The Keeping(88)
Mel traced a pattern on the tabletop with her finger, hesitant to speak her concerns, but really wanting another opinion. Lucy had just proved she was the sensible sort, so Mel decided to take the plunge. “Do you think Ryne is honest? I’m not talking about stealing or something like that. I mean, honest as in telling the truth.”
“Ryne? Well, I suppose I consider him honest. He’s always been upfront about relationships; never promising me, or any of the other local girls, anything beyond great sex as far as I know. Why? Do you think he’s stringing you along?” Lucy frowned at her.
“No, no. It’s nothing like that. He was very blunt about our...er...encounter. I mean honest as in telling the truth, or making up stories.”
“As far as I know he’s never told me an outright lie—well, except about coming to fix my leaky faucet, but that’s more of him being busy and forgetful than lying I think. So, what’s going on?”
Mel sipped her coffee, before answering. “I’m not sure. The other day he told me something and I’m pretty sure he knew it wasn’t true.”
“Was it to, you know, protect your feelings? Like when a guy says you don’t look fat in a sweater, but you know damn well that you do?”
Mel snorted, but considered the situation. Would lying about Harley being there have protected her feelings in any way? No, not really. She shook her head at Lucy and the other woman continued.
“Well, was it a lie of omission? Like he didn’t say anything or he left something out? I know Ryne’s real private and he’s great at avoiding questions and changing the topic, when he doesn’t want to answer you.”
“Maybe. I don’t know. It wasn’t really that kind of a situation...” Mel let her voice trail off, for some reason reluctant to actually explain the whole incident. “I think it’s just something I’ll have to work through in my head.”
Slowly, Lucy got to her feet. “All right, but if I can do anything for you, just let me know, besides more coffee, that is.” She tagged on the last bit because Mel raised her cup hopefully. While pouring her a refill, Lucy added one last point. “I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but I do know that my gut tells me Ryne’s a good man and I’d trust him with almost anything.”
“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.” Mel took a sip of the warm brew and nodded appreciatively at her friend. “Good as always, even if it isn’t a—”
“Cafe mocha, whipped cream, with shaved chocolate curls and a cinnamon stick.” Lucy cut in and finished Mel’s thought, looking rather pleased with herself. Mel knew her face must reflect her surprise and the waitress giggled. “I’ve been reading up on all those fancy coffees you keep talking about.” With that, she walked away to see to the other customers.
Once she was left to her own devices, Mel tossed the Harley-wolf incident round and round in her mind. The only possible reason she could think of him lying about the wolf, was that Ryne hadn’t wanted to frighten her. Yet, that didn’t make total sense. When she’d first met him, after nearly being attacked by wolves on his property, he’d seemed to relish telling her about the vicious beasts and the damage they could have inflicted. Hmm... That was another strange point. Ryne had shown absolutely no concern over the presence of a wolf and—a thought just popped into her head—how had he ‘saved’ her from the wolves on his property? Just before she’d knocked herself out, they’d been howling and snarling, yet Ryne never mentioned chasing them away. And how did one scare off two wolves, anyway?
Furrowing her brow, Mel wondered once again why, all of the sudden, wolves were figuring so prominently in her life. Draining her cup of coffee, she decided to head back to the Gazette and do a bit more work on her laptop. She’d compile a list of everything wolf related that had happened lately and see if any pattern appeared. There probably wouldn’t be one, but it was a way to spend some time before heading over to The Broken Antler. Ryne hadn’t left a message cancelling their meeting, so maybe he’d show up. And if he did, well, she’d have some very pointed questions for him.
*****
Ryne sat in the small donut shop and studied the man across the table from him. The fellow’s story was solid and there was no scent of deception. Just the usual amount of nervousness and fear that any wolf would feel when meeting an Alpha for the first time. His gaze shifted to the far side of the seating area, where, at another table, two young women and an infant sat awaiting his decision. Both females kept their eyes downcast, one quietly humming to the child cradled in her arms while the other, possibly sixteen or seventeen years of age, nervously tore a napkin into pieces.