“What do you want?” Harrison said harshly. What was Arlo playing at? What could he possibly have to say to the granddaughter of the woman who’d just insulted his mate? “If your freezers are playing up again, I think that can wait until after the storm.”
“It’s not the shop. There’s something you need to know,” Tessa blurted out. Her eyes darted from side to side. “About… about what happened this afternoon.”
“It’s all right,” Arlo said softly. “There’s no way your grandmother or any of her lot will hear you in here.”
Tessa’s mouth jerked downward. “Oh, I know. They’re all holed up at the parlor, cackling.” She took a deep breath and looked Harrison in the eye. “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but I can’t keep it to myself. I heard Gran and Grandpop talking last night. According to Gran, she’s the reason Lainie was kicked out of Hideaway in the first place.”
“Kicked out?” Harrison was stunned. “I didn’t know she used to live here. That explains…”
He stopped. That explains why being here makes her so upset. “She told me she wasn’t close with her grandparents,” he said slowly.
“Yeah, Gran was really proud of that one,” Tessa said, her mouth twisting. “She was practically crowing about it last night.”
“When did this happen?”
“Before you moved here. Either of you.” Tessa nodded her head to include Arlo. “Honestly, I don’t know how many people here would know about it, though, even people who’ve lived here forever. Gran seems to have hushed it up really well… except when the temptation to brag becomes too much, I guess.”
Arlo cut in. “What Tessa’s saying is, fifteen years ago, Lainie and her mother were made to leave Hideaway Cove. Because her father had married a human, and Lainie wasn’t born a shifter.”
“That’s it? Just because they were human?”
Tessa snorted. “That’s enough, apparently. Gran says this town is a sanctuary for shifters, and that means no humans allowed.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Is it?” Arlo asked. “Think about it. The outside world isn’t exactly a friendly place for shifters.”
Harrison exchanged a look with him. True, neither of them had exactly had a happy life before they found Hideaway. The stress of constantly hiding who—well, what—you were was a constant tension in the outside world.
“But Lainie’s related to shifters,” he argued. “They broke up her family, for what? Did they think she would betray her own grandparents to the outside world?”
Arlo shrugged, looking miserable. Tessa didn’t meet his eyes.
Harrison groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. “Fine. I’m going to go ahead and assume their reasons were ass-stupid, then. And I’m going to talk to Lainie.”
He stalked past Arlo and Tessa, who was still looking miserable. He grabbed his coat and keys, and was about to leave when he banged into Pol.
Pol was pale, almost green under his golden tan. Harrison paused. “Are you all right?”
Pol shru
gged, flashing a weak grin at Harrison. “Power surge. Everyone’s gone home and turned on the heating. I’m fine, I just need to carb-load and crash.”
“Look after yourself, all right?” Harrison frowned as Pol staggered through to the waiting room and flopped down on one of the sofas. But he didn’t have time to deal with Pol’s problems right now.
He drove to the B&B, rain pummeling the roof of his truck. The noise was like a jackhammer driving straight to his brain.
I have to get this right. I have to explain—everything. Shifters. The mate bond. That her grandparents didn’t want to send her away, they just didn’t have a choice.
And I’m going to make sure she knows there is no way in hell I’m going to let the Sweets get away with this.
He just had to find the words to say it.
He parked in the empty space in front of the B&B, and splashed up to the front door. It opened almost before he started knocking, and Mrs. Hanson stared up at him. Her face fell.
“She’s not with you?” she said.
“Who’s not with me?” Rain was trickling down Harrison’s neck. “You mean Lainie? Isn’t she here?”