Chapter 17
Jilly stopped walking long enough to glance at her phone and check her to-do list. She had a lot to finish before she began her new life as a member of a traveling panther clan.
Fate said, “I can’t believe you picked Cherie’s for our date tonight.”
She turned to face him and tucked the phone into her pocket. “What’s wrong with Cherie’s?”
“There are about a hundred more romantic restaurants I can name.”
“Maybe, but we’re triple dating with Melody, Scarlett, and their mates, and Cherie’s is Scarlett’s favorite place to eat when she’s pregnant. Apparently.”
Scarlett was pregnant with her third child. As a breeding queen, she was predisposed to get pregnant quickly. Her mother, who was also a breeding queen, had thirteen children, twelve boys and one girl.
“Plus, I really do love Cherie’s cobb salad,” Jilly pointed out.
“You’re a predator, you know.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
“Predators eat meat.”
“Hello, the salad has like a half pound of bacon on it.”
“You know that’s not what I mean.”
“Don’t you dare say bacon isn’t meat,” she said, poking him in the chest with her finger. “It’s the best meat there is. You never hear someone say, oh that’s too much bacon.”
He snorted and pulled her close. “You’re crazy.”
“You entirely drove me there.”
“All right, if we have to go to Cherie’s, then promise we’ll bring dessert back home so we can enjoy it privately.”
She liked how he accentuated the word privately. It was easy to tell that he was thinking sexy thoughts about dessert.
“I insist.”
He kissed her and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Love you to pieces, sweetheart.”
She beamed at him, her whole body warming at his words.
They started walking again and passed into the backyard of the boarding house. Scarlett was outside with an easel, painting, while her two little ones played with their dads.
“Hey!” Scarlett said brightly.
“Hello,” Jilly said, giving her a one-armed hug so she didn’t get paint on herself. She looked at the picture and saw that she was painting a scene of the woods. “That’s really lovely.”
“Thanks. I felt like painting scenery.”
“Henry called and asked us to stop by. What time do you want to meet for dinner?”
“Six,” Wes said. “I called Cherie a little while ago, and she’s going to set aside the big booth for us.”
“She also promised to make sweet potato fries and her special cream cheese and cinnamon dipping sauce,” Scarlett said.
“Yum. Can’t wait,” Jilly said.
They walked into the house and found Dom and Henry in the family room with Aaron’s three boys – Owen, Ben, and Nathan – playing a video game.
“Where’s Wyked?” Henry asked after giving her a nod but not breaking eye contact with the screen.
“Helping Dag and the clan finish up their work today so they can get ready to leave.”
Henry handed the remote to Ben and said, “Don’t kill my guy. I have the high score.”
“I’ll try,” Ben said.
He and Dom left the room and Jilly and Fate followed. On the kitchen island was a brown paper grocery sack.
Dom said, “I saw a piece of wood a couple months ago, and I was working on a carving for your birthday, but there was a crack deep inside the wood and it splintered when I was nearly done. So I went looking for another piece of wood and found this really cool one.”
He opened the bag and pulled out a statue. He set it on the counter, and she sucked in a breath at how beautiful it was. The large statue featured a woman sitting between two panthers and holding a baby panther in her arms. She picked up the heavy carving and looked at the fine details, noticing that the female looked like her.
“Oh, Dom, it’s just gorgeous, I love it!” She put it down and hugged her step-brother, giving him a big kiss on the cheek. “You’re so talented!”
“Thanks. I’m sorry it’s late. I really wanted to give you something amazing for your birthday.”
“It’s perfect.”
“Damn,” Fate said, running his finger over one of the panthers, “these look just like us.”
“I wish shifters could change forms when they’re little. It would be so sweet to hold a cub,” she said.
Dom smiled warmly. “I took a picture to put it on my website, and I’ve already gotten three requests for similar pieces.” He put the carving back in the bag and handed it to Fate.
Jilly said, “Thank you so much for the present.”
“Now you have something to remember us by,” Dom said, tilting his head toward Henry.
“As if I need reminding of my brothers,” she scoffed. She took her phone from her back pocket and handed it to Fate. “Take a picture of us.”
Her brothers – one biological and one by marriage – put their arms around her and tucked her between them. They were fiercely protective of their family, and she knew that whoever they ended up mating was a lucky female.
“Smile,” Fate said, pointing the phone at them. They all smiled and she heard the snapping of the camera as he took several pictures. He looked at the screen and nodded, turning it to face them. “Looks great.”
“Text that to us,” Henry said.
Fate turned the phone around, and in less than a minute she heard the answering sounds of Henry and Dom’s phones as they received a text.
