someone we like and trust is staying there.”

“I’d like to look at it before I agree to anything,” Lia told him.

“Of course,” Bael said, grinning.

“And I expect to pay fair market rent,” she added, making Bael grimace.

“You’re doing the right thing, Lia,” Zed told her. “If nothing else, you getting some space from that creep boss of yours might be good for everybody.”

“Maybe,” she said. Zed wrapped her in a big hug and she patted his back. “If you lick my forehead, adoption or not, I will punch you in the eye.”

Zed snickered, his chin balanced on the top of her head. “Fair enough.”

* * *

Somehow it was decided en masse that the whole group would go over to Bayard’s place to check out Lia’s potential new house. Sonja and Jillian started talking about color schemes and paint swatches, which got Dani all excited and the next thing he knew, he was part of a caravan driving over to Bayard’s old place.

Lia was practically vibrating with joy as Bael unlocked the front door. They crossed the threshold to find Lia running around the house like a kid on Christmas morning. It had been a long time since Jon or Will had entered Bayard’s house, but not much had changed. One could barely tell that a dragon lived there. Unlike the rest of the Boones, who surrounded themselves with their favorite precious metals, Bayard favored the Scandinavian principal of simplicity and comfort over gaudiness. The walls were painted cream, accented with the occasional touch of pale yellow. Bayard’s furniture was dark and heavy, but with clean lines and thick cushions. The sofa took up most of the square footage in the living room, to the point that Jon wondered whether Bayard had rested on it in his dragon form.

The kitchen was a cook’s dream, with a huge stove, a butcher block and plenty of counter space. Maybe Bayard’s favorite metal had been copper, given the wide array of carefully organized pots and pans hanging from a metal ceiling rack. Lia touched each of them, her green eyes shining, and Jon could practically see plans for very elaborate meals forming in her head.

Other than the framed pictures of Marnette Boone on the mantle, the house lacked a certain feminine touch. The bedroom was immaculately clean, with a yellow-and-white patchwork quilt spread over the wide, firm-looking bed. The moon shone through the window and Jon swore he could hear the ocean outside. He wondered if Lia would hear it at night, this close to his place.

“Wait, how do you open the back door?” Lia asked, trying to get out to the dock.

“There’s a trick to it,” Jon told her, gently removing her hands so he could jiggle the handle, then kick the bottom of the door. “It’s been that way since we were kids.”

She beamed at him.

“Quirky! I’ll take it!” Lia cried, throwing her arms around Jillian, who just laughed and patted her back. While the rest congratulated Lia and began making suggestions for minor repairs that needed to be made, plus a whole diatribe from Dani about throw pillows, Eva and Jon hung back. He was just so pleased for Lia, not just because she was so thrilled with the place, but because she would have some distance from that Bannister guy. She would be safer here, if for no other reason than he would be close by, ready to boot that guy off her porch at a moment’s notice.

“Cute place. Close to us, isn’t it?” Eva commented as Sonja and Jillian argued over lighting options. Jon nodded. She added, “Well, that’s not such a bad thing, right?”

“Again, nothing is really settled there,” he murmured.

“Oh, please, she’s obviously crazy about you. And you look at her like she’s the moon and stars,” she scoffed. “And personally, I ship it. I will wing-man the hell out of you.”

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