Chapter 7
Family
Beth felt slouchy, but she was at work. She just felt that Saria had looked her over and found her wanting. Titus would stand up for her, but in the end, her relationship with his family would be between her and them. It wasn’t starting out very good.
“Why don’t you show Saria the downstairs and see what she thinks? I have to get back to work.” He leaned in and gave her a hot kiss. It got her motor running with nowhere to go.
“Okay.”
“I’ll be back before you call it a day.” Titus promised.
His sister watched with interest. “Yes, please show me the rest of the place and let’s talk money.”
“That’s fine with me. Have you checked into the market locally?” Beth asked.
“A little bit.” Saria admitted.
“Let’s look at the front room first.” Beth said as she led Saria there. She heard the door close as Titus hurried away. As they walked through the first floor, Beth explained her plan.
“That sounds good with a few minor changes.” Once Saria explained her changes, Beth gave her a price. Saria didn’t blink as she accepted it. “You seem to have some skill at construction and design. I appreciate you finding this for me.”
“It helped Titus. He cares a lot for his family. I think he hopes you will claim one of the top spots among his males.”
“I figured he would want me to lead the females.”
“I believe the choice is yours.” Beth observed.
“What would your choice be?”
“The one with the most authority.”
“Do you desire to lead the tigers?”
“Not really. Too much expectation. I have lots to do as it is. I’m establishing a business and I already have a full time job.”
“Titus wants you at his side.”
“I believe he does. It’s not an easy decision.”
“What do you believe is best for him?” Saria asked.
“I believe I have something to offer. Probably more than you give me credit for.” Beth smiled. “I’ll just wait and see what happens as more tigers arrive.”
“Time will tell?”
“Often the best approach.”
Saria said her goodbyes and left. It was a done deal requiring only the signing of a contract. All the changes would be noted once the contract was written. It was good the deal was now a certainty. She got the crew working hard on the project. With the roof, windows, exterior, plumbing, and electrical ready to go, they should be done in a week.
By the time quitting time came around, Titus was back. He looked displeased. “Calico is coming in a week. Once she found out Saria would be here, she couldn’t wait.”
“The other sister?”
“Yes, she too wants a house. Our mother liked unusual names. Calico hates her name so everyone calls her Callie. A tiger called Calico. Too funny.” Titus chuckled.
“Maybe it’s not so bad to be an only child. What are you going to do?”
“I could just move in with you and let her have my house?”
“Are you serious? That’s a big step.”
“I’m there more than I am at home.”
“It’s true, but convenience is no reason to live together,” Beth observed.
“That’s why you think I want to be with you?” Titus looked hurt.
“No, but that’s why you’re rushing things.”
“I’ve wanted to ask you for a while, but you haven’t seemed as committed as I am. This was just an excuse to ask in the hopes that you might be ready. I guess you’re not.”
“Never would I want to hurt you, but you know I’ve never been ready for any of this.”
“Maybe this next step would show you how right I am for you? If it doesn’t work, the streak house would be available for me to move into.”
Beth let out a long suffering sigh. “Alright. We’ll give this a try.”
Titus couldn’t hide his brilliant smile. Now he’d be with her all the time to show how good they could be together. Maybe Callie had done him a favor unwittingly. The deeper he became entrenched in Beth’s life, the more likely he was to stay there.
A few days passed with work on all projects going well. Saria’s place was finished and Beth’s crew moved on to the building Beth now decided to use. It was an old store that had been unused for a time. She also bought the liquor store next door that sat empty. Both buildings looked sad and unwanted, but Beth would change all that.
“Why did you buy both buildings?”
“One for the business, one for my new business manager to live in.”
“It’s a shame the town doesn’t have two story stores.”
“You’re telling me. I believe some of the storekeepers had a small living space in the back of the stores.”
“None of these stores are big. The spaces had to be small.”
“It was just built differently than some of the other towns around here. In Berryville, most stores had living quarters for the owners or managers upstairs. It’s another reason we’re having a hard time keeping up with demand now that your people are moving in. The apartment building will help, but not enough.”
“When will you’re crew be back on it?” Titus wondered.
