I approached them at the curb. “Is something wrong?”
“Why would you ask that?” She smiled in that way that told me I was her everything.
Suddenly, it all seemed right again. “I don’t know. Just checking.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll have a productive trip and be back soon,” my dad assured me.
They finished loading and closed the trunk while I hovered. We did a three-way hug and they drove away. I waved until I couldn’t see their car anymore.
Alone again.
Finding my phone, I texted Zack and gave him the all clear. He replied right away telling me to stay put, make sure the doors were locked and he’d be there in a few minutes. But I was fine. It was still light outside. Daniel wouldn’t make an appearance knowing I had protection. Would he?
While I waited for Zack, I checked my email, then scribbled out a check for the bill Timothy had emailed for Zack’s time.
True to his word, Zack drove up moments later and honked. I ran outside and he flicked a thumb toward the passenger side. “Get in,” he said. “We’re going to my house for dinner.”
“And we can’t walk one block?” I raised one brow.
“While we’re there, I can pick up more of my things. Easier to drive my stuff back than carry it.”
I hopped in. “Fine, but on the way back, I get to drive. Tomorrow too.”
“Sure, it’s your car. What’s the deal with your parents?”
“Just stopping by between jobs. Dad thinks it’ll take two weeks, then they’ll be back. I don’t know whether to be relieved or concerned. It’s so unlike them not to drag me along.”
“From what you say, they’ve never had any real time alone together. Maybe they realize it’s not such a bad thing.”
“You’re probably right,” I said.
At Zack’s house, the smell of garlic and basil and other spices greeted me. I wondered what surprises waited for me in that casserole I’d peeked at earlier. “What’s for dinner?”
“Smells like baked ziti. You’re in for a treat. God, I love my Aunt Cara.” He grinned.
Zack was right. It was delicious. After we ate and I helped him clean up, we did our homework. When we’d finished, we visited his mom. A few minutes later, he left me alone with her while he gathered more of his things.
“How are you and Zack getting along?” she asked.
“Fine. But—” I held her hand between mine, about to tell her that we didn’t want to start something we weren’t going to finish. But I couldn’t do it. “We’re taking things slow.”
“You’re such a nice girl. I’m glad he found you.” She smiled sweetly and I ached for Zack, because this beautiful, wonderful woman would be leaving him soon. I barely knew her and my heart felt heavy as I contemplated her fate. Zack’s fate too. He had to feel a hundred times worse than me and would miss her a thousand times more.
He came in, kissed her on the cheek and tucked the blanket around her. “Goodnight, Mom.”
When I got into the driver’s side of the Mustang, I saw a duffle bag and a box filled with tattered books and yellowed papers. “What’s that stuff?”
He threw a quick glance into the back seat. “The books my dad left for me. You need to read them. They’ll explain things a lot better than I could.”
Good. It would occupy my mind. Then maybe I wouldn’t notice I was alone in a house with a gorgeous guy who’d already demonstrated his attraction for me, in the yummiest possible way. Was there anything in the world more tempting than that? I didn’t think so.
Back home, I curled up on the sofa with a blanket wrapped around me to ward off the frigid temperature of the living room. I’d turned down the air conditioner earlier, so Zack wouldn’t sweat on the furniture. I didn’t want any more of his scent permeating the house in case my parents returned unexpectedly, as they were prone to do.
But it might be a good idea to turn it back up before I went to bed or my room might be too cold for me to sleep. The last thing I needed was to be up all night, with nothing to think about but the scantily dressed boy on my sofa.
Zack sat in the recliner rereading one of his dad’s books. I’d snagged an old, crinkled letter that his dad had written to him years ago. I unfolded the yellowing papers and turned toward the light of the lamp.
Lucio Gavino De Luca told how he’d grown up human, his lack of propriety and complete disregard for others, how he’d been turned into a werewolf and eventually worked for the king as a scout. But the indulgence and decadence had grown old. The abundance of willing women became meaningless and he wanted more from life.