AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Twenty-Six
Espie met Luther that afternoon at the playland area in the mall, where little Violet was enjoying herself riding on a rocking unicorn. He took one look at her face and immediately knew that something was wrong.
“What’s up, grizzly?” he asked in her ear as he pulled her in for a hug.
Whispering in his ear, she stated, “I tried to talk to Miguel, but he was being a total jerk. It looks like that avenue for help is currently shot to hell. But we can worry about that later. I came here to meet the only other polar bear in Angel Fire.”
Grinning broadly as he let her go, Luther said, “Well, then, it seems that you’ve come to the right place. Here’s the other polar bear of Angel Fire right now.”
Violet giggled. “No way I’m the ‘other’ polar bear, Daddy. That’s you.”
Espie was surprised, both by the little girl’s comment, and by her running right over and throwing her arms around her legs. “Daddy says you’re one of the good ones, Pee. Is it true?”
She blushed. “Oh. Well, I like to think so, yeah.”
“Good, then maybe he will marry you, just like Uncle Paul is going to marry Miss Genica in a few more days from now. Genica is my babysitter sometimes, but mostly I have to go to daycare because during the day she has to work at the library.”
“Well, that’s – great,” Espie responded, looking the little girl over. While she had some of Luther’s features, it was clear she’d gotten her dark beauty from her mother. Those eyes. Her olive skin. The fact she looked more like Espie than Luther did not go unnoticed by her. Her inner grizzly just wanted to lick the dirt off the child’s cheeks.
“My daddy says that Genica and Leah are coming to get me and take me home tonight,” Violet added gleefully. “Maybe we’ll play movies!”
“Really?” Espie asked, surprised. “But I thought you wanted to hang out with me?”
“Change of plan,” Luther commented, one brow raised in warning. “I’ll explain later.”
“Well, okay,” said Espie. “But maybe before you go home, we could have something to eat. I’m feeling hungry. I’ve had such a busy day, I never ate anything.”
“Don’t neglect your body,” Violet sing-songed.
“That’s right, sweetie,” Espie agreed.
The three of them ordered some food and settled in at one of the tables in the mall food court. Shortly after, Genica and her little daughter – humans –found them there and settled down to wait for Violet to finish her meal. When she was done, Genica moved to help with her coat, but the little girl stopped her.
“Pee’s supposed to do that for me now, isn’t she, Daddy? She is if she’d gonna be my mommy,” she insisted.
“I’ll do it gladly, imp,” said Espie. “But, fair warning, I’ve never tried dressing a toddler. You might have to show me how.”
“No problemo.”
Once Espie had Violet dressed, Luther hunkered down to pick up his daughter and give her a big hug. Violet glanced over his shoulder behind his back and stiffened a little.
“Daddy, isn’t that a bad man?” she asked curiously.
Espie followed her pointing finger and spotted Will, who was watching them from a little way down the hall. His eyes were burning brightly with hatred, and he didn’t move away just because she had spotted him. Surely the cougar wasn’t going to accost them right there in the mall.
When Luther saw him too, he glared, even taking a few steps toward him before he called across the distance. “You’d best leave my ladies alone, cougar.”
Will scoffed. “Oh, I will. For now.”
Luther handed his daughter off to Genica. “Best take these girls and go. And if you do happen to see that character, I want you to avoid him at all costs. Got it?”
Genica shrugged. “Of course. Don’t worry, Luther. We’ll be fine.”
Once they’d left, Espie cocked her head at her mate curiously. “So? What’s that about?”
“It’s Maida, Espie,” Luther told her. “I was at the grocery store buying some food for tonight when I ran into Maria. She said your friend got mauled, and she’s been recovering in the intensive care unit for a couple days now. She hasn’t been able to reach you on your phone for the past few hours, so she used her nose to track me down.”
“You’re kidding!” Espie exclaimed. “Oh, God, do you think Will knows what we did to the other cougar? I didn’t think the body would be so easy to find. What are we going to do?”
