Jenny wasn’t sure if she should feel insulted or not, but decided she mostly felt touched by Gizelle’s attention and Magnolia’s kindness.
Gizelle took Jenny’s hand, not appearing to notice Jenny’s reluctance to give it to her. She didn’t flinch at the claws or webbing. “I want to practice shifting with you before dinner,” she said commandingly. “I’m good at it.”
“You enjoy that,” Magnolia said with a wave over her shoulder. “I’m off to the pool deck for the rest of the afternoon! I’ve missed the sunshine!”
Jenny let Gizelle lead her in the opposite direction. Perhaps shifting would take her mind off of the memory of Travis’ heartbroken face while she decided what she was going to do about him.
It’s not what we’re going to do about him, her otter told her slyly. It’s what we’re going to do with him.
Chapter 9
In the wake of Jenny’s stormy exit, Travis bent down slowly and picked up the chair she had toppled over. He put it carefully back in place on its feet, keenly aware of the presence of Tex and Laura, and the absence of his mate.
“Well,” Tex said, full of false cheer, “that didn’t go quite the way I expected it to.”
“I’m sorry,” Laura said, more sincerely. “She’s going through a lot right now, of course.”
“Of course,” Travis agreed numbly. Lynx was pacing miserably in his head.
There was a moment of awkward silence, broken by the arrival of Graham, the lion shifter in charge of the grounds. It was odd that his entrance was the loudest thing in the room; he was as quiet as always.
Graham cleared his throat, looking from one uncomfortable person to another. “Storm hitting in a few days. Scarlet’s got me shuttering the cottages that aren’t being used,” he said gruffly. “Said Travis might have some thoughts on electrical things that need extra protection.”
“I’ll come with you,” Travis said, glad for the distraction. He picked up his toolbox and went for the stairs down. “Start at the bottom and work up?”
Graham gave one last suspicious look at Tex and Laura, then shrugged and answered by following Travis, his machete over a shoulder.
Graham was exactly the company Travis would have chosen for this task; he kept conversation to exactly what was necessary and no more.
The cottages were not built for strong winds; such weather rarely came to the island. Graham and Travis moved all the outdoor furniture and decoration into each cottage and made sure every door and window was latched securely, moving anything fragile back from windows that might get blown out.
Travis turned off the meters at each cottage, so no power would be running through them, and had Graham help him pull down a few solar panels in more precarious positions. He checked outdoor lights for stability, and screwed a few fixtures in more tightly.
Graham scanned the greenery as well, and judiciously took down branches overhanging the cottages that looked like they were a breakage risk.
Travis thought he muttered as he made every cut, and as they left the last cottage, asked curiously, “How’d you end up here, Graham?”
Graham had been the only other employee at Shifting Sands when Travis had started, though it hadn’t been long before Bastian and Breck had been hired. A series of cooks had been fired in short succession before Chef arrived with Magnolia. Getting her to stay on as a long-term resident had been a coup for the kitchen, because Chef wouldn't have stayed without her, and he had proved to be a genius at food preparation, earning his nickname within a week.
Graham was quiet so long that Travis had stopped expecting an answer. Then the gardener finally shrugged and volunteered, “Got a letter from Scarlet. Seemed like a better option than any of my others.” He didn’t elaborate about those previous options, but Travis wondered, as he had several times before, if there was a slight British accent to his words; he didn’t sound entirely American.
“You?”
Graham’s query was a surprise. He rarely pursued conversation, if he could be coaxed into it at all.
“Grew up in a native village in the middle of nowhere, Alaska,” Travis said briefly. “Went to the city to get my certifications, but cities don’t really suit me. I saw an employment ad in an underground shifter magazine I subscribed to and it sounded like a nice change of pace. I sent a resume, and got a letter back inviting me out. It was supposed to be temporary, but Scarlet never ran out of work, and I honestly can’t imagine living somewhere else now.”
Could he? Jenny must have had a life established in California, maybe she was planning to return to it.
We would follow her, Lynx assured him, even though they both shuddered at the idea of a crowded Californian city.
Graham grunted, slicing down an overhanging branch efficiently and hauling it back out of the way into the hedge. Travis knew that their brief moment of conversation had ended. He finished the last power disconnect, and double-checked the latch on the door.
Whatever the storm brought the next evening, Travis was fairly certain that the resort was ready for it.
Whatever his mate brought, he’d be ready for that, as well.
Chapter 10