“You don’t have to work on Friday night, do you?” she asked Henry. Dom was a part-time art teacher at the local school, so his nights were free, but Henry was a police officer and worked a lot of evenings.
“Uncle Aaron is going to man the station for your goodbye dinner. I’ll go in to relieve him after we’re done. And of course I’ll be over to say goodbye in the morning.”
“The time went fast,” she said.
“Yeah. It’s funny like that,” Dom said, giving her a lopsided smile. “Sometimes you feel like it drags its feet, and other times it seems to have wings.”
“Maybe by the time we come back next summer, you’ll have found your mate,” she said.
Dom and Henry both grinned.
“That would be awesome,” Dom said.
Henry gave her a hug. “I’ll miss you, Sis.”
She hugged him back and then swatted his shoulder with a laugh. “Don’t make me cry by being all sweet.”
“Can’t help it. I’m adorable,” Henry said.
“And ridiculous,” she added.
“Also, he’s a hoarder of all things chocolate,” Dom said.
“If we’re listing people’s faults,” Henry said.
Dom put his hands up in surrender. “I take it back. You’re the most selfless chocoholic who ever graced the Earth.”
“Damn straight.”
Jilly said goodbye to her brothers and headed out of the house with Fate. After dropping off the statute at the RV, they took a truck and went to town for supplies. By the time they were ready to meet the two trios at Cherie’s, her stomach was growling.
Wyked held open the door to the diner for her. When she stepped inside, her stomach growled even louder, and her mouth watered at the amazing scents inside. Cherie was well-known for her meatloaf and pot roast, but Jilly’s favorite was her cranberry glazed ham and smashed red potatoes.
They walked back to the corner booth. The others were there, talking quietly and looking at menus. Jilly sat between Wyked and Fate.
Cherie walked over and set down three plastic tumblers of ice water along with menus. “When’re you leaving, Jilly-girl?” she asked.
“Saturday morning.”
“We’ll miss you around here.”
“We’ll be back in the summer,” she said.
“Ah, just in time for my famous strawberry shortcake.”
“I can’t wait,” Jilly said, opening the menu. Even though she already knew what she was going to get, she still liked to look at all the options.
Cherie took their drink orders and then said to no one in particular, “Sweet potatoes fries and dipping sauce?”
“Yes, please,” Scarlett said. She put down her menu and took a drink. “How’s the packing going?”
“Good,” Jilly said, closing the menu. “We have to secure everything for when we’re on the road so nothing gets broken.”
“I never thought about that being an issue,” Melody said. “Do you put everything in boxes?”
Wyked shook his head. “Not unless it’s something we don’t need, like off-season clothing, which we store underneath the RV. The cabinets and drawers all have magnetic closures so they don’t accidentally open and spill their contents.”
“That’s clever,” Wes said.
“I was worried about my window garden,” Jilly said. “If they fell over or the pots broke if we hit a pothole or something, it could ruin them.”
“How did you fix that?” Scarlett asked.
“Fate put Velcro on the bottoms of each pot as well as the window shelf, so they stay put.”
Tristan said, “Good idea. That’s how I stuck Melody’s cat bobble head to the dashboard.”
“It’s good luck to pet the bobblehead,” Melody said.
“You’re a loon,” Scarlett said.
“Don’t mock the bobblehead,” she said.
“Stop saying bobblehead,” Scarlett said.
Melody launched into a rendition of Take Me Out to the Ballgame but changed all the words to bobblehead. Jilly couldn’t help but laugh as Scarlett tried to get Melody to stop singing, and both sets of males laughed at their mates’ antics.
Cherie set a large plate of sweet potato fries on the table. There was a white ceramic bowl in the center containing the cream cheese and cinnamon dip. She returned a moment later with drinks, which she set in front of Jilly and her mates.
“Ya ready to order?” Cherie asked.
“Definitely,” Jilly said.
Scarlett stuffed several fries into her mouth and said something that sounded like “Order for me,” to her mates.
Tristan ordered for Scarlett and himself, and then everyone else ordered, ending with Jilly asking for the cranberry ham and potatoes along with a mini version of the Cobb salad, and Wyked and Fate both getting pot roast. While they waited for their food, they shared the fries and talked about the pride, the clan, and the town, and how quickly the pride was changing. Jilly knew that Eryx, Ethan, and Callie had never expected to move away from King and start a whole new pride, but they had. For the last three years, Ashland had felt like more of a home to her than King ever did, and she knew a lot of that had to do with the curse being lifted.
In between bites of sweet, glazed ham, Jilly, Scarlett, and Melody talked about children and families.
“I think it’s so neat you’re going to be raising kids on the road,” Scarlett said. “They’ll be getting a great education just going to different places.”
