Chapter 101

Sarah POV

Naturally, it took Dr. Hayes about four minutes to figure out the path to the middle of the hedge maze. He tried to explain the “simple” mathematical formula, and I told him not to ruin it and that, frankly, he was being a kill-joy.

Then I laughed at the expression on his face. Zane was right. Feeling perfectly happy and a little sore in all the right places made me want to laugh at everything.

Dr. Hayes picked up on my mood and grinned at me before putting his head back and howling. “I’m coming for two little pups!” he shouted next, and then he ran deeper into the maze. The girls laughed, of course, betraying their position.

“What was that about?” Zane demanded, looking grumpy as he stood beside me.

“Dr. Hayes and I are eloping to Vegas,” I said. “Didn’t you know?”

“Is this going to be my life now?” He scowled at me.

After a quick look to make sure we were unobserved, I reached up on my toes and kissed his frowning lips, which then smiled.

“You’re a big silly,” I said, feeling delirious.

“A big silly who wants to get things straight between us,” he said. We both looked around t the tall hedges tempting us down the different paths. “Well, a few things, anyway.”

“If I were a she-wolf,” I said, “what would you do?”

“What would you do if I were human?”

“I asked first.”

He looked at me.

“OK, OK, I’d ask you to dinner, and we’d have conversation over appetizers.”

“And then?”

“Well, if we had a lot of dates and they all went well, we’d talk about–”

He crossed his arms. “I’ve already said I don’t have an STI, and you’ve said you’re on birth control. Start there.”

“You’d propose with a ring.”

“Ah, yes, the engagement ring. I’ve heard a lot of wolves are adopting that tradition these days.” He sent me a little smile. “Do you want one of those?”

“If you were human? Of course.” I felt my face arrange itself into a serious expression. “But you’re not.”

His eyes turned serious as well. “If you were a wolf, I’d be making a pubic announcement that the pack was about to have a co-leader. I’d meet with the legislative board to make things official, and then I’d go to the temple for a blessing. Then on our wedding day I’d give one-fifth of my personal wealth to the poor.”

“A fifth?” That surprised me.

He shrugged. “My personal wealth is only about a hundred thousand right now. The wealth of my estate doesn’t count.”

“A hundred thousand,” I echoed, shaking my head. “When my personal savings went over a thousand a year ago, I celebrated.”

He frowned. “How?”

“After I got Chloe to school, I walked through the park.”

He laughed. “Good to know you didn’t spend your fortune celebrating your fortune.” He tilted his head.

“What?” I asked.

“Well, those are only the duties I would have, if you were a she-wolf. You’d have many more.”

My research hadn’t covered this. “Such as?”

We both heard the footsteps approaching and turned to see Dr. Hayes coming around the hedge looking worried, though not alarmed.

“Yes?” I asked.

“Are the girls still here in the maze? I can’t find them.”

Zane laughed. “Yes, they’re getting very good at hiding their scents.” He looked up slightly, listening. “Yes, they’re still in the maze, but they’re doing an excellent job hiding.”

“Let’s come at them from three sides,” I suggested. The men considered it, and in that moment I felt an almost physical wave of wistfulness come over me. Why couldn’t this be my life, playing with the girls, flirting with Zane? Why couldn’t this stolen moment be part of my normal day?

“I’ll come at them from the north,” Dr. Hayes said before he turned and walked that way.

“I’ll go back to the entrance, make sure they don’t sneak out,” I said.

“And I’ll go get them,” Zane said confidently. I thought about warning him it wouldn’t be as easy as he thought, but then I just smiled and headed back.

My phone rang. I smiled at the notification on the screen.

“Yes, Mrs. Thaller?” I asked.

“Can you make them go away?”

“Them who?”

“Damn news people. They know you’re still renting this apartment, and they’re here every damn day. Got two of them standing in my azaleas right now.”

“I’m so sorry. Why do they think I’m going to show up?”

“They don’t, I don’t think. They’ve interviewed everyone around here. The mail guy, me, all the neighbors, Mormons, anybody just passing by. They’re such damn pests. Can’t you get rid of them?”

I thought about it as I stationed myself at the maze entrance. Zane’s salary for his girls’ goddess-mother had been generous, and I had been paying the rent for my old place automatically. I supposed it was a sort of safety net if everything in my life went into the trash bin.

Was it selfish of me to keep it? It was obviously causing trouble for the neighbors, and the place was perfect for a single person who worked in the city but didn’t want to live there.

“Do you think they’d go away if I stopped renting the unit?” I asked.

“Well, I’m sorry to say it, but yes. I was hoping you’d come back. I miss little Chloe, but I know her life is wonderful now. Your too, I guess. I don’t want to interfere. But yes, if you could let the unit go, they’d go somewhere else, I think.”

“I’ll call the landlord,” I said, telling myself not to feel sad about an apartment that had been there before I was born and would probably still be there when I died. But it had been home, and I’d liked living there. Then I replayed what she’d said.

“Would you like it if I brought Chloe by for a visit?” I asked.

“Of course, and bring that other one, Grace. She looks like a perfect sweetie.”

“She is.” I said something about coming by next week, and she reminded me call the landlord before we hung up.

“Mommy?”

I turned, expecting to see Chloe, but it was Grace standing there, and she looked pensive.

“Sweetie,” I said, kneeling down with my arms open. She walked into them, and I held her close. “What’s the matter?”

“I don’t know.” She clung a little tighter. “But I think it’s bad.”

I glared into the maze, but nothing glared back. There was nothing at all.