“Good,” Carlos said, heartfelt.
He turned to shake Lynn’s hand. He hadn’t spent as much time with Lynn when he was last here, but he remembered her being a solid, reliable woman. Her handshake was firm, and she said, “Welcome back,” in a low but musical voice.
Ken took up a position next to her, just barely touching. She must be a good grounding influence on him, Carlos thought.
“Happy to be here,” he said. “Ready to see the sights, take in the Park, all of that.”
“We got sights,” Ken said. “The Park is something else.”
“I remember.” He’d seen it briefly when he’d been here for Cal’s wedding; they’d all taken a quick hike through some of the fields and forests. But he was eager to explore it more. Mountains stretched around them, rising alongside the road as he’d driven in, and he could see how a man—even a shifter—could spend a lifetime here without running out of new territory to explore.
“How about dinner before we go on any runs through the woods?” Lynn suggested practically.
“Absolutely. My treat,” Carlos said. “As a thank you for putting up with me while I’m here. There’s a diner we went to before,” he pushed on, overriding any protests that the others were making. “Where Stella was working. I forget its name, but the food was excellent.”
“Oliver’s,” Stella confirmed. “Let’s go, then.”
***
Pauline
It had been an unrelentingly horrible day so far. After the bitter truths of the morning, Pauline had found it almost impossible to concentrate on work. She’d dropped a plate—she never dropped things—which had shattered in the middle of the room, leaving all the customers staring at her. She’d misheard two orders, which had cost her a tip from a tourist couple who were probably leaving a bad Yelp review right now.
Then she’d gotten chewed out by Ethel, the manager, which had made her feel like she was an irresponsible teenager instead of an experienced forty-five-year-old woman.
So when the big party came through the door and was seated at one of her tables, she groaned silently. Another opportunity to screw up had just been handed to her.
But when she ventured out with her notebook, she realized that it wasn’t a group of strangers—it was Stella, her former coworker, with her sister Lynn and their mates, and a man Pauline felt like she recognized, but couldn’t put her finger on how.
He was big, and Hispanic-looking, with warm brown skin and dark hair in an expensive-looking cut. He was one of those men who had eyelashes that women would kill for, long and dark and surrounding deep, liquid brown eyes.
And he was big.
It was the first thing she’d noticed, and she had to circle around to it again, because it was so apparent. Even next to Stella and Lynn’s mates, who were big enough guys, he was tall and broad. It was somehow even more obvious because he was wearing a very, very nice suit. It fit him perfectly, and it must have cost a ton of money.
Then he looked at her, and with the expression that came over his face, she remembered.
It was a focused, intent look. Not quite predatory, but there was a laserlike intensity to it. As though she was the only thing he could see.
He’d looked at her like that once before. He’d come in when Stella was having that trouble with her ex, as part of the troop of handsome men she’d had protecting her, just before she’d quit.
He must be friends with Stella’s mate, then. Visiting from out of town? He’d only come in the one time, before. Pauline knew because she’d looked for him, the next day, and the day after that.
And he hadn’t come back. She’d hardly been able to hold the details of his face in her head, because she’d been too caught up in that stare. She’d known, then, that she’d recognize it instantly if she ever saw it again.
And here it was.
Pauline almost tripped as she approached the table. She was having a hard time keeping her eyes on anything but that thousand-yard stare.
“Hi, um,” she stammered, “my name is Pauline, and
I’m going to be your server today—”
“Hi, Pauline.” Stella smiled warmly. She looked a lot happier, and a lot steadier, now that she wasn’t working at Oliver’s anymore. She’d always been a little twitchy, a bit forgetful, and she’d struggled a little with the attention that was necessary to keep orders straight. Ethel had always been on her case.
Now, though, she was relaxed, smiling, her shoulder brushing her mate’s arm as she leaned into him.
Pauline tried not to be jealous. It was good that Stella was happy, that she’d found a mate. It was certainly good that her awful ex was going to jail.