Chapter Fifteen
Just a few days after Christmas, out on client visits in and around town, Aimee knew the old wolf heard her approach the front door. Hell, he’d probably heard it when her car turned off the main road.
Shifters didn’t like being snuck up on, or being made to feel as if someone was trying to sneak. He was old, but he wasn’t useless. And she knew that was one of his hot buttons. So she let her heels make plenty of sound as she climbed the porch steps.
She rapped on the wood of his screen door and called out, “Hey there, Mr. Pembry! It’s Aimee Benton. I was out this way and thought I’d stop in to see if you wanted any of this extra salve I’ve got.”
If she’d said he needed it, he’d have rejected the help. Even though he did need it because his arthritis gave him a fair bit of pain he didn’t want to admit having.
But if she said she had extra and made it seem like he was doing her a favor, chances are he’d take the help and use the salve. He might even let her inside, where she could see how much more of her help he’d take.
Jeph Pembry was at the end of a very long life. At a hundred and twenty-two, he liked to spend a lot of his time as a wolf, napping near the big wood-burning stove in the center of the room. He was a well-respected elder in the Pembry pack and Mac’s great uncle.
He was also stubborn, as alpha wolves tended to be. The older he got, the more ornery he got. Mainly, he let Aimee have her way. Ate the food she brought over. Took her advice. Drank the tea and tinctures she made. But he didn’t always get there without a lot of guile and charm on Aimee’s part. Just enough more than his stubbornness.
Beneath his gruff attitude, Aimee was pretty sure he liked her and had fun sparring with her.
“Come on in, then. I ‘spose I can use some of that gunk you make.”
He opened his screen door for her. His color was good. Hair, as always in the same marine, high and tight, he’d had as long as she’d remembered. White as snow now, as was his wolf, she’d heard. He was neat and exuded a little pain at the edges, but otherwise, he was having a good day and wanted the company.
“I sure could use a cup of coffee.” She held up a thermos. “Want some? I made a big pot this morning before I left for work.”
He nodded, pulling down cups she poured the coffee into and then pushed his way. “I was just over at the Counter with Katie Faith. Merilee does the baking for them now. She sent home some cherry Danish. Want to share with me?”
He had a weakness for sweets so she wasn’t surprised when he hummed his pleasure as he took the first bite.
“I’ve got some other stuff that I’m not going to be able to eat before it goes bad,” she said, keeping her tone light. “You can’t have the meat loaf because my momma made that for me.” She grinned. “But there’s some venison stew and I didn’t have the heart to tell Ada Healy I don’t much like venison. Want to take it off my hands?”
Ada was another kitchen witch like Aimee. She loved to cook and a few times a month she made batches of soups and stews, full of vegetables and whatever meat or game she had on hand and packaged it all up for Aimee to give to her clients when she went out visiting.
Jeph gave her the stinkeye long enough that she sighed. “What? I can take it by my parents’ place later, I guess. My mom can put it in the freezer for another day.”
“Ada’s a fine cook. If you won’t use it, put it in the ice box for me, please.”
After she loaded the stew into his fridge, she tidied up his kitchen while leaving some of the apples she knew he liked in the bowl on the small table in the breakfast nook.
All the while, he told her about a rebuild he and his grandson were working on. She noted his hands seemed more gnarled than usual so she managed to talk herself into helping him rub the salve onto his joints.
“Don’t worry, it doesn’t smell like perfume,” she told him as she began to gently knead his hands, rubbing the cream in. As she worked, she let her magic rise and wash through him, grabbing bits and pieces of stray anxiety, anger and pain as it did.
She hadn’t done it without permission. A long time ago, she’d asked if he minded her using healing magic on him when she was there and he’d agreed. She’d never use her power against someone like that, even if it was to help.
“You smell like Mac,” he said, a gleam in his eyes.
“Do I, now? Huh. I’m wearing essential oil today. Maybe that’s it.”
He cackled. “I been hearing talk all over town about you two. That boy is a whole lot like his grandma. My youngest sister. She don’t like Scarlett much, which is why you don’t see her around town as often these days. But she’s got a spine of steel. And balls. Excuse my language. She’s tough, I mean.”
Aimee felt like balls were actually pretty weak. One kick or bump and the guy was out. Now, ovaries? They were tough.
“I know your sister.” Rebecca Pembry was a total badass. Since Dwayne and Scarlett had taken over as Patrons from Rebecca, she’d headed up the Episcopal bake sales, the church parking lot swap and ran all the fund-raising like a well-oiled machine. Their booth at the Founder’s Day celebration was always a place to stop for Rebecca’s hummingbird cake and divinity.