“The foundation is done. We put up the framework and now we’ll wait until the roof is done. That’s when we go in and finish the walls and the subfloors. You’ll have a quarter basement for storage or whatever you need. It’s got pipes and it will have wiring so you could add a laundry and a bathroom. We won’t finish it, but Ariel thought you’d like it and the cost to add it was negligible. It’ll come in handy as a tornado shelter.”
“So you’ll be bouncing back and forth?”
“Yes, but work on the apartment house will move forward. The electrician will also be there right now. He’s running basic wires to the building. Problem is he may not be available to wire the rooms.”
“What will we do?”
“Ariel said I may have to do it.”
“Why don’t you like it?”
“When I was learning, I got the hell zapped out of me. It taught me to be careful, but it also made me hate working with electricity.”
“I can understand that.”
“Most people do, because few like to work with it.” Beth observed. “I think we’ll get the home done in five solid days of working. The roof is fine, the windows were recently replaced, and the exterior in general is solid.”
“What has to be done?”
“The exterior needs painted.”
“I bet I could get you some help with that. The family I told you about? The husband wants a temporary job until they’re settled in. A couple of the kids want to work for some spending money.”
“Send them to me.”
“Doesn’t Ariel have to give approval?”
“Not on these two projects, they’re mine.”
“Okay, will do.”
Once the project was done, she’d let him know Callie was the new business manager. She didn’t know how he’d feel about that. It meant she wouldn’t need the house, but two of his brothers were coming soon too. It was a three bedroom house. Maybe they could share it. Sabian and Tez would be arriving anytime.
The end of the day arrived and she was happy with the progress. Her crew had been doing an amazing job. She’d assigned Mack as her second and he was keeping things going. Beth even felt that she could take off if needed and things would run just fine. That was a good thing since school would be starting in a week.
Mairi had jumped right in with Matt’s crew finishing off the projects Ariel had started. She was about to start the Panther’s party house. It made Beth laugh every time she said it. The panthers would be running security so she’d be safer at school once it started. The danger time would be before kids arrived and after they left. He was most likely to attack off school grounds anyway.
That he’d not been back after the attack, had been surprising. Maybe he’d looked for an easier target. None of her cousins would be taken easily. Pretty boy would just get shot again. Beth snorted, it was laughable. The guy should just get over it and move back to catching criminals. She’d heard some of them were dumb and easily caught.
The whole thing did make her wonder what alpha was targeting them. Removing the customer would stop this too. What kind of male bought a wife? Why couldn’t he woo one? Was he an asshole or did he have some terrible problem? The whole thing made a girl wonder. It gave the impression he was hideous or impossible to like.
She stopped thinking about the pretty fae as they got to work on the house for Callie. Beth was feeling pretty thrilled to have a manager that could handle the business even though she wondered why Titus hadn’t hired her. His loss, if Beth hadn’t hired her someone else would have benefitted from Callie’s incredible experience. Maybe he just didn’t like working with family? Whatever. Beth felt a little guilty for not warning him, but Callie had asked to surprise him. Both his sisters apparently lived to surprise Titus.
The house was going well when one of her workers screamed. Sounded like the one that usually over reacted. The net was in her inside pocket and surprisingly small and light. Beth pulled it out so she was ready. Yes, it was Pretty again. “Were you dropped on your head as an infant?”
“That’s not nice. I’m just here for you again. The male that wants you is quite insistent. He doubled the price.”
“So he must look like Frankenstein’s monster.”
“Surprisingly not. Females find him attractive. No gun, today?”
“No, but catch this.” She said once she was close enough she wouldn’t miss. The small net billowed out and grew as it headed toward him. His hands automatically went up to catch it thinking to wave it away. It didn’t work. The net surrounded him like a cocoon. “Gold is your color.” The net made him sparkle as it surrounded him.
“What have you done?” Pretty asked.
“That should be obvious. Harry found a solution to your clumsy attempts to catch a white wolf.”
“He’ll send someone that’s not as nice as me.”
“We’ll handle them.” Pretty shut up and pouted.
It wasn’t long before Tyne, Moe, and Harry showed up. “Looks like you caught something.” Tyne grinned.
