Zach knocked on the front door and then entered. “Hey, Mom,” he called.
His mother came out of the back where the kitchen was located. Mrs. G instantly focused on Cassidy. She smiled and rushed up to them. “I’m so glad you came over, Zach.” She held out her hand to Cassidy. “I’m Zach’s mom, Teresa.”
“Cassidy. Nice to meet you.”
She then turned to Mike and then gave him a warm hug. “And you! I haven’t seen you in ages. You promised you’d stop by more often.”
“Sorry, Mrs. G. I’ll try to do better.”
“I’ll hold you to it.”
If he and Zach were lucky enough to be in a relationship with Cassidy, Mike imagined they’d stop by more often.
“Something smells good,” Zach said.
“Come back into the kitchen and find out.”
Cassidy leaned over to Zach and asked if she could shower first. She had whispered the question, but Mike had heard her.
“Sure.” He turned to his mother. “Cassidy has been holed up in our cabin for two weeks. Would it be all right if she showered first?”
“Oh, my, yes. Your sister won’t be here for another ten minutes. I believe she is bringing some old clothes for Cassidy.”
“Really?” Cassidy said. “That is so nice of her.”
“Let me show you where you can clean up. I know there are some clothes Tawny left that she'll never use again. I should have donated them a long time ago, but I keep putting it off. Zach said you’ll be staying the night.”
“If it’s not too much trouble, I’d appreciate it.”
“Of course not. Come with me.”
Mike handed back her backpack. “Hurry.”
When she smiled at him, Mike could feel the hairs grow thicker on his face. He placed his hands behind his back so she wouldn’t spot his nails growing.
As soon as Cassidy was out of sight, he stepped next to Zach. “This is crazy.”
“What is? I mean, it’s all surreal, but what specifically are you talking about?”
“That Cassidy is my mate.”
Zach grinned. “You meanourmate.”
“Yes, our mate. So, what’s our next step?”
Zach wrapped an arm over Mike’s shoulder. “After we have dinner and make sure Cassidy is in a good place, we go back to your place and clean it like it has never been cleaned before. We don’t want her to be turned off before we’ve had a chance to prove to her that we all belong together.”
“Don’t you have some relative that owns a maid service we could hire?”
Zach laughed. “Not that I know of, but maybe Cassidy would like to start such a company.”
“Let’s see what interests her first. I was thinking about asking my folks if they could use someone at their landscaping company.”
“I like it, but is there much to do in the winter?”
“They have a greenhouse where they grow flowers. The problem is that since her clan grows their own food, it might be too close to what Cassidy does at home.”
"We'll keep that option open, but we should call around for other options." Zach nodded to the stairs. “Mom’s back.” He turned to his mother. “Everything okay?”