“She’s going to like that you’re with Macrae. No offense, but your power added to this pack is a good thing Mac brings to the table. I’m going to call her when you go. Lord it over her that I knew for sure first.” He gave her a quick look, like a little boy, and she was charmed even though she knew better.
“That’ll be between Mac and his grandma,” she said with a snicker.
“Up and challenging Dwayne for the mayor’s office last week? Got the whole pack talking. Good on you, girl. You have some nerve. I like it. Dwayne needs to go. He has since the first time he got dumped out of office. I wasn’t fooled by his claims to have changed. I’d prefer it be a wolf in the job though, no offense.”
“That mean I have your vote?” she teased. “I understand why you’d prefer a wolf in office. But I guess that’s why I’m running. Because the mayor’s office should be about the whole town and not just one group of us in it. It doesn’t belong to werewolves.”
“Fair enough. If you’re with Mac, maybe he could run instead.”
She laughed. “Well, if he wants to run against me later, I guess he can.”
He nodded once. Sharply. “You’re a firecracker. Good. Macrae needs that. Took over as Prime without an announcement from his daddy, you know. Had to because Dwayne’s too wishy-washy.” He growled a little. “Man’s useless. His father would be ashamed to see it if he were alive today. Darrell’s just as bad.”
She hated that Dwayne hadn’t made a big deal of Mac being Prime. He deserved to have a dad who was proud of his accomplishments. Maybe in his own way, Dwayne was proud and he just didn’t know how to show it and protect Darrell too.
Ugh. Whatever.
“I’m sorry your pack is having all this trouble. I’m not challenging Dwayne to make things harder for you all. I’m doing it to help the town. I care about Mac,” she added quietly. “I won’t ever hurt him like that. Not deliberately.”
He nodded, relaxing as she moved to the other hand and began to massage the salve in. Her magic warmed her skin, warmed his as well, soaking in and hopefully drowning his pain.
The spell she used would most likely keep him pain-free for the next several days. Her magic flowed into him, filling the space where the pain always lived and hid, surrounding it so he couldn’t feel it.
She spooled it slowly, like cotton candy, wrapping it around all the jagged parts inside him.
When she finished, he smiled softly at her. Just a brief moment.
Once she’d found her voice again—sometimes when she used her magic like that she had to take a few seconds to set herself to rights—she pointed at the tub of salve. “If you rub it in daily, in the morning when you wake and at night, that’ll help too.”
He thanked her in his gruff way and told her he might just be seeing her in two nights for the candidates’ forum in town.
She told him to call if he needed her. But he was too proud for that, so she’d be back. And she’d bring some extra salve to the forum to tuck into his pocket as well. It was part of the play they acted out on a regular basis. Their version of affection. She gave him two honks of the horn as she started her car and he rewarded her with a sour expression before heading inside again.
Grinning, she pulled away from the house and went back to work.
* * *
Though the day was cold and had been snowing in fits and starts, Aimee had her hands in the dirt, where they liked to be, when Huston strolled up, Mac at his side. An unexpected sight this time of the day.
There was a mayoral candidates’ forum later that night where the local paper and the rest of the council got to ask questions. Maybe that was it. Whatever brought them, it wasn’t a chore to look at both men as they approached.
Her magic seemed to rush out, surround them both to see what their intentions were. She’d never really experienced that before so she went with it, letting the magic lead.
Satisfied, apparently, with the lack of dire intention on her visitors’ part, her power trickled back into her gut.
“What brings you two out today?” She continued to clip her herbs, keeping them from the medicinal ones she had in a separate basket. She held up a bunch. “Dill? I seem to have way more of it than normal. I don’t know why. More for pickles I guess.”
“This is some kitchen garden,” Huston said, reverence in his tone as he turned in a slow circle to take in the riot of life that filled her yard. “I don’t think I’ve seen so many flowers in winter before.”
“Thank you.” Aimee didn’t tell him the reason why it had been so damned fertile of late was connected to how often his cousin visited her bed. As her heart filled with the chemistry of a new romance, so had everything all around her come to life.
She knew they had something more than marigolds and dill to talk about, but she let it come. Enjoying the way her magic seemed to spring right to her will when she worked outside on a regular basis.
“I had breakfast with my grandmother today.”
Ah.
She grinned up at Mac. “You can’t blame that on me. Talk to your great-uncle Jeph. He smelled you on me when I went to see him day before yesterday.”
“The minute you left he called Nan and got her all worked up. She’s already planning on how many children we’re having. Just so you know, she says four will do nicely.” Mac knelt next to where she’d been working.
“You call her Nan? Like for Nana?”
“One of my older cousins started it and it stuck. If she tells you to call her Nan you’re in. Rebecca is what company calls her.”
Aimee looked up at the sound of Huston’s snicker. He shrugged without arguing.
