The Keeping(71)

Chapter 19





Ryne arrived late at Miller’s Service Station on Monday morning. The kitchen cabinets he’d ordered had arrived at the house just as he was leaving and he’d stayed to double check that the order was correct. Ben wouldn’t care that he’d been delayed, but Ryne hated being late. As he climbed out of the truck and made his way to the service bay, he decided he’d have to try to get in early or work a bit longer one day this week to make up the time.

“Hey, Harley.” He greeted the black lab that wiggled with joy at his appearance, ruffling his fur and giving a quick scratch behind his ears before sending him to tell Ben of his arrival. Harley was a good dog and Ryne enjoyed the happy-go-lucky beast. When they’d first met, Harley had whimpered and hidden whenever he came around, but once the dog understood Ryne was a benevolent Alpha, they’d gotten along just fine. Not that he could truly ‘talk’ to the dog, as the locals were fond of saying, but he understood and used some universal canine body language to communicate.

Sending the dog on his way, Ryne headed for the office to check the day’s work orders. Pulling out the buff coloured pages from his mail slot, a white envelope tumbled to the ground. Bending over, he picked it up and turned it over in his hands. Only his name appeared on the front. Even as he tore the flap open, Ryne had a sneaking suspicion as to what lay inside.

Yep. True to her word, Melody—he would never be able to think of her as Mel—had left him a list of interview questions. It had been too much to hope that she’d forget the whole thing. As he scanned over the outline, his face grew grim. Where was he born? Where did he grow up? Where did he go to school? How many people were in his family? All those questions had to be vetoed. He couldn’t take a chance that she’d associate him with Kane’s pack. How he chose his subjects—that was okay. Camera techniques—yep, he’d discuss those. Where he took his pictures—no way. No one could ever discover the wolf picture had been taken just outside Smythston, Oregon.

Rubbing, his forehead, he tried to ease the headache he could already feel building. This wasn’t going to be easy. He’d have to come up with some cock-and-bull story as to why he wouldn’t answer what were basically simple questions.

Ben Miller sauntered in, Harley leading the way and wagging his tail, obviously pleased to have completed his mission. “Hey, Ryne, you look worried. What’s up?”

“Nothing much, Ben.” He folded the list and stuffed it in his pocket, then bent to pat Harley as a reward for following orders.

Ben nodded towards Ryne’s pocket. “That letter you were reading—it was from the new girl in town—Mel, I think her name is. Anyway, she was here bright and early wanting to give it to you so I said I’d make sure you read it.”

“Thanks, Ben.” He turned to go.

“So, is she your new girl?”

Ryne rolled his eyes, but turned to face his boss. Ben didn’t usually indulge in idle gossip so maybe there was some point to this conversation. “Girl? No. Melody isn’t my new girl. She wants to interview me about some pictures I took a while back.”

Ben nodded. “That’s what I heard. I also heard someone say you were planning on leaving with her, on heading back to the States because you’re really a famous photographer.”

“Famous? Hardly. If I was, would I be working here?”

“Now don’t be putting down this fine establishment of mine.” Ben unsuccessfully tried to look affronted. “But I suppose you’re right. If you were famous, you wouldn’t have started fixing up the old Nelson place or be getting your hands dirty, changing oil for me. I just wanted to check to make sure you weren’t planning on suddenly taking off with that girl and leaving me in a lurch.”

“Rest assured, Ben. I have no plans of taking off with Melody. Stump River is where I’m staying.”

“Good to know. Now quit standing around here yakking and get to work.” Ben headed back towards his office and Ryne shook his head. Nothing ever happened in Stump River, so Melody’s presence was a big event and lent itself to the production of rumours. He just hoped the attention died down when Melody left. The last thing a werewolf pack wanted was attention.

By the time noon rolled around, Ryne had a few ideas of how to avoid certain questions that Melody had on her list. He just hoped he’d be able to pull it off and that she’d accept what he said at face value and not press too hard for more details. Mentally, he rehearsed his plan. Keep things light and simple. Don’t be too friendly. Give her some basic information and send her on her way as quickly as possible. And, no more sex!