Page 24 of The Way We Were(wolf)

“You guys are brilliant,” Stella said, wrapping them both in a hug.

Eric stepped back after Stella finished squeezing the life out of them. “I can’t take the credit for that one. It was all Lucy’s idea.”

“Yeah, but,” Lucy began, “you’re the one who made me comfortable enough to share my ideas.”

“Oh!” Stella said, clutching a hand to her chest. “Y’all are so sweet I feel myself getting a cavity. But thank you. Seriously. I wouldn’t have had the time to pull this off. And judging from what I’ve seen popping up around town, nothing comes close to your ghoulfriends salon theme. I cannot thank you enough.”

“You don’t have to. And I should be thanking you, actually.” Lucy brought her other hand over to cover the top of Eric’s. “I don’t know if it was working on a project that wasn’t writing, or if I was otherwiseinspired…” Again, these ladies weren’t fooling anyone with their tone. “But I sat down to start that idea I told you about several weeks ago, and I painted for four hours straight the other night.”

“Lucy, that’s great!” Stella shouted again, this time loud enough that Eric glanced at the storefront window for cracks. She flung her arms around her cousin’s neck, though Lucy still held his hand, and he didn’t mind at all. “Okay, I have to get back to Mrs. Nichols,” she said, pointing to a woman under a dryer with enough foil in her hair she could probably get radio signals. “Don’t forget to be here Saturday night to hand out the treats for Fright Night…and get your trophy.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. But yes, we’ll be here.”

Stella walked away as the last thirty seconds of the conversation bounced around in Eric’s brain.

“Did she say Saturday?”

“Yep. The festival is usually the night of Halloween so kids can come and have fun in town and then trick-or-treat in their neighborhoods.”

Eric shook his head. “But Stella told us earlier that it was Friday—the nightbeforeHalloween.” He was certain because he never would have agreed to participate in something on Halloween night—the night of the full moon.

“Ah, she probably got the dates mixed up. With all she’s got going on, I’m not surprised. You’re still coming, though, right?”

How could he answer that? Nathan had told him many times that they were to be out of town by sundown on the thirty-first. There was no wiggle room. But then he looked at Lucy, her rounded eyes pleading with him to stay. To not let her down.

“Uh, yeah. I can be there.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “I just need to check on a couple things, and I’ll make sure I have everything in order, okay? I’ll be there. You can trust me.”

She nodded and gave him a kiss on the cheek before he exited the salon. As he walked through the streets to the outskirts of town, blood hummed through his veins. He’d worked so hard to make sure Lucy knew he was someone he could trust.

He crossed into the woods and let out a long sigh. There was no way he was adding his name to the list of people who had let Lucy down.

All he could do now was pray he wouldn’t be on the list of people that hurt her either.

Eric stepped across the wood line as a swirling wind brought to life the leaves scattered across the bumpy terrain. Weathered trees stretched from the ground, their branches stretching to touch the ever-darkening sky. The unsettled weather, the light rumble of thunder in the distance…it mimicked the uneasiness that rolled in his stomach. He knew he was walking into an inevitable storm—both in the literal and figurative senses—but this was a conversation that was long overdue. And with any luck, things would go his way. Even if the past tapped him on the shoulder and reminded him that he was going to needa lotmore than luck to get what he wanted.

“Fancy seeing you here,” Nathan said, emerging from behind a couple of wind-damaged trees leaning against one another. Eric knew how they felt, as he could use a little support himself. The crunch of dead pine needles underfoot and the subtle howl of the wind added to the eeriness of the scene as Nathan’s eyes glowed in the darkness. “It’s almost like I was expecting you.”

Eric wanted to joke that was probably the case, since his brother had been spying on his every move from the time they set foot in this town—really, for his entire life. Loyalty to family was one thing, but Nathan was pushing it too far these days. Enough was enough. But the intensity with which Nathan moved—his chin high, his stance wide, and his eyes piercing Eric’s soul—left little room for jokes in the dark forest.

“I actually came out here to talk to you,” Eric responded with a quiver in his voice he wished wasn’t there.

“I’m surprised you remembered where your home even is, what with you spending so much time with the townsfolk. Withher.”

He spat the last word like it was poison on his tongue, and the tone didn’t sit well with Eric. Not only because it grated on him to hear him refer to Lucy like that but also because it sucked his confidence like a child slurping chocolate milk through a silly straw. No way was Nathan going to like what Eric came here for.

“I’m not here to talk about Lucy right now—at least, not directly.” Eric rubbed his hands down his jeans, fixing his eyes on the tiny branches at his feet, like they might give him the confidence he needed to finish this conversation. “I came out here to ask you—”

“No.” Nathan held up his hand like he was a wizard whose powers could stop time with the flash of his palm.

“You don’t even know—”

“We had a deal.” His nostrils flared in time with the loud breaths he took, and the wide set of his elbows from his body looked like he was primed for a fight. Which wasn’t what Eric wanted at all. He’d hoped to have a proper conversation, not participate in Woodland Wrestlemania.

“We didn’t, actually. You barked out a litany of rules, bossing me around just like you always do. Because you don’t care what I think or want—just as long as you get your way.”

“My way?” The flex of his fingers hinted at his anger, but the drop of his shoulders and hurt in his eyes didn’t match. “You think any of this ismy way?”

“Well, it certainly isn’tmyway. Not that you give a rat’s behind about me.” Just as he said it, a furry rodent ran between them with a squeak.

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