Epilogue
Only a week ago, Lynn thought, she wouldn’t have recognized the woman she was today.
This morning, she’d woken up to her mate kissing her softly on the forehead. She’d wished Stella well in heading off to get Eva registered at the local high school, and then gone to work with a studied unconcern.
Last time Stella had moved back home, Lynn had been convinced that she wouldn’t be able to keep track of all the meetings and paperwork the school would require, and so had insisted on coming along and supervising the whole thing. Stella had been resentful and irritated the entire time—and had actually forgotten a couple of things, so Lynn had felt completely justified in interfering.
Now, she had to wonder if Stella had forgotten those things in part because she’d been distracted by being annoyed with Lynn. But also, really, she had to remind herself that it wouldn’t have been the end of the world. Stella could’ve come back to get them or set up another appointment. And that’s what she’d do if she forgot anything today.
Fortunately, Ken had borrowed Stella’s keys and gone back to Todd’s house while he was at work to get Stella and Eva’s things. So they had all of their possessions back, including Eva’s birth certificate and so on.
Stella had thanked Ken profusely, and he’d waved it off. Later, he’d confided to Lynn that every time he did something for any of them, it cemented the feeling of belonging he’d discovered.
“Keep asking me to do stuff,” he’d said seriously. “It’s like—you know, I never thought I’d want to be tied down, but every time I do something for you or Stella or Eva, it’s like I’m anchoring myself further to all of you, and it’s amazing.”
For Lynn, it was a little different—she’d always been anchored to this place. It had been her home for her entire life. But now it was like the house was just a foundation, and there was a family building up on top of it.
But she definitely agreed that it was amazing.
Now she was back at the office after a day of leading clients around Glacier Park, and she was filled with a strange sensation—the desire to finish work already.
Normally, her job was her favorite part of the day, and leaving work to go home was just...movement from something interesting to something boring. A house with half the rooms shut up, a microwaved dinner, and eight hours’ sleep before getting up to come back out to what she really cared about.
Now, she was hurrying through the office tasks so she could get out quickly. It was strange.
The office door opened, and Nina came in. They’d only had time for the barest of greetings today, both busy with clients. Now, Nina was grinning.
“So,” she said. “My mom told me she had a really interesting time with you and Ken Turner the other day.”
Lynn rolled her eyes up to the ceiling. “All right, all right,” she said. “Get all the teasing out. Who knew this old crusty woman would ever settle down, et cetera.”
Nina’s expression softened. “I’m not going to tease,” she said. “I just wanted to say how happy I am for you. If you’re happy.”
Lynn frowned. “What do you mean, if I’m happy?”
“Well,” Nina said slowly, “you always said that you never wanted a mate. And I—well, when Joel and I got together—it was a little rough at first. Neither of us knew what we were doing, and it was....it was hard to work out what we wanted. We were both scared.”
This was something Lynn hadn’t known at all. She’d always thought Nina and Joel had been blissfully happy from the outset. “But it worked out okay,” she said, testing.
Nina brightened immediately. “Oh, yes. We figured it out—with some help from the rest of the pack. Don’t worry about us. I just wanted to make sure that you and Ken were happy together.”
Most shifters that Lynn knew would never have doubted that someone would be happy with their mate. She had to admit, she was a little touched that Nina wanted to make absolutely sure.
“Yes,” she said firmly. “We’re happy. I would’ve sworn up and down that I didn’t want a mate, before, but—well, things change.”
Nina smiled. “Good. And I’m really happy that you’re hanging out with my mom and Wilson. I know they’ve been wanting some friends that are their age, not their kids’ age.”
Lynn hadn’t thought about that. “I guess the rest of the snow leopards are mostly young. Except Cal and his mate, maybe.” Cal was in his forties, and his mate Lillian was a little younger, young enough to have had a baby recently, but not that much younger.
Nina made a face. “Yeah, but Wilson doesn’t like spending too much time around Cal, because he doesn’t want to get in his way. Since Cal’s the alpha of our pack, and Wilson’s a snow leopard too, Wilson’s afraid that it’ll seem like he’s trying to take over. When that’s the last thing he wants.”
Lynn supposed that made sense. Cal had been an enlisted man under Wilson, back in the Marine Corps, just like Ken. And if Cal was the leader of the snow leopards, and Wilson was a snow leopard, but Cal was used to following Wilson’s orders... “That sounds like a tangle.”
Nina nodded. “Joel thinks it’s all kind of silly, but he’s never had to deal with stupid pack hierarchy stuff before. I’m just glad they’re trying so hard not to make it a problem.”
Lynn had a vague idea that Nina had drifted around for a while before settling in with the Glacier pack; she wondered what sort of stupid pack hierarchy stuff she might’ve had to deal with, back then. It must’ve been unpleasant.
“Anyway,” Nina said, “I’m glad you guys are hanging out. Speaking of, Mom said you were all meeting for dinner tonight. Want me to finish up in here so you can get going?”
Lynn looked around. “Would you mind? It’s just a few things...”
Nina shook her head, smiling. “Not at all. You’ve finished stuff up so I could get home to Joel more times than I can count. It’s my turn. Besides, I’m your assistant—aren’t you supposed to give me all the boring paperwork stuff?”
