Page 46 of Fighting Furry

CHAPTER SEVEN

A woman in a tie-dyed maxi dress, stepped onto the porch as Axel and I walked up the front walk. The house was a mirror image of Krista's place, except it was yellow instead of blue.

I stepped up onto the porch and held out my hand. “I'm Julie.”

I try not to stereotype or make assumptions, but the woman was dressed in tie-dye, with flowers in her hair and a tiny stud nose ring, she had delicate features, short dark hair, and enormous blue eyes, and I assumed she'd be the laid-back flower child type. She grasped my hand in her own, squeezing hard enough to hurt, and shook. “You're an idiot is what you are.”

I looked back over my shoulder at Axel, who smirked. Was that whole thing about setting me free to see if I'd come back a joke? Had he known Lucinda would be like this. “I'm sorry,” I said. “Have we met?”

“You want to live with me, rather than stay with Axel, right?”

“I've only known him a few days. It doesn't seem unreasonable to want a place of my own.”

She sniffed, her tiny nose wrinkling in an adorable way. “This is my place. You want your own place, you should talk to Herbert and have him build you one.”

“Luce,” Axel said. “Like I told you, I've already talked to Herbert and he's going to work on it.”

I glanced back at Axel again, more than a little annoyed. He chuckled. Damn him. “He's not going to build anything until he talks to you about what you want, Julie.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and turned to go, leaving my suitcase on the porch. “I'll see you at three. At the barn.”

I turned back to Lucinda. “Herbert's building me a place. Can I stay here for a bit?”

She sniffed again. “You can stay until Brooke gets back, but not a moment longer. I don't care if Herbert's done or not, you'll have to find somewhere else to stay.”

“That won't be a problem,” I said, even though I suspected it might be a huge problem.

Lucinda narrowed her eyes like she knew I was full of shit, but she opened the door and gestured me inside. “I like a clean house and I don't cook for anyone. You want to eat, buy your own food and cook it yourself. If you make a mess, steal my food, or make too much noise I will send you back to Axel.” She glared at me over her shoulder. “I don't care if he is the alpha, I'll send you back.” She couldn't be that much older than me, but she acted like she was my superior in every way.

The house was impeccably clean. So clean there were no pictures on the walls and no knick-knacks on the tables, not that there were a lot of tables or available spaces for knick-knacks.

“I understand,” I said. “I'm exhausted and I really just want a place to sleep.”

“This way.” She led me through the narrow house and pointed out a room with a twin bed and not much else. It suited me, I didn't need much else. “Don't let me know if you need anything.”

“Why are you letting me stay here?” I asked, too curious not to. “You clearly don't want me here and—”

“If I didn't want you here, you wouldn't be here. I don't know what things are like where you're from, but in Mule Creek we help each other out when necessary.”

Having fully insulted me, she spun and walked back to the front of the house. I rolled my suitcase into the bedroom, shut the door, and dropped onto the bed. I set the alarm on my phone to wake me up in three hours and was asleep before I'd taken my shoes off.

***

I was still exhausted when I woke up three hours later, and my mouth tasted like cotton, but I forced myself to sit up and get moving. My empty stomach, growling at me like a hungry lion, helped to motivate me to walk into town to the diner. It was only eleven in the morning, so I figured most people would still be sleeping, but the diner was packed. I was about to turn around and leave when Clarissa shouted my name and waved me over to her table, which was in the back corner.

I made my way over there and saw that she was with another woman, tall and thin with a face like a supermodel, but dressed like she'd just rolled out of bed, and two dirty men in shorts and t-shirts. I couldn't really make out their faces because there was so much dirt on them. And because they both sported bushy beards and long hair. They looked even more mountain man than Axel had looked when I met him.

“Hey everyone, this is Julie,” Clarissa said. “Julie this is Rowan, Herbert, and Doug. Do you want to join us for brunch?”

“Sure.” I pulled out a chair and sat, careful not to stare at Herbert and Doug. Was that dried mud in their hair or…?

“Don't mind them,” Rowan said, gesturing at the guys. “They started a mud wrestling tournament as the sun came up this morning.”

“No time for a shower?” I asked.

“This mud,” Doug said, “is a badge of honor. We beat every person who stepped into that mud pit with us.”

“Plus,” said Herbert, “mud is excellent for your pores.”

Doug slapped him on the back of his head. “Dude, spa mud is good for your pores, not the shit you dig out of the ground.”

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