“Are panthers always nomadic?” Ray asked.
“Usually,” Fate answered. “Sometimes a couple will mate and decide to settle in one place. Our family has always been nomadic, though.”
“Are you sad to be leaving?” Melody asked.
“Yes and no. It’s kind of a mixture of happy and sad.”
“It won’t be the same here without you,” Scarlett said. “But it won’t be long until it’s summer and you’ll be back again. Then you can meet Peanut Number Three.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
There was a tremendous crash from the kitchen and someone cursed loudly. Cherie opened the door to the kitchen and said, “Jilly! Frank’s cut his hand. Come help!”
Jilly grabbed her purse where she kept a basic healing kit and hurried from the booth. She found Frank leaning against the large sink and holding his injured hand.
She put down her purse and pulled the kit from inside, unzipping it and placing it on the counter next to him. Cherie hovered nearby, clucking worriedly.
Jilly snapped on gloves and then took Frank’s hand and peered at it. He’d sliced the top of two fingers, and they bled profusely.
“The good news,” Jilly said as she turned on the water and tested it for warmth before gently washing the wounds, “is that if you have to cut your hand, the knuckles or fingertips aren’t too bad for healing, unlike the palms and fingers which can have long-term issues with cut injuries.”
She used clean gauze and applied pressure to the wounds and smiled at Frank. “What happened?”
“I tripped on my own two feet and knocked a tray over, and when I tried to catch the knife, it slipped over the top of my hand.”
She glanced at Cherie. “How did you know to call me to help?”
“Your dad told me that you were being mentored by the panther healer. When I saw that he was injured, I thought of you.”
“I’m glad I could help,” Jilly said.
As she bandaged the wounds and then made Frank a mug of tea that would help with pain and inflammation, she smiled to herself. All along she’d wanted to be good at healing, to be able to help without reservation or fear, and she had. When Cherie had called for help, Jilly had raced in without hesitation.
“Thank you,” Frank said as he drank the tea and then gingerly tugged a latex glove over his hand to ensure his bandages stayed clean.
“You’re welcome.”
“Your meal’s on the house,” Cherie said as she put her arm around Jilly and walked with her to the table. “Everyone’s is.”
“Aw, thank you,” Jilly said.
“Well, you saved me losing my cook for a couple hours while he ran to the doctor to get patched up.”
“Do you mind if we order dessert to go? We’ll pay for it,” Jilly said. “I don’t want to take advantage of your kindness.”
“Heck no, girl. You can have whatever you want.”
“Chocolate chip cheesecake and one of your wonderful hugs is all I need now,” Jilly said.
Cherie grinned broadly and hugged Jilly tight, smashing her close and lifting her from the ground for a moment. She returned a few minutes later with their dessert boxed up, and said goodbye to Jilly, Wyked, Fate, and the others.
“Be sure to come see me when you’re back in town,” Cherie said, waving from behind the counter.
“You got it. Be well,” Jilly said.
When they were outside, Scarlett said, “Thanks for saving the day so we could get a free meal. That was so cool.”
“I’m glad I was here to help,” Jilly said.
“Our precious, healing mate,” Wyked said. “You did good, kitten.”
“Now we’ll do good to you,” Fate murmured with a soft purr.
The groups parted ways, the two trios heading back to the boarding house and Jilly and her mates going to the field.
“That was nice,” Fate said.
“I’m glad we did this,” Jilly said. “I know it wasn’t romantic, but it was fun.”
Wyked tapped the top of the dessert box with a wink. “There’s romance to be had soon enough, kitten.”
“Not nearly soon enough,” she murmured.
* * *
When Jilly walked into the boarding house’s backyard with the clan, she hadn’t expected to find it decorated. They were having their farewell dinner, and she’d thought it would be a regular meal inside like the pride always had. But instead, they’d decorated the outside with string lights on tall poles, white tablecloths on the picnic tables, and a long table set with heated buffet pans.
She could smell roasting meats and vegetables, and the pride milled around the area, holding drinks and small plates of appetizers. When the clan was spotted, the pride started to cheer, and John, James, and Rue walked to them and hugged Jilly and her mates.
“This is so wonderful,” Jilly said. “It looks great out here.”
“It’s all thanks to your Aunt Lisa and Rue putting in all the hard work,” James said. “We were just the lackeys.”
Rue chuckled. “We wanted you to have a great memory of the pride together. Everyone is here but your Uncle Aaron, who is manning the station.”
“But don’t worry because he’s going to stop by on his dinner break to say hello,” James said. “And stuff his face.”
