Page 18 of Midlife Wolf's Only Hope

“Did she just propose for me?” he asks me.

“I don’t see a ring,” I reply.

“Go, Aunt Klarice,” Annie says. To Val, she says, “If you like it then you better put a ring on it.”

Val laughs and says, “Fair enough.”

And then he proposes!

I just stare as he falls to a knee and produces a box with a ring. Everyone is silent and then Kiara says, “Go, Dad.”

I can’t even think. I keep nodding my head until finally, Annie says, “I think she means yes.”

I keep nodding, eyes wide and almost terrified. Finally, I blurt out, “Yes! Yes!”

There’s some laughter but I don’t hear it as I throw my arms around him and kiss him.

He says, “I was going to wait until after the divorce was official but then Kiara went and proposed for me, and then Annie taunted me and… well, what the hell was I supposed to do?”

“You did it,” I say and kiss him enough.

“Okay, okay,” Kiara says. Then, she and Annie say together, “Get a room.” They giggle like sisters.

Like sisters.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Val

Gwen and I sit down with Vince and Kiara and the kids tell us we’re stupid for wasting a few years sticking together for them. Kiara actually accuses us of forgetting we’re shifters. Shifters, in general, have a much more cavalier approach to relationships and marriage. It’s agreed we’ll proceed with the divorce right away and Gwen is happy to sell the house to me as soon as the apartment for Kiara is finished. I think it’s wise how she makes sure of that.

And I have to admit, I’m small enough of a man to be happy that the kids make disbelieving, almost disgusted faces when they realize Gwen’s love interest is her boss. Kiara says, “Mom, if he were a shifter, he’d be a squirrel for goodness’ sake!” Then, she gets a horrified expression on her face. “Oh no! He’s not a squirrel shifter, is he?”

I step in, though, and say, “If you don’t want me making fun of every boyfriend you ever have, Kiara, you better drop this.” Gwen looks at me gratefully.

Kiara says, “Well, what if I have girlfriends instead of boyfriends?”

I smile and say, “I’ll make fun of them, then. I’ll make fun of them and make sure any time you bring them home I have nine or ten hot ladies here to tempt them away from you.”

Kiara says, “Yeah, like you…” Then she shrugs. “Well, you did end up with two hot ladies in your life so I guess it’s possible.”

There’s a little more laughter and the kids leave. Gwen looks at me and says, “You want to hear something weird?”

“I’m always up for weird.”

“I’m going to miss sex with you.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Is this going to be one of those one last time conversations?”

She laughs and says, “No. It’s just… I don’t know, now that it’s out in the open, I guess it just hits a little harder. It’s just more final, I guess, that it’s over, I mean.”

“I still wish we’d paid attention to us,” I say, “but I can’t be unhappy. Do you love this guy?”

She nods. “I think so. I mean, the first time it happened, he offered to resign. It just happened on a trip. Neither of us planned it. We were both a little drunk. Anyway, he offered to resign. He offered to resign a million dollar a year job just because he didn’t want me to be insecure about my job paying about an eighth of that.” She shakes her head. “You don’t want to hear all this.”

“Sure, I do.”

“Well, the short answer is I think I’m in love with him. Especially now that I left the company. He’s a lot more relaxed and so am I.” She smiles at me and says, “and I don’t need to ask you about Klarice.”

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