Page 50 of Shifters in the Night

Homecoming couldn’t come soon enough for Jon, but as they were climbing into the truck, he spotted the packing box he’d picked up at the local office store.

“I think I can do better than a beer,” he told her, handing her the long, narrow box.

She eyed him skeptically. “If this is a proposal of marriage, my answer is no, and you’re a terrible person to do that to Lia.”

Jon made some sort of strangled, squawking noise, and she burst out laughing. “I’m sorry! You were just so tense!”

“Well, that didn’t help!” He scowled at her, making her laugh again. She opened the box and pulled out a business card that read, “Carmody & Boudreaux” in bold blue letters with the ampersand superimposed over a little fishing boat. It was certainly more contemporary than the old logo. He didn’t know how his grandpa would feel about it, changing the name, taking on a partner, taking on a female partner from outside the family. (And then Gran would have cuffed him over the head and told him to stop being a numpty.) But he felt it was the right thing to do, given how much Eva had already improved his business. He could trust her, and he needed her to make the business work in this century. Without her, he would go back to floundering, which he could do, but work was so much more enjoyable with her around.

“I know it’s a little presumptuous, but Lia and Jillian both said that big gestures are important when you’re making a change like this,” he said. “But if you don’t like the idea, it’s only a box of business cards. I haven’t filed anything yet. So, no harm, no foul.”

When she didn’t say anything, he panicked a little. “You hate it. Is it the color? Or the name? Or the idea of committing to the business long-term so soon? Oh, come on, say something so my brain doesn’t explode.”

“That’s my name,” she said, grinning at him, holding up the card.

“Well, yeah. I’d like you to be a full partner,” he said. “Name on the sign and everything. I’ll even have new t-shirts made up.”

“As generous as my pay is, I just I don’t have the capital to buy in right now,” she told him.

“You don’t have to buy in right now,” he assured her. He handed her a packet of papers he’d had drawn up by his business manager Bael had recommended in Houma. “You’ve already put quite a bit in sweat equity, helping me catch up on my waitlist. This is your new pay package, which the business manager assures me is fair for your new position, and there’s a schedule in there to make payments towards the partnership. This isn’t just surface stuff. You’d get input in decisions on what jobs we take, the advertising we do, everything.”

“I never expected anything like this, so soon” she said, laughing with suspiciously glassy eyes. “I really like working with you and I like Mystic Bayou. I want to stay.”

“Well, that works out then,” Jon said.

She laughed and wrapped him in a hug that smelled of some floral shampoo and motor oil. “Thank you.”

“I don’t make friends very easily, Eva. But I consider you a friend.”

She smiled down at the card in her hand. “But I’m going to move my trailer out of your yard and into town somewhere, because I think there’s such a thing as too much togetherness.”

He nodded. “Fair enough.”

* * *

Lia was nowhere to be found and it was making him nervous. He stopped by her office to surprise her, but that assistant, Jeff, said she’d taken a personal day. Jeff had seemed as put-off by it as Jon. Lia didn’t seem like the type to take personal days. He called her cell phone, but she wasn’t answering. When calls to Will and Sonja went to voicemail, too, he decided to drive Eva home. It wasn’t fair to keep her late just because he couldn’t track down his girlfriend. As far as he knew, she’d taken a day trip to New Orleans or something … though surely she would have said something to someone before she did that.

“You OK?” Eva asked as they pulled into his driveway. “You seem a little tense.”

“I’m just new to this whole girlfriend thing. Would it be considered over-stepping to stop by her place?” Jon answered.

“Probably not.” She shook her head. “I think she’s missed you, too.”

“How do you know?” Jon asked.

“I was texting her this morning,” said Eva.

He stopped the engine. “You and Lia text?”

“On a daily basis,” she said as she slid out of the car.

“I don’t know how to feel about that,” he called as she walked to her trailer.

“Get over it!” she called back.

He snorted before backing the truck out of his driveway and turning towards Bayard’s old place … which was also unoccupied. He got out of his truck and approached the porch, trying not to look like a prowler as he looked for signs of someone inside the house. He dialed Lia’s number again, but she didn’t pick up. Dejected, he flopped down on the porch steps and stared out at the grassy expanse of lawn. He was tired and sweaty and all he wanted was to see Lia’s face. But there was a sort of exquisite edge to missing her, knowing the relief that would come when he finally did see her again.

He would never tell Will about that. Or Zed. Or Bael. The mockery would be extensive.

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