“You know that’s a lot of pressure, right? When I meet her officially what if she tells me to call her Rebecca?”
Mac rolled his eyes.
Huston said, “She won’t. She’s an astute judge of character.”
Aimee sure hoped so, because otherwise it would suck big-time.
“As for her request for babies, four seems like a lot of Pembrys. I don’t know about that.” Also, she wasn’t having any babies anytime soon. Not even with this gorgeous wolf kneeling next to her smelling really tasty.
“We can practice a lot until we get there.”
She rolled her eyes.
Finally, Mac said, “My grandmother gets headaches. Do you have anything for that?”
“A number of things.” Pleased he’d come to her, she stood, brushing off her knees. “I’ll make tea and you two can give me some details and we’ll figure out the answer.”
He held his hand out and she took it without a thought. When she touched him, her magic seemed to crackle around them both with something like static electricity.
His eyes widened a little and she winked. “Katie Faith told me that might happen. Apparently she and Jace have that too.”
By the time she’d washed her hands and switched from her work shoes into her house slippers, Mac had already put the kettle on to boil, totally at home in her kitchen.
“I wasn’t sure what sort of tea you’d want, but I got the water on.”
She tiptoed up to kiss him quickly. “Thanks. I was thinking of some spice tea. It’s really tasty but not too sweet. I made it myself.”
“Of course you did.”
She gave Mac the eye, but he just smiled back all solemn-like.
Aimee began to clean and prepare the marigold into a paste. “I hope you guys don’t mind if I work while you talk. Since I’ve got the town hall tonight, I want to have all the things I need for my home visits tomorrow finished up.”
Mac watched her, interested. “As long as our being here won’t mess up your magic.”
Aimee let her internal walls down as she began to slowly rock the pestle over the flowers. Magic flowed steadily into the mortar bowl, changing slightly when she added a few other things to get the consistency right. Her magic was part of the recipe, something uniquely hers, something she used to create the right remedy for the right person.
“It won’t. I’ve been making tinctures, pastes and the like since I was a kid.” She added a little comfrey, nudging it to be extra soothing. “Tell me about her headaches. She hasn’t contacted me about them in the past so whatever you can tell me would help.”
“She said sometimes the pain is so bad she has to lie down in the dark until it passes,” Mac said at last, concern for his grandmother in his tone.
He went on a while, giving more specifics about the sort of pain she had, Huston adding details here and there.
Aimee finished the paste and transferred it to three different jars, her lips moving as she added some basic protection magic to them.
“I suppose she won’t consent to see a doctor? I can connect her with a medical practice that has shifters and witches on staff. She should get a workup. It sounds like migraines, and I’ll go visit her to bring some tincture I have and ask her some more questions. But a neurologist can be sure there’s nothing alarming going on.”
Mac shook his head. “I tried already. She said her mom had the same kind of headaches. That it was a family thing. You can only press her so long before she throws you out of the house. Nan’s got opinions.”
Aimee snorted a laugh. “She gave birth to a lot of bossy wolves. I imagine she has to be tough to have survived this long dealing with your daddy.”
Huston’s startled guffaw made her smile.
“I’ll talk to her when I take over the tincture myself. She’s probably right. This is pretty common with female shifters as they near the century mark. Happens to the cats too. I’d feel better if she at least spoke with a doctor. I know you said she’s got opinions. And good for her. But I deal with crotchety old shifters weekly. Believe it or not, I’m pretty good at getting my way.”
Mac raised a brow. “You don’t say.”
She flicked her wet fingers his way, sticking out her tongue.
“She already went to the doctor,” Huston said at last.
Mac turned, mouth dropping open to speak but his cousin held up a hand.
“She made me promise not to tell anyone. That was the condition on which she’d allow me to take her to Knoxville. I talked to the doctor after she had an MRI. It’s a form of migraine, like Aimee just said. But she doesn’t like the pills they gave her so she doesn’t take them.”
Human medication didn’t usually work on shifters. Their metabolisms ate through most before they could work. There were some pain relievers and the like, but many of them came with side effects because of their unique physiology.
“Some shifters react worse to the medication than the headaches. I expect that’s what happened.” She turned to look through the apothecary cabinet standing in her mudroom.
There she kept the various supplies she needed for the remedies she created for her clients. At her touch, the doors sprang open, though they wouldn’t for anyone else. A pulse of magic tickled her fingertip as the locks recognized her.
“I can stop by her place on my way to the town hall tonight,” she called out as she tucked two dark brown bottles with dropper lids into the pocket of the apron she wore.
Thinking again, she grabbed some of the cream she made for her dad’s shoulder pain before drawing the doors closed and resetting the magical lock with a few words and movements of her hands.
“There something dangerous in there?” Huston asked her as she came back.
“Where?”
