Abandoned (7 page)

It was awkward. Her own father wasn’t as affectionate with her as Jerome. But the discomfort she expected never came to surface.

He pulled her back to arm’s length and met her gaze. “Welcome. Anything you need, you let me know, okay?”

She nodded, silently. Tears threatened again for the millionth time in two days. She glanced down.

“I’ll leave you women alone.” With that he released her and stepped out the back door.

Now that Allison was back in the main house, she could smell Daniel’s scent everywhere. She almost moaned. There would be no escaping him. “I think I’ll go out front and wait.” She stepped away from Kenzie and Natalie without looking at them, heading through the kitchen and living room and out onto the front porch. She finally inhaled slowly, long and deep. At least in the open air she was able to breathe easier without the world filling her senses with her mate’s pheromones.

Kenzie joined her, still cradling the baby. She sat on the porch swing.

Allison decided to sit next to her.

“Would you like to hold him?” Kenzie offered the squirming bundle to Allison.

For the first time Allison peered into his sweet face and almost melted. Babies could bring a person to their knees. Aaron’s puckered face and baby scent would do wonders for her rattled nerves. “I’d love to.” She took the swaddled child from his mother and held him against her chest. She brought her lips to his forehead, inhaled deeply, and kissed his soft newborn skin. “How old is he?”

“Four weeks tomorrow.”

“He’s so tiny.” As she spoke
,
his hand broke loose from the blanket and flailed in the air. Allison set her index finger in his palm and he gripped her tight. She smiled. God, it felt good to smile. Her face hurt from so many months with nothing happy to live for. “Aren’t you a strong little fellow?”

“He likes you.”

Allison giggled. “How would you know that?”

“He isn’t screaming,” Kenzie teased. “You’re a winner.”

Allison lifted her gaze. “Thank you.” She sobered. “For everything.”

“Anytime.” Kenzie touched her arm. “I’m here for you. I know I can’t begin to imagine what you’ve been through
,
and there will be twelve women here shortly who can relate, including Ashley, but in the long run, we’ll be like sisters
,
and I can’t tell you how relieved I am to have someone else around to commiserate with against the testosterone.”

Allison swallowed. “I can’t stay here,” she muttered. She shook her head. “It’s too…quiet. I’m a city girl. I need my noise. Car horns. Screaming children. Flashing lights.”

Kenzie didn’t comment. She set her hand over Allison’s and rested it there on top of the baby.

“Can I ignore the calling?” Allison lifted her gaze.

“I don’t know. I attempted it myself and failed. Moving here wasn’t on my short list of things to do last year
,
either. But denying my feelings for Drake wasn’t possible.”

“But people do it, right?”

“I guess. I’ve not met anyone who did
,
though.”

Tears fell down Allison’s cheeks unchecked and blurred her vision. “This wasn’t in the plans,” she whispered. “I had a life and I want to go back to it. To New York. To my family. To my job… Hell, I probably don’t have a job anymore. What am I talking about?”

“What did you do?”

“I was a nanny to two sweet kids. More than a nanny. I was their teacher too. Their parents were bigwigs on Wall Street and had more money than time. I loved them.” New tears broke free. Ashley finally wiped them on her shoulder.

“Sounds like the best job.”

“It was. Obviously they would have replaced me by now.”
Not that losing my job would stop me from returning to New York
.

Just then a car pulled up the long drive and stopped in front of the house. Allison willed it to contain her parents. So much so that she was stunned to find them actually exiting the vehicle. When they spotted her on the porch
,
they both froze. Her mother released a sob.

Kenzie took the baby from Allison. “Go.” She nodded toward Allison’s parents.

Allison bolted from the porch swing and raced down the steps. She flung herself at her mother and squeezed her. Even her father wrapped his arm around the women as they hugged and cried.

When her mother finally released her and held her at arm’s length to look at her face, Allison smiled. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

“We can’t believe
you’re
here,” her mother replied. “We’ve been so worried for so long.” She stepped back a pace, not releasing Allison’s arms. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’ve lost weight.”

“I’ll gain it back.” She was hurting, but right now she needed to reassure her mother she would live. And she knew she would.

Her mother threaded her fingers in Allison’s curls. “Your hair is so long.”

Allison nodded. “It needs a cut. That’s for sure.”

“I like it. You’ve never worn it this long.”

“Tames the curls, that’s for sure.” Why were they discussing hair?

The front door opened behind them
,
and Allison turned to find Natalie approaching. “You must be Geoff and Holly Watkins.” She extended a hand to Allison’s father. “Welcome. Nice to meet you.”

