The door opened on the second knock. “Hey, Ty, didn’t expect to see you here.” Edward’s smile was friendly, but a little confused. “Something wrong?”

“Edward?”

At the sound of his wife’s voice echoing down the hall, the diner owner’s smile softened. “Yes, dear?”

“Who’s at the door?”

Edward stepped back and gestured for Ty to come inside while he called back to his wife. “Ty Abrams!”

“Well, don’t just stand there at the door bring him back!”

“Yes, dear!”

Edward closed the door and shook his head. “The queen has bellowed her order.”

Hearing the sweet indulgence in the man’s voice, Ty smiled. Nellie and Edward were fixtures in Grayslake, and they were also a study in a happy marriage. They worked together and had created a place where everyone in Grayslake was welcome. And as the Grayslake Itan, Ty took care of his own. That meant Nellie and Edward, even if they weren’t part of the clan.

The small house was tidy and cozy, with pictures on the wall that documented the years of their lives together. Ty grinned as he passed a picture of the couple behind the counter at the restaurant with matching grins on their faces. It warmed his heart to see their joy.

They entered the back bedroom to find Nellie struggling to sit up. Edward broke away from Ty to hustle his way to his wife’s side. “Woman, are you trying to kill me?”

Nellie rolled her eyes at the worry in his voice. “I have a visitor. I didn’t want to look like a bump on a log.”

Edward helped adjust her pillows and pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “You fell, you crazy woman, that’s why you’re in bed. Do my heart a favor and rest up so you can get back on your feet and worry me that way.”

Giving her husband’s hand a gentle reassuring pat, she looked up at Ty. “Don’t mind him,” she let out a dreamy sigh, “when he’s all protective like this he growls just like a bear.”

Ty saw the quick wink that Nellie gave him and he felt his bear give an indulgent sigh. Nellie was unique. Humans weren’t allowed to know about the clan and shifters, unless they were family. While Nellie wasn’t family per se, she had nearly been mated to his grandfather and knew enough about the bears in Grayslake to get them all in trouble. He trusted her, even when she was walking the line as she was now, hinting at the truth.

“Then maybe you should listen to your bear, Nellie.” Ty wasn’t above hinting back.

She answered back with an eloquent eye roll. “Whatever. If I actually listened to Edward, he’d think something was wrong with me for sure.”

Edward nodded. “That’s true enough. I’d worry she’d lost hold of her senses.” That earned him a playful pinch on his arm. “Ow, woman. Be nice.”

Nellie smoothed her hand over his arm. “You’re lucky I didn’t scratch.”

“Ty didn’t come over to hear you threaten me, Nellie.”

Meeting Ty’s eyes, Nellie gave him a softer grin. “No, he didn’t. Is something wrong?”

“What’s wrong,” he assured her, “is that you’re hurt. I wanted to see if you needed any help at the café.” He saw moisture gather on her lashes and worried that she might start to cry. “Lauren said she’d come and lend a hand if you needed someone while you healed up. We don’t want you rushing things.”

At the mention of her former waitress, Nellie placed her hand over her heart and gave Ty a watery look. “That is so sweet, all of you. Lauren can’t help, but it means the world that she volunteered. She’s carrying and I can’t imagine that Van would want her on her feet for that many hours a day.”

Ty grimaced. That had been Van’s exact argument with his mate, but Lauren had made the offer and stood by it.

“And I love Lauren for it, but tell her and her grumbling mate that everything is taken care of.” Edward took her hand and she gave it a squeeze. “I have a niece who lives in Tucson. She’s going to come and help Eddie out until I’m back on my feet. She was already headed here for a visit before she heads off to Europe.”

‘Europe?” Ty gave her a smile.

She shrugged. “She finished college and wants to see a bit of the world before she decides where she’s going to call home. She has one of those rail passes so as long as she can change her flight to London, she’s going to be here with us until I’m cleared to work.”

Ty nodded. “That will be a relief for all of us.”

“She should be here this afternoon on the bus heading east.” She looked up at Edward. “You should head on over to meet the bus and get the diner open.”

Edward’s suspicious look melted when she pulled him closer to give him a peck on his cheek.

“You’ll rest?”

“Yes, dear,” she settled back against the cushions and waved as the men left the room.

Picking up an old weathered photo from her nightstand, Nellie smiled at the ear to ear grin on the round face that looked back at her. She was fairly sure Ty didn’t remember her niece, not really. Grace had been a little younger than Ty when her family lived in Grayslake.

Nellie remembered only too well the tears streaming down Grace’s face when her mother packed the car. When the last box was stored in the back of the station wagon, the little girl had sobbed so loud that Nellie was sure folks heard it deep into the mountains.

Nellie had caught the little girl trying to tiptoe out of the back door, with a pillowcase full of snacks and her favorite stuffed animal, Paddington Bear.

Sitting Grace down on the back porch, Nellie had gathered her tight against her side. “Don’t you think your mom would miss you if you ran away?”

A quick shake of her head changed to a weary nod. “I’d miss her too,” reasoned the young girl, “but I wanna stay here!”

Brushing a kiss on Grace’s dark hair, she’d sighed and given the girl a one armed hug. “Maybe your uncle and I can come visit you when you get settled.”

Grace played with the fuzzy ear peeking out of her makeshift bag. The bear she’d squished in with the rest of her treasures had been squeezed nearly to bursting in the little girl’s arms over the years. “Sure,” she sighed, “but I’m going to miss Grayslake, Auntie. It’s my home.”

That’s when the tears started again, and Nellie pulled the little girl into her lap.

“Hey… hey… no more tears, Gracie. If there’s one thing I know for sure, with absolute certainty, it’s this,” Nellie waited until Grace tipped her chin up and looked into her eyes, “you will come back here one day, sweetheart. You’ll come back to Grayslake.”

With her lips quivering, Grace wiped at her eyes with the head of her teddy bear, and nodded at her aunt. “I’ll come back,” she promised,” and when I do, I’m never leaving again.” With a forced smile on her lips, Grace wrapped her little arms around Nellie’s neck.

Setting the picture back on the nightstand, Nellie let her eyes drift closed on a satisfied sigh. Grace said she was only staying to help until she was back on her feet, but Nellie had a feeling that once she returned and took her first real breath of air in Grayslake, all bets were off.

Maybe, just maybe, her niece was truly coming home.

All that was left to do was wait and see.