Page 7 of Secret Shifters Next Door

“Someone new moves in next door to a shifter while shifters are going missing?”

“Literally exactly what I thought.”

“Okay, I can try to dig up some info. May take a few days.”

“Thanks, man. It’s probably nothing, but it would be good to know.”

TWO

HARLEY

Lilly Valley was as beautiful as Maddox had said. More so, even. My jaw had dropped when we pulled off the interstate and saw the place a week ago. The mountains, trees, and rivers were all picturesque. The girls had also been awed, but that awe had dissipated a bit when we drove through the “downtown” area. It was as far from New York City as you could possibly get.

On the plus side, there wasn’t much commercialization. The only chain store I saw was a Dollar General on the outskirts of town. Everything else was mom-and-pop or independently owned. That made the town quaint and cute, but it wasn’t a hub of activity that two teenage girls craved. There was at least a movie theater, but it looked like it was only open on the weekends and only had two screens. As far as entertainment, that was about the extent of it, but there must have been hiking trails, and probably places to have guides take you on canoe or fishing trips. That would be fun and broaden our horizons, but I could see the look of anxiety on the girls’ faces.

The last thing I wanted was for Mariah and Jordyn to be miserably bored here, but I didn’t know how to prevent that until we got settled in. Now, a week later, the boredom was really setting in. They’d gone on walks, and I’d even bought thembikes. They’d enjoyed that for a day or two, but they’d already ridden through the whole town. They’d seen all they could see. Thankfully, they were being good sports about it.

I decided to make my famous chocolate-chip pancakes on the morning of our eighth day in Lilly Valley. They were famous because there was usually more chocolate than cake.

I handed Mariah a jug of syrup when Jordyn let it slip. “I’m so bored.” She sighed. I watched Mariah’s eyes narrow and heard a soft thump under the table. “Oww,” Jordyn hissed.

I put my spatula down and turned the stove off. “No, I want you to be honest. This is a family, not a dictatorship. You all know why we had to move?”

Jordyn nodded. “Luis?”

I nodded back at her. “I knew you guys were smart enough to figure it out.”

“It was hard to miss,” Mariah said. “You guys broke up, and then he started showing up all the time. It was… weird. I’d never been afraid of him before, but after? He didn’t act the same.”

I sighed as anger seeped into me. I hated that he’d scared my girls. It also reinforced the thought that I’d done the right thing by moving us here. The more distance between Luis and us, the better.

Mariah finally said, “We miss our friends. And it’s still kind of hard to think of this place as home. I miss the city and everything.” Being the sweetheart she was, she added, “But at the end of summer, school will start, and we’ll have a ton of new friends.”

Mariah was an amazing girl. She will grow up to be strong, smart, and kind. All the things a mother wished for her daughter, and I was grateful for her. She was trying her best to make the best out of a bad situation, to help her little sister feel better about this change. Knowing I relied on her so much had guilt gnawing at me. I depended on her to be––not a secondparent––but a second steadying influence on our home. She was a good kid and never complained about anything. She got that from her dad, one hundred percent. I missed Sam so much, and it was nice to see little flashes of him in his children every now and then.

Before I could speak more about the move, the sound of a mower erupted from across the street. All three of us jumped. It was the first sound other than our own noise we’d heard. The street was very quiet, and the neighbors seemed to keep strange hours. We hadn’t seen them at all so far other than seeing a car in the driveway.

Maddox hadn’t been out here in forever and had never met them, either. The last time he and Julie had been out here, an elderly lady had lived across the street. All he knew now was that the house had been sold a few years before, and he didn’t know who lived there now. It wasn’t a lot to go on, and it was the last bit of info I needed. Hopefully, it wasn’t some creepy peeping tom or something. The last thing I needed was to run from my home to get away from one loser, only to move in next to another one. Perhaps a family lived across the street. It would be nice for the girls to meet some kids to hang out with.

Our serious discussion was put on pause, for the time being, by the nervous excitement of meeting the neighbors. I stood and slid the pan off the stove into the sink. Before I could even turn around, Jordyn was already at the door. By the time Mariah and I got there, Jordyn had the door open and was gaping across the street. It didn’t take me long to see what she was looking at.

The neighbor was pushing a mower across his lawn. His back was turned to us, and it was a hell of a back. He was nothing but rippling muscles, shining with sweat. We stepped out onto the lawn, ogling him as he cut his grass. I could practically smell the teenage hormones coming off the girls, but honestly, I couldn’t take my eyes off him long enough to scold them.

I opened my mouth to tell the girls to go inside when he turned the mower around. I saw his face, and my blood ran cold. This could not be happening. There was no way this was possible. My life couldn’t be this complicated and cursed. There was no denying it, though. The sweat running down his face into the close cropped beard, the nose, the chin? It was my one-night stand. The possible father of my baby.

Before I could spin on my heel and sprint back into the house, he glanced up, probably finally sensing the eyes locked onto his body. His eyes slid up to mine, the look of surprise evident on his face. The moment our eyes locked, the world seemed to tilt and spin. His eyes widened in recognition. We stood like that, looking at each other for several seconds. Each second felt like an eternity––almost like we stood there like that for years, staring each other down as the world spun and aged around us.

His look of shock slowly morphed into one of confusion. Finally, a look of annoyance clouded his otherwise handsome face. Pulling his eyes away, he leaned over and turned off the mower. The sudden silence broke whatever spell I was under, and I looked at the girls. They were both staring at me in concern.

“Go inside,” I whispered, almost inaudibly.

“Mom, are you okay? Do youknowthat guy?” Mariah asked.

“No way. We just got here, she doesn’t know anybody,” Jordyn said.

Finding my voice, I barked, “Inside now. Please. And close the door.”

I was almost never short with the girls like that. I could see the surprise on their faces, but they headed inside without protest. I was glad they obeyed because he was stalking across the street toward me. Panic flooded me, and I had a sudden urge to run. It was like I was a cornered animal, and a giant beast wasstalking me, ready to pounce. My knees shook, but I clenched my hands into fists and tried to steady myself.

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