“You had the cabinet locked. Is it safe to have that cabinet in a room with all those windows? Someone could break in and steal whatever’s inside.”
“I told you to stop watching all that true-crime stuff on cable, didn’t I?” Mac said.
“I lock my cabinet for several reasons.” As she spoke, she washed her hands and set about organizing the basket of supplies she needed. Each client was getting a separate muslin bag with whatever she brought them. Sometimes it was medicinal, other times it was a book or a puzzle. Just something to brighten a day.
“My cabinet is where I keep my Work. Capital W magic work. It’s irresponsible to not take care in how I use the power I’m gifted with. I know you think that room would be easy to break into.” She smiled then, showing teeth. “It’s not. The cabinet is a way to keep whatever batch of medicinals I make fresh. They’re organized.” Color coded and indexed by client, but she didn’t need to tell them that. “It’s handy to have it all in one spot and somewhere visible so I won’t forget. Witches like organization, I don’t know if you figured that out yet. I also lock it because it’s my space. My magical energy is there and I don’t want anyone else poking around without my permission.”
Huston nodded. “Makes sense. I don’t think you should go over there before the town hall. Just tell Mac and me what she needs to do and we’ll relay that to her.”
Aimee frowned. “Why? If she’s planning our babies, she can’t hate me. Or I guess that’s how I’d imagine it going. But your family is...uh, you’re all outliers. Yeah, that’s the word. So what’s the story?”
“There’s a pack dinner before the candidates’ forum,” Mac told her. “She’ll be there so one of us can pass it along.”
Aw, he didn’t want her to feel bad that she wasn’t invited to the family dinner before the forum later that night. She smiled to let him know she was teasing. “No consorting with the enemy before the event?”
“It’s not that. You know it isn’t. Normally I’d say go over there and meet her. But tonight she’s going and only because my dad called to invite her personally. Nan’s not a fan of my mom.” Mac winced.
As Aimee certainly couldn’t argue with that perspective, not having much like for Scarlett either, she just said, “Okay.”
She wrote up a card with directions for the tincture and tucked it along with the bottles into a bag, handing that over to Mac.
“It tastes gross. That’s just truth. But it should help her. It won’t help if she doesn’t use it. I find a fancy way of making that point so I trust you’ll do the same.”
Huston stood. “I’m, uh, going to the car. I’ll wait for you there,” he told Mac. To Aimee, he said, “Thank you for helping Uncle Jeph and our nan.”
“Wait a sec.” Aimee handed him the cream she’d pulled from her cabinet. “You appear to be favoring your left side. Bruise? Soreness from working?”
He grinned. “My brother and I got into a fight after we went on a run last night. I’ve got a massive bruise on my right hip.” Usually things like that healed very quickly for shifters. But at times when it was combat between two shifters, the wounds received would stick around longer than usual.
“This is good for bruises and muscle soreness. Just rub it on after you get out of the shower and any other time you might need it. It’s arnica and a few other things. Nothing spooky.” She winked.
“Thanks for this too.” Huston held up the jar.
Mac waited until he’d gone before hugging her and laying a long slow kiss on her.
“Thank you. For everything. I’m sorry I can’t be with you before the forum. Are you sure you’re okay with me doing this dinner tonight?”
Since they’d been together, they’d been trying to keep everything low-key. They weren’t hiding their relationship, but given the renewed tension since she’d challenged Dwayne for the mayor’s office, they’d been quiet and private in what Aimee liked to think of as their love bubble. Which was so schmoopy she didn’t call it that out loud.
“You have shit to do as Prime, Mac. I get it. I’m not insulted. I’m having dinner at Salt & Pepper in an hour anyway. I’ll have a bite of cheeseburger in your honor.” And count her lucky stars she didn’t have to do it while at the same table as his mother and father.
“Now that my grandmother knows for sure that we’re together, I expect everyone in town will soon enough.”
“Yeah I figured as much.” She shrugged, hoping like hell they were strong enough to make it through what was sure to be a tumultuous time over the next several weeks until election day.
“Truth be told, I’m glad of it. I don’t like not showing you off.”
She smiled up at him. “You’re really going to get me sexed up later, just so you know.”
“I’m always glad to hear that reaffirmed.” He kissed her again. “Good luck tonight. I’ll meet you here after?”
“We’re going to the Counter after for milkshakes. Come by then. I mean, if you’re not doing something with the pack. If you can’t make that, I’ll text you when I’m done and you can meet me.”
He frowned and she laughed because he was so cute when he didn’t get his way. “I know. It’s hard when everything in the universe doesn’t change itself to suit your preferences.”
“It is! I’ll just have to endure, I suppose.”
She swatted him on his very adorable ass as he left, wishing her good luck one last time.