Page 59 of Holiday Surprise

James laughed. “Well, it’ll make for a great story to share on my report.”

I groaned.

After we saw James off, Luke sat down on the couch and patted the spot next to him for me to sit, and I happily did.

“Did you learn your lesson about locked doors?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes and opened his laptop. I fought myself to not sigh. We were really doing this.

A few hours later we were arguing details and surprisingly happy with a few of the finds, though the whole thing seemed surreal, and it didn’t feel quite right.

Luke was making an argument for an old motel. It was off on one of the old highways rarely used anymore, a throw-back to the sixties, but it sat in almost thirty acres of wooded land. The current owner tried to call it a lodge and allow hunting behind the building. Apparently, it hadn’t gone over very well. Too many hunters, not enough land and his theory had flopped. It was going for dirt cheap because of its location. It was obvious he just wanted to unload the thing.

My counterargument was that hotel rooms were not houses. There weren’t even kitchens in the rooms. Though Luke reminded me that wolves are communal animals and there was a full kitchen in the main building with the lobby and check-in area and we would just have to consider buffet style meals to feed everyone. It sounded like a nightmare to me. I didn’t mind cooking, but for thirty people, three times a day? No thank you.

The afternoon flew by. I was surprised by a knock at the door. No one ever came to my house unannounced, since it sat a ways off from the majority of the pack. I shrugged when Luke turned questioning eyes my way and then got up to answer it.

“What’s wrong with your phone?” Lily asked the second I opened the door.

“Nothing,” I said.

“Okay, then where is your phone? You haven’t been answering it for hours.”

“Oh no, Chasity and Jessie.” I instinctively reached into my pocket to retrieve if, but it wasn’t there.

“They’re fine,” she assured me. “But I heard you had a bit of a mishap today. Did you really try to break into your own house?”

“Yes, thanks to Luke’s brilliant plan.”

I frowned, looking around for my phone.

“How was I supposed to know I’d drop you head first into the bathtub? You should have told me,” he yelled from the living room.

Lily’s face paled. She reached out for me. “Are you okay? Do I need to fetch the doctor to check on you?”

“Lily, I’m fine. A bit bruised and scraped because I barely fit through that small window, but fine. Apparently, James had a key and let himself in to rescue me.” I rolled my eyes. Luke had mentioned calling Thomas to see if he still had one. I thought he had been crazy at the time, but in hindsight that would have been a worthwhile phone call.

“Luke can you go outside and see if my phone is there?” I asked.

“Sure,” he said immediately getting up to look.

I walked back to the bathroom and it wasn’t there either.

He came back a few minutes later. “Here, it must have fallen out of your pocket when you were stuck in the window.” He gave me an evil grin and I knew he found the entire thing funny.

I checked my phone and it opened to the camera. I scrolled through pictures and laughed out loud as I showed Luke and Lily a picture just as my foot connected with his nose. You could even see tiny spurts of blood.

“That’s not funny. That hurt,” he tried to say with a straight face.

“Well on that note, I brought dinner. Thought you guys could use it, though I’m sure you’re spoiled getting Peyton’s cooking every day. I miss her food. I have to pay for it now when I crave it,” Lily pouted.

“You know that woman would cook anything you wanted.”

“Yeah, I know. She loves me, but I wouldn’t do that to her. She has more than enough on her plate.”

“You can say that again,” I said thinking of all the people crowding around her dining room looking for food. One thing was certain, the Pack had never eaten so well.

“Are you going to stand there in the doorway all evening or let her in?” Luke complained.

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