Page 19 of Naughty Elf: Wink

She nodded sharply, not a single lick of fear for these two strange men who had shown up on her doorstep. “I’ll put on the kettle.” Then she turned around and headed inside.

Wink and I walked carefully across the porch, wary of cracks and rotting wood, then pushed open the door that she’d left ajar. She was swinging an old copper kettle over the fire when we came in, then sheturned to us with a smile on her face. “It’s been a while since I had any company. You’ll have to excuse the… the…” Her black-eyed gaze had settled on me, and the smile melted away. “Jacob?” she said.

“Uh, no, my name is Derek,” I said, taking a step closer. “But maybe you knew my parents? I-I was adopted, but I think I might’ve been from around here, because I’m a…” I trailed off, unsure of how to continue.

“A raccoon,” she said, filling in the blank for me, and that warmth I felt inside gave another flicker. She closed the distance and reached for my face. “You look so much like your father.”

I struggled to draw breath. “You knew my father?”

“Of course. He was my son. I’m your grandmother.” Tears spilled down her cheeks unchecked. “I thought you were dead.”

I wasn’t prepared for the sob that wrenched its way out of me, and when she opened her arms, I collapsed into them, the two of us crying into each other’s shoulder. I could feel Wink’s emotions, his joy and grief that mirrored my own, but he held back until I was ready.

My grandmother, Fannie Mae, sat us down at the table and made us tea and sandwiches while she told us a story—mystory. Fannie Mae had had to flee an abusive relationship with her son Daniel, my father. They’d hidden themselves away here in this cabin for years, fearing that her husband would come looking for her, but he never had. My father was a shifter too, like my grandmother and generations before, but my mother was human. They’d met in town at the grocery store when he’d gone to stock up on supplies one day.

“We had a good life here in our cabin, the four of us,” Fannie said, wiping at her cheeks with a lacy white handkerchief. “But one day, when you weren’t even one yet, the three of you drove into town together. They didn’t want you to grow up so sheltered. They dreamed of giving you the best possible life, which meant townparades, movie theaters, and takeout dinners. They were talking about buying a house. I’m afraid my Danny never forgave me for keeping us hidden away here.” She sighed, her back bowing. “They never came home.”

“What happened?” I asked, bracing myself for the answer I already knew was coming. Wink held my hand under the table.

“A car accident out on the highway.” She stared down into her mug. “I went looking, of course. I was terrified to leave the clearing. I hadn’t been away from this cabin in 20 years, but for my son and daughter, my grandson, I did it. I went out as my beast, and I saw the wreckage, smelled the blood, heard the tow truck drivers talking about what happened to the family…” She closed her eyes tightly.

I reached across the table and took her hand, too cold and delicate in mine. “Have you been here ever since? All alone?”

“I don’t know how to be anything else anymore,” she said, smiling sadly.

“Well, you’re not alone anymore,” I told her firmly.

With those words, I felt something big shift inside my chest, the final barrier crumbling down, and just like a key in a lock, a door swung open, and for the first time, I heard a voice in my head, both foreign and so familiar at the same time.

Hello.

13

Wink

We stayed to visit with Fannie Mae until well after dark and Derek’s eyes had begun to droop. I could tell he didn’t want to leave, but we couldn’t stay either. She apologized that she couldn’t offer us a room, but the roof had sprung a leak some years back, and after the wood had rotted and caved in, there was now a snowdrift in the back bedroom.

I practically carried Derek to the car as he dragged his feet, leaning heavily into me, his head lolling. “We have to fix it,” he murmured.

“Fix what?” I asked.

He huffed, eyes drifting shut. “Everything.” He didn’t seem capable of further conversation, so I decided we would have to revisit the topic tomorrow.

Derek was up bright and early, baking up a storm. I insisted he put me to work, so he had me rolling out dough to put into tart pans, which he then filled with butter, raisins, cinnamon, and brown sugar. By lunch, we were on our way back to Fannie’s, the picnic basket inthe back seat filled with all kinds of fresh-baked goodies. Sandwiches and cut fruit rounded out our lunch, which promised to be delicious. And if Fannie Mae’s raccoon was as food-motivated as Derek’s was, I had a suspicion that she would be extra glad to see us.

Especially since food wasn’t the only thing we’d brought.

There was a beautiful gleam to Derek’s eyes as we parked in front of the cabin, not to mention a stubborn set to his shoulders as he clenched his jaw and drew in a deep breath. I loved this fierce side of him.

“Are you ready to get to work?” he asked me, even though he already knew the answer. I might not have been as festive as some other elves I knew, but I was certainly no slacker. I was always ready for work, and if it helped my mate and his family? There was nowhere else I would rather be.

Fannie Mae met us outside with a huge grin, which morphed into confusion while she watched her grandson unload his car. “What’s all this?” she asked, tromping through the snow in an old pair of rubber boots to help carry something. I passed her the lightest thing I could find, a plastic mop bucket.

“Well, we’re not exactly handymen, but I figured we could help clean up some of the rotten wood and maybe relocate the squirrels living in the back bedroom, and then we’ll have someone from town come out and fix that roof for you.”

“Oh, no, I can’t ask you to do that,” she tutted, trying to put the bucket back in the trunk.

“You didn’t ask, but we’re gonna do it anyway,” he said with a wide grin, giving her a bump with his hip on the way by, snagging the mop bucket out of her hands and practically skipping into the house, loaded up with cleaning supplies.

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