Page 16 of A Hutch for Hoover

Only now that I was here, hopping around with my mate, and we could hear each other. It wasn’t some magical special gift designed for only the elite. It was a gift of communication from the Goddess to us.

And my not-hearing ears? A gift to be cherished. It gave us a way to speak with each other, my difficulties not even a consideration.

Thank you, Goddess. Thank you so much.

It was the clearest I’d ever heard him, our mating bond allowing me to hear him so much better than any human-made hearing aids had.

You know, if we ever have to have a serious conversation, this is how we’re doing it.

I wasn’t kidding. It was perfect for that, at least if we were in private. And that was when it hit me; I wasn’t mad at the accident. I wasn’t even mad about losing my hearing, because at the end of the day, it led me to my mate.

Without him in my world, my life would never be complete.

How about after we finish exploring, we go back to my place and start packing up.

You’re moving in?

If you’ll have me.

I want nothing more.

And after our shift, we did go back to my place, but it wasn’t until the next morning that we started to pack. We found other ways to spend our time…naked ways that were a knot more fun.

Chapter Fourteen

Grant

My mate had left for work, and I should be up and moving as well, but I couldn’t bring myself to climb out of bed. Every time I tried, my head spun and my gorge rose until finally I texted Ronny to come in early and open.

I tried to think what I might have eaten the night before that could have done this to me, but we’d cooked chicken and dumplings and both eaten them. In fact, Hoover had seconds, and he felt good enough to eat a big breakfast before leaving this morning. Maybe a stomach bug.

Whatever it was, I wished it would stop because I had things to do and places to go. No time for an upset stomach when I had an appointment at two to sign the lease for my second shop. The original location in Phoenix was still available, and my alpha and I had swung by for a look over the weekend. Lucky I didn’t go there first because it was a former ice cream shop and would require a whole lot less work to get it ready to open.

It would have been a huge shame had I not stopped for lunch at the outlets. I wouldn’t have made the connection with Karma and Animals and maybe never have met my mate. Was that even possible?

The thought made me shudder.

I fell back asleep for a while, and when I opened my eyes again, the morning was gone, and I had just an hour to get to Phoenix for the signing. Kicking my legs over the side of the bed, I stood up too fast and had to brace myself until the dizziness faded. Whatever this was, it wasn’t gone. I went to the kitchen and made a cup of mint tea, sipping it slowly. When that stayed down, I ate a piece of buttered toast. Better. Was all of that low blood sugar?

Another couple of slices of toast tasted good, and I felt well enough to take a quick shower and get dressed. Whatever it was seemed to have passed, and I texted Hoover to let him know I was heading into the city, and Ronny to ask him to stay until I could get back. Not that he’d leave the shop unattended, but I wanted to make sure he didn’t have other plans.

Fortunately, he and Jen had everything covered, and I climbed into the car and drove to the big town. I’d only been there a couple of times ever, but I was always struck by how quickly the city was growing, and being part of that appealed to me.

The landlord who met me with the paperwork was in a hurry, and I was worried I might miss a signature and feeling as if my insistence on reading the document was unreasonable. But of course, it was not, and although my nausea was starting to return, I went over it line by line, asking questions and making him cross out some things that I didn’t like. Then I did the bank transfer and received the keys to my second smoothie shop. Who ever thought I’d see the day? This wolf did.

I had a contractor coming at the first of the week, so after giving myself another tour of the shop, I made a few more notes on things I needed to do or get done then went outside into the afternoon heat.

It hadn’t been too bad when I arrived but since then, the temperature had kissed the hundred-degree mark. I picked up my steel water bottle and drained the last of the water I’d brought with me. Nobody went anywhere in Arizona without something to drink, and I hadn’t realized how much I must have been taking in this afternoon.

I didn’t think my stomach would tolerate much in the way of food, but getting dehydrated was always a danger when a bug settled in, so I pulled into the next convenience store I passed to get a refill.

Or an Icee. Not the healthiest of things to drink, but they were cold and refreshing, and if I wasn’t up for eating, I needed something with calories. Amazing what a grown wolf shifter would use to convince himself frozen sugar was a health food.

The store was cool as well. Almost cold, but it felt good, soothing, and I covered my mouth to suppress a burp as I stood in front of the Icee machine deciding between cherry cola and blue raspberry. I chose to mix them, probably not a good idea, but it sounded delicious and my first sip was ambrosial.

Topping off the frozen treat, I became aware of a couple standing in the next aisle. Their conversation carried over to me. “I don’t know which one to get,” one of them said. “Aren’t they all the same?”

“Some are difficult to read, and I think others you have to do first thing in the morning. Oh, and length of time.”

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