“Okay, yeah.” Layna shrugged so they wouldn’t know Clara’s confession had taken a chip off her heart. “It’s slightly precious. Like, this much.” She held up her thumb and forefinger so they were a hair away from touching.
The line started moving and there were some random hoots of appreciation from the waiting crowd.
“So, here’s the plan,” Bethany rushed out as they moved a whopping foot forward. “I need to hit the laptops first, then the phones. I want to get Ryan a new one so he has it before he leaves for Memphis.” Her voice went thin at the end. “How about you, Clara? Didn’t you want to look at the TVs?”
“Yeah, the TVs. And, oh! Those iPad thingies you guys told me about. I want to grab one of those for sure.”
They kept talking but everything had faded to the background for Layna. She was hung up on something Bethany said.
Ryan was leaving for Memphis? Why would he go now, when there was so much work to be done around the lodge?
He and Renner’s work crew were in charge of setting up for the annual Christmas light extravaganza that Lake Haven Lodge put on for their guests and the neighboring town of Weston. It was renowned. The event had put them on the map, and drew people from states away until they were full to the brim every Christmas. This year was looking to be their biggest yet. She’d already warned the clan that they’d have to stick to their cabins this year instead of spending any nights on-site. There just wouldn’t be enough room. It was a good problem to have. And with Josie taking over the accounting part of the business, Layna could focus better on making their customers comfortable so they’d want to return next year. And the next. And many after.
But Ryan taking time off to go to Memphis would surely put the crew behind schedule, and didn’t make sense.
They shuffled forward, gradually closing the distance between them and the two guards that watched the door.
“Did you say Ryan is leaving for Memphis?” Layna asked when there was a break in the conversation.
Bethany nodded, pulling her coat tighter as the wind whipped around them. “Seems so.”
“Before Christmas?”
“He’s going tonight. He was pretty much packed when I talked to him earlier.”
Layna frowned, pulling her waist-length hair back with both hands and looping it in a knot.
A supply run maybe? But then why wouldn’t he just go to Little Rock?
Her heart sank knowing he’d be gone, but it wouldn’t be long. Couldn’t be. Not when they needed him around the lodge. And maybe when he got back, they’d talk. About their future. She’d shut him down before, but things had changed now, and surely he’d want to talk about it.
Layna tugged nervously at her earlobe with her thumb and forefinger. Her stomach twisted and turned inside, her cat trying to warn her something was off. She both hated and loved her animal’s ability to sense trouble. It was nice to have instincts, but sometimes it made her a nervous wreck with wondering. Waiting for the axe to fall was the fucking worst.
Maybe Ryan had his heart set on another now. He was human and couldn’t feel drawn to her in the same we she felt to him. There was Bailey from the kitchen, if he wanted someone in the clan, but there were a ton of human employees too.
She’d been a fool to assume he’d come chasing her tail now that the pact had changed. He was her mate, yes, she knew and felt that with everything in her. But it didn’t mean he wanted to be.
Layna took a deep steadying breath. She’d just have to convince him, that’s all. Win him over again. Make him see that she was the one for him.
Her shoulders straightened with her plan. She could do this. She was Layna Motherfucking Blackfoot, and she was nothing like her mother. She didn’t take things lying down, and she wasn’t letting her mate go without a fight.
“When will he be back?” she asked Bethany, her mind still reeling with ways to win her human.
Glancing over she noticed her friend’s eyes going moist once again, and got the sick feeling this was more than just pregnancy hormones.
“He’s…” Bethany shook her head, her eyes on the hair of the woman in front of her. “This is…”
“What?”
“Permanent. This is permanent.”
“Permanent? What does that mean?”
But she knew. She knew, her heart and mind just weren’t ready to accept it. She needed that definitive clarification that said, hey stupid, he’s gone.
Bethany turned to her, wiping a gloved finger under her eyelid to catch a rebellious tear.
“Ryan is leaving the lodge to move to Memphis. He’s going to work for an old construction friend. Traveling a lot. He said he’ll visit when they have jobs close by, but…” She drew in a trembling breath that reminded Layna of that last leaf hanging on to the branch at the end of fall. “His days with the clan are over.”