Page 6 of Tempting Frey
We sat in a booth by the window overlooking Main Street, so Chickie could pretend he was keeping an eye on things as he stuffed his face. Whenever I ventured out during theday, folks would come up and talk to me. But Chickie, in his sheriff uniform, worked as a shield. Everyone assumed we had important town matters to discuss over lunch, and they left us in peace.
“Been a while since you’ve had dinner at our place,” my friend said. “You should come this weekend.”
“Nah. You just got your youngest back from college. I bet Phil is happy you have the house to yourselves.”
“Bullshit. You’re like family. Come whenever.” He gazed out of the window, his bushy eyebrows drawn together. “You’re on your own too much.”
Chickie had been sending me signals that Phil and he worried about me. I was over forty and unmated. In bear shifter terms, I was a tragedy in the making. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him I wouldn’t meet any nubile omegas having dinner with Phil and him, but I stopped myself at the last moment because Oliver… Oliver was back now. I was one hundred percent sure it had never occurred to his father that his bright jewel of a boy would ever look at someone like me. I shouldn’t plant the idea in Chickie’s head.
“Hey, Barclay found Calvin wandering around the forest behind his house,” I joked. “Maybe instead of going to dinners, I should be patrolling the woods.”
Chickie grunted. “Because that’s a common occurrence. Single omegas are getting lost in the mountains all the time, and when you’re in the mood to get yourself a mate, you can go pick them like mushrooms.”
I chuckled. “Would be nice, just saying.”
Bert brought us our plates, and I scooted closer to the rickety table. My mouth watered from the smell of meat and gravy.
“I have nightmares about what useless prick will come and claim our Ollie. That boy’s too pretty for his own good.” Chickiegripped the cutlery like a weapon and attacked his food with a scowl on his face.
I quickly shoved a forkful of meatloaf into my mouth to buy myself some time and rearrange my face into something average. After I swallowed, I said, “He’s still young.”
“I got Phil pregnant at twenty. Ollie’s twenty-two.” Chickie’s knife squeaked against the plate, and I winced. “At least he came back home. Phil would never say it out loud, but having all four of our kids move away from Beauville? He’d be brokenhearted. Hell, I would be too. I hate that we have to drive for hours to see our grandchildren.”
“And the guys are doing well in Green Peaks?” I hoped my friend would start talking about his three older sons and their families, but no dice.
“Sure,” he replied, and put a chunk of meatloaf into his mouth.
I didn’t know what else to say, so I ate and thought of how to change the subject without making it obvious just how much I didn’t want to talk about Oliver ever again.
Then Chickie broke the silence with, “Ollie’s different.” I almost choked on a pickle, and it took me a moment to get myself under control.
“Different how?”
“You know he can’t shift.” My friend sighed, dragging the last piece of meatloaf through the gravy on his plate. “If he were a shifter omega, he’d find a fated mate, and I wouldn’t have to lie awake at night, wondering if he’s safe. But what if there’s more to his condition, huh?”
“Didn’t Hunter tell you Oliver’s fine? Heisa shifter omega, and he’s healthy. Why shouldn’t he have a fated mate one day?” What on Earth prompted me to say that? I had no business defending Oliver.
Chickie made a sour face. “I dunno. It was easier with his brothers. I couldn’t wait to kick their lazy asses out. And look at them now. Even Reggie found himself a mate and built a house with his own hands. They have a second kid on the way, have I told you?”
“Yeah. Congratulations. Reggie’s come a long way since you had to drag him out of parties and wait on the roadside while he puked his guts out. Didn’t you put him in jail overnight that one time?”
“Don’t remind me. Raising alphas is hell. Ollie has always been the responsible one with perfect grades. The worst rebellion we got from him when he was a teen was a few choice words about politics. One teacher at the Green Peaks school kept calling us to complain that Ollie was mouthy. And Phil outright told him that our boy’s got a good head on his shoulders, so why shouldn’t he have opinions, right?”
I smiled. “I remember.”
“Phil says I’m overprotective of Ollie because he’s an omega. Which, hey, makes perfect sense to me. When I picture some rando just looking at him funny, my hand moves toward the gun by itself.”
The food got heavier in my stomach.
But I wouldn’t look at Oliverfunny. He didn’t deserve that.
With any luck, he would aim higher than paper pushing at the Beauville town hall, and I wouldn’t have to look at him at all.
Oliver did aim higher. Except he wanted to do it in Beauville.
His interview was the following Thursday, which I successfully dodged under the pretense that I couldn’t beimpartial due to my close relationship with his parents. He got the job on the spot.
Then, on Friday, I bumped into Jesse, the deputy mayor, in the town hall break room.
