“Tomorrow,” she agreed. I’m sure I can find some way to—don’t think “fit him in”. Too late. Ugh. Some way to make it work.
It would mean leaving Hideaway Cove late and arriving home even later, but she was sure it would be worth it.
“I’ll call you,” she said, and slipped out the door before Harrison could convince her to stay. Or before she convinced herself.
CHAPTER SIX
HARRISON
Harrison woke up with the morning birdsong. He groaned. The birds were gulls, so their style was more drunken karaoke than Church choir.
*Keep it down out there!* he hollered, and heard their answering laughter in his head.
*What’s the matter Mr. Galway? Late night?*
Jools. Of course she’d seen him and Lainie leave the restaurant the night before. She must have told her siblings. Hell, half the town probably knew about it by now.
Harrison rolled over, stretching out as the sun warmed his skin. He hadn’t bothered to pull the curtains when he finally made it to bed last night. He liked to watch the stars as he fell asleep, and wake with the sun. Except from the angle of the light pouring in his window, he’d slept right through sunrise and for several hours longer.
This morning, it wasn’t only the sun that warmed him. Maybe that was why he’d slept in so long. He felt deeply content, in a way he’d never thought possible.
His boss, old Mr. Mackaby, had told him it would be like this when he finally met his mate. Depending on their animal type, different shifters reacted in different ways. No one in town had ever heard of a griffin shifter before Harrison came along, but Mr. Mackaby said that one thing all shifters shared when they finally met their mate was a feeling of great peace. Like everything was right in the world.
Well, Harrison certainly felt that.
What else did the old man say? Harrison thought back. Peace, and protectiveness. That was it.
He thought about Lainie. She’d been happy when she left in the early hours of the morning, he knew that. She’d smiled, and laughed. A complete contrast to how she’d been when he first saw her in the restaurant, closed-off and tense.
Well, she wouldn’t have to be like that again. She deserved to feel safe, and welcome, wherever she went. And she would. He’d make sure of that.
Somehow.
First, he had to convince her that last night wasn’t a one-time thing. If only he wasn’t expecting that other out-of-towner today. The job was meant to take the whole day, which didn’t leave him much time to catch up with Lainie.
Maybe if she stayed in Hideaway a little longer than planned, they could get to know each other better…
His thoughts strayed to Pol, with his abilities to manipulate electronics. No. He wouldn’t ask the other shifter to break Lainie’s car to keep her in town. That would be wrong.
Hadn’t she said she had family in Hideaway? Her grandparents—that was it.
If they’d lived in Hideaway, they must have been shifters. There wasn’t a single human living in the town, after all. And if they were shifters… maybe the conversation ahead of him wouldn’t be so difficult. If Lainie already knew about shifters, she must know about mates, as well.
Harrison racked his brains, trying to remember if he had known any Eaves in the time he’d lived in Hideaway.
Eaves. Why was that name so familiar? He stared out the window. His house was on the south end of the bay, where the land curved around. The view out his window took in a slice of the ocean, as well as the town, and beyond it, Lighthouse Hill. His eyes traced the winding road that climbed
up the side of the hill, up to the rambling, half-derelict old house…
His eyes widened. The old Eaves house? How had he not made the connection before?
But if she was here about her grandparents, and her grandparents were old Mrs. and Mr. Eaves, then that meant…
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Harrison got out of bed and pulled on some clothes, still berating himself for being so thick. He’d been so blown away by Lainie, his brain hadn’t been able to put two and two together.
He took the stairs three at a time. Who was knocking on his door at this hour? Pol and Arlo had their own keys. The only job he had scheduled for today was…
He opened the door, already sure who was behind it.