“Okay, well that’s weird, and you’re weird.”
“Pot, kettle.”
Sam stuck her tongue out in response, and Violet rolled her eyes while pulling on a glove. There. That wasn’t so hard. And she would be back. Eventually. Maybe. Sort of.
“Alright, can I tell you more about this guy, now, or are you going to keep complaining that we’re not the sort of women to have serious relationships.”
Violet sighed again as she set down her tray, ready to get to work. “Go ahead. Tell me about this guy.”
“Okay, so you know that I normally like them short, so you’re going to die when I say this guy is tall. Like... taller than a door frame tall...”
Violetstaredatthephone on her kitchen counter, the one she only ever used for one thing. It was weird, how witches stuck to landlines, given how that meant laying actual wires, and the whole shifting of things meant having to use spells... Yes, her mother had a cell phone, but she was refusing to answer the thing! She had a sneaking suspicion it was because the elders refused to learn how to use cell phones, but also because most shifters didn’t have pockets when in their other forms.
Landlines were reliable, and the ringers could be loud, so a shifter miles away could hear it.
So why the hell did no one answer when she called Garoureve?
She had tried it a few times over the years. Wondered if anyone was in the house. Even if no one lived there, the wolves should be able to hear it. The sound was annoying as hell.
So why did no one answer?
“What’re you thinkin’ about so hard?” Henrik asked. She knew he was back from working next door, had heard his feet clunking up the stairs, but she hadn’t stopped looking at the phone, hiding it. Did she want to talk to him about calling? Or—
“Still thinkin’ about callin’ your mom?”
“Yeah.”
A lie. An immediate lie. She had lied. And she knew he knew she lied. He would’ve heard her heart skip.
He paused behind her. She didn’t turn around.
They were both silent.
“Well, I’m gonna get a shower, and sing to myself while I’m there, so... if you were thinkin’ about makin’ a phone call, I doubt I would hear much of anythin’.”
She fucking loved him so much, because even though she had lied, he was letting it go, because obviously, yeah, she was thinking hard about something.
“Mmmk. I’ll get changed while you’re in there.”
Changed, because they both had to cover up completely if they wanted to touch.
She turned around just in time to watch Henrik’s jean clad butt enter the bathroom, the curves of it making her smirk before she turned back around to look at the phone. There was a good chance no one would answer. No one ever had before. There was no reason that would change today.
Unless no one did answer.
She finally forced herself to pick up the phone, to make the call. Her fingers shook as she dialed the number, and then it started to ring... and ring... and ring...
No one answered.
It didn’t make her feel any better.
Chapter 14
“Ihaveasurprisefor you.”
Violet looked up from the stack of paperwork she was going through, wincing a little as she took in the man standing in the doorway. Wait, when had he gotten out of bed? And dressed? And now wearing clothes that were covered in dirt?
“What time is it?” she asked, blinking a little as she took in the sunlight.