Page 46 of Flare
Chapter 12
Under His Roof
She’s going to let me protect her!
On the drive to town, Ward vacillated between happiness at the thought of Emily under his roof, and anger at that SOB Andrew.
He glanced in his rearview mirror and saw Emily’s Subaru still following close behind his pickup.
Before leaving the ranch, he’d phoned Pizza on Main and put in an order for an extra-large sausage, mushroom, and olive pizza and an antipasto salad to share.
When he turned off the highway and drove down Main Street, he saw that Maggie and the other members of the festival committee had been hard at work, setting up for tomorrow’s Lavender & Lilacs Festival.
Rows of white pop-up tents now lined both sides of Main Street from end to end, their tables still bare but ready for tomorrow morning’s vendor set-up. Swags of silk lilac blossoms in white, pink, and various shades of purple wound up the lampposts, and dried lavender garlands hung on the tents.
Signs promised honey, jams, handmade soaps, pastries, chocolates, candies, and local crafts. Strands of fairy lights zigzagged overhead, waiting to cast a soft glow over the festivalonce the sun dipped behind the mountains tomorrow evening. There would be live music throughout the day, and dancing after dark.
When he reached the end of Main Street, he pulled over to the curb in front of the pizza place, which was the last business before the street ended and the road became a bridge over the river. Emily parked right behind him.
Ward didn’t miss how her gaze darted around as she got out of her car, clearly looking for danger.
“Andrew wouldn’t dare show his face in public like this, not after what he did,” he assured her, though he wasn’t completely sure what a shifter crazed by mate-separation might do.
No matter, he’d have to go through Ward first.
They walked into the pizza place together. It was crowded, as it always was on a Friday night, and he exchanged hellos with the people he knew.
Emily stuck close as he went to the counter to pick up the pizza and salad boxes already waiting there for them. He couldn’t resist slinging an arm around her shoulders, and was thrilled to feel her arm slip around his waist in return.
“My place is just around the corner,” he assured her.“It’s, uh, a work in progress, but the roof doesn’t leak and you’ll have a bed to sleep in.”
Emily turned toward him, her blue eyes serious.“I’m sure it’ll be great. Thank you again for inviting me. I know Maggie and your grandmother mean well, but I justcouldn’t…”
Her haunted expression made his chest tighten.“I won’t let anything happen to you.”
∞∞∞
“Here we are,” he said a few minutes later, after they’d both pulled into the long driveway that led from the street to the old detached garage-turned-workshop in his backyard.“Home sweet home.”
Before they left the pizza place, Ward had suggested Emily pull in first. He parked behind her to block the sight of her car from passers-by.
As Emily climbed out of her car, Ward looked at his 1920s house with an internal wince, noting the weathered blue paint he’d been meaning to refresh, the half-finished front porch railing, the stack of reclaimed barn wood beneath a plastic tarp, and the sheets of plastic-wrapped plywood boards leaning against the garage that he was planning to use for new kitchen cabinets.
His home wasn’t just a work in progress. It looked like a fucking disaster zone, if he was going to be honest with himself. He braced himself for Emily’s disappointment.
Instead, she exclaimed,“It’s so cute!” And Ward could hear the genuine appreciation in her voice.“I just love old houses. They have so much character.”
“And so many things that need fixing,” Ward replied, relieved she hadn’t hated his place at first sight.
“My grammy used to say,‘The shoemaker’s children go barefoot,’” Emily said.“I bet you spend most of your time fixing up other people’s homes.”
“True. Because I’m a sucker for a paycheck,” he joked. He went over to the back of her car and lifted the hatch.
“You don’t have to do that,” Emily protested as he pulled out her suitcases and bags.
She touched his arm. The momentary contact sent a jolt through his system. His bear radiated pleasure at her proximity.Kiss her again!
Ward sternly reminded it that Emily had just escaped one possessive shifter. The last thing she needed was another one making demands of her.Behave.