“Thank you for having us here.” He glanced around. “It looks so serene.”

“Thank you. We love it. Come inside. I’ll get you something to drink.”

Allison balked. No way could she endure the scent of her mate inside that house right now, and she wasn’t ready to tell her parents what had happened this morning. She wanted to enjoy them all to herself for a while first. “I was thinking we could go for a walk maybe.” She looked toward Natalie. “Which direction would be good?”

Bless the woman for reading her mind. She nodded and pointed to the right. “If you head down this path, you’ll come to Drake and Kenzie’s house first
,
and then you can circle around toward the cabins. Why don’t you show your parents where you’ll be staying? I’ll have one of the boys bring their luggage up there. Jerome or Scott,” she added.

So far Allison had only met Daniel, but Natalie understood her predicament and that’s all that mattered. “Perfect.” She wrapped her mother’s arm in her own and headed toward the gravel road next to the house. “Daddy. You coming?” she called over her shoulder.

•●•

Daniel paced the living room of his house until he figured the hardwood floor would be worn under his feet. He didn’t care.

A knock at the door jarred him from his path. He yanked the door open and found his father standing on the porch. “May I come in?”

Daniel stood back.
Would it matter if I said no?

“Your mother told me what happened.”

Daniel nodded.

“I thought you might want to talk about it.”

“No.”

His father sat on the black leather couch, leaned back, and crossed his legs. “I could send Drake.”

Daniel moaned. “God. Please no.” He faced his father and took a seat in the matching black leather armchair. “The thought makes me want to vomit.”

His father chuckled. “I know it’s been a crazy year adjusting to him mating, but at least it’s happened to him recently enough he might have some advice.”

“I don’t need advice. And Drake would have way too much to go around.” For months Drake had spoken of little else besides mating. Not that McKenzie wasn’t a fantastic woman, but it got old after a while.

“Allison is in a tough situation.”

“No shit.” Daniel set his head in his hands and threaded his hair through his fingers.

“So, if you don’t need any advice, what’s your plan exactly?”

“I don’t have one. It seems pretty cut and dry to me. There’s no way Allison is in a position to be claimed right now
,
and to do anything toward that aim would be crass.”

“I’m not suggesting you pressure her in any way, but you could at least woo her. Court her.”

Daniel laughed as he lifted his face to see his father’s expression. “Did you just say ‘woo’ and ‘court’? What year is this?”

“Laugh all you want, but women like to be pursued in a way that doesn’t make them feel like they have no choices. Is the timing good for Allison? Hell, no. But Fate has her reasons. The timing is rarely ideal for anyone. All I’m suggesting is for you to make yourself available to her in a way that isn’t threatening or pushy. Get to know her. Let her get to know you. You’ll need to take things at her pace. She’s hurting right now.”

Daniel nodded. Maybe his father’s advice was sound. Sitting there feeling like punching Fate in the face wasn’t doing anyone any good.

“Her parents arrived. Why don’t you go introduce yourself and give them a tour of the stable or something? Three other families arrived also. It’s going to get busy around here.”

“Was that Mom’s suggestion?” Daniel lifted an eyebrow.

His father shook his head. “Not even close.” He grinned.

Daniel smiled. “Did she send you?”

“Yes, with specific instructions about what to say. I might have altered it a bit.”

“I can imagine.” Daniel shook his head. “I think I’ll give it a day or two. Let her get her bearings.”

“And you should talk to Drake. Not just Drake, but Kenzie. I know the idea of getting girl advice from your brother makes you cringe, but they’ve only been mated a year. The memory of meeting each other is still fresh in their minds.”

“Yeah.” Daniel hung his head. He dreaded the idea of discussing how he felt with his brother, but his dad was right. However, there was another side to this coin. “I have obligations to the North American Reserves. Besides the fact that I’m committed to protecting shifters and our way of life, I’m not at liberty to just bail now. Bringing a mate along for that ride seems cruel and distracting.”

“People do it every day
,
though, Daniel. Humans and shifters marry and mate in the midst of military obligations. Even those who don’t have Fate choosing their loved ones make it work. And you can too.”

It was true. Daniel couldn’t deny the logic. But he worried about the level of distraction a woman would pose for him. Physical and emotional. Already after spending just minutes with her and not even touching her
,
he needed her like he needed oxygen. He wasn’t stupid. He knew that drive to mate would increase over time. He could control himself, but it wouldn’t be easy.

•●•