Wolf Tracks - Bianca D'Arc Page 0,8
waitress. Lisa left the table with Melissa, heading for the ladies room, but Helen stayed with the guys. She was feeling a bit panicky and sad, knowing this might be the last few minutes she ever spent with Jim. How had he grown so important to her in such a short time?
They all stood and began heading toward the exit once Jim had filled out the credit card receipt with a generous tip for the waitress. He handed it to the woman on their way down the aisle toward the door. There was a small vestibule where they waited for Lisa and Melissa to rejoin them, Martin’s eyes on the inside of the diner, through the glass of the doors.
Helen saw Lisa and Melissa heading toward the door about the same time the men did, and Jim opened the outer door for Helen. She went through it, out into the late afternoon sunshine. With any luck, she would be home before full dark had fallen.
Jim paused at the bottom of the stairs with Helen while Martin waited for his women folk in the vestibule. This was, perhaps, the last moments she would ever have alone with Jim, but she couldn’t figure out what to say. Luckily, he seemed to have something to tell her as he turned to face her.
“It’s probably best if you continue as far as you can with Martin and Lisa. I’m sorry I can’t travel with you all the way, but duty calls.”
“I understand. I’m sorry we didn’t get more time together,” she said, feeling bold.
Jim’s smile lit her insides. “Me too,” he replied in a low voice, his blue eyes holding her gaze as if he could see within.
Maybe he could. Maybe that was some secret werewolf thing. Or a Navy SEAL thing. Helen couldn’t be sure. But whatever it was, Jim had that magic touch, and it sent her senses spinning.
“Will you text me when you get home, just so I know you made it there safely?” he asked. She had his cell number. They’d all exchanged contact numbers before setting out on this little convoy.
“Oh, I was just thinking that I’d probably be home before it got really dark. But yes, I’ll send you a text. I—” She had been going to tell him to call her anytime, but Martin and his family rejoined them, halting her words. Darnit.
“We’re not too far from home now, either,” Martin added, no doubt having heard what Helen had just said. She still had to get used to shifter hearing. “We’ll be taking Route 78 northward, then we get off at exit 10.”
“So do I,” Helen told the bear family with some amazement. “Our farm is just outside Frystown.”
“You’re kidding,” Lisa piped up. “We go farther south, past Shaefferstown, near the wildlife preserve.”
“I go there in the fall to watch the migrating birds,” Helen said, excited by the idea that this nice family lived so near to hers. “You should stop in at the farm and have dinner before heading home,” she offered. “We always have plenty to eat, and I’m sure your house has been closed up for a while, right? You probably don’t have anything fresh in the refrigerator.”
“We were going to stop at the supermarket on the way home,” Lisa admitted.
“Don’t do that. I’m sure my folks will send you home with plenty of farm-fresh provisions. At least enough to get you through until you can get your house up and running again.”
“Are you sure they won’t mind your inviting strangers over?” Lisa asked, seeming hesitant.
“Mind? Are you kidding? Mom is probably already packing a cooler of goodies for you to take home. She has a gift of foresight, you know.” Helen chuckled. It was no less than true, as these people would learn when they met the matriarch of her family.
“You’ve already eaten their food,” Jim put in. “All that meat and dairy at Kiki’s was from their farm and their neighbor’s dairy.
Martin actually groaned. “That was some good food,” he added.
“All organic,” Helen offered, grinning. “Just don’t be surprised if they want to ask you impolite questions about being a bear shifter. We only have wolves in the family so far, and they’re a very new addition. They’re also quite distantly related, so we don’t see them much. I know my folks, and my siblings, are really curious.”
“We don’t generally talk about ourselves, you know,” Martin said, but she could tell he was going to accept because the food had already won