Page 3 of The Boy With The Sharp Teeth
"Yes,"her grandfather answered for her. He had his own look of worry on his face ather news. "I thought it would be a great spot for her to explore and takepictures."
"Mmm,"Mr. Waatese rubbed at the back of his neck as he nodded in agreement, but shecould see by the crease on his forehead he was still displeased by what shesaid. Turning to her, he looked at her directly. "Tell me, what color wasthis wolf?"
Standingwell over six feet tall and built like a Samoan, Mr. Waatese was part of thelarge group of Katzie First Nation people that settled in Tarki and Antor Fallsa generation back. Originally from British Columbia, the Katzie people weresaid to have just appeared one night in both towns bringing nearly a hundredpeople to each town. As expected, there were some locals against their suddenappearance, calling it aninvasion. But despite the initial obstacles,the Waatese clan had integrated themselves perfectly into the societies untilno one, well, mostly no one, could say a bad thing about them. Mr. Waatese hadbecome Tarki's unanimous handyman, plumber, and construction foreman, there wasnothing he could not build or fix. Since her grandfather was older now, Mr.Waatese took it upon himself to come cut the large yard surrounding theproperty with only her grandmother's roasted lamb as a monthly payment.
"Itwas black with golden eyes," she answered, looking from her grandfather toMr. Waatese, whose frown only grew deeper. When he didn't say anything more,she pressed further. "Have you seen that one before?"
Asif jarred from his thoughts, Mr. Waatese shook his head and smiled. "Yes,and don't worry that one is harmless, but…" he paused, giving her aserious look, which was rare for the man who always had an easy-going smile andpersonality to match. "It's best not to tempt him."
Chapter 4
Adjustingthe heavy brass samovar in her arms, Sana winced at the heavy thud of one ofher boxes hitting the ground as the moving men unloaded the truck.
Steppingforward to catch the eye of the man who she assumed was the leader of the otherthree men that had initially piled out of the truck upon arrival, she stoppedhim.
"Please,can they be more careful?" She forced herself to ask, despite the knot ofanxiety in her stomach. Unlike her mother and brother, she just wasn't builtfor possible confrontation. Her whole life, she detested situations that forcedher to assert herself or make her wants known. It was a trait her motherconstantly criticized her for. "I know you guys might be on a tightschedule," she attempted to mollify any possible edge to her tone."But I'm afraid you might break something in your rush to get done."
Wearinga dingy, badly stained company t-shirt, the head-mover gave her a tired lookshe couldn't be sure was for her benefit only or simply his permanent face."Ma'am, I can promise that we aren't damaging your things. The boxes areheavy, and they simply sound like that when we set them down," heexplained with a dragging tired sigh that underlined each word.
Thespeech was so dry and rehearsed, Sana was positive he had probably said itdozens of times before.
"But…"she opened her mouth to speak again as she adjusted the samovar to her otherarm, but the growling sound of an engine captured both of their attentions.
Thesight of the motorcycle coming towards them up the narrow street filled herwith a different wave of anxiousness. Black hair gleamed in the sunlight as therider slowed to a stop a few feet away. Swinging one leg over the bike, Zachgrabbed a heavy-looking tool bag strapped to the back of his bike with one handas she and the grimy moving man watched. Pathetically, she couldn't help butnotice the bulge of Zach's big, bronze bicep curl and harden just below theline of his black t-shirt sleeve as he hefted the weight of the bag. He was somuch bigger than he used to be. When did he get this big? Yesterday, she justassumed most of the bulk was his thick jacket. It wasn't—dear God, it wasn't.
Straighteningaway from the bike, Zach turned and walked towards the house, giving her anindiscernible look before his gold gaze hardened on the mover standing next toher, giving him a scrutinizing glare. Cabinets, oh yes, she remembered he washere to finish putting on the cabinet doors in the master bathroom, and then hewas gone. Trying to refocus herself, she turned back to the mover, but the manalready took her moment of distraction to flee.
Zachwas halfway up the porch stairs when the resounding thud of one of her boxeswent tumbling carelessly to the ground. Sana didn't get the chance to evenconsider what she would even say before they all heard the reverberating soundof Zach's angry voice bouncing off every surface.
"Hey,"Zach's deep bark captured everyone's attention immediately.
Onemover, just beyond the front door behind Zach, and the remaining three out onthe lawn all froze.
"I'monly going to say this once." Taking one threatening step down the stairs,Zach pointed one damning finger at the mover in charge. "If I hear any ofyou dropping one more fucking box, not only will you not get paid for this, butyou will drive all the way back to Seattle with an assortment of broken bonesbetween the four of you. "
Sanacould hardly believe what she was hearing, much less have the capabilities ofresponding. Her mouth just gaped open as she stared from Zach's angry face tothe befuddled head-mover.
"Youcan't…you can't say…" The mover stuttered in outrage, finally finding hisvoice.
"Ican't what?" Zach's eyebrows shot up in challenge, and Sana could swearshe caught a glimmer of excitement pass through his eyes. "Say that again.I couldn't quite hear you." Zach dropped his tool bag with a heavy thumpand took another step down the porch steps.
Thehead-mover said nothing. None of them did. They all just stood frozen to Zach'soverwhelming dominating energy as it crackled in the air around them. Gettingno answer, Zach pointed to the box that fell to the ground earlier and spokeagain, this time softer and somehow much more menacing. "Take the boxesout of the truck, carefully set them down in the appropriate rooms, then getthe hell out of here."
Themen said nothing as they quickly and obediently started moving, working with alevel of diligence and care they definitely didn’t possess before.
Walkingover to Zach with the heavy samovar still clutched in her arms, Sana waiteduntil the movers were out of hearing range before she turned on him. "Whydid you do that?" she hissed.
"Becauseyou wouldn't," he answered dryly as he turned from her to watch one of themovers come and grab another box. From the look on the nervous man's face as hecarefully hoisted the box, Sana knew the weight of Zach's stare was unbearable.
"Youare right I wouldn't," she argued. "I could never threaten a man.What if they call the police?"
Zachshrugged. "Unlike in the past, the sheriff in Tarki is a Waatese now,including the Sheriff in Antor Falls, and the one in Gaulding is a…familyfriend.”
Sanadidn't even know what to say to that.
Reachingfor the samovar in her arms, Zach's knuckles brushed against her breast as hetook the heavy tea urn from her. Sana had to restrain herself from jumpingback. Glancing away, she tried to think of something to say. Not waitingaround, Zach walked up the stairs balancing the samovar in one arm and bendingto grab his dropped tool bag with the other before walking through the openfront door. With no real choice, Sana followed him inside. Stopping in thedining room, Zach sat the heavy brass tea urn onto the built-in buffet facing thetable and picture window before turning to go upstairs.
Shestood there staring at the placed tea urn in silence for minutes as the soundof movers' footsteps echoed above and around her in the house. Zach remembered.He remembered everything, right down to where her grandparents' samovar used tosit.
