Page 105 of Kidnapping Their Third

She leaned into his hug, then smiled at his wife. “Drive safe.”

Standing next to her, Tim asked, “Have you heard from Dad?”

Cora shook her head. “Not a word.”

“None of us have,” Caleb said. “He’s not even talking to Maria.”

“He had to hire three guys to take over for all the work I was doing,” Tim commented. “And a lot of the guys are quitting because he’s taking his temper out on them because we’re not there to yell at.”

“He’s going to have to adapt or die alone,” Cora said, feeling both sad and angry at her father.

“I’m sorry he’s proven to be so stubborn,” Kimble murmured in her ear as Caleb and his family said their last goodbyes and headed to their car.

Cora snuggled against him. “This is real life, not a Hallmark movie. You don’t always get everything tied up in a neat bow, but I’ll settle for my happy ending with you guys.”

***

Pike

Shucking off his waterlogged shoes, Pike calculated the best way over the chair barrier on the other side of their “battlefield.” Picking up the bucket full of water balloons, he readied for a sprint across no-man's-land only to see something that made him freezein place.

Half a dozen water balloons all hit him in the chest and face at the same time he dropped the bucket and formed a T with both hands.

“Time out, everyone!” he shouted. There were groans from all the kids and adults he’d been playing with, but the moment he called time out, a bunch of parents and partners swooped in to start drying off the warriors and urging them to stand next to the bonfire.

He was only peripherally aware of everything going on around him, his focus was on the tall, gaunt, pale woman walking between two wolf shifters. This was the first time he’d seen Lucy since Kimble had carried her away in griffin form, and she looked like a hollowed-out shell of herself. After Kimble got back and told him about her addiction and his offer to help, Pike had thanked him and spent every day after trying not to think about her.

Swallowing hard, he walked toward her, and worked on keeping his emotions in check. There was so much anger and hurt but at the same time relief that she was alive. Shifters addicted to ash could die while trying to go off the drug. During the early days, he’d half expected a call telling him Lucy hadn’t made it.

But that call never came and now she was up and walking under her own power, even if both wolves looked ready to grab hold if she stumbled.

Crossing the distance between them, Pike tried to figure out what to say. He’d rehearsed all kinds of conversations between him and Lucy, but now he couldn’t think of anything.

“You’re too thin.” He winced the moment the words were out of his mouth, but it was probably the most shocking part of her appearance. She’d been skinny before, but now she looked almost skeletal.

Lucy didn’t take offense to his thoughtless comment. She looked down at herself and shrugged. “You won’t believe it, but I’ve put on some weight.”

Her appearance wasn’t the only thing that had changed. Gone was the high, shrill voice of the past, now she spoke in a deep husky tone.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get some meat on her bones,” Stan said. He placed a hand on Lucy’s lower back. At the same time, Enrico moved until his side was touching hers. It reminded Pike of the way he and Kimble would bracket Cora.

If nothing was going on between these three yet, then it was only a matter of time.

“There’s food,” he said, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder. The way Lucy blanched and put a hand over her stomach told Pike that his suggestion didn’t go over well.

“Thanks, but she's on a special diet right now,” Enrico said, then took a long pull of air through his nose. “Smells good though. No one told us they were roasting a pig!”

Feeling awkward, Pike rubbed the back of his neck and looked up at the night sky, trying to come up with something to say.

Lucy spoke before he could think of anything. “I wasn’t going to join the party,” she explained, pulling his eyes from the heavens back down to her. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and tried to smile again. “We walk in the evenings and this time I wanted to walk this way. I only wanted to see you. We, uh, I mean you and me, we’re gonna need to talk. Like, a lot of talking, but not yet, okay? I’m not ready yet.”

Pike blinked rapidly and nodded his head. “Sure, when you’re ready.”

Sliding her eyes away, she leaned heavily on Enrico. Stan moved his hand from resting on her lower back to around her waist. It was hard to tell, but Pike thought she’d gotten even paler.

“That was a long walk for you,” Stan murmured. “We should head back home now.”

Lucy didn’t answer Stan. Instead, she looked back at Pike. “Annette is helping me understand everything I did and why. It’s a lot. I have so much I need to make up for, but right now, I need to focus on fixing myself before I can fix us.”

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