Page 38 of The Tide is High

Jennifer nodded, happy as she munched her food. Evie winced again; while she wasn’t backwards in coming forwards and throwing the man out of the house, she did get the feeling that Jennifer might protest.

One cup of coffee, and they were out the door to the bar. Nobody could protest that. But what would she do with her wayward niece and the child’s newfound interest in Parker and his wolf? That would take a little thinking about.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

~

Faith wrestled the heavy sign outside the bar and turned at the sound of vehicles pulling into the car park. She shielded her eyes from the sun and smiled as Parker’s truck rolled in behind Evie’s car.

Evie didn’t dawdle; no sooner had she turned off the engine than she was out of the car and hurrying Jennifer out. She didn’t turn to look at Parker as he unfolded his large frame from inside the truck and reached inside for his tools.

Evie headed straight for Faith with a look that said she was tired, frustrated, and exasperated all in one. Faith nodded in Parker’s direction. “Took a stray home and brought it back?”

“Not even remotely funny,” Evie hissed in a low whisper as Jennifer walked by and into the bar with a wave for the shifter. “Ugh!”

“Ganging up on you?” Faith asked.

Evie took a long breath and held it as Parker walked across the lot towards the guesthouse and disappeared around the corner. “Looks that way,” she replied. “I found him in mykitchenthis morning; Jen had invited him in forcoffee.”

“Did he make coffee?” Faith asked, amused.

“He did,” Evie said, frowning and suspiciously eyeing her friend. Surely somebody was on her side.

“Are you miffed you didn’t get coffee in bed?”

Evie’s mouth quivered as she realised the first words out of her mouth was about to be things she couldn’t repeat in front of Jennifer. “That’s so…”

“Look, you’ve got two choices, mate or grab Jen and run for the hills,” Faith said. “I know what I’d do, but you’re you.”

“I know what you’d do,” Evie said, reaching for the door handle. “Throw me under the mating bus and dig up the treasure.”

“Why does everyone think I’m so gung-ho for the damn treasure?” Faith asked, walking into the bar behind Evie and allowing the door to close behind her.

“Because we know you,” True said, and even though her eyes were smiling, Faith felt like she meant every unspoken word.

“The selfish one, the one who is unpredictable, dangerous, unreliable,” Faith said, counting the words off on her fingers.

“Nobody said any of that,” True replied.

“If I thought that I wouldn’t let you anywhere near Jennifer,” Evie said.

Amy shook her head. “Maybe that’s what you see when you look in the mirror, girl, but we don’t see that.”

“What’s going on?” Hope asked, walking from the kitchen into the bar and finding the atmosphere a little frosty.

“Apparently, I’m not as bad a person as I allegedly think I am,” Faith said, unsure how to take what she’d just heard.

“I’ve been telling you that for years,” Hope said. Then she turned her attention to Evie. “How goes the wooing?”

“Jennifer invited him in for coffee this morning,” Evie said, shrugging.

Amy snorted a chuckle. “Sounds like he’s already made a good impression on twinkle toes.”

“Not very nice when your own stab you in the back, is it?” Serendipity said from her cushion on the back of the bar.

Everyone spun to look at the cat just as Nana walked into the room. “Oh, suck it up, sourpuss; nobody threw you out of the guesthouse; you chose to leave.”

“I’m sure inviting a ghost in didn’t help,” Faith said.

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