Wolf Tracks - Bianca D'Arc Page 0,81

by giving her a big hug and a tearful thanks for helping her great-grandmother, which made Helen’s heart fill with joy. She loved helping people, and by helping Miss Felicity, she’d helped Felicia, as well.

What was it Jim had said? He loved it when a plan came together. Yeah, Helen thought, she agreed wholeheartedly.

Helen smiled as she walked toward the mayor’s office. It was time she reasserted herself as part of the team.

Jim ran into Helen on the steps of city hall. He was just leaving the meeting with Joe and Shane.

“I was just heading back to the B&B to talk to you,” he told her.

She smiled up at him, and he felt his heart skip a beat with happiness. “What’s up?”

“They found some evidence that needs to get to Grizzly Cove as soon as possible.” Jim took her arm and escorted her down the block, heading back toward the B&B. “I volunteered to fly it there, but we have to leave, right away.”

“I can come, too?” she asked, as if surprised.

Jim stopped walking and turned to look at her. “If you want. I didn’t mean to imply you had to, but I thought maybe you’d want to see this through.” Did she want to go home? Was their partnership at an end, now that she’d saved him, more than once?

Why did that thought hurt so much? Damn.

“You bet I want to see it through,” Helen replied, and he found he could breathe, again. “I just wasn’t sure you’d want me around, now that your mission is fulfilled.”

“Not want you around? Is that what you think? Even after last night?” Jim cursed under his breath. “Honey, if you couldn’t tell how much I want you around, then I wasn’t doing my job right last night.” He bent down and kissed her gently. “For the record, I definitely want you around, for as long as you want to stick around.”

“That sounds good to me,” she said in a low, sexy voice.

If they weren’t standing in the middle of the sidewalk on a busy street, he probably would have kissed her a whole lot more. As it was, he turned, tucking her under his arm as they resumed walking back to the B&B.

“Are you okay with leaving today? Were you going to do more for Miss Felicity?” he asked as they walked. “Maybe we can stop through here on the way back, so you can do more for her.”

“No need. I think I’ve done about all I can for her. I just did a treatment with her, and it went better than I expected,” she said. “I think I might’ve mentioned the power boost I get from being with you? That seems to give me even more ability to heal than I usually have, so the treatment was extra strength. She’s about as good as I can get her, right now.”

Jim was glad to hear it. He hadn’t wanted to leave that old lady in the lurch, but the entire population of Grizzly Cove needed the evidence they’d found in the old feed mill. The words on the documents could be relayed by phone, but the actual physical documents had more to them. Potentially, they had a magical aspect that the leaders of Grizzly Cove wanted their specialists to examine firsthand.

“That’s great,” Jim replied to Helen as they neared the B&B. “Joe already has people working on refueling and resupplying the plane. He also talked to Sal and rented the plane officially for us. Joe will meet us at the plane with the bags of evidence. He’s stocking us up with food and drink, too, so we should be able to just drop off the rental car at the airport, load and go.”

“Sounds like you boys thought of everything,” Helen commented as they mounted the steps to the porch. Little Angus was just inside the door when they entered and leaped excitedly at Helen’s heels.

“I think you’ve got a fan,” Jim observed, grinning at the little dog’s antics.

“He just likes me because I took the pain out of his paws.” Helen bent down to pet the dog and took a quick look at his paws. “All better,” she said with satisfaction as she stood, again.

They packed quickly then headed downstairs. Felicia was already waiting for them, Miss Felicity beside her.

“The Alpha called and explained you were leaving,” Felicia said. “We just wanted to see you off and thank you for all you’ve done for our town and for us.” Felicia hugged Helen.