“My net worked like a charm.” Harry bragged.
“Are you three together all the time?” Beth asked.
“Pretty much. I work for Tyne part time and you know what that means.” Harry explained.
“I’ve been covering the phones for Tyne and my mall from Tyne’s office.” Moe admitted.
“You realize that I usually answer the call buttons right?” Tyne added.
“Okay. That explains it. Now what do we do with him?” Beth asked.
“I’m taking him to Ariel so she can decide.” Tyne informed.
“Bye Pretty.” Beth called out as they led him away. He’d not been very good at catching white wolves, but she’d looked him up and he was a very good bounty hunter. Maybe his heart hadn’t been in abducting innocent females?
Beth didn’t have time to consider Pretty’s action or his fate. Ariel was fair so she knew he would get what he deserved, whatever that was. They were almost done with the back of Callie’s house. She would have two bedrooms and two bathrooms. A place to sleep and cleanup was the priority in case she arrived before the whole house was done. The heating and cooling was in place so that was all good. The hardwood floors were in good shape as was the ceiling. If they didn’t have work on the apartments for Titus, this house would be completed in two days.
Too many projects was what was causing the trouble now. It was about to get worse as the panther leader was about to get tossed into the mix. Who knew which leader would be next? Poor little sleepy Blue Eye was getting overwhelmed. A few houses had gone on the market because some people were alarmed at the sudden growth of the town. Those places might be helpful for placing Titus’ incoming people. Of course land and home prices were going up, sometimes overnight.
That’s why she’d been exploring Oak Grove, AR and finding lots of properties for sale and/or rent. It was smaller than Blue Eye, but hadn’t been overrun yet. Eventually, people would have no choice but to look that way. She was also checking out lake properties and had found a hotel with little cottages for sale that she’d been negotiating for. Not so much for Titus, as for the cats coming later. They would need some place to stay even if temporarily. It would be paid for before the cat’s need of it disappeared. Then it could be used for visitors. Near an arm of Table Rock Lake, Blue Eye often had summer visitors. It was also surrounded by wooded areas that brought in hunters in the fall.
Some of the tourism had slacked off due to trends in the economy, but Blue Eye was enjoying a surge of business. It had received a small upswing when Blake had moved his pack down here, but the cats had the economy booming. It wasn’t only real estate that was affected. A town meeting had been called, but had excluded the newcomers. Beth had informed Seb and Titus. They were now citizens and had a right to know what was going on.
“Hey, Gorgeous. Isn’t that meeting in an hour?” Titus asked.
“It is. Did you need me to hold your hand?” She joked.
“Need? No. But I certainly want you to. Seb and Andi are going. Looks like she wasn’t informed either. She looked the angriest I’ve ever seen her.”
“That’s because her ancestors were some of the founders of this town. Someone needs to call these people on their excluding whoever they choose to.”
“That’s just another reason to take you.”
“The need for support?”
“Yes. Let’s go and put your second in charge. They can finish up without you.” Titus pointed out.
“Fine.” She told Mack to take charge and she left with Titus.
Once she got home, she showered and changed to a fresh T-shirt and jeans. The meeting wouldn’t be anything fancy. As far as she knew there weren’t any politicians. Someone must be worried about all the new people moving into town. The town was too small to have a city government although in rare circumstances meetings like this one were called.
Maybe they just wanted to add a policeman since the population was growing so quickly. Once she was clean and dressed, they met up with Seb and Andi at the flower shop and headed to the meeting. It was being held in the old historic school building. It was immediately obvious that Bob Bakersfield, a transplant from California about ten years ago, was the one that had called for the meeting and that he’d not wanted any of the new people here.
“We have some uninvited guests.” Bob said in his nasal tone.
“Is this a town meeting?” Andi asked.
“Yes, but only real citizens of the town are allowed.” Bob snarked.
“Do you know who I am?” Andi asked.
“The little florist who moved here a couple years ago.” Bob observed and a few old timers gasped.