“Who wouldn’t?” John said. “You should see the spread. All your favorites, Jilly.”
“And your dads’, too,” Rue said with a wink.
“It’s so sweet I’m going to cry,” Jilly said.
“Only happy tears,” John said, giving her a hug.
“Remember that we don’t say goodbye in this family anymore,” Rue said. “We only say see you soon.”
Rue and Dom had a habit of never saying goodbye. She said it seemed so final and not a temporary separation. The other Fallons had gotten into the habit of it, too.
“I won’t forget.”
With her mates by her side, she walked to the buffet table that Lisa, Rhett, Treasure, Brian, and Kevin were manning. They lifted the domes from the trays and Jilly’s mouth watered. Grilled strip steak, mixed veggies, glazed carrots, and mashed red potatoes.
“The potatoes are from Cherie,” Lisa said as she scooped some onto Jilly’s plate.
“No way!”
She laughed. “I called and asked if she’d share her recipe with me so I could make them for you, and she insisted on making them herself. She brought over three trays’ full.”
“Wow. That was so nice of her.”
Rhett used tongs to set a steak on her plate. “I think she just didn’t want to give Lisa her recipe.”
“That wouldn’t surprise me,” Jilly said.
After filling their plates, she and her mates went to sit at a picnic table. The pride and clan got in line for the main course, and they were soon joined by Dom and Henry and their parents. Dag and Dionne sat at the next table with Hanai and several pride members.
When everyone was seated, James stood and tapped his fork against his glass. Everyone quieted. He cleared his throat and said, “I feel like the pride and clan have been neighbors for decades and not just three years. The pride that I’m looking at today is nothing like what we used to be like. It’s because of Jilly, Wyked, Fate, and the clan, that we now know our people were cursed. We know how to break that curse, too.
“Jilly, when you left home, I thought I’d never see you again, and I know your dad felt the same way. But here you are, a beautiful lioness, mated and starting a new chapter of your life with the clan. I’m sorry to lose you but so grateful to have had the opportunity over these last three years to watch you blossom and come into your own. As your grandfather used to say, May every road you travel be bathed in sunlight. May every night have the brightest stars. And may you come home again. Soon.”
He lifted his glass a little higher, and Jilly smiled through the tears that made her vision blur. She lifted her glass to him as the pride and clan clinked glasses and toasted. She clinked her glass with her family, and then her mates, sniffling as she took a drink of lemon-lime soda.
“Now we can eat,” James said as he sat down.
“Hear, hear,” Rue said.
While they ate, Jilly’s family shared stories of their favorite trips growing up. Her dad’s favorite trip was when their father took all of them to New York to see The Nutcracker, which was still his favorite play. James’s favorite was when their dad had taken them camping for Christmas and they’d cut down their own tree and decorated it with strings of cranberries and popcorn and pinecones they dipped in glue and glitter.
Jilly loved listening to her family reminisce. She was looking forward to someday sharing her own stories with their children.
By the time their meal was over, Jilly was ready to go home to bed. They were getting up early to leave town before traffic on the interstate got too heavy.
“As much as I’d like to stay until dawn,” she said, “we’ve got an early morning.”
“We’ll see you bright and early,” John said.
She said goodbye to every pride member, which took a half hour, and her mates waited patiently for her. They walked away from the yard and toward the field, and Jilly looked over her shoulder one last time.
Her dad stood with his arm around Henry’s shoulder in the middle of yard, just slightly apart from the other pride members. They both raised their hands to her in a wave, and she blinked at the tears as she waved to them and blew them a kiss.
She would never forget how much her family meant to her. When they came back to Ashland in the summer, she knew she’d feel right at home again, because family was like that. Distance might separate them, but they were very close in her heart, where she was going to hold onto them tightly.
“We promised your dad that we’d take care of you,” Fate said.
“Even though he said he knew he didn’t need to say it,” Wyked said. “It’s just something dads always say.”
“That’s sweet.” She turned her attention back to the woods as they passed through into the field.
“You’ve got a great family, and I’m thankful for their support,” Fate said.
“Me too.”
Wyked opened the door to their RV as they said goodnight to their parents. “It’s our last night in Ashland, kitten.”
She took off her coat and hung it up and turned to face her mates. “Tomorrow’s the first day of the next chapter of our lives. I can’t wait.”
“We can’t either,” Fate said. “Dawn won’t come fast enough.”
“Let’s see if we can speed it up a bit,” she said, grasping their hands and leading them back to the bedroom. It seemed only fitting to spend their final night in Ashland making love and chasing the night from the sky.
She’d be sad to leave in the morning.
For now, all she wanted to do was lose herself in her mates and thank her lucky stars that they found her.