Hot Blooded (Wolf Springs Chronicles) - By Nancy Holder Page 0,79
she thought, and then she tried to tell herself that that was crazy.
Justin and Jesse moved aside to let Katelyn and her grandfather in. A moment later, Katelyn found herself introducing her grandfather to Arial and Regan, who were both dressed up. Arial had chosen shiny gold to show off her blonde hair and her curves, while dark-haired Regan opted for a red cashmere sweater and black skirt. Katelyn’s heart began to pound, hoping the nasty, mean sisters wouldn’t do or say anything that would set off alarm bells.
Amazingly, though, they were both polite, seemingly on their best behavior. Their husbands were very cordial, and Katelyn couldn’t help but wonder if the alpha had ordered the good behavior, or if Cordelia’s two laid-back brothers-in-law had been able to wield some influence over their wives. Either way, Katelyn was grateful.
Lucy came out of the kitchen in a gray velour sweater and a black pencil skirt, looking much more sophisticated than Katelyn had seen her before. She gave Katelyn a hug that could not have been more awkward, and Katelyn forced herself to smile in response and hug the other girl back.
And then, finally, Mr. Fenner entered the room, also wearing a suit. His shock of white hair and tanned, leathery face belied his age. No one would have been able to tell that he was roughly the same age as her grandfather.
Wolf Springs was a small place and everyone knew about everyone else, but Katelyn had learned weeks ago that that didn’t necessarily mean everyone had actually met everyone else, and she had discovered that her grandfather had never met Lee Fenner before.
“Mr. Fenner,” her grandfather said, holding out his hand.
Lee took it. “Dr. McBride.”
Justin casually sidled over to her. “It’s okay, Kat,” he whispered.
“It’s not, and you know it,” she whispered back.
“So, it’s a good day to give thanks,” Lee said.
“I don’t know of a bad day to give thanks,” Mordecai replied with a smile.
Mr. Fenner slapped her grandfather’s back with a roar of laughter. They seemed at ease and Katelyn watched as Justin carried the wine bottle out of the room, then returned without it.
But this is still such a bad idea, she thought.
“Well, let’s eat,” Mr. Fenner finally said, leading the way out of the foyer to a formal dining room. The table and chairs matched the wood paneling of the simple but elegant space, punctuated by a fireplace and a large oil painting of an icy landscape.
Please let it be a normal Thanksgiving dinner with a cooked turkey, Katelyn silently thought as they were directed to their chairs by Regan. Mr. Fenner was seated at the head of the table and her grandfather took the seat at the foot. She sat next to him.
Because I’m the lowest-ranking pack member, she realized. It put her close to Lucy and Jesse. Arial and Regan flanked their father. Doug sat next to his wife, but Justin was placed next to Arial, with Albert on his other side, farther away from the alpha.
Interesting. The husband who had been chosen — Doug — ranked above the husband who’d been born a werewolf — Albert. She wondered what that was about. Maybe as Regan was older that gave her husband higher status. She didn’t actually know.
“You might know our family’s Scandinavian, originally,” Mr. Fenner said to Katelyn and her grandfather. “We say a traditional Norwegian table grace at Thanksgiving.”
Everyone bowed their heads, and all the Fenners, even Jesse and Lucy, murmured words in lilting language. Then Lucy, Arial, and Regan brought the food in from the kitchen. Soon the table was laden with white china serving platters of standard Thanksgiving fare. Katelyn had completely forgotten if the Fenners knew she was pretending to be a vegetarian, so she put a few small pieces of dark meat turkey on her plate and she could feel herself starting to salivate just like some kind of animal. Maybe she could pretend she was just being polite by eating it.
Conversation around the table was light-hearted, mostly gossip about people in town, but nothing vicious, just comings and goings. Her grandfather participated and didn’t once mention Cordelia’s name, for which Katelyn was thankful.
Maybe that was why Doug had been moved closer to Mr. Fenner — Cordelia’s spot at the table had had to be filled.
The adults were drinking wine, but she noticed no one drank very much of it. Her grandfather hadn’t even touched his and Katelyn wondered if they had opened his bottle of Wolf Creek.