Page 6 of Mountain Air
Chapter Four
Helping Garrett get the snack for all of them, Rob asked quietly, “You’re going to take care of whoever scared those precious girls, right?”
He watched Garrett’s jaw move side to side. Must be grinding his teeth together. Garrett leaned over so his mouth was close to Rob’s ear. “There won’t be anything left of the bastard when I finish with him and if there is? My uncle will be more than happy to deal with him. But first, I need to get my nieces some place safe, then you and I are going to meet with my uncle because whether you believe me or not, I smell cat from you. You need to introduce yourself to him since he’s the conclave Alpha.”
Rob sighed and shook his head. “Why you’re insisting that I’m a shifter, I don’t know but I have no objection to meeting with a community leader. That he’s a shifter will be a bonus. He might have some insight into the invasive plants in the area, at least by sight. What can I do to help you with your nieces?”
Garrett pointed to a cabinet to the left of them. “Grab two tall glasses and two plastic ones. Erin should be okay if we give her a short cup. She’s been learning to not use a sippy cup. Milk is in the fridge.”
Moving across the room, Rob took a glance around. The station had the typical open floor plan with couches facing a fireplace, the office area was on the opposite side and then the kitchen with a bar dividing the cooking area from the seating. Overall, there wasn’t much different from the last few park buildings he’d visited but something was drawing him in. Rob wasn’t sure if it was the man beside him or the room itself.
After grabbing the cups and milk, Rob crossed to the table and put them down. He made a face at the girls, making them giggle again. “Now which one of you is Erin?” he asked. They were about the same size, one wearing a purple shirt and the other an orange one. Both had blonde hair and blue eyes with the cutest button noses.
The little girl closest to Rob, shrunk down in her chair, like she was trying to hide. He wasn’t sure what he’d done to make her scared of him.
“Erin scareded of shots. You not give her one, right?” the other little girl asked him.
Rob was confused by her asking about shots. Garrett walked up beside him and Rob turned to him. “Shots?”
Garrett smiled, putting a plate of cookies down on the table. “Have a seat, Doc. Girls, he’s not that kind of doctor. No shots today, Unchi promises.”
Ahhh, now Rob understood. “No girls, I don’t have anything like shots in my truck. Just stuff to look at plants. I promise.” His words seemed to calm the girls and they reached for the plate but stopped just short of touching the cookies.
“You can take one each,” Garrett told them. “You too, Doc. Only one.”
“Can I have more if I’m a good boy?” Rob teased. As he watched, heat flared in Garrett’s eyes. He couldn’t believe himself. Met the man less than an hour ago and already flirting.
“Maybe you can have something else if you’re a good boy,” Garrett replied. “Girls, do you want to go visits Gamma?”
“’eees,” Erin said while Kelsey just nodded, her mouth full of cookie.
“Okay, finish your snack and then we’ll go see Gamma.” Garrett leaned toward Rob and continued, “Then you and I will go see my uncle.”
§ § §
Garrett checked the back of his SUV, thinking he still had the extra car seats for the girls. Yup, he hadn’t dropped them at his parents’ house after spending last Saturday with them.
“Can we help?” Doc asked as he walked up, Kelsey and Erin holding his hands. Now that was surprising. The girls normally didn’t warm up to someone that quick, especially Erin.
“You three just sit on the steps and look pretty. I’ve got this,” Garrett told them, grabbing the booster and toddler seats. “It won’t take long to install these then we’ll go see Gamma.”
“Papa too?” Kelsey asked.
“The girls will have no issue looking pretty as a picture. Me however? Yeah, not so much,” Doc said moving the girls to the stairs.
“Fishing for compliments, Doc? Would’ve thought you’d be more confident.” Garrett dropped the booster seat next to the open door and leaned into the backseat to hook the toddler seat in. LATCH system was the best invention for car seats, in his opinion.
“No clue where you got that idea.”
“Shifter with a PhD, maybe? Most of us don’t have the patience to last that long in school.” Garrett reached for the booster seat and put it in on the other side. “Okay, girls. Up and at ‘em. Kels, you climb in first and wait for me to buckle your sister in.”
“Unchi? You find Mommy?” Erin asked as he lifted her into her seat. Garrett took a deep breath before giving her a kiss on the head.
“Unchi will do his best,” Garrett told her.
“But no Mommy’s friend?” Kelsey asked, causing Garrett to close his eyes and rein in his lion. Seemed his lion agreed that the friend needed to go away permanently.
Garrett heard a growl from next to him and turned to look at Doc. Hmm, seemed the doc had more lion in him than he thought with the noise that came out of him. The look of surprise on his face was priceless.
“Going to argue about being a shifter again, Doc?”
