The sign warning of the approach of the off-ramp that led to Port Henry appeared ahead, and Mirabeau stared at it, rather surprised. She hadn’t thought that much time had passed since they’d left the restaurant, but then she supposed she’d been a bit distracted with their conversation.
“I guess we’ll have to leave this talk for later,” Tiny murmured, putting on his blinker to take the off-ramp. “After we leave Port Henry, we’ll stop somewhere and discuss it.”
Mirabeau nodded at the suggestion but suspected that if they stopped anywhere the least bit private, they wouldn’t get much talking done. Even somewhere very public wasn’t likely to stop them from consummating their relationship if they were inside the SUV. Once the assignment was over, there would be nothing to stop them except themselves, and life mates weren’t known for having a lot of restraint. She’d heard it said that new life mates were like drug addicts, constantly jonesing for a life-mate fix, and she finally understood the comment. She was jonesing for Tiny, very aware of his scent and the heat coming off his body, wishing she could sit closer, run her hands over his chest and legs, nibble at his ear…She didn’t much care that he was driving. The only thing really preventing her doing all of that was Stephanie’s presence and the fact that they had been charged with getting her safely to Port Henry. But once that was out of the way…
Mirabeau squirmed in her seat and licked her lips in anticipation.
“What are they doing here? I would have thought they’d be on their honeymoon now,” Tiny murmured as he parked the SUV behind the Victorian house. Elvi and Victor Argeneau, one of the couples whose wedding she had stood up for, had just come out of the back door and were crossing the deck toward the driveway. Apparently the couple had flown back and beat them to Port Henry.
“They probably wanted to be here to welcome Stephanie,” Mirabeau murmured, undoing her seat belt and opening her door.
“Are we glad to see you,” Elvi announced, rushing forward to clasp Mirabeau’s hands as she stepped out of the SUV. “We were really starting to worry. We expected you hours ago.”
“We got a little turned around in the tunnels, then had a couple of unscheduled stops,” Mirabeau muttered apologetically.
“Well, at least you’re here now,” Elvi said with a smile, her gaze shooting to Stephanie as the girl climbed out of the back of the SUV. Releasing Mirabeau, she moved to clasp the girl’s hands, and said, “And you must be Stephanie. I saw you at the wedding, but we didn’t really get to meet. I only found out afterward that you were the special guest Lucian had asked about staying with us.”
“He probably didn’t want anyone to read your mind and figure out where Stephanie was,” Tiny said as he came around the vehicle to join them.
“That’s what he said,” Elvi acknowledged, her gaze still on Stephanie who—much to Mirabeau’s surprise—had shifted rather close to her, like a shy child attaching herself to a parent’s or older sibling’s side on meeting strangers.
“Well…” Mirabeau hesitated, but then glanced back toward the SUV, wondering if they were to head out right away to report to Lucian in Toronto. She doubted they were to risk calling from the house, and the sooner she got it done, the better. The minute she’d made her report, she would be free to do what she wanted…or whom she wanted, she thought, her eyes sliding to Tiny. At least she could until another assignment came up.
“You aren’t leaving already, are you?” Stephanie asked, sounding alarmed.
“Of course, she isn’t, dear,” Elvi said at once, slipping between them to put an arm around each female and urge them toward the house, leaving Tiny to follow with Victor. “Mirabeau and Tiny need to check in with Lucian. And then we’ll have a nice meal, and they can rest after the long journey before deciding what they’ll do next.”
Mirabeau felt her eyebrows rise at the words “deciding what they’ll do next.” It seemed such an odd thing to say considering the woman didn’t know them or the situation they were presently in.
“Lucian said not to call using anything but Tiny’s cell phone, and we lost that in New York,” she explained quietly, as they crossed the deck to the back door. “It’s why we couldn’t call ahead to explain that we’d be late.”
“We have a safe phone,” Victor assured her, pulling the door open and holding it for all of them to troop inside.
Mirabeau followed Elvi through an open kitchen with a breakfast counter, then into a large dining area with a beautiful fireplace.