It didn’t take long for the two of them to get bored of waiting around.
Grey wondered what sort of hunter Matt was. He didn’t know much about bears’ hunting style, but a big cat with that kind of attention span would be going hungry. Grey could stay crouched against a rock, perfectly camouflaged by his coloring, for hours if he had to, waiting for something unwary to wander by.
Something like Matt.
Maybe Matt was the sort of shifter who ate frozen dinners from the grocery store and only shifted when he felt like being intimidating. That seemed to fit his personality.
They poked their heads into the diner and came out a second later, obviously frustrated that he’d somehow disappeared. Grey figured he’d be dealing with a lot of scaredy-cat insults the next time he ran into Matt.
That was fine. Matt could insult him as much as he wanted as long as he left Alethia alone. And when Grey finally got his claws into Matt, he knew who’d be the scared one.
After exchanging some angry words, the two of them got into Matt’s rusty truck and drove away, gunning the engine and squealing the tires.
Grey waited a few minutes to make sure they weren’t coming back, and then climbed down from the tree and shifted back to human. It was time to kill a few hours until he could meet Alethia.
As he was headed for his truck, though, his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, and smiled to see the screen showing Cal. “Hello?”
“Grey, I’ve got some good news for you.” Cal’s easy tone was music to his ears.
Grey’s smile inched wider. He’d been waiting for this call for a long time, and it wasn’t just because Cal was terrible at staying in touch. “Oh yeah?”
“Ranger Mike Riorden just gave his notice not too long ago. He’s retiring at the end of the month. I mentioned you to the boss a long time ago. He told me today that they’re going to offer you the job.”
Grey let out a long breath. “Thanks, Cal.”
“Hey, don't thank me. I just didn’t want to end up with another idiot chucklehead like they hired last time. So we’ll see you up here in Montana before long?”
“Sounds like a plan. End of the month, you said?”
“That’s right. Pack your stuff and give your notice, you got two weeks to get your butt up here and start your brand-new job.”
“I have a few things to take care of down here first, but I’ll be heading north as soon as I can, I promise.”
“Don’t wait too long. I can think of five or six chuckleheads from town who’d love to snatch this job up. It’s your responsibility to save my poor park from them.”
Grey made himself laugh. “I’ll do my very best, Cal.”
“You’d better.” The line went dead. Grey put his phone back in his pocket, the smile fading from his face.
Suddenly he had a deadline.
Before, he’d been thinking that if he couldn’t get Alethia to see that he was telling her the truth now, there’d always be another shot. Prescott was a small town. He could start doing his grocery runs, nights out, whatever, here instead of Ryder’s Lodge, and he was sure to run into her. Hell, she worked at what was probably the only diner in town. There would be plenty of opportunities to see her again.
Now, he had two weeks to pack up and move to another state for a second chance at the only job he’d ever really wanted.
If he had to give it up to keep Alethia, he would.
But he didn’t just want to go. He wanted to get her out with him. She wanted to leave, and the longing in her voice when she’d talked about it had been almost thick enough to touch. He could do that for her.
But he had to do it soon.
***
When Ali got off work, she wasn’t sure what to expect.
Paul and Matt lurking outside, maybe. Or nothing at all, Grey having given up and gone home. Or all of them, getting into a fight before her eyes.
Instead, though, Paul and Matt were nowhere in sight, and Grey was leaning against his truck in the parking lot, watching the door.