“No, I don’t,” Teri said, exasperated. “I get tired easily, but if I’m tired, I can sit down. I can walk normally. I was just giving him directions.”
That sounded like she needed an excuse. God, she was an adult woman! Even if she’d been flirting with Shapeshifting Miller Brother (she hadn’t even gotten his name), Lillian had no right to give her hell about it like this.
But she couldn’t say that. Because fight. Because lecture in the car. Because lecture after she got home.
Teri got into the passenger side of Lillian’s car with a sigh. I’m lucky, she reminded herself. I’m lucky. I’m lucky.
* * *
Zach watched the woman he’d been laughing with a second ago get hauled away by her...sister? Probably; they looked alike, although the sister was much more made-up, her hair aggressively styled, and had a hard-set, pinched, dissatisfied expression on her face.
It was a noticeable contrast to the first woman’s open, beautiful laughter.
He’d been caught by the sight of her, stopped on the sidewalk with her face in her hands, so clearly upset by something. He still didn’t know what had bothered her so much, although it looked like she and her sister were angry with each other about something.
And then she’d asked if he needed help, which wasn’t a question Zach was used to. It had been strange to accept. And as they talked, he’d only found her more compelling. Playful, happy...and gorgeous. He’d had a hard time concentrating on her words instead of just appreciating her soft brown eyes, her flyaway blonde curls, and the generous curves that were clearly hiding under her heavy coat.
Now that the women were out of range—at least for human ears—he could hear the sister whispering, Miller boys...new in town...shapeshifters.
That last word was hissed out like an epithet. Zach flinched, even though they were far away and not paying any attention to him anymore.
Maybe he wouldn’t be having any more nice, fun conversations with that particular woman.
Zach had never lived anywhere where people knew about shifters before. Since their parents died, he and his younger brother Joel had had to hide their true selves from everyone they knew. Every time they shifted, he’d been on alert, waiting to be discovered
And the couple of times they had been seen, he’d only learned that he was right to be cautious.
Getting the park ranger jobs at Glacier, realizing that they were surrounded by shifters, that everyone seemed to know about shifters, and not mind one bit, had seemed like a fantasy come real.
He should’ve known it was too good to be true.
Of course there would be people who knew about shifters...and hated them. Of course. Shifters were weird, and different, and frightening, and Zach shouldn’t have expected any different.
But why did that woman in particular have to be one of them? She’d been so...so...he didn’t know. Something. Beautiful didn’t come close to covering it, that was for sure.
Zach forced himself to look away before they caught him staring, turn around, and head for the door marked Gina Rossellini, Chiropractor. There was no reason to let one conversation get him down so hard.
It wasn’t like he was even looking to meet women. Dating had been so far down on his priority list for so long, he’d almost forgotten what it was like. He’d always had more important things to worry about.
Although that wasn’t true anymore, was it? That was the whole reason he was here.
Joel had basically kicked him out of the house earlier, telling him to go check out the local hardware store. We’ve been here for months, Zach, he’d said. We’re unpacked. You’re doing fine. I’m doing fine. Get a hobby.
Zach had always really enjoyed carpentry and woodworking, but he’d never had the money, the time, or the space to take on real projects. He’d fiddled around with scraps of wood here and there, but when you lived crammed into a studio apartment with your brother, you worked three part-time jobs, and you were saving every penny you could, building furniture in your spare time wasn’t an option.
Now, he and Joel were both park rangers at Glacier, and while it wasn’t going to make them millionaires, having real full-time jobs—two real, full-time jobs, where they even got to work together—had completely transformed Zach’s life. Both of their lives.
Joel could spend as much time out in the wilderness as he wanted. He could shift and run, hunt, even sleep rough if he felt like it. But they had a house, a real house, to live in, here in the little rangers’ community where most of their coworkers lived.
Zach was so used to living hand-to-mouth, to having to watch out for Joel and make sure he wasn’t getting too frustrated and confined being indoors all the time, worrying about money, working constantly...he’d never lived like this.
So even after they’d settled in, and there was suddenly enough time, enough money, enough space (they had a garage, and a backyard), he hadn’t thought through what he could do with it.
Until Joel had punched him in the arm and said, I’m not kidding. Go buy some tools or something. Half the guys are building something in their garages, I know you always wanted to try your hand at building furniture or whatever.
So he’d asked around, and he’d gotten directions to the hardware store. Obviously he should’ve made sure he’d recognize it when he saw it, but now he was here and he had money in the bank to buy some quality tools for himself.
So there was no reason to still be thinking about the woman who’d shown him where it was.