“I’m probably the only person here who was born in the city limits. There was a snow storm and Mom couldn’t make it to the hospital. I am also the three time great granddaughter of Boris Elmsworth of the founding fathers of this little town. My family has owned property inside the city limits consecutively since the town was founded. I have also lived here more often than not, all my life, Mr. California.” Andi said proudly.
“I’m also related to founding fathers on two sides of my family and have lived in the area all my life.” Beth added.
“But do either of you live in town?”
“Actually, the city limits were extended several years ago so that both our homes are considered in the city.” Andi explained. “So what is this meeting about?”
“We’re concerned about the rapid rate our population is growing.” Maddie Hawkins said.
“A valid concern.” Andi said with a smile for the old lady. “What do you think we should do about it?”
“I’d like to see us hire a policeman. With all the new people, there should be enough money to pay a salary.” Maddie observed.
“Actually, the state will often help if someone does the research and applies for assistance. I agree with your suggestion, but we should have some kind of committee look into this.” Andi suggested. Maddie graced them with a rare smile.
“We don’t need any law enforcement and if we did, I should chose who we get.” Bob argued.
“Why should a Johnny come lately run our town? Maddie should be offered a chance to sit on the committee. Her great grandfather was a founder too. Her family and mine lived here when it wasn’t the cool place to live.” Andi said.
“So only founding families get a say?” Bob derided.
“I didn’t say that either. A mix of old and new people is fair. Five is a good number so there shouldn’t be a tie as far as decision goes. I’d like to be considered as well as Maddie. Titus also is interested and you, both newcomers. Anyone else want in? No? How about you Seb? Okay. We have five if no one else wants to jump in?” Andi observed.
“That’s not fair.” Bob said.
“Why not? Everyone was given a chance and only five volunteered.” Andi said.
“It’s just not. You two are married.” Bob accused.
“We’re not, but we are dating. If you don’t want him, Beth will step in.”
“That’s not any better. You’re related.”
“Yeah, we’re like fifteenth cousins.” Beth said and everyone laughed. “I live in town and I’m setting up a business. Seb is in the same boat as is Titus and Andi. Maddie ran a store in town for many years. You’re the only being included that has no knowledge or concern of the town from a business standpoint. Talk about unfair.”
“Fine. We’ll meet in the morning to get this started.” Bob said. It was clear he was going to cause trouble if he could.
“Fine.” Andi said. “See you at nine in the morning.”
“Fine.” Bob said before stomping off.
The meeting was over and whatever Bob had intended to stir up, hadn’t worked out. He’d probably try working on individuals now. That was a man that needed a keeper. Unfortunately, none of them had the time to bother with him. This would be an opportunity for the cats to get a man on as a policeman for the city. Maybe this bad meeting would be the start of something good.
“Thanks for supporting me. That man drives me crazy.” Maddie admitted.
“It’s a good thing he doesn’t know we’re related too.” Andi observed.
Maddie cackled. “It is a good thing, although your grandma being my cousin isn’t something most people even count.”
“Maybe not, but you still get those invitations to the family reunion that you ignore, don’t you?” Beth asked.
“I do. A bunch of young people don’t need an old hen to mess things up.” Maddie declared.
“Young people these days need wisdom even more than ever before.” Beth observed.
“I don’t have any wisdom, only a boat load of trouble.” Maddie suggested.
“Are you still trying to get a historical society set up?” Beth asked.
Maddie blinked looking confused at the change of subject. “Yes.”
“This might be a good chance to get some of the space upstairs in this building assigned to it.” Beth pointed out.
“You’re right, but I still need money and help to keep things going.” Maddie observed.
“One thing at a time, Cuz. Get the space and I might be able to help you with some of the other things.” Beth replied.
“I’d like to see you in action. You and Andi knocked the air out of that old blow hard.” Maddie cackled some more.
“Would you like to go to Sara’s with us?” Andi asked.
“I could eat something. I walked down here so you’d have to wait while I walk back to get my car.” Maddie explained.
“You can ride with us.” Beth invited.
“I can’t sit in back. I get car sick and it gets worse every year.” Maddie said.
Titus shot her a look. “I’m sure Titus will let you have the front seat since he’s a gentleman.” Beth said. She was in for it once they got home.