“I don’t think that’s how I want to work,” Lynn said, gathering up her things with a vaguely guilty sense of freedom. “But thanks for doing it tonight.”
“My pleasure.” Nina took her place behind the desk and waved a cheerful goodbye as Lynn left the office.
She went straight to Oliver’s, and found Ken just pulling up in his truck. “Hi, honey,” he said with a grin, coming up to her for a kiss. “Did you have a good day at work?”
“I did.” She grinned back. How was it possible to be so happy all the time? “What about you?”
“It was fantastic, except for the part where I pined for you every moment.” He kissed her again.
Lynn pulled away and eyed him.
“See, I’m joking but I’m also sort of serious,” he explained. “My day was good, but I missed you. Why aren’t we kissing anymore?”
She gave in, and leaned forward again. The temptation to just neck in the parking lot like teenagers until everyone else showed up was strong, but Lynn finally resisted it enough to pull away. “Let’s go inside and get a table.”
Ken reached for her hand, and Lynn twined their fingers together, reflecting that this was already becoming familiar, warm and comforting. She knew the feeling of Ken’s hand in hers, and that was just...right.
They went inside and got a booth, and soon enough, Mavis and Wilson came in. Lynn got a text from Eva a few minutes past six: We’re running a little late, sorry!
It was classic Stella—she always had a hard time being punctual. But Lynn found that it didn’t annoy her as much as it used to. Maybe it was because it wasn’t just the two of them, with Lynn waiting alone until Stella showed up to wherever she was supposed to be. Lynn was happy enough to relax with Ken, Mavis, and Wilson, sipping drinks and perusing the menu, until Stella and Eva arrived.
“What’re you having, sir?” Ken was asking Wilson.
“Ken, it’s been over ten years since I was your commanding officer,” Wilson said. “Can it with the sir.”
“Yes—uh.” Ken stopped what must have been his automatic response, but clearly didn’t know how to finish the sentence otherwise. Then he laughed at himself. “Yes, boss? Yes, alpha shifter?”
“Just use my name, how about it,” Wilson said.
“That might be a work in progress, but I’ll give it my best shot,” Ken said, grinning.
Lynn could see, now, how it might be awkward to have Wilson in the Glacier pack under Cal, since this was how even a humorous and—if she was being honest—slightly irreverent former subordinate reacted. Cal was serious and sincere, and she was sure he’d have a hard time not deferring to Wilson, if they were in the same pack.
But—hmm. Were they forming some kind of new, separate proto-pack here? Maybe it was too early to tell.
All she could say was that she liked spending time with them. Wilson was just as big a fan of the outdoors as Lynn was, and he’d already asked her to join Nina in teaching him the local terrain. She appreciated how no-nonsense and to the point he was. She knew they could easily become good friends.
And Mavis...well, Mavis wasn’t too similar to Lynn at all. She always struck Lynn as too refined, too well-dressed and graceful to want to spend time with someone like Lynn.
Lynn had been so grateful when Mavis helped her out with her business practice, but that had just reinforced her impression—in addition to looking beautiful and composed, Mavis also knew all sorts of things about finances and business, things Lynn had never even encountered in her small-town guide practice.
But even now, Mavis was leaning over to say with a smile, “I’m so glad we’re becoming friends. I always thought it was a shame we didn’t spend more time together after we were done working on your financials.”
That was the thing, Lynn thought. Graceful, elegant, what-have-you—it didn’t matter, because Mavis was genuinely nice. Just a kind, thoughtful woman, and one Lynn was excited to get to know better.
“I was too busy, because you helped my business so much,” she said with a smile. “But now that I have Nina, it’s more manageable. Once tourist season is over, I’ll have much more free time.”
“Maybe you and I could have coffee or lunch sometime, just the two of us?” Mavis asked.
“That would be great,” said Lynn sincerely.
Just then, Stella and Eva came in the door, and hurried over to their table.
“I am so sorry,” Stella said. “We had to get everything sorted out at the school, and my car’s having trouble again, and then Todd called—”
“He’s bothering you?” Ken asked, frowning.
“Well—I mean.” Stella sighed. “He’s just calling. I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.”
“Let me know if it is,” Ken said fiercely.
“We’re not above giving him another talking-to,” Lynn added. “Or sticking with you when you’re out, if you’re afraid he’s going to show up.”
“You can’t spend all your time intimidating my ex-boyfriend!” Stella said. “You have jobs, for one thing.”
“How about this,” Ken said. “One of my old Marine buddies, Nate Sanders—in the same unit as me, under the Colonel there—has a security company now. If you have reason to think this wolf might start hassling you again, or his pack, just let me know and I’ll give him a call. He’s a shifter, too, and he takes a lot of shifter-related jobs.”
“Sanders is a solid man,” Wilson put in. “He’ll make sure you’re safe, if you need it.”
“Thank you,” Stella said determinedly, “but I don’t need it.”
“Just keep it in mind,” Ken said softly. “In case anything happens.”
Stella hesitated, and finally nodded.
Lynn took Ken’s hand. “Thanks for thinking about this,” she said.
“I’m always thinking about my family.” He smiled at her, and squeezed her hand.
They all picked up their menus, and Lynn looked around the table and couldn’t believe that she’d been so sure she was happy alone.
The End