prepare to relocate,’ she would have honestly taken anything, but this was beyond the scope of her imagination.
“May I take your jacket?”
The woman who greeted her was tall and intimidating, and Caroline guessed at once that this was Scarlet by her brilliant—almost certainly not natural-colored—red hair, pulled professionally up in a bun. She was the owner of the island, in charge of the entire town. She had an easy sense of power and confidence.
“Yes, please,” Caroline said, shedding the suit jacket willingly. She had dressed for an interview in winter in New York, and was already perspiring uncomfortably from both nerves and heat.
“It is cooler inside,” Scarlet said kindly, and led her within. “My name is Scarlet, welcome to Shifting Sands.”
Caroline found herself invited into a pleasant room filled with potted plants, but otherwise undecorated. Her heels were loud over the tile floor, louder than Scarlet’s. Three comfortable wicker chairs were arranged subtly facing a fourth over a small glass coffee table. Caroline swallowed her nerves and settled herself into the solo chair as she gave herself a last minute instant pep talk. She could do this interview, she would be on top of her game. She would be clever and gentle and convince them entirely that she was the best for this job. She’d practiced what to say for hours in front of the mirror. She knew her answers. She could do this.
Scarlet took the center chair opposite from her. A moment later, a strawberry-blonde woman came in. “Mrs. Henderson! I am delighted to meet you. I’m Darla Grant. Liam will be here in just a moment. We lost the mouse shifter Mrs. Asher down a drain and had to get Travis to help fish her out.”
Caroline stood to shake her hand and smile, hoping it didn’t look nervous. “Caroline, please!”
Darla smiled warmly at her with beautiful blue eyes and they sat.
“I hope you had a good trip,” Darla said conversationally.
“It was a little surprising, to be frank,” Caroline said. “But it certainly beats the commute by plane. This place is absolutely beautiful, thank you so much for having me.”
That sounded polite and professional, didn’t it? Not too nervous and overwhelmed? Hopefully it was the right blend of confident and humble.
“Ah, here’s Liam,” Scarlet said, as a tall, elegant man of Asian descent entered the room.
“I’m sorry for the delay,” he said smoothly, as Caroline rose to her feet again. She lifted her gaze to his as she offered her hand politely…and every perfectly planned speech and careful phrase vanished from her head, overwhelmed by her red panda’s sudden overwhelming rush of joy and recognition.
She was looking into the eyes of her mate.
Liam was lost.
Utterly, entirely, lost.
Caroline Henderson had excelled at every stage of the hiring process, beating out her competitors neatly with her experience, her glowing references, and her measured responses to unexpected questions. There were no other candidates at this point; this interview was only meant to be a chance for Scarlet in particular to vet her as a new member of the community and to make sure that Darla and Liam thought she would suit their elderly charges, since that was who she would most frequently be serving.
Liam had expected to like her, from her application, and from their phone interview.
He had not at all expected to look into her face and fall into her dark blue eyes, or to feel a jolt like lightning when he took her hand. She was so lovely, with her brown hair in a short pixie-cut. The hair at her ears was dyed blue, like her eyes. She wasn’t tall and she wasn’t short, and she was slim and fit under her modest, off-the-rack pantsuit.
Her oval face and button nose were the dearest thing that Liam had ever seen, burned into his memory at only the briefest of glances.
They staggered apart from each other as quickly as they could, and all but fell into their chairs.
Darla gave him a puzzled sideways look as he looked fixedly back at her, not daring to look again at Caroline.
“I understand that you have family that you would bring to Shifting Sands with you,” Scarlet said invitingly.
Caroline stared at Scarlet with blind panic. Finally, she squeaked, “Yes.”
“Can you tell us about them?” Darla encouraged kindly, when Caroline seemed incapable of going on.
“Him,” Caroline said. “Not them. My son, James.” She seemed to find some steadiness in looking only at Darla and Scarlet. Liam could not help watching her from the corner of his eyes.